NCJ Number
80928
Date Published
1981
Length
18 pages
Annotation
A theoretical model that describes how a family might be expected to rehabilitate an offender is presented, and limiting conditions are examined.
Abstract
Families will rehabilitate an offender to the extent that they can reincorporate the offender into emotional, economic, social (civil), and moral (authority) exchange relationships within the family. The model should operate differently for those from strong and cohesive families compared with those from fractured families, for men compared with women, for youthful compared to adult offenders, and for those in central rather than peripheral locations in the family role structure. Moreover, external social factors such as community values, the existence of formal and informal support networks, and the socioeconomic status of the family can be expected to condition the model's operation. Factors related to the criminal justice system are also important for their impact on the family's ability to rehabilitate the offender. The model has not been tested empirically and thus can serve only as an overarching heuristic for empirical research. The model offers theoretical rationale for evaluation of prison policies (such as weekend furloughs and visitation regulations) that are assumed to enhance or hamper the quality of the familial relationships of offenders. The discussion of conditional variables offers an initial listing of factors that should be examined in designing family-relevant intervention programs for specific offender subgroups. Further, the model suggests a set of outcome variables to be used in measuring the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs. Twenty-one references are listed. (Author summary modified)