NCJ Number
140195
Journal
Journal of Correctional Education Volume: 43 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1992) Pages: 128-131
Date Published
1992
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Although contemporary literature is available on recidivism among inmates of penal institutions, little attention has been paid to inmate gender differences or to learning variations.
Abstract
In the present study, the performance of female first offenders and female repeat offenders on a simple cognitive- motor task was examined. Subjects were selected from female inmates of a large State penal facility who enrolled in one of the facility's post-high school educational programs. All females were either high school graduates or had equivalent certification. In addition, all were proficient in the English language and free of motor impairments. A learning task was constructed along the lines of the Digit Symbol subtest of the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale-R. A group of 10 first offenders and a group of 10 repeat offenders were given ten 60-second trials on the test instrument. Learning curves were plotted for each group and compared. In general, the increase in correct responses to the learning task accelerated gradually over 10 trials for both first offenders and repeat offenders. Nonetheless, after the second trial, the performance of repeat offenders was noticeably lower than that of first offenders. Study results suggested that, on simple cognitive-motor tasks, female first offenders learned slightly faster and slightly more than female repeat offenders. Suggestions for similar research are offered to explore in more detail differences between females and males. Appendixes contain the learning task and instructions. 9 references, 1 table, and 4 figures