NCJ Number
61851
Journal
OFFENDER REHABILITATION Volume: 3 Issue: 4 Dated: (SUMMER 1979) Pages: 341-348
Date Published
1979
Length
8 pages
Annotation
THE STUDY COMPARES ATTITUDE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PRISONERS LIVING IN A REGULAR DORMITORY AND THOSE IN AN HONOR DORMITORY WHERE THEY RECEIVED MORE LIVING SPACE AND COUNSELING.
Abstract
THE EFFECTS OF RESIDENTIAL PROGRAMS FOR PRISON INMATES HAVE RECEIVED INSUFFICIENT ATTENTION, ALTHOUGH SUCH PROGRAMS COULD PROVIDE AN INEXPENSIVE METHOD OF COUNSELING INMATES. THE STUDY ANALYZES DATA COLLECTED FROM INMATES OF THE GEORGIA INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE WHICH MAINTAINED AN HONOR DORMITORY FOR PRISONERS IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THEIR LIVING CONDITIONS AND MODIFY THEIR ATTITUDES AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR. ADMISSION TO THE HONOR DORMITORY WAS BASED ON RECOMMENDATIONS OF PRISON COUNSELORS AND OFFICIALS. LIVING SPACE WAS ENLARGED AND MADE MORE ATTRACTIVE, AND COUNSELING SERVICES WERE PROVIDED ON A REGULAR BASIS. THE 25 RESEARCH SUBJECTS WERE FROM 17 TO 22 YEARS OLD, HAD BEEN CONVICTED FOR FELONIOUS CRIMES, AND WERE OF MIXED RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS. ALL THE SUBJECTS WERE ADMINISTERED A SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL DEVELOPED BY OSGOOD, SUCI, AND TANNERBAUM, AND WERE ASSESSED THROUGH THE PUBLIC OFFENDER COUNSELING INVENTORY. A CONTROL GROUP WITH SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS WAS ESTABLISHED FROM PRISONERS IN THE REGULAR DORMITORY. ANALYSIS OF THE DATA SHOWED THAT HONOR DORM INMATES EXPRESSED MORE POSITIVE ATTITUDES TOWARD COUNSELING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS THAN THE REGULAR DORM INMATES. THUS THE HONOR DORM PROVIDED A MORE THERAPEUTIC SITUATION, EVEN FOR LONGTERM PRISONERS, AND COULD BE ESTABLISHED IN PRISONS WITH MINIMAL COST. TABLES AND REFERENCES SUPPLEMENT THE TEXT. (MJM)