TILES congratulates to Heidi for receiving two Scholarships; the Gwen Nettlefold Memorial and Elite. The Elite Research Scholarship is awarded to students who have an outstanding academic record and its support and resources will assist Heidi during her PhD studies.

Thesis Title
Prediction of recidivism in a Tasmanian population: Evaluation and development of community based risk assessments

Abstract

This project will explore the reliability of the established Canadian recidivism risk assessment instrument, the Level of Service/ Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI; Andrews, Bonta & Wormith, 2004), within a Tasmanian jurisdiction, as well as evaluating the predictive utility of risk of recidivism over different stages of an offender's community based or parole order. The results of this evaluation will then inform the development of a unique risk assessment for use within Australian adult offender populations. The aim of this project includes designing a practical and effective instrument to use within an Australian population that can assist in the case management of offenders who are serving community based sentences.

Supervisors

Dr Sally Kelty (TILES, School of Social Sciences, UTAS)
Associate Professor Roberta Julian (TILES, School of Social Sciences, UTAS)

Biography

Heidi Gordon has a Master of Psychology (Clinical) degree and is currently completing a PhD with the Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement (TILES) at the University of Tasmania. Heidi is currently employed part-time as a psychologist with the Department of Education. She is also a Research Assistant at TILES working on several forensic-related projects including intergenerational transmission of crime and crime scene examiners occupational stress.

Heidi presented the first part of her research at the ANZAPPL: Evolving Paradigms in Forensic Practice (23-25 November, 2012).