NCJ Number
80522
Journal
Journal of Offender Counseling, Services and Rehabilitation Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1980) Pages: 39-46
Date Published
1981
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Findings are presented from a study that assessed work releasees' risk to the community and the correctional institution based on type of offense committed and legal category (misdemeanor or felony).
Abstract
After separating the rule violations of 137 work release residents committed to the Southern Illinois Community-Based Corrections Center during 1978 into two categories -- those detrimental to community safety and those detrimental to institutional security and control -researchers tested the significance of sets of variables to the type of offense committed and inmates' legal category (misdemeanant or felon). Findings show that work release participants convicted of serious crimes, as well as those convicted of felonies, are not more likely to commit violations related to community adjustment than those convicted of less serious offenses, including misdemeanors. In terms of actual number of violations, misdemeanants were nearly twice as likely to violate an institutional control rule than felons. If these study results are an indication of the adjustment potential of work release participants in general, it would seem to be in the best interest of work release administrators to reexamine their current selection criteria. Tabular data and 12 references are provided.