TY - JOUR
T1 - Inmates’ attitude change during incarceration
T2 - A comparison of boot camp with traditional prison
AU - Mackenzie, Doris Layton
AU - Souryal, Claire
N1 - Funding Information:
* An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the American Society of Criminology, held in New Orleans in November 1992. This investigation was supported in part by Grant 90-DD-CX-0061 from the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice to the University of Maryland. Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the U.S. Department of Justice. We express thanks to all those who have worked on the multisite study. Send requests for copies to the senior author at The University of Maryland, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2220 LeFrak Hall, College Park, MD 20742.
PY - 1995/6
Y1 - 1995/6
N2 - The attitudes of offenders serving time in six state shock incarceration programs were compared with those of demographically similar offenders serving time in prison. Program (or oppositional) attitudes and antisocial attitudes were assessed soon after offenders arrived at the boot camp program (or prison) and again three to six months later, depending on the length of the program. Despite large differences in the design and implementation of the boot camp programs, coupled with differences in the characteristics of participating inmates, the results were surprisingly consistent. During the boot camp program, inmates developed more positive attitudes about the program. In contrast, offenders serving time in prison did not develop more positive attitudes. Samples of both boot camp and prison inmates became less antisocial over time. These results were true of “enhanced” boot camp programs that emphasized treatment as well as programs that focused predominantly on military training, hard labor, and discipline. Exploratory analyses, however, show that the change in antisocial attitudes was greater for graduates of boot camp programs that were voluntary, devoted more time to rehabilitation, and had higher dismissal rates. Results do not support the hypothesis that boot camp programs will have a negative effect on inmates’ attitudes.
AB - The attitudes of offenders serving time in six state shock incarceration programs were compared with those of demographically similar offenders serving time in prison. Program (or oppositional) attitudes and antisocial attitudes were assessed soon after offenders arrived at the boot camp program (or prison) and again three to six months later, depending on the length of the program. Despite large differences in the design and implementation of the boot camp programs, coupled with differences in the characteristics of participating inmates, the results were surprisingly consistent. During the boot camp program, inmates developed more positive attitudes about the program. In contrast, offenders serving time in prison did not develop more positive attitudes. Samples of both boot camp and prison inmates became less antisocial over time. These results were true of “enhanced” boot camp programs that emphasized treatment as well as programs that focused predominantly on military training, hard labor, and discipline. Exploratory analyses, however, show that the change in antisocial attitudes was greater for graduates of boot camp programs that were voluntary, devoted more time to rehabilitation, and had higher dismissal rates. Results do not support the hypothesis that boot camp programs will have a negative effect on inmates’ attitudes.
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U2 - 10.1080/07418829500092701
DO - 10.1080/07418829500092701
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84946452433
SN - 0741-8825
VL - 12
SP - 325
EP - 354
JO - Justice Quarterly
JF - Justice Quarterly
IS - 2
ER -