NCJ Number
98844
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1985) Pages: 209-225
Date Published
1985
Length
9 pages
Annotation
An evaluation of the effectiveness of a Canadian university-sponsored humanities program on inmates' institutional misconduct found that the program had negligible effects on positive or negative misconduct.
Abstract
Since 1972, the University of Victoria (UVIC) has provided university-level courses to prisoners at Matsqui Penitentiary and other institutions in British Columbia. A series of five studies evaluated the program. Study 1 compared misconduct rates at Matsqui Penitentiary for the year preceding the program and the year following the program's initiation. Study 2 examined the program's impact only on those prisoners who participated in it; this study had three substudies. Study 3 compared UVIC program participants' misconduct with that of participants in other institutional programs. Study 4 examined the misconduct rates of UVIC participants as a function of the extent of their exposure to the program. Study 5 revealed that there was no statistically significant change in the pattern or type of misconducts earned by UVIC subjects over time. Factors contributing to the null results are considered. One data table and 15 references are supplied.