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DIFFERENTIAL OUTCOMES AMONG MISDEMEANANT PROBATIONERS THROUGH THE USE OF ORTHOMOLECULAR APPROACHES AND CASEWORK/COUNSELING

NCJ Number
54024
Author(s)
A G SCHAUSS
Date Published
1978
Length
39 pages
Annotation
A SAMPLE OF 102 MISDEMEANANT PROBATIONERS WAS USED IN A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE UTILITY OF ORTHOMOLECULAR VERSUS CONVENTIONAL CASEWORK/COUNSELING APPROACHES TO REDUCING RECIDIVISM IN WASHINGTON STATE.
Abstract
SELECTED BY A RANDOM TRICKLE PROCESS, THE PROBATIONERS WERE DIVIDED INTO FOUR GROUPS. ONE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP RECEIVED NUTRITIONAL COUNSELING, WHILE ANOTHER WAS PRESENTED WITH SIX SPECIFIC NUTRITIONAL EDUCATION MODULES OF APPROXIMATELY 35 MINUTES A SESSION. THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS WERE COMPARED AGAINST TWO CONTROL GROUPS RECEIVING CONVENTIONAL COUNSELING. OFFENSE DATA FOR THE PREVIOUS 12 MONTHS WERE OBTAINED FOR EACH GROUP, ALONG WITH RECIDIVISM STATISTICS FOR THE 12-MONTH PERIOD FOLLOWING PLACEMENT ON PROBATION. THE DATA INDICATE THAT THERE WAS A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE NUTRITION EDUCATION GROUP AND ITS CONTROL. SIMILAR POSITIVE RESULTS WERE FOUND BETWEEN THE NUTRITION COUNSELING GROUP AND ITS CONTROL, ALTHOUGH AT A SLIGHTLY LOWER LEVEL OF STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE. THE RESULT HELD CONSTANT WHEN THE NUTRITION EDUCATION GROUP WAS COMPARED TO THE SECOND CONTROL AND THE NUTRITION COUNSELING GROUP TO THE FIRST CONTROL. WHILE THERE WAS A SLIGHTLY LESSENED LEVEL OF STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE TWO EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS AS COMPARED TO THE CONTROLS, THERE WAS NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE OUTCOMES OF THE TWO ORTHOMOLECULAR APPROACHES. TABULAR DATA, REFERENCES, AND THE NUTRITION BEHAVIOR SURVEY FORM ARE PROVIDED. (KBL)