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Comparison of Recidivism Rates for Low-Level Drug and/or Alcohol Offenders Receiving Intermediate Sanctions

NCJ Number
224632
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 33 Issue: 4 Dated: July/August 2008 Pages: 1-2,4,28,31
Author(s)
Lisa R. Muftic; Jeffrey A. Bouffard
Date Published
July 2008
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study evaluated the effectiveness of community-based intermediate sanctions for low-level drug and/or alcohol offenders.
Abstract
This study examined three types of sentences: chemical dependency (CD) assessment, community service (CS), and monetary fines. The results from this study indicate that the recidivism rates across sentence types are largely comparable across community-based intermediate sanctions for low-level drug and/or alcohol offenders. Additionally, the use of intermediate sanctions that provide more supervision and management of services such as CD assessment sentences might be slightly more effective in reducing the likelihood of reoffending among drug and/or alcohol offenders when compared with fined offenders. This study examined whether there were any initial differences between each of the three groups of drug and/or alcohol offenders by sentence type. Second, the study examined factors related to the likelihood of recidivism among low-level drug and/or alcohol offenders in general and then by sentence type. Finally, this study investigated whether receiving a CD assessment sentence was related to a lower probability of being rearrested relative to receiving a less structured community-based intermediate sanction (CS order or monetary fine). Data were collected over 12 months from a sample of 446 adult offenders in a small metropolitan area in the upper Midwest who were convicted of drug- and/or alcohol-related offenses, resulting in community-based intermediate sentences. Tables, references