Rehabilitation of Released Prisoners in the Kibbutz: From Isolation to Segregation

• NCJ Number: 218851
• Journal: Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 44 Issue: 1 Dated: 2006 Pages: 1-22
• Author(s): Efrat Shoham; Uri Timor
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 22 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the general adjustment and recidivism rate of 110 released prisoners before and after their mandated stay at the Kibbutz Movement by the Israeli Police Rehabilitation Service.

Abstract

Results indicated that the reincarceration rate for the kibbutz participants was 22.7 percent, which was significantly lower than the 63 percent average reincarceration rate for the general population of released prisoners in Israel. The findings also revealed that the most significant predictors of effective rehabilitation at the kibbutz were length of stay, social and employment integration, and adherence to kibbutz norms. The results suggested that the success of the program was strongly related to its ability to integrate the released prisoners into the workplace, a critical component of remaining offense-free following incarceration. Given the success of the kibbutz model for rehabilitation, further research is warranted, particularly regarding the pros and cons of the kibbutz model. The authors suggest that the development of a follow-up program for participants might further ease integration into the community and work, increasing success rates. Participants were 110 released prisoners who had been institutionalized at the Kibbutz Movement for rehabilitation between 1983 and 2001. Data were drawn from the files of the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority. Additional information was gathered through personal interviews with 97 adoptive families and 42 of the released prisoners. Also interviewed were the project coordinators and rehabilitation supervisors. Interviews focused primarily on sociodemographic information, criminal data, family background and relationship characteristics, description of prisoner’s stay at the kibbutz, and description of the rehabilitation success. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analyses were used to analyze the data. Tables, references