NCJ Number
54737
Date Published
1977
Length
4 pages
Annotation
ANALYSIS OF FIVE PROBATION PROJECTS INDICATES THAT THE STRATEGY OF INTENSIVE SUPERVISION EFFECTIVELY REDUCES RECIDIVISM FOR ALL AGE GROUPS AND FOR CLIENTS WITH DIFFERENT CRIMINAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC BACKGROUNDS.
Abstract
THE FOLLOWING FIVE PROJECTS WERE EXAMINED: NEW PRIDE (DENVER, COLO.); THE ESSEX COUNTY PROBATION DEPARTMENT'S SPECIALIZED CASELOAD PROJECT AND VOLUNTEER'S COMPONENT (NEWARK, N.J.); CASE MANAGEMENT CORRECTIONS SERVICES (PORTLAND, ORE.); PROVIDENCE EDUCATIONAL CENTER (ST. LOUIS, MO.); AND PROBATION AFTERCARE NUMBER 6 (LOS ANGELES, CALIF.). FIVE ANALYSES WERE PERFORMED FOR THE CLIENT SAMPLES IN EACH PROJECT AND FOR THE TOTAL CLIENT SAMPLE: (1) COMPARISONS OF THE FREQUENCY OF OFFENSES BASED ON A 1-YEAR BASELINE PERIOD AND A 1-YEAR SERVICE PERIOD; (2) COMPARISONS OF THE SEVERITY OF OFFENSES FOR THE SAME PERIODS; (3) PREDICTION OF VARIOUS CRIMINAL OFFENSE MEASURES BY SUCH VARIABLES AS AGE, ETHNICITY, AND GRADE LEVEL; (4) PREDICTION OF SERVICE PERIOD CRIMINAL OFFENSE MEASURES BY PRESERVICE AND BASELINE CRIMINAL OFFENSE MEASURES; AND (5) THE USE OF STEPWISE MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSES TO ASSESS THE PREDICTABILITY OF SERVICE FREQUENCY FROM THE BEST SET OF CLIENT-DESCRIPTIVE AND CRIMINAL OFFENSE VARIABLES. ALL FIVE ANALYSES SHOWED THAT INTENSIVE SUPERVISION SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED RECIDIVISM AMONG ALL CLIENT GROUPS. PERCENTAGE REDUCTIONS RANGED FROM 28.4 PERCENT TO 61.9 PERCENT FOR THE DIFFERENT PROJECTS, WITH AN OVERALL AVERAGE OF ABOUT 50 PERCENT. JUVENILES WITH EXTENSIVE PRIOR CRIMINAL RECORDS BENEFITED MOST. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT SUCH INTENSIVE SUPERVISION IS WELL WORTH THE COST IN TIME AND MONEY. STATISTICAL DATA ARE NOT INCLUDED. (GLR)