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Shock Incarceration and Positive Adjustment During Community Supervision

NCJ Number
155713
Journal
Journal of Quantitative Criminology Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1995) Pages: 111-142
Author(s)
Date Published
1995
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This study examines the impact of shock incarceration programs operating in New York, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and South Carolina on a broad index of positive behavior, including, but not limited to, recidivism.
Abstract
The behavior of shock incarceration program participants who were released into community supervision was compared to inmates who served different sentences, but who had been eligible for the shock programs. Data were collected from inmates' records and from questionnaires completed by their supervising officers over a 1- year follow-up period. Overall, the results indicated that shock incarceration programs had a limited effect on participants' successful adjustment to supervision. Nonwhite, younger offenders, who committed property crimes and who had prior records or evidence of technical violations had more trouble adjusting than their counterparts. Only participants who completed the Florida program adjusted more positively than either the shock program dropout sample or the prison parolees. The effect of offender-officer contacts was nonlinear; nonetheless, positive adjustment consistently increased with greater levels of supervision intensity. 6 tables, 3 figures, 12 notes, 29 references, and 1 appendix

Date Published: January 1, 1995