PAROLEES' COGNITIVE STRUCTURE - SECOND REPORT OF THE STUDY ON REHABILITATION PROCESSES OF PAROLEES

• NCJ Number: 48240
• Author(s): K IWAI; S SUGIHARA; N KURODA; N IZUMI
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 5 pages
• Corporate Author: Japan Ministry of Justice
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Country: Japan
• Note: FROM BULLETIN OF THE CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, JAPAN THIS ENGLISH VERSION WAS PREPARED BY MR. KENSAKU HASHIMOTO, INFORMATION AND LIAISON OFFICE, SECRETARIAT SECTION, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, JAPAN

Annotation

SUBJECTIVE ATTITUDES OF PAROLEES TOWARD SELF, SOCIETY, PAROLE SUPERVISION, AND PRISON ARE STUDIED, AND VOLUNTEER SUPERVISORS' PERCEPTIONS OF PAROLEES SUPERVISED ARE ASSESSED.

Abstract

A TOTAL OF 363 OFFENDERS WERE SAMPLED RANDOMLY FROM 30 PAROLE OFFICES IN JAPAN. AT THE TIME OF THE SURVEY (1973), SUBJECTS WERE UNDER PAROLE SUPERVISION FOR SENTENCES OF 4 YEARS OR MORE, AND, WITH FEW EXCEPTIONS, THE PERIOD FROM TIME OF RELEASE TO THE SURVEY RANGED BETWEEN 3 MONTHS AND 3 YEARS. AS PART OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE, PAROLEES WERE ASKED TO ATTACH SUBJECTIVE SIGNIFICANCE TO FOUR CONCEPTS: 'ME,' 'PRISON,' 'SOCIETY,' AND 'PAROLE SUPERVISION.' FOR THIS PURPOSE, A SET OF 12 SCALES COMMON TO THE 4 CONCEPTS WAS PREPARED. EACH SCALE HAD A PAIR OF POLAR ADJECTIVES, SUCH AS BRIGHT/DARK, FAIR/UNFAIR, AND PLEASANT/UNPLEASANT, WITH GRADES IN BETWEEN, ENABLING THE PAROLEE TO CHOOSE ONE WHICH APPROPRIATELY REPRESENTED A SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE CONCEPT IN QUESTION. IN TURN, THESE SETS WERE CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THREE FACTORS: RECEPTIVITY, MEASURED BY PLEASANT/UNPLEASANT, FRIENDLY/UNFRIENDLY, AND BRIGHT/DARK; EVALUATION, MEASURED BY FAIR/UNFAIR AND KIND/CRUEL; AND POTENCY, MEASURED BY LARGE/SMALL AND ROUGH/MILD. OF THE FOUR CONCEPTS, THE STUDY PAID SPECIAL ATTENTION TO 'SELF' AND 'SOCIETY' AS PERCEIVED BY PAROLEES. FOUR RESPONSE PATTERNS, TWO POSITIVE AND TWO NEGATIVE, EXISTED FOR BOTH THE RECEPTIVITY AND EVALUATION FACTORS. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE LEVEL OF SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT WAS HIGHER WHEN PAROLEES HAD A MATCHING PERCEPTION OF 'SOCIETY' AND 'SELF,' EITHER POSITIVE-POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE-NEGATIVE, THAN IF THE PERCEPTIONS WERE CONTRADICTORY. THE RELATIVE GAP BETWEEN SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTIONS OF 'SELF' AND 'SOCIETY' IS SIGNIFICANTLY INDICATIVE OF THE LEVEL OF SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT. AN EXAMINATION OF THE PERCEPTIONS OF VOLUNTEER SUPERVISORS AND PROFESSIONAL PAROLE OFFICER INDICATED THAT THE VOLUNTEERS OFTEN LACKED AN ACCURATE ASSESSMENT OF THE INNER NATURE OF PAROLEES. GRAPHS ARE INCLUDED TO SHOW THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY. (RCB)