NCJ Number
184547
Journal
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 31 Issue: 3/4 Dated: 2000 Pages: 113-133
Date Published
2000
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study identified the sociodemographic and criminogenic factors that discriminated between inmates in a boot camp who had committed several violent crimes (three or more) and those who had committed such offenses very few times (two or less).
Abstract
The boot camp examined was for first admissions to the Department of Correction in Arkansas. The simple random sample used in the study consisted of 600 males, aged 15 to 24 years, from 25 classes in the boot camp. Based on self-report data, 31 percent of the 600 inmates had committed fewer than three violent offenses. A 150-item questionnaire was administered to each class of 15 to 30 boot camp participants by a staff psychologist. Inmate characteristics documented through the questionnaire were race, family structure before age 12, family structure after age 12, mother's education, gun carrying practice, use of illicit drugs, selling of illicit drugs, and crimes against persons. Stepwise discriminant analysis applied to questionnaire information found that the order of entry (from highest to lowest) of discriminators of violence was carrying a weapon, peer association with persons who engage in violence, more alcohol consumption, attempted suicide, younger age, use of amphetamines, persons of color, feelings of alienation, low self-esteem, and unprotected sex. The intervention implications of these findings are discussed. 3 tables and 59 references