A profile study of 429 participants in New York State\u27s Parole Transition Program, an alternative to re-incarceration

Since its inception, the Parole Transition Program has achieved clear successes and failures. The former are men who have achieved through program participation, at least 4 to 6 months of sobriety, the establishment of a savings account, a place of residence and have obtained employment or participated in an educational program. Failures were men who left the program before their scheduled date of departure as a result of failing to comply with program rules. However, to date, no study has been conducted to examine the profile of parolees who successfully completed the program, and those who failed to complete. The purpose of this study is to provide such profile by examining the files of all 429 participants that entered the program between December 31, 1986 and December 31, 1989. Through the examination of 16 independent variables that were selected, based on Edwin Sutherland\u27s differential association theory of criminal behavior and the social control and self-containment theories as articulated by Travis Hirschi and Walter Reckless, this study compared the difference between those who failed and those who succeeded. While these theories all attempt to explain how people become criminals, they were used because they also help to explain the reasons why individuals may continue in or alter their criminal behavior. These models were also selected because of their use in prior studies to predict recidivism and parole outcome, and together they provide an integrated base from which to examine program outcome in the Parole Transition Program. Of the 16 variables used to compare successful and unsuccessful program participants, and to examine which were more associated with program outcome, only age at program admission, employment status, occupational status, age at first arrest, prior probation or parole supervision and number of custodial disciplinary write-ups received in prison, were found to be significantly related to program outcome