NCJ Number
77136
Journal
Across the Board Volume: 16 Issue: 10 Dated: (October 1979) Pages: 48-59
Date Published
1979
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Five white-collar offenders incarcerated in the minimum security Allenwood Federal Prison Camp in Pennsylvania are interviewed on their perceptions of imprisonment and the problems that await them upon their release.
Abstract
Two of the inmates had been partners in a stock brokerage firm, one had been treasurer of a large bank, and the others also had financial backgrounds. The interviewer provides useful background data and information. Since Watergate, the courts and enforcement agencies have been dealing more strictly with white-collar offenders. At the FBI, white-collar offenses have become a top-priority line of investigation since 1975. However, white-collar offenders face special problems during incarceration. Prison training and rehabilitation programs are geared exclusively to the needs of the low-skilled, blue collar group of inmates. Constructive work or programs do not exist for educated and experienced inmates so that the prison experience takes the simple form of punishment. In addition, none of the many agencies that help ex-offenders to reenter the labor force do anything specifically for the white-collar inmate. The problem is due, in part, to a lack of public awareness. The recidivism rate for white-collar offenders (excluding counterfeiters and forgers) is much lower than that for the general population of ex-inmates. A 2-year success rate of 95.4 percent has been recorded (79.2 percent over 18 years). Those interviewed suggest that white-collar ex-offenders are safe risks when reemployed since they have experienced the consequences of criminal activity. However, they suggest that probation would be a more suitable sentence since it would have a lower stigma effect while being just as rehabilitative as prison. No references are included.