RACE,ETHNICITY, THREAT AND THE LABELING OF CONVICTED FELONS*

Florida law allows judges to withhold adjudication of guilt for persons who have either pled guilty or been found guilty of a felony. This provision may apply only to persons who will be sentenced to probation, and it allows such individuals to retain all civil rights and to truthfully assert they had not been convicted of a felony. This paper examines the effects of race and Hispanic ethnicity on the withholding of adjudication for 91,477 males sentenced to probation in Florida between 1999 and 2002. Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling is used to assess the direct effects of defendant attributes as well as the cross‐level interactions between race, ethnicity and community level indicators of threat, such as percentage black and Hispanic and concentrated disadvantage. Our results show that Hispanics and blacks are significantly less likely to have adjudication withheld when other individual and community level factors are controlled. This effect is especially pronounced for blacks and for drug offenders. Cross‐level interactions show that concentrated disadvantage has a substantial effect on the adjudication withheld outcome for both black and Hispanic defendants. The implications of these results for the conceptualization of racial/ethnic threat at the individual, situational and social levels are discussed.     

Prison labor and recidivism

This study examines recidivism among inmates who participated in prison industry programs during confinement and a comparison group of inmates who were not employed in prison industry. Industry participants had lower recidivism rates than nonparticipants, but when differences between the groups on other characteristics associated with recidivism were controlled, the recidivism rates of participants and nonparticipants were virtually identical. A proportional hazards regression model was estimated that showed that, net of other variables, the effect of prison industry participation on the probability of postrelease felony arrest was small and insignificant. The findings are discussed in the context of existing correctional outcome research and recent developments in prison work programs.     

“Clean up and go straight”: Effects of drug treatment on recidivism among felony probationers

The central question we address in this article is whether participation in court-ordered drug treatment programs reduces future criminal involvement among convicted property offenders who have a history of drug abuse. Using a national sample of male property offenders sentenced to felony probation, we analyze drug treatment experience on probationers’ recidivism rates by employing proportional hazards techniques. Results indicate that how successful white men are in completing courtordered drug treatment programs has no significant effect on their recidivism rates. However, AfricanAmerican and Hispanic men who satisfy the expectations of their drug treatment programs are significantly less likely to be rearrested. Overall, our findings support the contention that drug treatment reduces further criminal behavior among men on probation for felony property offenses. Thus, we recommend that court service personnel strive to provide drug treatment programs for property offenders with a history of drug abuse and that supervisors closely monitor probationers’ activities while in treatment to assure lower rates of recidivism. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society in Chicago in April 1996.     

The Needs of Women Offenders

Abstract

Recent corrections research indicates that programs and community services providing assistance and training for women offenders are lacking. Using a sample of 402 female felony offenders, women's needs, including those thought to be criminogenic (i.e., characteristics and circumstances that heighten an individual's recidivism risk), are examined to determine whether certain groups of women possess similar sets of needs. Cluster analysis is used to identify combinations of needs shared within subgroups of female felons. Identification of common and co-occurring needs, particularly those associated with high risk for recidivism, can assist program staff, advocates for women offenders, and correctional administrators in determining what combination of program elements should be available to women, and the degree to which programming must address multiple domains.     

CRIMINAL PROPENSITIES,DISCRETE GROUPS OF OFFENDERS,AND PERSISTENCE IN CRIME*

Criminal propensity theorists argue that the causes of variation in offending behavior can be traced to variation in one or more causal traits. Other theorists contend that there is actually more than one type of offender and that more than one causal mechanism operates to explain offending behavior. In this article, some of the implications of these two positions are considered. Then, their congruence with recidivism data from a cohort of post-age-16 North Carolina institutional releasees (N = 848) is assessed, The analysis focuses specifically on whether the correlates of offending persistence are similar across two categories of individuals: those who experienced their first adjudication at an early age and those who were first adjudicated at a later age. In support of both positions, some similarities and some differences in the correlates of persistence were discovered. The differences, however, were only evident when the threshold for late first adjudication was set to age 12. When this threshold was raised to higher ages, the differences disappeared.     

Growing up in an affluent society—Delinquency and recidivism in suburban America

This study examines recidivism rates for juveniles in an affluent suburban area. It was designed to test the hypothesis that there is no correlation between type of disposition imposed on juveniles who come to the attention of the Court on delinquency charges and recidivism rates for these individuals. The study focuses on the recidivism of those youths who had been referred to the Court for the alleged commission of acts which would be classified as “criminal” in nature if committed by an adult. The findings of this study challenge traditional assumptions about disposition of cases and treatment of offenders.     

Male victims and post treatment risk assessment among adult male sex offenders

The use of actuarial instruments to predict sex offender recidivism has gained increasing credibility in recent years. This paper is one in a series examining the impact of dynamic inpatient group therapy upon the predictive influence of static risk factors on recidivism among adult sex offenders. Successful completion of the Phoenix Program (Alberta Hospital Edmonton) has been shown to ameliorate the influence of static risk factors on sexual offense recidivism. Many studies have reported that sex offenders who have male victims are more likely to re-offend than those who do not have male victims. A sample of N=513 convicted adult male sex offenders was examined regarding the relationship between the static risk factor of having male victims, subsequent re-offense, and treatment impact. Interestingly, ever having had a male victim did not significantly correlate with sex offense recidivism, for either treatment completers, non-completers, or the combined group. However, having exclusively male victims was correlated with sex offense recidivism, but only among non-completers of the program (r=.155; p=.017). Analysis of a subset of 422 child molesters yielded a similar result, in that having male victims exclusively was only associated with sex offense recidivism among treatment non-completers (r=.189, p=.009).     

Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability insurance benefits; limitations on benefit payments to prisoners; restrictions on disability determinations for felony-related and prison-related impairments--Social Security Administration. Proposed rules

These proposed regulations, which are based on Pub. L. 96-473, place certain restrictions on the payment of benefits based on disability and student status to persons who have been convicted of a felony and are imprisoned and restrict the use of certain impairments in determining disability. These proposed rules specify the conditions under which benefits will not be paid to these individuals and how a finding of disability may be affected when an impairment, or the aggravation of a preexisting impairment, arises during the commission of a felony or imprisonment. Before the enactment of Pub. L. 96-473, there were no restrictions upon the payment of benefits or the making of disability determinations for these persons.     

Questioning mandatory sentencing efficiency: A case study of persistent felony offender rapists in Kentucky

This policy analysis explores the incapacitative efficiency of Kentucky’s career criminal statute in averting the recidivism of offenders convicted of rape. The study utilizes a 1985 cohort of Kentucky persistent felony offenders with at least one rape conviction (n = 62) and tracks recidivism rates up to fifteen years later. The results question the efficiency of mandatory sentencing. In general, mandatory minimum sentences (where offenders are not eligible for statutory good time or parole) kept these offenders incarcerated beyond the time necessary to avert future crimes.     

The Injustice of a Felony Conviction for Offenders Under Age Twenty‐One: A New Option for the Courts to Save Our Youths’ Futures

When the Criminal Justice System adjudicates an individual felony offender, it complicates many aspects of that individual's life; from applying for colleges, and jobs to attempting to become contributing member of society. In New York, to prevent seven‐ to sixteen‐year‐old youth who commit felony offenses from becoming felony offenders, the courts prosecute them as juvenile delinquents or juvenile offenders. In the United States, individuals under the age of twenty‐one cannot purchase alcohol or tobacco and cannot get married without parental consent, but they can be charged with a felony. Before and even after reaching the age of twenty‐one, individuals are still in need of guidance, support, education, employment, and stability as brain development is still ongoing. To help protect those who have not reached the age of twenty‐one, states should implement Senior Youthful Offender Hearings as proposed in this Note. This hearing is a two‐part hearing: (1) determine if an individual should be considered eligible for the protections under the current Youthful Offender Laws and (2) determine sentencing and alternatives to incarceration, focused on steering Senior Youthful Offenders on the right path.     

Gender expectations and their impact on black female offenders and victims

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between failure to register (FTR) as a sex offender and subsequent recidivism (N = 2,970). No significant differences were found between the sexual recidivism rates of those who failed to register and compliant registrants (11% vs. 9%, respectively). There was no significant difference in the proportion of sexual recidivists and nonrecidivists with registration violations (12% vs. 10%, respectively). FTR did not predict sexual recidivism, and survival analyses revealed no significant difference in time to recidivism when comparing those who failed to register (2.9 years) with compliant registrants (2.8 years). Results fail to support the supposition that sexual offenders who fail to register are more sexually dangerous than those who comply with registration requirements. The punitive emphasis on registration enforcement may not be justified and might divert limited resources away from strategies that would better facilitate public protection from sexual violence.     

Refusers, dropouts, and completers: measuring sex offender treatment efficacy

A sex offender program delivered in a medium-security prison followed 109 treatment completers and 37 noncompleters for 2 years after release. Noncompleters, those who refused treatment or dropped out, had 6 times the rate of sexual and violent reoffending relative to completers. Among those who completed the program, however, positive evaluations of treatment change, such as quality of disclosure and enhanced victim empathy, found in posttreatment assessments did not correlate with recidivism. Furthermore, completers did not differ in their rates of recidivism from pretreatment rates predicted by the Static 99, an actuarial measure of anticipated sexual and violent recidivism. We conclude that the program did not influence propensities for sexual and violent recidivism but rather served as a prolonged screening instrument for sex offenders whose failure to comply with treatment attendance predicted higher rates of recidivism.     

Comparing recidivism rates of treatment responders/nonresponders in a sample of 413 child molesters who had completed community-based sex offender treatment in the United kingdom

Analysis of psychometric data from a sample of 413 child molesters who had completed a U.K. probation-based sex offender treatment program was carried out to assess (a) the effectiveness of therapy in the short term and (b) the longer term implications of treatment in relation to sexual recidivism. It was found that 12% (51 offenders) of the sample had recidivated within 2 to 4 years. Of these recidivists, 86% (44 offenders) had been reconvicted for a sexually related offense. One hundred thirty-five offenders (33%) demonstrated a treated profile (i.e., demonstrated no offense-specific problems and few, or no, socioaffective problems at the posttreatment stage). This group was compared with a sample of offenders deemed as not responding to treatment, matched by their levels of pretreatment risk/need. It was found that a significantly smaller proportion (n = 12, 9%) of treatment responders had recidivated, compared to the treatment nonresponders (n = 20, 15%), indicating a 40% reduction in recidivism in those who had responded to treatment (effect size = .18). Matching length of treatment to the offenders' level of pretreatment risk/need (i.e., higher risk/treatment-need offenders typically undertook longer treatment) reduced the rate of recidivism among this group to the level of recidivism observed among the lower risk/need offenders.     

A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of the Impact of Public Assistance on Prisoner Recidivism

Introduction

The Welfare Act of 1996 banned welfare and food stamp eligibility for felony drug offenders and gave states the ability to modify their use of the law. Today, many states are revisiting their use of this ban, searching for ways to decrease the size of their prison populations; however, there are no empirical assessments of how this ban has affected prison populations and recidivism among drug offenders. Moreover, there are no causal investigations whatsoever to demonstrate whether welfare or food stamp benefits impact recidivism at all.

Objective

This paper provides the first empirical examination of the causal relationship between recidivism and welfare and food stamp benefits

Methods

Using a survival-based estimation, we estimated the impact of benefits on the recidivism of drug-offending populations using data from the National Corrections Reporting Program. We modeled this impact using a difference-in-difference estimator within a regression discontinuity framework.

Results

Results of this analysis are conclusive; we find no evidence that drug offending populations as a group were adversely or positively impacted by the ban overall. Results apply to both male and female populations and are robust to several sensitivity tests. Results also suggest the possibility that impacts significantly vary over time-at-risk, despite a zero net effect.

Conclusion

Overall, we show that the initial passage of the drug felony ban had no measurable large-scale impacts on recidivism among male or female drug offenders. We conclude that the state initiatives to remove or modify the ban, regardless of whether they improve lives of individual offenders, will likely have no appreciable impact on prison systems.

     

Long-term recidivism of mental health court defendants

The first MHC was established in 1997 and now, over 15 years later, there are over 300 mental health courts in the United States. In a relatively short time these courts have become an established criminal justice intervention for persons with a mental illness. However, few studies have looked at the long-term outcomes of MHCs on criminal recidivism. Of the studies evaluating the impact of MHCs on criminal recidivism, most follow defendants after entry into the court during their participation, and only a few have followed defendants after court exit for periods of one or two years. This study follows MHC defendants for a minimum of five years to examine recidivism post-exit with particular attention to MHC completion's effect. Findings show that 53.9% of all MHC defendants were rearrested in the follow-up and averaged 15 months to rearrest. Defendants who completed MHC were significantly less likely to be rearrested (39.6% vs. 74.8%), and went longer before recidivating (17.15 months vs. 12.27 months) than those who did not complete. This study suggests that MHCs can reduce criminal recidivism among offenders with mental illness and that this effect is sustained for several years after defendants are no longer under the court's supervision.     

The effectiveness of prison for reducing drug offender recidivism: a regression discontinuity analysis

Objectives

An enduring legacy of the 1980s “war on drugs” is the increased use of imprisonment for drug offenders. Advocates anticipated, in part, that prison is more effective than community sanctions in reducing recidivism. Despite the contribution of drug offender incarceration to prison growth nationally, and debates about whether this approach should be curtailed, only limited rigorous research exists that evaluates the effect of imprisonment on drug offender recidivism. To address this gap, this paper uses sentencing and recidivism data from a cohort of individuals convicted of felony drug offenses in Florida to examine the effect of imprisonment—as compared to community sanctions—on recidivism.

Methods

Regression discontinuity analyses are used. These minimize potential selection bias by exogenously assigning cases to conditions based on a rating variable and a cut-off score.

Results

Results indicate that prison has no effect on drug offenders’ rates of reconviction. This finding holds across a range of offender subgroups (racial and ethnic, gender, age, and prior criminal justice system involvement).

Conclusions

Imprisoning individuals convicted of marginally serious drug offenses—that is, those close to a cut-off score for being sent to prison—did not reduce subsequent offending. This finding suggests that curtailing the use of imprisonment for such individuals will not appreciably affect future criminal activity and may have the benefit of reducing correctional system costs.

     

The effectiveness of felony probation: Results from an eastern state

Data from New Jersey were used to examine the effectiveness of felony probation. Examination of more than 2,000 burglars, robbers, and controlled substance offenders placed on probation in 1976–1977 showed that their recidivism at three, four, and approximately 10 years after sentencing ranged from approximately one-third to more than half arrested and about 10 percent imprisoned. Prior convictions, type of offense, age, race, the Greenwood prediction device, use of heroin, and employment were statistically significant correlates of recidivism. The major conclusion is that probation is an acceptable sentencing alternative for some felony offenders in some states but that recidivism rates can be alarmingly high for particular categories of offenders. In addition, probation officials should devote some attention to the needs of probationers in such problem areas as employment and drug abuse.     

Exhibitionism: findings from a Midwestern police contact sample

This study used a police sample to examine offense characteristics, recidivism rates, and other types of sexual offending among individuals suspected of exhibitionism. The sample consisted of 202 incidents of indecent exposure perpetrated by 106 identified individuals. Demographic information showed that one quarter of the sample had symptoms of a mental illness and one quarter had a history of substance abuse. More than 84% of the sample had other nonsexual criminal charges. Approximately 30% of the perpetrators were charged for more than one exposure incident. Masturbating during the offense, exposing to child victims, and speaking to the victim did not show any relationship to the occurrence of more sexually aggressive behaviors. However, individuals who had subsequent rape or molestation charges (16.9%) were more likely than those who did not to have had multiple exposure incidents and a history of physical assault charges.     

Sexual predator civil commitment: a comparison of selected and released offenders

This study compared two groups of sex offenders who were considered for civil commitment under Florida's Jimmy Ryce Act: Two hundred twenty-nine sex offenders who were recommended by forensic evaluators to be civilly committed and 221 sex offenders who were recommended for release. It was hypothesized that selected offenders would be more likely to display risk factors for sex offense recidivism than those who did not meet criteria. Data analyses revealed that selected offenders, as a group, scored significantly higher on actuarial risk assessment instruments. There were also significant differences between the groups on other risk factors that have been empirically correlated with sexual recidivism. Selected offenders had higher frequencies of paraphilia diagnoses and antisocial personality. These findings supported the hypotheses and suggested that evaluators are correctly selecting for civil commitment those sex offenders who have a mental abnormality predisposing them to sexual violence and who are at higher risk for reoffense.     

The PCL-R and violent recidivism in a prospective follow-up of a nationwide sample of female offenders

Psychopathy has been linked to violent reoffending in men, but the findings in women have been contradictory. The aim of this study was to examine the predictive validity of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) for violent recidivism in a nationwide sample of female violent offenders. The offenders (n = 48) had been assessed by the PCL-R and were followed after their release from prison or a psychiatric hospital. The average follow-up period was 8 years. Of the offenders, 16 (33%) had been reconvicted of a violent crime. Current findings of the performance indicators did not support the use of the PCL-R as a predictive instrument assessing risk of violent recidivism in females. The findings indicate that impulsivity plays a crucial role in female violent recidivism and that the PCL-R should be used with caution in risk assessment with female populations.