bation has been the usual sanction for first time felons" (Byrne, 1989, p. 2). He reported that, as of 1985, "nearly three times as many convicted of felonies are placed on probation each year as are sentenced to prison and jail combined" (p. 1).
Since, under the system which prevailed in most jurisdictions up until the 1970s or 1980s, trial judges had broad discretion in deciding whether or not convicted criminals would be incarcerated or put on probation and deciding the length of their sentences, PSIs and PSIRs were of critical importance in determining the disposition of the criminal offender. Because many cases were the result of plea bargains, Findley and Ross (1989), in commenting on the federal system, said that "the PSI is often the only source of information for the sentencing court and for the correction system into which the defendant is placed" (p. 838).
Until recently, the emphasis of PSIs and PSIRs was "offender-oriented." Klein (1997) says that one of the first pioneers in the field, psychologist William
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