NCJ Number
110106
Date Published
1987
Length
37 pages
Annotation
This evaluation of the new sentence of corrective training introduced in New Zealand in 1981 focused on the rate of reconvictions of the female offenders who had served their sentences at the Arohata Corrective Training Institution.
Abstract
The new sentence replaced the sentence of detention in a detention center for youths between ages 15 and 20. Its main goal is to reduce reoffending through the experience of a punitive but fair sentence. Trainees automatically received a term of 1 year of statutory probation following release from the corrective training institution. The analysis included all 219 females sentenced between April 1981 and March 31, 1985. Official records provided information on offense histories and recidivism during the year after release. The study participants were socially disadvantaged in terms of educational achievement, level of unemployment, and history of juvenile offending. Sixty-three percent were reconvicted within a year of release, indicating that the main goal of the corrective training sentence is not being met. However, the level of offending without the sentence is unknown. Figures, data tables, and an appended list of topics on which data were collected.