NCJ Number
69779
Date Published
1978
Length
25 pages
Annotation
The recidivism rate is determined for inmates released from Massachusetts' Bridgewater Correctional Institution in the years 1971 through 1975.
Abstract
Although Bridgewater houses both voluntary patients and convicted offenders, its prisoner population was the sole focus of the study. The facility consists of an addiction center, a hospital for the criminally insane, and a sex treatment center for sexually dangerous persons. Of the 162 inmates released during the study period, 27 percent were reincarcerated for at least 30 days within 1 year of their release. Of the 44 recidivists, 27 were reincarcerated because of technical violations of their parole conditions, and 16 because of new convictions. The recidivism rate approaches that of all Massachusetts correctional facilities, which in 1975 had stabilized at 20 percent. Tables show Bridgewater's recidivism rate by year, the recidivism rates of other Massachusetts facilities by year, recidivism rates by committing institutions, and Bridgewater's recidivism rates by new offenses. Footnotes, eight references, tables, and an appendix with commitment and recidivism variables are included.