NCJ Number
194641
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 44 Issue: 3 Dated: 2000 Pages: 293-311
Date Published
2000
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This article examined drug and alcohol consumption between two groups in Pennsylvania; one group served their sentence in jail and the other group served their sentence under house arrest with electronic monitoring (EM) and the variables related to success for those on electronic monitoring.
Abstract
Through the use of descriptive and inferential statistics, this study examined the differences in drug and alcohol consumption between two specific groups of offenders in Western County, Pennsylvania, those serving their sentence in jail and those offenders serving their sentence under house arrest with electronic monitoring (EM) and reported variables related to rehabilitative success or failure for those offenders serving EM sentences. Findings indicated that it appeared that increased surveillance or monitoring did not increase an offender’s chances for success. The study did not support the hypothesis that incarceration was somehow damaging to an offender when compared to other sanctions. The jail group was expected to do worse than the EM group because they were less likely to receive or attend treatment and had more priors. In addition, they were more likely to use or test positive for drugs and alcohol. However, the difference between groups was not significant. The study did find that EM offenders who were employed were more successful than those who were unemployed. It was recommended that more research be conducted with the offenders being tracked for a longer period of time. References