Final Report: The Electronic Monitoring of Non-Violent Convicted Felons; An Experiment in Home Detention

• NCJ Number: 125653
• Author(s): T L Baumer; R I Mendelsohn; C Rhine
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 224 pages
• Grant Number(s): 86-IJ-CX-0041
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Indiana University
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This final report of the evaluation of the home detention program in Marion County, Ind., provides information on program delivery and compares various program elements and outcomes when the offenders were monitored either manually or electronically. Data set archived by the NIJ Data Resources Program at the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, located at URL http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/nacjd.

Abstract

The program was designed as an alternative to prison or jail for offenders charged with suspendible nonviolent offenses. All offenders were assigned to the program as a condition of probation. Manually monitored clients received three to five personal contacts per week from a home detention officer, along with a minimum of one phone contact per day. Some offenders were monitored electronically through a microcomputer that generated telephone calls to the offenders. Offenders were required to respond by answering the questions generated by the system and placing the "wristlet" in a unit attached to the telephone line in the home. A total of 154 offenders participated in the research. The evaluation consisted of randomized placement under the two monitoring methods, intake and exit interviews with offenders, the collection of information about current and previous charges, documentation of program delivery, field observations of the program's operation, and a check of offenders' criminal histories one year after release. There were few differences in offender performance according to monitoring method, either during the program or after release. A substantial minority of offenders reported some minor discomfort with electronic monitoring. Felonious drunk drivers performed better in the program than other offenders. Postrelease arrests indicated an immediate adjustment problem that suggested the need for graduated release or aftercare. 29 references, appended tables and evaluation instruments. For the executive summary of the final report, see NCJ-123614.