NCJ Number
19411
Date Published
1975
Length
32 pages
Annotation
THIS STUDY ATTEMPTED TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENCES, OR THE LACK OF THEM, IN TIME ORIENTATION OF CAUCASIAN, BLACK, AND CHICANO FIRST OFFENDERS AT VARIOUS STAGES OF IMPRISONMENT - BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END.
Abstract
THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE IN THIS STUDY WAS THE MEASURE OF TIME ORIENTATION THAT WAS REPRESENTED BY A GIVEN SUBJECT'S SCORE ON THE PERSONAL ORIENTATION INVENTORY'S TIME COMPETENCE SCALE AND THE SELECTED TEMPORAL ORIENTATION QUESTIONNAIRE SCALES CATEGORIZED AS PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. IT WAS HYPOTHESIZED THAT SIGNIFICANT SCORE DIFFERENCES WOULD BE FOUND BETWEEN CAUCASIANS, BLACKS, AND CHICANOS FOR EACH STAGE OF IMPRISONMENT, AND THAT AMONG INMATES OF EACH RACIAL GROUP, SIGNIFICANT SCORE DIFFERENCES WOULD BE FOUND ACCORDING TO THE STAGE OF IMPRISONMENT. THE TOTAL SAMPLE CONSISTED OF 180 SUBJECTS FROM THE POPULATION OF THE FERGUSON UNIT OF THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS. THESE YOUNG MALE FIRST OFFENDERS WERE CHOSEN RANDOMLY FROM A POOL OF SUBJECTS WHO MET THE CRITERIA SET DOWN IN THE STUDY. SUBJECTS FROM THREE DIFFERENT STAGES OF IMPRISONMENT - BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END - WERE TESTED AS TO THEIR TIME ORIENTATION EACH STAGE OF IMPRISONMENT HAD SIXTY SUBJECTS WITH EQUAL REPRESENTATION OF CAUCASIAN, BLACK AND CHICANO TO MAKE SUBGROUPS OF TWENTY EACH. THE DATA INDICATED THAT INMATES ABILITY TO RESPOND IN A TIME COMPETENT MANNER INCREASES AS THEY PROGRESS THROUGH IMPRISONMENT; INVOLVEMENT IN THE PAST DECREASES, BUT NOT TO A SIGNIFICANT DEGREE; INVOLVEMENT IN THE PRESENT CHANGES DURING IMPRISONMENT, WITH BLACK AND CHICANO INMATES, IN RELATION TO CAUCASIAN INMATES, ACCEPTING THE PRESENT IN THE MIDDLE OF IMPRISONMENT TO A GREATER DEGREE; AND LASTLY, INVOLVEMENT IN THE FUTURE VARIES SIGNIFICANTLY BY RACIAL GROUP BUT NOT BY PERIOD OF IMPRISONMENT. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)