NCJ Number
86444
Date Published
1981
Length
119 pages
Annotation
This investigation of the relationship between selected inmate demographic characteristics and General Education Development (GED) participation and recidivism in Georgia shows that recidivism among GED successes is significantly less than for GED failures and nonparticipants.
Abstract
All the subjects in the study has been released from one of Georgia's male correctional facilities between January 1972 and December 1978. One group consisted of all the inmates who participated in GED programs (about 2,000 subjects), and the second group was a stratified random sample of inmates who did not participate in GED programs. Findings indicate that being black, coming from an urban area, and being convicted of property crimes carry the highest associations with recidivism among GED participants. Other factors found to have a high association with recidivism were substance abuse problems, father's absence during childhood, and having children. Being white, having a substance abuse problem, and not being poor, had the strongest relationship with succeeding in GED. Being black, poor, and older were associated with failure in the GED, along with having a lower IQ. Both marriage and children were negative influences in GED attainment. Results indicate that the GED successes are significantly less likely to recidivate than the rest of the inmate population. Findings also showed that little more than 12 percent of the total variation of GED success can be explained by interaction of the demographic characteristics used in the study. While the amount of explanation appears to be more than twice the amount accounted for when considering recidivism, it still indicates that much of the variance (88 percent) of GED success is still not accounted for. Tabular data and about 50 references are provided.