NCJ Number
68565
Date Published
Unknown
Length
14 pages
Annotation
THIS RESEARCH PROJECT TESTED THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF COMPREHENSIVE SOCIAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION SERVICES TO REDUCED RECIDIVISM RATES, AND THE PERSONAL ADJUSTMENT OF PAROLEES.
Abstract
RELEASED OFFENDERS WITH PAROLE SENTENCES OF 18 MONTHS OR MORE WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO EITHER A CONTROL GROUP WHICH RECEIVED ONLY NORMAL PAROLE SERVICES, OR TO AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP WHICH, IN ADDITION, RECEIVED THE PROJECT'S COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES. EXPERIMENTS WERE AIDED IN THEIR ADJUSTMENT TO NON-PRISON LIFE BY SOCIAL WORKERS, VOCATIONAL COUNSELORS, VOCATIONAL EVALUATORS, AND CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGISTS. REFERRAL OPPORTUNITIES WERE PROVIDED. OVER 30 THERAPEUTIC SESSIONS, BESIDES OTHER LESS INTENSIVE MEETINGS WITH STAFF MEMBERS, WERE HELD WITH EACH PAROLEE DURING THE YEAR. WHILE TREATMENT OFFICIALLY LASTED 12 MONTHS, CLIENTS HAD AN AVERAGE 3.4 STAFF CONTACTS BEYOND THE YEAR. RESULTS SUGGEST THAT DISCONTINUING TREATMENT AT THE YEAR'S END HAD A DETRIMENTAL EFFECT UPON MANY PAROLEES. THREE INDEXES WERE USED IN THE EVALUATION RESEARCH TO TEST THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TREATMENT--A RECIDIVISM OUTCOME INDEX, AN EMPLOYMENT OUTCOME INDEX, AND A PERSONALITY EVALUATION. THE PROJECT WAS SUCCESSFUL IN ITS ABILITY TO HELP EXPERIMENTALS ENTER AND SUSTAIN PROGRAMS OF EDUCATIONAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING. THE EXPERIMENTALS HAD A BETTER RECORD THAN THE CONTROLS BOTH IN TERMS OF RECIDIVISM, PER SE (63.4 PERCENT SUCCESS FOR EXPERIMENTALS COMPARED TO 54.9 PERCENT FOR CONTROLS), AND IN TERMS OF THE SERIOUSNESS OF OFFENSE WHEN THEY DID RELAPSE. NUMEROUS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY ARE INCLUDED. THIS IS A RESEARCH SUMMARY OF A STUDY CONDUCTED FROM 1964-1967; COPIES OF THE 134 PAGE FINAL REPORT ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE FROM THE SPONSORING AGENCY.