NCJ Number
53997
Date Published
1977
Length
25 pages
Annotation
TWO 1975 VOCATIONAL SUPPORT PROGRAMS FOR OFFENDERS IN ILLINOIS ARE EVALUATED BY COLLECTING DATA ON 212 OFFENDERS DURING THE FIRST 6 MONTHS FOLLOWING THEIR RELEASE FROM PRISON.
Abstract
OFFENDERS FROM STATEVILLE AND PONTIAC CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS, ON RETURNING TO THE CHICAGO AREA, HAVE AVAILABLE TO THEM THE JOB PLACEMENT AND JOB SEARCH SUPPORT SERVICES OF PROJECT DIRECT ACTION FOR REHABILITATION (DARE) AND THE TRANSITIONAL ASSISTANCE OF THE VOCATIONAL COUNSELING PROJECT (VCP), THIS LATTER PROGRAM BEING INITIATED PRIOR TO RELEASE AND CONTINUING AFTER RELEASE. SINCE EACH PROGRAM IS VOLUNTARY, SOME OFFENDERS DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN EITHER PROGRAM, SOME IN ONE BUT NOT THE OTHER, AND SOME PARTICIPATE IN BOTH. FOR PURPOSES OF ANALYSIS, ALL 212 OFFENDERS RELEASED FROM THESE TWO INSTITUTIONS FROM FEBRUARY TO JULY 1975, WERE INTO ONE OF THESE FOUR DIFFERENT GROUPS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE EVALUATION WAS TO DETERMINE WHETHER MEMBERS OF THE THREE SERVICE GROUPS HAD SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER EMPLOYMENT AND LAW VIOLATION BEHAVIOR EXPERIENCE AFTER RELEASE THAN THE NO-SERVICE GROUP. IN EACH OF THE MONTHS AFTER RELEASE, EACH OFFENDER WAS INTERVIEWED AND DATA WERE COLLECTED. THE SAMPLE WAS COMPOSED PREDOMINANTLY OF YOUNG (MEDIAN AGE 23), BLACK (86 PERCENT), SINGLE (62 PERCENT), HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT MALES (75 PERCENT) WITH PREVIOUS INCARCERATION AS ADULTS (78 PERCENT). THE OFFENSES WERE SERIOUS ENOUGH TO PRODUCE A MEDIAN INCARCERATION OF 48 MONTHS. OF THE SAMPLE, 16 PERCENT CHOSE VCP SERVICE, 23 PERCENT CHOSE DARE, 13 PERCENT CHOSE BOTH SERVICES, AND 48 PERCENT CHOSE NO SERVICE. FINDINGS ARE PRESENTED IN 15 TABLES, WHICH ARE BRIEFLY SUMMARIZED. ONLY HALF OF THE RELEASED OFFENDERS WERE PLACED IN ANY JOB, AND ONLY 17 PERCENT WERE FULLY EMPLOYED. NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IS NOTED BETWEEN THE SERVICE GROUPS AND THE NO-SERVICE GROUP AS TO EMPLOYMENT EITHER BY DIRECT COMPARISON OR BY THE CHI-SQUARE TEST. THE PROBABILITY OF BEING EMPLOYED IN THE SIXTH MONTH WAS NEGATIVELY RELATED TO PARTICIPATION IN THE VCP OR DARE PROGRAM ALONE BUT SIGNIFICANTLY POSITIVELY RELATED TO BEING IN BOTH PROGRAMS. THE NO-SERVICE GROUP SHOWED A SLIGHTLY SHORTER JOBLESS PERIOD THAN THE SERVICE GROUPS, AND THE NO-SERVICE ALSO RECEIVED SLIGHTLY HIGHER PAYING JOBS THAN THE SERVICE GROUPS. GROUP STATUS HAD NO IMPACT ON RETURN TO PRISON, ALTHOUGH THE NUMBER OF ARRESTS AND THE MONTHS OF PREVIOUS INCARCERATION WERE POSITIVELY RELATED. ON THE WHOLE, PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS PERFORMED NO BETTER WITH REGARD TO EMPLOYMENT OR LAW VIOLATION THAN DID THE NONPARTICIPANT, NO-SERVICE GROUP. RESULTS MAY BE INTERPRETED AS PARTIALLY INCONCLUSIVE IN VIEW OF THE SHORT FOLLOW-UP PERIOD AND THE NONRANDOM, VOLUNTARY GROUPING. A SIMILAR PROJECT CONDUCTED IN 1966-1968 BY THE NEW YORK STATE DIVISION OF PAROLE PRODUCED SIMILAR RESULTS. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THE OFFENDERS' PROBLEMS ARE OF MUCH GREATER MAGNITUDE THAN THE PROGRAM DESIGNED TO SOLVE THEM. TABLES AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (FCW)