Areas of Expertise

• Predictive bias and validity
• Prosecutor decision-making
• Justice system disparities
• Criminal justice policy and evaluation

Key Findings

• Minority populations with higher predictive risk scores are less likely to successfully complete their probation period than Whites with equitable scores. MORE
• Hispanic individuals who commit crime may have a better chance of completing probation successfully. MORE
• Characteristics such as location, jurisdiction, minority status and offense severity matter more than a simple overall risk score given to female offenders by risk assessment models. MORE
• The real-life circumstances of minority female offenders must be taken into account when determining the predictive utility of risk assessment algorithms. MORE
• Long-term criminal justice reforms should focus on restructuring regulations for police union contracts to ensure accountability and changing police culture to prioritize the protection of civilians. MORE

Biography

Howard Henderson, Professor of Justice Administration and Director of the Center for Justice Research at Texas Southern University, is an expert in race and ethnicity, prisons and jails, probation and parole, community and program development and mass incarceration.

Henderson has consulted with several organizations, including the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Mental Health Jail Diversion Program, Baylor College of Medicine’s Initiative on Neuroscience and Law, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Multidisciplinary Board, where he was a member of the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Labor’s Prison Reentry Initiative. Currently, Henderson serves as the Chair of the Houston Racial/Ethnic Disparities Committee Data Workgroup funded by the MacArthur Foundation.

Henderson has been published in numerous journals, including the Journal of Criminal Justice, Policy, Practice & Research, and Sociology of Race & Ethnicity.

Henderson received his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Sam Houston State University, M.C.J. from Tennessee State University, and B.S. in Criminal Justice from Middle Tennessee State University.