Predicting Institutional Adjustment and Recidivism in Delinquent Boys

Abstract

He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin in 1960. His present paper is based upon a study he made while serving as a staff psychologist at the Wisconsin School for Boys in Wales, Wisconsin. EniTon. The author wishes to express his appreciation to the staff of the Wisconsin School for Boys, and particularly to its Superintendent, for their assistance in the collection of the data for this research project. 1 ORLIN, SELECTION FOR PAROLE (1951); RucRa.ss, THE CR PROBLEM (1955).

Institutionahzation and parole behavior: Assessing the influence of individual and family characteristics

“…Several studies of institutionalized youths have found that the older a youth is at program admission, the lower the probability of recidivism (Cowden, 1966;Cymbalisty, Schuck, & Dubeck, 1975;Ganzer & Sarason, 1973). Kazdin (1987) suggests that treatment amenability may be partly a function of a youth's personal competence or "personal resources."…”

“…Responding to Murray and Cox, Maltz, Gordon, McDowall, and McCleary (1980) suggested that because juveniles in the institutional group had more precommitment offenses than did juveniles in the noninstitutional group, observed differences in arrest suppression effects were a consequence of "regression artifacts." Using Murray and Cox's dependent measure of arrest rate suppression, Lundman (1986) reanalyzed data from two quasi-experimental studies comparing community interventions with institutionalization, the Provo Experiment (Empey & Erickson, 1972) and the Silverlake Experiment (Empey & Lubeck, 1971). Lundman concluded that equally powerful suppression effects were observed for both the community and institutional treatments.…”

Demographic variables, base rates, and personality characteristics associated with recidivism in male delinquents.

“…The Porteus Maze Test was retained because of its success in differentiating recidivists from nonrecidivists. Although ratings of "good" and "poor" adjustment did not differentiate between the recidivists and nonrecidivists in the preliminary study, such rating scales have been successful in some studies of recidivism (Cowden, 1966;Cowden & Pacht, 1969), and a number of 7-point rating scales were evaluated.…”

Intensive Supervision by Parole Officers as a Factor in Recidivism Reduction of Male Delinquents

“…However, on th e basis of recent crime statistics (9) , present pr eventive procedures are failing to meet current needs, let alone reduce the problem. Although variabl es such as age, seriousness of offense, adjustment to the institutional environment, as well as several personality measures, may sometimes significantly predict recidi vism (1,2,3,4,7,11), many other variables ar e unreliable or based upon fal se assumptions (6). Also, the complex economic, legal, and social constraints imposed on the delinquent often make it difficult to isolate and control the predictor variables.…”