Boot Camp Prison Program

CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH SUCCESSFUL ADJUSTMENT TO SUPERVISION:

Mackenzie, Doris L., Shaw, James W., & Souryal, Claire. (1992). Characteristics associated with successful adjustment to supervision: A comparison of parolees, probationers, shock participants, and shock dropouts. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 19(4), 437454.

The abstract accurately reported the findings of the two studies reported in the article. The abstract also stated conclusions in unequivocal terms, however, whereas, in the text of the article, the authors were careful to explain factors that may have compromised the conclusions.

Introduction, Background, and Article Purpose

The introduction to the article provides a full explanation of what a "boot camp" prison program, and of how such programs work in the State of Louisiana, the locale of the studies reported in this article. While it is probable that most people reading this article would be familiar with the general characteristics of a "boot camp" prison program, it is far less likely that most such readers would be aware of the fact that, in the State of Louisiana, "boot camp" prisoners are required to complete the balance of their sentences in traditional prisons, subject to ordinary parole procedures, regardless of their performance in a "boot camp" prison. Thus, the information provided by the authors in the introduction to this article was valuable for all readers of the ar

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g in the spring of 1988 until data had either been collected on 100 prisoners in a designated sample group or until oneyear had elapsed, which ever occurred first. Certainly, this procedure was efficient; however, it does raise some methodological questions concerning reliability. To assess the social adjustment of prisoners in Study 1, the researchers evaluated prisoners in the contexts of (1) substance abuse, (2) education, (3) employment, (4) interpersonal actions, (5) legal factors, and (6) program requirements. Additionally, three indices were developed to permit the researchers to control for the different levels of supervision that characterized the four sample groups. These indices were significant, because supervision was more intense overall for prisoners participating in shock incarceration programs. Results and Discussion The researchers found that shock incarceration parolees adjusted significantly more positively during the community supervision phase than did the other three sample groups. Shock incarceration dropouts adjusted in a similar manner to probationers and parolees. These findings, however, were unadjusted for the level of supervision. When the level of supervision was controlled, the researchers

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