In 1983, the State of Florida established a community control program to help reduce prison overcrowding by providing a safe diversionary alternative to prison. This program is now the largest intermediate sanction program for felons in the country. A study was conducted to test whether the community control program is more effective in producing individuals who are less likely to commit crimes again. Recidivism in a group of participants in Florida's program were studied over a 54-month period beginning at the time they were placed in the program. A comparable group of offenders who were sentenced to prison were studied for 54 months following their release from prison. Based on data provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the National Crime Information Center, researchers found that there was no significant difference in recidivism for the two groups and that recidivism was high for both groups. The groups were almost identical in the proportion of members who were rearrested, the proportion who were convicted and the amount of time before rearrest. 7 tables, 1 graph
COMPARISON OF RECIDIVISM OF FLORIDA'S COMMUNITY CONTROL AND PRISON: A FIVE-YEAR SURVIVAL ANALYSIS
NCJ Number
144460
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 30 Issue: 3 Dated: (August 1993) Pages: 267-292
Date Published
1993
Length
26 pages
Annotation
Recidivism of felons sentenced to Florida's Community Control Program was compared over a 5-year period to that of a comparable group of felons sentenced to prison.
Abstract
Date Published: January 1, 1993