NCJ Number
125306
Date Published
1988
Length
92 pages
Annotation
Data from inmates in seven New York prisons during 1981-82 formed the basis of an analysis of the impact of employment in prison industries on offender behavior.
Abstract
The two samples included 692 inmates who had worked in prison shops for at least 6 continuous months and 742 inmates in the same prisons who were not employed in prison industry. Information was gathered on the inmates' social characteristics, criminal history, prison work history, institutional adjustment, and recidivism as of July 1986. Results showed that prison industry participants were older, were serving longer sentences, had better employment records prior to entering prison, and were less likely to be drug users than were nonparticipants. Findings also showed that participants in prison industry had significantly lower prison disciplinary infraction rates than did nonparticipants, even after the differences between the groups were taken into account. However, the two groups were similar in their rates of recidivism. Figures and tables.