NCJ Number
110448
Date Published
1987
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study assesses inmate attitudes and behaviors during and after detention in De Sprang, a Dutch remand center with a special regime, compared with the attitudes and behaviors of a sample of inmates from a control detention facility without a special regime.
Abstract
De Sprang houses approximately 100 young male detainees (18-23 years old) who stay in the institution for an average of 2-2.5 months. Most are charged with property offenses. Detainees spend the first few weeks in an intake unit, during which they are psychologically tested and interviewed so they may be assigned to the appropriate unit. Most participate in one of the four work groups. They work half a day and participate in educational programs and group counseling the remainder of the day. The control institution, the Haarlem I remand center, houses the same type of detainees. Data were obtained from institutional files and interviews with 101 De Sprang inmates and 60 Haarlem I inmates. Only 29 of the 54 planned followup interviews were conducted with detainees released from the two remand centers. For all youths who spent at least 2 months in De Sprang or Haarlem I in 1976, 1977, and 1978, information was obtained on offenses committed before detention and after release from the remand centers. The De Sprang inmates expressed more positive attitudes toward their confinement than did the Haarlem I inmates, both before and after release. Although recidivism was not significantly different for those released from the two centers, slightly more of the detainees from De Sprang improved their recidivism patterns.