Studying the Needs of Offenders in Prerelease Centers

• NCJ Number: 78944
• Journal: Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 18 Issue: 2 Dated: (July 1981) Pages: 232-253
• Author(s): D E Duffee; B W Duffee
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 22 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Residents and counselors in the prerelease centers located in one Eastern State were interviewed to determine the needs of offenders in halfway houses.

Abstract

The male subjects were felons who were transferred before the expiration of their minimum sentences from prisons to halfway houses. The program was run by the State correctional department and included 12 such houses in 9 cities. Residents who had been placed in the halfway houses as an alternative to parole revocation, who were serving county or Federal sentences, or who had spent less than 3 weeks in the centers were excluded from the study. The interviews were preceded by a lengthy period of analysis of potential study perspectives and methods. It was decided to use a fixed list of questions on potential problems and to interview both residents and counselors. The final list of 28 specific problems was classified into 3 generic groups: 'hard' problems such as needing money to get started, 'soft' problems such as having a problem finding friends outside the center, and 'center-related' problems such as a problem with curfew rules. Findings showed that money and employment were the two most frequent concerns. Although offenders and staff agreed about the major problems, offenders tended to focus primarily on hard problems whereas staff also placed major emphasis on emotional, interpersonal, or intrapersonal difficulties. Counselors also perceived more problems than did offenders. Findings agreed with other research showing that money, employment, and other job-related needs are typically the most important needs reported by ex-prisoners. Informal conversations indicated that staff emphasized resolution of attitudinal problems as a basis for dealing with external problems, whereas offenders assumed that survival needs must be met before emotional problems could be addressed. One table, a graph, and 31 references are provided.