NCJ Number
82901
Date Published
1981
Length
300 pages
Annotation
This study reports the results of the High Control Project, an experimental parole supervision program which operated within the California Department of Corrections between 1977 and 1980.
Abstract
The project sought to identify those parolees who presented the most serious threat to public safety, deter those parolees who had not returned to criminal activity but had a high potential for doing so, and increase the frequency and severity of sanctions applied to parolees who had returned to criminal activity. The high control model of supervision placed primary emphasis on conducting prearrest investigation activities and upon monitoring parolee activity indirectly through various means. The two types of control-oriented parole supervision models which were tested during the project included the investigation model and the intensive supervision model. Approximately 175 parolees supervised by personnel located in 4 demonstration sites comprised the study sample. The evaluation used a quasi-experimental design. Program activities and outcomes of project cases were compared to the activities and outcomes of a similar group of high risk parolees who received only regular parole supervision. It was concluded that prearrest investigative techniques may increase illegal activity verification and sanctioning rates. Selection factor differences were found to at least partially account for the higher recidivism rates of parolees in the intensive supervision model. Study instruments, 70 tables, and 30 references are included. (Author summary modified).