NCJ Number
163738
Journal
Corrections Alert Volume: 2 Issue: 15 Dated: (October 30, 1995) Pages: 1-2
Editor(s)
B Mendelsohn
Date Published
1995
Length
2 pages
Annotation
Even as boot camps gain popularity as an alternative correctional strategy, evidence that they do not reduce recidivism is rapidly accumulating.
Abstract
A recent report from Florida's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability further challenges the claim that boot camps significantly reduce recidivism. According to the report, 55.7 percent of the offenders who graduated from Florida's boot camps were reincarcerated within 3 years of their release. This compares to a 41-percent overall reincarceration rate and a 37-percent reincarceration rate for offenders who participated in the Department of Correction's work-release program. The study also found that approximately 78 percent of the growth in Florida's prison system (from 28,310 in 1985 to 61,992 this year) is due to reincarceration, rather than to offenders entering prison for the first time. In addition, the study showed that for offenders released from prison in fiscal year 1990-91, Florida's reincarceration rate was lower than comparable rates for several large States, including Illinois, Maryland, Texas, North Carolina, Arizona, and Georgia. Further, the study reports that released offenders who are black, male, ages 24 or younger, have been in prison more than once, or have committed property crimes are more likely to be reincarcerated. The report identifies three primary factors in the decline in reincarceration rates from fiscal year 1989-90 to fiscal year 1993-94: the decline in crime, a decline in prison admissions, and longer prison terms for habitual offenders. 1 figure