NCJ Number
68429
Date Published
1975
Length
60 pages
Annotation
THE 86 YOUTHS IN THE PRE-PAROLE PHASE OF CALIFORNIA'S SOCIAL, PERSONAL, AND COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE PROGRAM, 1973-1974, WERE PREDOMINANTLY BLACK, MALE, AND UNLIKELY TO COMMIT A CRIME ON PRE-PAROLE.
Abstract
THE SOCIAL, PERSONAL, AND COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE PROGRAM (SPACE) IS A 90-DAY, PRE-PAROLE AND PAROLE PROGRAM FOR CALIFORNIA YOUTH. UPON COMPLETING PRE-PAROLE, THESE WARDS CONTINUE ON PAROLE SUPERVISED BY SPACE PAROLE AGENTS. ABOUT ONE THIRD OF SPACE PAROLEES ARE PLACED SHORT-TERM IN SPACE GROUP HOMES. A STUDY OF THE PRE-PAROLE PHASE DURING THE FIRST 12 MONTHS OF THE PROGRAM'S OPERATION YIELDED THE FOLLOWING FINDINGS. EIGHTY-SIX WARDS WERE ADMITTED TO SPACE, OF WHOM ABOUT 30 PERCENT FAILED PRE-PAROLE AND WERE RETURNED TO OTHER CALIFORNIA YOUTH AUTHORITY INSTITUTIONS. ABOUT 91 PERCENT WERE MALES, THE MEDIAN AGE WAS 20.6, AND 74 PERCENT WERE NON-WHITE (54 PERCENT BEING BLACK). EQUAL NUMBERS WERE PERSONAL AND PROPERTY OFFENDERS, AND ONLY ABOUT 6 PERCENT HAD COMMITTED DRUG OFFENSES. THOSE COMPLETING SPACE WERE MOST LIKELY TO BE BLACK FIRST OFFENDERS OR BLACKS WITH BRIEF CRIMINAL RECORDS. HOWEVER, WHITES OR MEXICAN-AMERICANS WERE MOST LIKELY TO RUN AWAY FROM SPACE. IT WAS FOUND THAT SPACE PAROLE AGENTS SPENT TWICE AS MUCH TIME AS OTHER PAROLE AGENTS ON DIRECT CLIENT SERVICES. USING STATISTICAL MODELS SUCH AS WARD BACKGROUND VARIABLES AND PERSONALITY INVENTORIES, SUCCESS OR FAILURE WAS PREDICTED FROM 85 PERCENT OF A SAMPLE OF WARDS COMMITTED TO SPACE. A COMPARISON OF SAMPLES OF ARREST RECORDS OF SPACE PRE-PAROLEES AND REGULAR PAROLEES REVEALED A MUCH HIGHER ARREST RATE DURING PAROLE FOR THE REGULAR PAROLEES. TABLES AND APPENDIXES ARE INCLUDED.