Prediction of Work Release Success With Youthful, Nonviolent, Male Offenders

Abstract

The literature reveals that many correctional institutions select work releasees solely on the basis of nonalterable historical information. The present study delineated current as well as historical inmate variables predictive of success or failure on a work release program. Subjects were male offenders incarcerated in a minimum security federal institution. The best predictors of success on work release were the level of institutional adjustment immediately before entering the program, whether the inmate had been convicted of auto theft, history of drug use, and age at first arrest.