An exploratory case study of reducing recidivism through a prison reentry education program

摘要

The reduction of recidivism is an ongoing issue in the United States correctional system. Ex-offenders experience multiple problems when reintegrating into the community. The purpose of this correlational non-experimental case study is to examine the extent of the Florida Department of Corrections, Baker Correctional Institution Reentry Education Program on reducing recidivism among offenders. The significance of this study lies in the potential contribution to the offender rehabilitation, recidivism, and correctional education literature, by suggesting a framework for future rehabilitation policies that may save taxpayers' dollars.;The research design was correlational with the intent to examine preexisting archival data from the Florida Department of Corrections Offender Based Information System (OBIS). The sample consisted of 500 adult male offenders who were released from the Baker Correctional Institution Reentry Program during the period of January 1, 2010 and ending December 31, 2010. A primary research question along with seven subset questions were formulated to guide the purpose of this study. The analytic strategy included descriptive statistics to identify the characteristics that were relevant to the study (age at release, race, prior convictions, length of stay, supervision term after release, education level, and criminal offense type), the survival analysis techniques and the cox proportional hazards model were used to relate the independent variables, and the correlation coefficient was used to determine to what degree two independent predictive variables are related. The results revealed that prior convictions, age at time of release, supervision to follow release, length of stay and non-violent offenses are significantly associated with the level of recidivism among the Baker Correctional Institution Reentry Education Program release cohort. Based upon the results, recommendations were made. Some of the recommendations include: 1. It is recommended that correctional professionals make assertive efforts to evaluate educational opportunities prior to, during, or after incarceration, and develop incentives to encourage offenders to engage in opportunities for self- development. 2. Future research should address community post-release employment, parole compliance and family reconciliation as additional factors that measure successful reentry back into the community. 3. It is recommended that correctional professionals continue to evaluate the Baker Correctional Institution Reentry Education Program for recidivism outcomes to get a longitudinal analysis of all variables that may contribute to the program success.