NCJ Number
83995
Date Published
1981
Length
159 pages
Annotation
This report evaluates the effectiveness of the New Orleans Prerelease Center (Louisiana) in terms of its impact on the postrelease behavior of its residents.
Abstract
The New Orleans center, a test site modeled after the successful prerelease program in Montgomery County, Md., offered the seven major support components and three of the four major treatment components of the Montgomery County program. The three treatment components were employment or training release, counseling, and social awareness instruction. The evaluation study used a quasi-experimental design to examine a total of 562 inmates who were divided into experimental and comparison groups. Bivariate and multivariate analyses showed that the experimental group, which participated in the prerelease program, had the lowest re-arrest rate. The experimental group also had the lowest number of re-arrests per arrestee and per client of the three groups. Persons convicted of personal and property crimes were most likely to recidivate. All indicators of program outcome except for relative adjustment suggested that the prerelease program is achieving positive outcomes, although the results were not statistically significant. Tables, footnotes, 32 references, and an appendix presenting the codebook for the study variables are provided.