Globalizing assessment frameworks: Centring gender and culture in assessment for women on probation in Pakistan

In 2019, legislation was passed in Punjab, Pakistan, mandating the use of risk/need assessment tools. Subsequently, the Probation Service Assessment Planner (PSAP; Brown and Bhutta, 2021), a ground-up gender and culturally informed assessment tool and case management planner, was developed and piloted in a sample of 45 women on probation in Pakistan. Participants reported culturally influenced and gendered needs, including relational challenges and a lack of access to education and employment, as well as gender neutral needs. Most PSAP domains had acceptable to excellent internal consistency (α = 0.58−0.90) and assessors broadly discriminated well between priority and non-priority needs. While the PSAP is a promising assessment tool, future research must further evaluate the measure’s psychometric validity and create a framework for applying the PSAP in Pakistan’s resource-scarce correctional system.