NCJ Number
70464
Journal
Tijdschrift voor criminologie Volume: 20 Dated: (November - December 1978) Pages: 303-317
Date Published
1978
Length
15 pages
Annotation
The effectiveness of Belgian efforts to reintegrate long-term prison convicts after their parole is assessed on the basis of 115 prisoners released from Leuven-Centraal between January of 1968 and March of 1973.
Abstract
Subjects were examined initially after a 6-month period and a subsequent 1-year period to ascertain their adjustment in living circumstances, familial and nonfamilial personal relationships, the working world, and leisure activities. The validity of the results are limited somewhat by the relatively small size of the parolee group and the variability of selective factors in information gathering. Study findings show that more than 56 percent of the group is over 35 years old and 78.3 percent are no longer married. Most of the subjects have been convicted of violent crimes or serious property offenses. While 75 percent return to an environment with family or acquaintances, 25 percent live alone in a home. Personal difficulties with spouses appear in about half the cases; reconciliation attempts occur in the first period. Most parolees are able to find jobs after release but in the early period jobs are changed frequently. Parolees are usually untrained in any particular profession and about 30 percent must take poorly paid jobs. About 60 percent of the parolees have problems of one type or another in the first period, but the proportion of subjects with problems abates in the following 1-year period. Family problems, difficulties with former spouses, and work or financial problems are most common in the early period, while ill health, excessive drinking, conflicts with present spouses, and behavioral difficulties appear to present long-term adjustment problems. It is concluded that reintegration of the parolees is difficult because of the age of the ex-offenders, the numerous changes in the outside world during their imprisonment, and the alienation of imprisonment. Further analysis, especially of the kinds and frequency of assistance provided during the critical 6-month post-release period, is recommended. Tables and a bibliography are supplied.