| Sumario: | The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Data First Synthetic Data Project aims to improve engagement with Data First datasets by making synthetic versions of content available to enable more rapid development of research proposals and to thereby enhance the potential for linked administrative data to improve understanding and outcomes across justice systems. The project has led the development of two components: a dataset generation platform and an initial release of lo-fidelity, synthetic data tables. This study includes a synthetically-generated version of the Ministry of Justice Data First Offender dataset. Synthetic versions of all 43 tables in the MoJ Data First data ecosystem have been created. These versions can be used / joined in the same way as the real datasets. As well as underpinning training, synthetic datasets should enable researchers to explore research questions and to design research proposals prior to submitting these for approval. The code created during this exploration and design process should then enable initial results to be obtained as soon as data access is granted. The Ministry of Justice Data First Offender Assessment dataset provides data on offender assessments recorded for service users in custody and in the community system in England and Wales from 01/01/2011. The data has been extracted from the Offender Assessment System (OASys), used by His Majesty's Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) in England and Wales to measure the risks and needs of offenders in custody or under supervision in the community. This dataset allows users to: - assess how likely an offender is to be re-convicted, by identifying and classifying offending-related needs, including basic personality characteristics and cognitive behavioural problems; - assess risk of serious harm, risks to the individual and other risks; - link assessments to the supervision or sentence plan; - assess answers to questions from different assessment types; - measure change during the period of supervision / sentence. Each record in the dataset gives information about a single person and their OASys assessments. There are separate tables covering different assessment types for example, Basic Custody Screening (BCS), core risks and Spousal Assault Risk assessments (SARA). As part of Data First, records have been deidentified and deduplicated, using our probabilistic record linkage package, Splink, so that a unique identifier is assigned to all records believed to relate to the same person, allowing for longitudinal analysis and investigation of repeat interactions with the Offender Assessment System. This opens up the potential to better understand the Offender Assessment System and address questions on, for example, how criminogenic needs change throughout time within the criminal justice system and what risks and needs can lead to reappearances within the justice system. The Ministry of Justice Data First linking dataset can be used in combination with this and other Data First datasets to join up administrative records about people from across justice services (courts, prisons and probation) to increase understanding around users' interactions, pathways and outcomes.
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