NCJ Number
35840
Journal
Social Service Review Volume: 50 Issue: 1 Dated: (MARCH 1976) Pages: 148-156
Date Published
1976
Length
9 pages
Annotation
THIS STUDY COMPARED THE POST-PAROLE BEHAVIOR OF A GROUP OF OFFENDERS RELEASED TO A RESTITUTION CENTER TO A GROUP OF OFFENDERS RELEASED TO PAROLE, AND FOUND THAT THE RESTITUTION GROUP PERFORMED BETTER ON FOUR MEASURES.
Abstract
A STUDY WAS CONDUCTED COMPARING EIGHTEEN MALE PROPERTY OFFENDERS RELEASED ON PAROLE TO THE MINNESOTA RESTITUTION CENTER AFTER FOUR MONTHS' IMPRISONMENT TO A GROUP OF MATCHED OFFENDERS WHO WERE RELEASED TO CONVENTIONAL PAROLE SUPERVISION. THE TWO GROUPS WERE INDIVIDUALLY MATCHED ON THE VARIABLES OF AGE AT FIRST OFFENSE, PREVIOUS FELONY CONVICTIONS, AGE AT RELEASE, TYPE OF OFFENSE, AND RACE. FOLLOW-UP OCCURRED AT SIXTEEN MONTHS AFTER RELEASE; OFFICIAL RECORDS WERE USED TO DETERMINE NEW OFFENSES, PAROLE-VIOLATION REPORTS, THE PERCENTAGE OF TIME EMPLOYED, AND TO SECURE AN OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF PAROLE SUCCESS. THE RESTITUTION GROUP HAD FEWER CONVICTIONS, WERE EMPLOYED FOR A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF TIME, AND WERE RATED HIGHER ON THE GLASER SCALE OF PAROLE SUCCESS. THE STUDY, ALTHOUGH LIMITED, OFFERS SUPPORT FOR CONTINUED EXPERIMENTATION WITH THE USE OF RESTITUTION AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO IMPRISONMENT FOR PROPERTY OFFENDERS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)