NCJ Number
92309
Journal
Journal of Offender Counseling Services and Rehabilitation Volume: 7 Issue: 3/4 Dated: (Spring/Summer 1983) Pages: 37-55
Date Published
1983
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This is a study of 118 residents of a Medium Facility Correctional Institution at Lorton, Va., administered by the District of Columbia Department of Corrections. It compared 56 subjects enrolled in a university college program delivered at Lorton by the University of the District of Columbia to 62 other, nonparticipating inmates.
Abstract
All the subjects were black males from economically and culturally deprived inner city backgrounds. The two groups were studied as to their characteristics on five variables: family background, education of the respondent and family, program evaluation, sentence structure, and sociometric data. This information was tapped through a questionnaire with over 100 items; a standarized test with some 13 measures of personality was also given. Study results clearly identified two distinct groups at Lorton. Men in the college group came out as being aggressive to the point of violence, but maximizing their potential. The other, noncollege group were less violent but deviant more often. This latter group also had a low self-image, was insecure, and minimized their potential. The study is to be pursued through other phases to compare postrelease and recidivism records. In the meantime, results of the first study phase indicate that men with the background characteristics found among the college group (e.g, less deprived family background, a better work history, first time offenders on a violent charge, and those with weak ties to the deviant culture of the street) should be encouraged to participate in the institution's college program. Tabular data and seven references are given.