NCJ Number
214911
Journal
Criminology & Criminal Justice Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2006 Pages: 163-195
Date Published
May 2006
Length
33 pages
Annotation
In an attempt to shed light on the factors considered by the prison authorities in administering the home leave scheme in Greece, this article focuses empirically on the procedural dimensions of the program, targeting risk assessment.
Abstract
Prison authorities in Greece risk-assessed license applicants for the home leave scheme in terms of four main factors: (1) level of institutional discipline, (2) risk of absconding, (3) risk of reoffending, and (4) risk of improper use of the license. While more than one risk factor could be applicable in a given case, license applications were always rejected on the basis of what the prison board prioritized as the single most important factor. Of the 97 home leave refusals studied, 11 percent were related to poor institutional discipline, 37 percent to risk of absconding, 16 percent to risk of reoffending, and 36 percent to risk of improper use of the license. Other than institutional discipline, the other three factors had a social referent. This study was conducted in the Male Prison of Korydallos (MPK), located in a suburb of Attica (Athens). In this analysis, two primary questions were the guiding force: (1) what were the factors valued by the prison board in assessing and rejecting license applications for the home leave scheme and how did they correspond to different reasons for application rejection risk factors and (2) to what extent was risk defined differently for populations of different racial/ethnic background? Tables, notes, and references