NCJ Number
88807
Journal
Criminology Volume: 21 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1983) Pages: 95-118
Date Published
1983
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This study attempts to ascertain how the legal aims of rehabilitation are applied, as well as their social control consequences for a group of offenders sentenced under the Federal Youth Corrections Act (FYCA) of 1950.
Abstract
Discriminant function analyses were conducted on a random sample of 452 persons selected for a 'special' FYCA rehabilitative disposition and 758 persons accorded a regular punitive disposition, to determine 1) the factors that influence the judge's choice between these two outcomes; and 2) if persons sentenced under the special rehabilitative provision spend more or less time incarcerated, relative to those given a regular disposition. Our analyses indicate that age is the single discriminator of much significance in determining whether an offender is given a FYCA or regular disposition, with younger persons more likely to receive rehabilitative treatment. Little support was found for the contention that greater intrusiveness of social control inevitably results from adoption of a rehabilitative form of social control as opposed to a regular punitive disposition. The implications of these findings for the application and consequences of the FYCA are discussed. (Publisher abstract)