NCJ Number
181119
Date Published
1997
Length
149 pages
Annotation
This report evaluates California's Alternative Sentencing Program (ASP), commonly known as boot camp, that began in 1993 as a short-term sentencing alternative for nonviolent offenders with no prior prison commitments.
Abstract
Participation in the ASP is restricted to offenders with a sentence of at least 1 year and no more than 3 years to serve in prison. In addition, eligible offenders must be committed from the San Francisco Bay Area or Los Angeles County. Eligible offenders spend 120 days in boot camp at San Quentin State Prison, 60 days in a work-training setting, and 120 days on intensive parole. Individuals leaving the ASP for any reason during the incarceration phase are placed back into regular prison to finish their term. Individuals not completing the parole phase are either continued on regular parole or are returned to prison. The boot camp phase of ASP embraces a team approach to achieve positive changes in inmate behavior and perceptions through the use of military principles in a demanding, disciplined, and regimented environment. The curriculum focuses on taking personal responsibility, acquiring and exercising tools for personal change, and learning to comply with simple instructions. The ASP is based on a therapeutic community approach that emphasizes self-control, appropriate decision-making, teamwork, courtesy, and respect for others. Inmates undergo various stages within the program composed of physical training, education, work assignments, individual and group psychological therapy, and substance abuse treatment. The evaluation of the ASP showed that promoting various levels of service for employment, counseling, and substance abuse treatment assisted participants in stabilizing their reintegration into the community. Expanding and enhancing parole supervision practices ensured responsible management of program participants while in the community. The boot camp approach was successfully implemented without jeopardizing public safety concerns. In addition, the program resulted in a slight savings in prison and parole bed space. The ASP, however, had no appreciable effect on the rate of returns to prison or subsequent arrests when compared to non-ASP felons. Estimated operational costs of the program were slightly higher than for regular prison incarceration and parole. References, tables, and figures