TY - JOUR
T1 - Reinforcing the impacts of work release on prisoner recidivism
T2 - the importance of integrative interventions
AU - Weisburd, David
AU - Hasisi, Badi
AU - Shoham, Efrat
AU - Aviv, Gali
AU - Haviv, Noam
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
PY - 2017/6/1
Y1 - 2017/6/1
N2 - Objectives: We present findings from an evaluation of a large work release program in the Israeli Prison Service. The Israeli program uses an integrative therapeutic approach which combines work release with a series of other program elements. Our main question is whether this integration of multiple program elements leads to strong benefits in terms of reincarceration and re-arrests. Methods: The study uses a rich administrative database to develop a propensity score matching approach for creating matched treatment (n = 547) and control (n = 547) subjects. The prisoners in the groups are found to be similar on known characteristics after matching. MHbounds methods are used to assess the sensitivity of the results to bias. Results: Average standardized effect sizes in our study vary between.17 and.31. In general, rehabilitation outcomes observed are much larger than those reported for US evaluations of work release programs. Conclusions: Work release in Israel is not simply work release, but involves a positive social environment, a high dosage of counseling and therapy, and more general privileges for inmates including furloughs and cultural activities. We argue that our findings suggest the importance of a broader more integrative approach to work release programs to achieve enhanced success in reducing recidivism.
AB - Objectives: We present findings from an evaluation of a large work release program in the Israeli Prison Service. The Israeli program uses an integrative therapeutic approach which combines work release with a series of other program elements. Our main question is whether this integration of multiple program elements leads to strong benefits in terms of reincarceration and re-arrests. Methods: The study uses a rich administrative database to develop a propensity score matching approach for creating matched treatment (n = 547) and control (n = 547) subjects. The prisoners in the groups are found to be similar on known characteristics after matching. MHbounds methods are used to assess the sensitivity of the results to bias. Results: Average standardized effect sizes in our study vary between.17 and.31. In general, rehabilitation outcomes observed are much larger than those reported for US evaluations of work release programs. Conclusions: Work release in Israel is not simply work release, but involves a positive social environment, a high dosage of counseling and therapy, and more general privileges for inmates including furloughs and cultural activities. We argue that our findings suggest the importance of a broader more integrative approach to work release programs to achieve enhanced success in reducing recidivism.
KW - Integrative treatment
KW - Recidivism
KW - Work release
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85014730871&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11292-017-9285-3
DO - 10.1007/s11292-017-9285-3
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AN - SCOPUS:85014730871
SN - 1573-3750
VL - 13
SP - 241
EP - 264
JO - Journal of Experimental Criminology
JF - Journal of Experimental Criminology
IS - 2
ER -