NCJ Number
82474
Date Published
1980
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Findings are presented from an analysis of the recidivism rate for persons involved in the New York State prison Family Reunion Program, which permits selected inmates to meet privately with family members on facility grounds.
Abstract
A previous report found that only 4 percent of 540 program participants had been returned to the custody of the Department of Correctional Services with a new sentence or a parole violation. Based on the overall return rate of releases, this return rate was about 67 percent less than the expected rate. As a result of the findings of this earlier report, questions have arisen about the characteristics of program participants, other than program involvement, which might be related to the low recidivism rate. All major offense types were represented in the commitment offenses of program participants, although those committed for serious offenses constituted a smaller percentage of program participants than the overall inmate population. A notable finding is that none of the sex offenders participating in the program have recidivated, which suggests that these offenders were carefully screened prior to their participation. It does not appear, therefore, that the surveyed program participants were characterized by conviction crimes usually associated with a low recidivism rate. Tabular data are provided.