MEN RELEASED FROM PRISON

• NCJ Number: 15738
• Author(s): I WALLER
• Date Published: 1974
• Length: 299 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Canada Council on Research in the Social Sciences
• Sale Source: University of Toronto; University of Toronto Press
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

INVESTIGATION OF A SAMPLE OF 423 MEN RELEASED FROM CANADIAN PRISONS, CONCENTRATING ON FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCED THEIR RE-INTEGRATION INTO SOCIETY AND PROBABILITIES OF THEIR REARREST.

Abstract

UNTIL RECENTLY THERE HAS BEEN A NOTABLE LACK OF EMPIRICAL INFORMATION AS TO WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PRISON INMATES WHEN THEY ARE EVENTUALLY DISCHARGED BACK INTO FREE SOCIETY. THIS STUDY INVESTIGATES A SAMPLE OF 423 MEN RELEASED FROM CANADIAN PRISONS, CONCENTRATING ON FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCED THEIR RE-INTEGRATION INTO SOCIETY AND THE PROBABILITIES OF THEIR REARREST. PARTICULAR EMPHASIS IS PLACED ON THE DESCRIPTION OF, AND THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN, ASPECTS OF THEIR PREVIOUS BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY, THEIR PRISON EXPERIENCE, AND, AFTER RELEASE, THE DYNAMICS OF COMPULSORY SUPERVISION OR VOLUNTARY AFTER-CARE AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, THEIR POST-RELEASE EXPERIENCES AND PROBLEMS. BASED ON INTERVIEWS WITH THE MEN INDIVIDUALLY BEFORE THEY WERE RELEASED, AND PERIODICALLY FOR TWENTYFOUR MONTHS THEREAFTER, THIS STUDY ALSO COMPARES EXPERIENCES OF PAROLEES WITH THOSE OF MEN RELEASED WITHOUT PAROLE IN ORDER TO TEST THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PAROLE SUPERVISION. THE ANALYSIS OF THE DATA AND OF THE QUESTIONS WHICH THE DATA ARE USED TO ANSWER IS PRESENTED IN FOUR BASIC SECTIONS. IN THE FIRST SECTION THE VARIOUS STUDIES OF THE CORRECTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS OF BOTH PRISON AND PAROLE ARE REVIEWED. THE AUTHOR THEN DESCRIBES THE MEN ON WHOM THE STUDY IS BASED, THEIR PAST EXPERIENCES, AND THEIR EXPERIENCES AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS SUBSEQUENT TO THEIR RELEASE. THE THIRD SECTION FOCUSES ON ARREST AND RECIDIVISM. THE BOOK CONCLUDES WITH A DISCUSSION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INMATE'S DECISION TO APPLY FOR PAROLE AND PAROLE SELECTION BY THE BOARD. TWO OF THE APPENDIXES HELP THE READER TO UNDERSTAND TERMS USED IN SPECIAL WAYS IN THE TEXT. FIRST, A SHORT GLOSSARY PROVIDES DEFINITIONS OF UNFAMILIAR TERMS, AND AN APPENDIX IS PRESENTED WHICH GIVES SPECIFIC DEFINITIONS OF THE VARIABLES USED FREQUENTLY AND IN PREDICTION EQUATIONS. OTHER APPENDIXES PRESENT A TYPICAL PAROLE AGREEMENT, STATUS AND FUTURE GROWTH OF CANADIAN PENITENTIARIES, PREDICTION EQUATIONS, AND VARIOUS TABULAR AND GRAPHIC DATA DISPLAYS. A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS ALSO PROVIDED.