NCJ Number
124883
Journal
Journal of Offender Monitoring Volume: 3 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1990) Pages: 8,10-11
Date Published
1990
Length
3 pages
Annotation
A survey was recently conducted to study the attitudes and experiences of 186 offenders who had completed their home arrest program through Electronic Supervision Services, Inc.
Abstract
Respondents filled out a two-part questionnaire. The first part consisted of 14 questions with subjects responding on a 7-point rating scale, while the second part of the questionnaire consisted of open-ended, short-answer questions. An overwhelming percentage of respondents were pleased at being sentenced to home arrest, with most believing that the length of their sentence was "about right." Each respondent believed that he or she was less likely to commit another crime after his or her experience of being on home arrest, with 75 percent believing they were much less likely to do so. Respondents also showed a significant reduction of alcohol and drug use after being on home arrest. Thirty-nine percent of home arrestees experienced no change in their incomes during home arrest. However, the number of respondents who had their income reduced during home arrest outnumbered those who experienced an increase by a ratio of 13 to 9. A clear majority of home arrestees, 81 percent, believed that their family relationships had improved, with 45 percent of that group claiming a substantial improvement. Negative aspects of home arrest included the size and comfort of the monitoring devices, boredom, and frustration at not being able to walk out the door despite the lack of any physical barrier. While the results of the study are not scientifically significant because of the small sample size, it would seem that home arrest has an overall positive effect on the clients' lives.