NCJ Number
177817
Date Published
1999
Length
78 pages
Annotation
An analysis of the relationship between social factors and reconviction for offenders serving community sentences in England indicated that probation work that focuses mainly on drug problems and also on employment, housing, and finances may have a role in reducing recidivism.
Abstract
The study used data from 1993 on more than 7,000 offenders from 6 probation services to examine reconvictions within 2 years of the beginning of a community sentence. The study focused only on factors routinely recorded by these probation services. These factors included drug use, alcohol use, employment, housing, financial problems, multiple problems, and age. Some probation services also provided information on peer pressure, problems with relationships, and past violent victimization. The data were analyzed by means of the logistic regression technique. Results revealed that social variables were significantly related to reconviction, but that their effect in improving prediction was only slight due to the strong relationship between reconviction and criminal history factors. It is possible that the effect of social variables would have been increased if the coding of social variables had been more consistent across areas. Findings underscored the need for the routine recording of a much wider range of factors and for a single national approach to recording. Figures, tables, appended tables, list of other reports from the same organization, and 20 references