NCJ Number
139531
Date Published
1992
Length
64 pages
Annotation
Data from all 37,933 North Carolina offenders who began probation or were released from prison in 1989 was used to study the recidivism of offenders involved in various community correctional programs.
Abstract
The offenders were reviewed for an average of 26.7 months in Department of Justice records to determine whether they were rearrested and fingerprinted for new crimes. The offenders had taken part in a variety of community correctional programs, including Treatment Alternative to Street Crime, community penalties, electronic house arrest probation, special probation, intensive probation and parole supervision, community service, restitution, and regular probation and parole supervision. Results revealed that rearrest rates varied considerably among the groups of offenders involved in various programs, but most of the variation was attitributable to the characteristics of the offenders themselves rather than to the programs. However, assignment to the community service program was associated with modest reductions in rearrest probability, controlling for other factors. In addition, increased imprisonment was associated with an increased likelihood of rearrest for property offenses. Findings suggested that community service may have had a rehabilitative effect on offenders. Results did not support the idea that increasing imprisonment increases an offender's probability of rearrest. Footnotes, tables, figures, and appended offender profiles