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Educational upgrading for youthful offenders
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Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders George W. Knox Safer
Foundation
The research reported here comes from an evaluation of the short-term impact of a program called Operation IDEA. The sample includes all clients from the first eight cohorts of 259 youthful offenders. Each cohort, or group of clients, spends about two months in the program. The data used in this analysis was obtained from pre- and posttests using the Stanford Achievement Test and the Basic Skills Assessment measures for reading and math, a survey instrument, and agency records. Outcome data was collected for job placement and GED results. Of the 210 clients who completed the program 103 obtained employment with an average hourly wage of $3.63. GED data show that 109 took the examination after completing the program and 51 of these passed the exam and received their GED certificate. Findings also show significant (p < .OOl) differences between pre- and posttest educational scores as well as improved self-esteem.
Introduction: The IDEA Program Operation IDEA, the source of data for this study, is a program of the Safer Foundation in Chicago. The IDEA (Individualized Development for Educational Advancement) Program is designed to provide educational upgrading for the youthful offender. The program has an eight week group intake cycle. To qualify for enrollment, a client must: (1) be George W. Knox, Safer Foundation,
Chicago, Illinois 291
292
Knox
between 16 and 21 years of age, (2) have been out of school for at least two months, and (3) have been adjudicated for previous criminal offenses. In addition to upgrading the basic reading and math skills of the clients, the program is structured to simulate work experience. The clients are expected to conform to several conditions assumed to be characteristic of conventional work ethics. These conditions include: (1) being to class on time, (2) monitoring personal hygiene in terms of dress and personal appearance as might apply in an actual work situation, and (3) obeying the admonitions and verbal reprimands of project staff. The clients attend classes 25 hours per week and are paid the minimum hourly wage as a stipend. The program is staffed by 10 full-time employees and is located in Chicago’s downtown loop area. Youths have been referred to the program from many sources: police, courts, the Department of Corrections, parents and guardians, parole and probation officers, community groups and also walk-ins. An absolute requirement these youths must meet to enter the program is to be free of drugs. Clients pay no fee for services. The program makes use of volunteer staff from local colleges. It operates under not-for-profit corporation status from its umbrella organization the Safer Foundation and is open between the hours of 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M., Monday through Friday. It has been hard for the program to obtain government funding. During FY 1979 the program was budgeted for a client flow of 175 where the cost per client would be $1,440; however, partialing out the cost for the student stipend results in a unit cost of $860 for the scheduled eight-week period of instruction. Youthful offenders applying for admittance to the program are closely screened. This screening process involves a personal and educational diagnosis. It takes the applicant about two and one-half hours to complete the testing phase of the screening process. The curriculum is devised in accordance with the tested ability of the student from the screening process. There is both group instruction and individual tutoring along with peer group study for dyads and triads working on the same lesson material. Career counseling is provided and video equipment is used for simulating job interviews.
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders
293
Lesson assignments are monitored daily and all students are routinely assigned homework. A wide range of reading and study materials are made available to the students to encourage additional educational interests. Research Methodology The evaluation strategy for this project involved a preand posttest design with a survey instrument and standardized educational tests. The educational tests included the advanced level of the Stanford Achievement Test and the Basic Skills Assessment. When the program began operation in February, 1978 only the reading comprehension and math computation batteries of the SAT were used. Form A of the tests were used at pretest and form B for posttest. This author introduced two other SAT batteries beginning with the third cohort of clients: the math application and math concepts tests. It was felt that some competency measures were also needed and, beginning with the fourth cohort, the Basic Skills Assessment tests for reading and math were included in the testing protocol. The survey instrument was designed for this unique client population and is based on much theory and previous research. It includes several attitudinal scales such as the Rosenberg (1965) self-esteem scale. It also contains many items relating to the delinquent subculture and self-reported delinquency and background information. This instrument is described in detail in a recent research monograph (Knox, 1978). The procedure for administering the tests and the survey involved a rigorous adherence to routine safeguards. The tests were administered over a two-day period. For both intake and exit testing the students would be reseated as there is the ordinary tendency for these youths to sit with their friends. All the educational tests were timed by recommended standards and students were closely monitored during the testing sessions to enforce test conditions. The sample for this study consists of the first eight cohorts of 259 youthful offenders who were identified as program participants by being present for the testing sessions. Other demographic and background data were gathered for
294
Knox
this sample from the program client files. Outcome data were obtained for employment and GED results. The follow-up period was 90 days after the scheduled completion of the program. The job placement data came from Safer Foundation client files. GED data was obtained from the GED testing center in Chicago. Client Demographics and Family Characteristics The demographic data indicate the program serves, for the most part, black males with a mean age of 18.8. There were ten cases where ethnicity was missing but some 197 (79.2%) were black, 26 (10.4%) were white, and 26 (10.4%) were latino. Eight-seven percent of the clients were male and 13% female. Age of the client was missing in four cases and the distribution was as follows: 16 (n = 5, or 2%), 17 (n = 56, or 22%), 18 (n = 60, or 23.5%), 19 (n = 43, or 16.9%), 20 (n = 47, or 18.4%), 21 (n = 44, or 17.3%). Previous work history is a variable that is coded from the client files and measures the number of months of full-time employment in the private sector excluding government programs and work in institutions. This data was missing from 55 of the files. Some 56 (275%) of the ctients reported no previous work experience, 70 (34.4%) reported one to six months, 35 ( 19%) seven to I2 months, 24 ( 11.9%) 13 to 24 months, and 15 (7.5%) over 25 months work history. The bias in this measure is that of over-reporting actual work history, but still the majority report less than one year previous work experience and the mean value is seven months. Most of these youths live with their parents (n = 177,76%) or with relatives (n = 27, 11.6%). Table 1 shows that for more than half of these families the reported yearly income is less than $8,000. The bias here is likely to be that of over-reporting or artificially inflating the estimate for self-aggrandizement ( 17 missing values). Table 1 also shows the distribution for the number of family members in the household, and while this data was missing for 49 cases, it yields a mean of 4.6. Another item on the survey is a measure of perceived social class by asking the respondent. “What social class would you and your family be classified under?” The possible choices
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders TABLE
295
1
Characteristics of Youthful Offender Families
Estimated
vearlv familv income:
Under $1,000 $2,000 to 3,999 $4,000 to $5,999 $6,000 to $7,999 $8,000 to $9,999 $10,000 to $14,999 $15,000 to $19,999 $20,000 to $24,999 Over $25,000 Total Number One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight None Ten Eleven Total
of family members
n
Li”o
24 38 40 27 26 32 31 14 10 242
9.9 15.7 16.5 11.2 10.7 13.2 12.8 5.8 4.1 loo.0
34 17 26 30 29 18 25 12 12 3 4 2%
16.2 8.2 12.4 14.3 13.8 8.6 11.9 5.7 5.7 1.4 1.9 1oo.o
in household:
are: lower class, working class, middle class, and upper class. Obviously, this too is subject to the bias of artificial inflation. A total of 36, or 14.1% of those answering this item, felt they and their family were lower class. Most of these youthfui offenders (n = 134, or 52.5%) felt they were working class, about a third (n = 76, or 29.8%) felt they were middle class, and a few (n =9, or 3.5%) felt they were upper class. It is noteworthy that about two-thirds of these youths considered their family as having either a lower or working class status. Intimacy or “closeness” to parents is certainly a factor that would have to be included in the qualitative conditions of the family. Here it was felt useful to measure this variable in terms of knowledge about the educational attainment level of parents. Thus, the youthful offender was asked, separately, if
Knox
296
the father and mother completed high school or obtained a GED certificate; and the possible answers were “yes.” “no,” and “don’t know.” What emerged from this data shows that youthful offenders knew more about their mothers than their fathers in terms of whether the parents had themselves ever graduated from high school or its equivalent (GED). Regarding their knowledge of whether the father graduated from high school the responses were as follows: 91 (35. I%) “yes,” 81 (3 1.3%) “no,” and 87 (33.6%) “don’t know”; while for the mother the responses were: 118 (45.7%) “yes,” 87 (33.7%) “no,“’ and 53 (20.5%) “don’t know.” Above and beyond the fact that we are talking about families where at least a third of the parents are known to have not completed high school, this tends to support the notion that the youthful offender has a closer relationship with the mother than the father at least in terms of being intimate enough to know the educational experience of the parents. This lack of knowledge about parental education is in sharp contrast to knowledge about siblings. When asked if any of their brothers or sisters had graduated from high school and had gone on to enroll in a college or university some 13 1 (5 1.4%) answered “yes.” 106 (41.6%) “no,” and only 18 (7.1%) answered “don’t know.” The survey also indicated that about a third (n = 74, or 29.1%) of these youths were themselves a parent of at least one child. Nearly half of the sample (n = 120. or 46.9%) reported they have had hassles and problems with family members during the two-month period prior to enrolling in the program. Subcultural
Integration
and Youthful
Offenders
The importance of the subculture and offenders has been briefly discussed, as it relates to employment services for adult released prisoners, by Pownall ( 1969) who first advanced the subcultural model for explaining offender adjustment outcomes. Basically this thesis has two lines of argumentation: one dealing with etiology and the other with life-style continuity. When it is posited that involvement with, orientation towards, or integration into the deviant or illegitimate subculture was the social interaction factor that explains the onset of deviance
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders or crime for some persons then the etiology of the criminal act is being addressed by the subcultural model. In other words this is the age-old argument that children who “hang out” with other bad or deviant persons, will perhaps themselves “go bad.” Pownall’s (1969) research was addressed to the other facet of the subcultural model; that of showing that subcultural orientation, as measured by attitudinal variables that purportedly measure “trust” and “distrust,” may significantly differentiate adjustment outcomes of ex-offenders. Here we make no claims about the merits of the subcultural approach per se. Our intent is only to investigate the nature of subcultural integration as it relates to youthful offenders. Subcultural integration is necessarily a behavioral and historical type of measurement rather than an attitudinal one. Thus, the preferred measure of subcultural integration is that which self-reports the scope and extent of the subcultural network. The subculture scope relates to the different types of social elements that constitute the illicit or illegitimate subculture. The extent of subcultural integration relates to the number of contacts and number of different associates and friends who can be considered as subcultural in some respect. One feature of subcultural integration is that of having friends who have “done time” or who have been in prison at one time or another. By no means can we consider all released prisoners as being subcultural or illicit. One of the survey items relates to how many of their current friends have previously been in prison (two youths failed to answer this question). The results from this item are provided in Table 2. The data on number of current friends who have previously been in prison shows about a third of the youthful offenders reporting no such friends and about nearly a third reporting more than five such current friends. Another third of the youthful offenders reported between one to four current friends who have previously been in prison. The key finding here is that about two-thirds of these youthful offenders have one or more current friends who have Vdone time” and nearly a third report having five or more such current friends. Under many old, and some current, parole or probation guidelines, offenders were restricted from associating with other released prisoners. This is not the case here,
Knox
298 TABLE 2 Nuxuber of Current Friends Who Have Previously Been in Prison as Reported by Youthful Offenders Number of friends None One Two Three Four Five or more Total
72
5%
89 27 24 28 13 76 257
34.6 10.5 9.3 10.9 5.i 29.6 100.0
but the data strongly indicate that this pattern of affiliation is also characteristic of youthful offenders. The scope of subcultural integration also inciudes gang membership and affiliation. The data show that 174 (68%) reported they had never been a gang member, while 82, or 32% of the sample reported they had at some time been a gang member. Among those youthful offenders who indicated they had at one time or another been a gang member, additional survey data were available relating to how long they were a member. The data indicate that these youths have a range of between one and nine years of membership in gangs. Perhaps the most critical variable relating to gang membership is that of whether these youthful offenders have a current “tie-in” with any gang at the time they enter the program. The data indicates that 232 or 89.6% reported no such ties at present: but that 27 of these youths, or 10.4%, did report having a current “tie-in” with a Chicago gang. As an aside, it is important to note that during the program the youthful offenders were ail seated and working within one large classroom. Among these youthful offenders there were often times when two or more rival gangs would be represented in the classroom. As the program was located in the commercial downtown area of Chicago it was considered neutral turf; and so, perhaps for this reason, there were never any significant confrontations that were known between clients of rival gangs in the program. In fact, during a time
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders
299
TABLE 3 Number.of CurrentFriendsWho Are Gang Members As Reportedby Youthful Offenders Number of friends None
One Two Three Four
Five or more Total
n
%
177 5 4 9 1
69.1 2.0 1.6 3.5 0.4
60 256
23.4 1oo.o
when the Chicago street gangs were at war with one another, and with many killings being reported in the mass media, this program was perhaps the only place where peace prevailed between the gangs and some authority figure was a recognized mutual source of social control for them. Finally, regarding the gang and youthful offenders in this study, we have data on how many of their current friends belong to a gang. Findings from this item are shown in Table 3. An interesting pattern emerges from this data on the number of current friends who belong to a gang. Slightly more than two-thirds report no such current friends. But slightly less than one-fourth of the total sample report having five or more current friends who belong to a gang. This skewed distribution can be accounted for only in terms of the nature of organizational affiliation. In the case studies carried out for this research one example is shown where the youth attempts to break entirely free of gang involvement (Knox, situation, where a 1980). It is usually that, an “either-or” youth is either on friendly terms with gang members, or avoids them, or, in the case of previous membership, attempts to completely sever ties to the gang network. Another type of social network that can be considered within the scope of the subcultural milieu is that of friends who are either hustling or stealing to make a living. This item was included in the survey. The results from this item are shown in Table 4.
Knox
300 TABLE 4 Number of Current Friends Who Are Hustling or Stealing to Make a Living as Reported by Youthful Offenders
Number of friends None One Two Three Four Five or more Total
n
104 14 23 22 6
86
255
5%
40.8 5.5 9.0 8.6 2.4 -33.7 100.0
This data yields two key findings worthy of further inquiry. First, more than half of these youthful offenders, or 59.2%, reported having at least one or more current friends who are hustling or stealing to make a living. Just over onethird (n = 86, or 33.7%) of the youthful offenders indicated that they had five or more current friends who are either hustling or stealing to make a living. This is probably the most serious type of subcultural integration because it tends to the same kind of interaction pattern that would be measured by the theory of differential association to explain the onset and persistence of criminality. Drug abuse is also considered subcultural in nature because the procurement is illicit and the use and sale of the drug is illegal. The survey addressed drug abuse with three separate items; each of which will be discussed here, because this is within the scope of the subcultural network, even though our measures are not associational or social network oriented but are instead straightforward self-report behavior items. The first has to do with the frequency of smoking marijuana. The results are presented in Table 5. These findings show that about two-thirds are selfreported users. As with any survey item that asks the respondent to self-report aberrant conduct, the built-in bias is towards underreporting deviance. With this caution in mind it is interesting to note that close to one-fourth of the youthful offenders report smoking marijuana almost every day. This
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders TABLE
301
5
Frequency of Smoking Marijuana as Reported by Youthful Offenders
Frequency Littie or none Now and then Couple times a week Almost every day Total
n 91 72 36 5i 256
R 35.5 28.1 14.1 22.3 100.0
data on marijuana usage must be contrasted with the more serious types of drug abuse and two items were addressed to this. One item asked the youthful offenders if they have got high off of any drugs other than marijuana during the last two months. For the 258 youths who responded to this item some 189, or 73.3%, reported no; while 69, or 26.7%, reported yes. Again this kind of direct self-report item used on a population of serious youthful offenders can be expected to be met with suspicion and distrust no matter how much anonymity is guaranteed. This data represents a conservative estimate that at least one-fourth of these youthful offenders abuse drugs other than marijuana. Finally, another item asked the youthful offender, “Have you ever been addicted to drugs?” Twenty-six youths, or 10% of the sample, indicated they had in fact at one time been addicted to drugs. ‘In summary, the scope and extent of subcultural integration for these youthful offenders is strong enough to seriously impede the efforts of a program like Operation IDEA to have a positive impact. The value system of the subculture does not uphold educational aspirations and scholastic motivation. There is some evidence that subcultural influences can adversely affect program efforts that deal with the offender population (Toborg, Carter, & Milkman, 1976). Offense History Information on Youthful Offenders The purpose of this section is to describe in detail the extent of previous contacts these youthful offenders have had with the criminal justice system. The data come from both the
302
Knox TABLE 6 Number of Prior Arrests as Reported by Youthful Offenders Number None One Two Three Four Five Six to ten Eleven + Total
of arrests
n 7 42 38 31 22 22 42 ‘CI 31 241
% 2.9 17.4 15.8 12.9 9.1 9.1 17.4 15.4 100.0
survey and client records. This information indicates the severity of the backgrounds these youthful offenders have in terms of previous delinquency; that which was detected and that which may not have been detected. A brief preface is in order regarding self-report methodology and offense history information obtained from youthful offenders. The bias here is strong towards underreporting. With this caution in mind let us examine reported previous arrests. The responses to the item on previous arrests, for any crime including status offenses (not answered by 18 youths) are given in Table 6. These data show that the youthful offenders have a mean of 6.7 for previous arrests. More than half of the sample report three or more previous arrests and a third report more than five previous arrests. The validity of the data on those youths who reported no prior arrests is questionable because they could not have been eligible for the program they were participating in were this the case. Another important aspect of offense history is frequency of going to jail. Not all arrests result in overnight detention. The results for this item are shown in Table 7. The data indicate that these youthful offenders have a mean value of 3.1 for the number of times they have been in jail. A little over 10% reported they had never been in jail. About a third of the youths had been in jail only once. Yet about a third had also been in jail three or more times.
Educational Upgrading for Youthful
Offenders
303
TABLE 7 Number of Times in Jail as Reported by Youthful Offenders
Number of times in jail None One Two Three Four Five Six to ten Eleven or more Total
n
%
29 83 43 28 21 17 17 11 249
11.6 33.3 17.3 11.2 8.4
6.8 6.8 4.4 100.0
TABLE 8 Number of Prior Convictions as Reported by Youthful Offenders
Number of convictions None One Two Three Four
Five or more
Total
n
%
62 123 32 14 8
24.8 49.2 12.8 5.6 3.2
I1 250
4.4 100.0
Another variable from the survey deals with the number of prior convictions. The results for this item are presented in Table 8. The number of prior convictions shows a mean value of 1.3. Note that close to one-fourth report no convictions and that about a half report only one. Only about 15% of the sample report having three or more convictions. Age at first arrest is considered by some researchers to be a variable that can predict variation in future outcomes. We do not attach this same significance to the age at first arrest here, but include it as part of the overall description of offense history. This refers to any arrest for any offense. The age at first arrest showed a mean value of 14.6. More than half show a first arrest at age 15 or below. Some 2 1% show a first arrest when they were 12 years of age or younger.
304
Knox TABLE Self-Reported
Offenses
9
among Youthful
Offenders
of times committed in the last two months One Two Three Four Five or more
Number Offense
None
Armed robbery Burglary Assault
233 229 233
14 14 11
3 3
1 3 4
2 3 2
Theft (under (over $50) $50)
231 241
157
4
2
:,
Drug Pimping/prostitution sales Car theft Arson
2301 25 243 254
If 8 3
’ ; 1
:
; 0 0
:
The majority (88.7%) were first arrested before they were 18 years of age. Another item on the survey asked if the youth had ever been sent to a state training or reform school. Some 72, or 28%, indicated they had in fact been sent to a youth correctional institution. The traditional self-reported deviance and delinquency items were also included in the survey. Again this must, of course, be considered to be artificially deflated given the bias built in to this kind of methodology resulting in vast underreporting of actual deviance or delinquency. Nevertheless, it is useful to present this information here because it shows the range of offenses these youths are willing to admit to. The item itself measures those offenses or “crimes that you have committed or have been involved in” during the last two months. The results are provided in Table 9. This data on self-reported offenses shows limited crime and delinquency. Yet 10% of the sample report having committed or being involved in one or more armed robberies, one or more burglaries, one or more cases of assault, one or more cases of theft of goods valued over $50, and one or more drug sales. Only about six percent report involvement with auto thefts, three percent with pimping or prostitution, and less than two percent with arson. Recall, however. that these are offenses that may or may not have been detected and/or adjudicated.
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders
305
Fortunately we have a more reliable basis for determining the types of crimes for which these youthful offenders have been arrested and adjudicated. The basic intake process in the program requires data to be assembled about the client and this usually includes information on last type of arrest or conviction. Where more than one offense was indicated in the client file, then the most serious of the offenses was coded for presentation here {Data was missing in 22 cases). The data are shown in Table 10. The distribution of known offenses indicate that about 15% have been involved in robbery of one sort or another (armed, strong arm, attempted robbery, etc). Nearly a fourth of the sample was adjudicated or arrested for burglary. Theft was another large category and violent offenses were also represented here. These are generally quite serious offenses even though they range from murder to traffic violations. We also know something about the criminal justice status of these youthful offenders when they enter the program. Most are on probation (n = 149, or 63.4%). The next largest group are those who are on state parole (n = 36, or 15.3%), off parole (n = 9, or 3.8%), and for some their case is still pending (n = 6, or 2.6%). The county level of the criminal justice system is clearly the largest source of referral for these youths. In summary, the youths in this sample have an extensive prior history of contacts with the criminal justice system. Some have run the full gamut of agencies and institutions and others appear well on their way to a criminal career trajectory given the persistence and severity of prior conduct. We need not accept the pessimistic doctrine of “nothing works” or equivalent deterministic fallacies. For while these are youths who, in many cases, cannot correctly spell the crimes for which they have been adjudicated, there is potential in every human being, and the real crime is to waste these human resources. Findings on Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders The statistic used here is a paired sample a paired comparison the only data used are which we have both pre- and posttest scores. same as comparing the mean value for all who
t test. As this is those cases for This is not the take the pretest
306
Knox TABLE
10
Offense Categories for the Youthful Type of Offense Murder Armed robbery Burglary Theft Attempted theft Possession of drugs Strong arm robbery Unauthorized use of weapon Failing to register firearm Robbery Attempted murder Aggravated battery Attempted robbery Attempted burglary Assault Traffic violations Drug sales Involuntary manslaughter Battery Indecent exposure Criminal damage to property Shoplifting Deceptive practices Intimidation Disorderly conduct Possession of explosives Soliciting Fraud Prostitution Gambling Concealed weapon Arson Damage to property Criminal trespass Resisting arrest Auto theft Petty theft Total
Offender Sample n 1 30 L ;% 2 10 3 8 1 27 1 4 3 1 8 : I 13 1 2 3 1 1 5 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 W : 1 8 2 235
CI ,@ 0.4 12.7 22.8 9.7 0.8 4.2 1.3 3.4 0.4 11.4 0.4 1.7 1.3 0.4 3.4 0.4 0.8 0.4 5.5 0.4 0.8 1.3 0.4 0.4 2.1 0.8 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.8 0.4 2.1 1.7 0.4 3.4 0.8 98.8
_
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders
307
with all those who take the posttest. Thus, it is not a group comparison, but a comparison of the same students from one point in time to another. This is why our useable sample size will vary considerably. Shown in Table 11 are the t-test results for the entire series of tests that have been used to date in the IDEA program. As can be seen from the results in Table 11 the t-values are quite high; thus, all of these comparisons are statistically significant (p < .OOl). We are observing significant changes for those students completing the Operation IDEA program in all tests used. Of course, depending on which test is examined, the as measured by the value of extent of that change, the mean, varies somewhat as well. For example, from Table 11 it can be seen that there is over a full grade point level change between the pre- and posttest reading comprehension scores; but less so for the other SAT tests. The Basic Skills Assessment tests are not normed in a fashion as to provide grade level equivalencies per se, but as can be seen there is a larger improvement in the Basic Skills Assessment math test than in the reading test which parallels the results from the SAT batteries. GED Test Results The data on GED test results comes mostly from manual inspection of client test result records on file at the Chicago GED testing center. This manual retrieval resulted in obtaining 109 GED test scores (which indicates that 109 took at least some portion of the GED test after they completed the program). Fifty-one of these youths scored high enough to be granted the GED certificate. For the 109 youths who we have GED test scores available the mean score was 205. We will come back to these GED scores later, in order to see which type of test measures obtained in the program testing protocol show the highest correlations with post-program GED test results. In summary, nearly half (51 out of 109) of the youthful offenders who took the GED test after completing the program passed it. This may not seem significant in its own right. But for those 51 youths it means a genuine second chance, as they had failed to complete the traditional high school program.
*p < .001
SAT reading grade level SAT math computations grade levet SAT math concepts grade level SAT math ~~~li~~tions grade level Basic skills assessment WiKiitIg score I.&&c skills assessment math score
‘I‘es t
19.75
‘25.2 1
130.98
136.55
2.50
1.99
65
2.52 2.32
S.D.
66
Pretest
7.25 7.24 6.56 7.41
?I1
TABLE 11 Test Scores in the Youthful
155 149 112 92
R
Paired Sample t Tests for Educational
148.23
138.51
8.35 8.22 7.41 8.19
111
Posttest
Offender
23.22
23.18
2.47 2.44 1.84 2.40
s.n.
Sample
4.90
4.33
8.03 6.58 6.30 4.12
l-value
309
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders TABLE 12 Correlations between Program Tests and GED Results
Type of test battery SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT Basic Basic Basic Basic
pretest raw reading score pretest reading grade level posttest raw reading score posttest reading grade level pretest raw math computation score pretest math computation grade level posttest raw math computation score posttest math computation grade level pretest math concepts grade level posttest math concepts grade level pretest math applications grade level posttest math applications grade level Skills Assessment math pretest Skills Assessment math posttest Skills Assessment reading pretest Skills Assessment reading posttest
n
r
a7 98 93 94 82 94 91 93 70 66 67 59 39 40 54 54
.48 .52 .44 .49 .53 -51 .46 .49 .52 .57 :: .45 .63 .67 -62
Correiatioa of Test Scores with GED Results The purpose of obtaining correlation coefficients between the test batteries and the outcome measure of GED test scores is not that of evaluating these tests. In other words, the problem here is not that of determining whether these tests are equally predictive of GED test scores across ethnic or other demographic lines. This sample of youthful offenders is homogeneous with respect to race. What is useful, simply as a guideline, is to know what test scores have the higher correlations with GED results. From this analysis some moderately strong positive relationships emerge, all of which are significant (p < .OOI). These results are shown in Table 12. From the findings on the correlations between the various test batteries and the test scores from the GED test we find that the Basic Skills Assessment tests generally yield higher correlations with this outcome measure of GED results. The notable exception, however, is with the Stanford Achievement Test for mathematics applications. The math applications battery of the SAT test series yields two of the highest correlation
310
Knox
coefficients; and the posttest score records the highest positive correlation with GED test results (r = .70). This test was not used initially when the program began serving clients; hence, it appears to have been a good decision to add this battery to the testing protocol. The same is true for the Basic Skills Assessment tests. Changes
in the Youthful
Offender
Self-Concept
We would hypothesize a positive change in self-esteem for the youthful offenders completing the Operation IDEA program. As described in our methodology section the selfesteem measure used here is the Rosenberg ( 1965) self-esteem scale. The statistic computed was again the paired sample t test. This showed the following results:
Self-esteem
1;2
Pretest M S.D. 29.86 3.82
Posttest S.D. A4 31.22 4.22
t-value 3.96
The above findings on self-esteem show a t-value of 3.96 which is statistically significant (p < .OOl). Our hypothesis is supported by this data. Again, this refers to only those who have completed the program, and just that simple fact of * “completing something,” especially an intense educational upgrading program, may be enough to impact the youthful offender’s self-concept in the short term. Employment
The data on employment consists of determining, from inspection of client files at the Safer Foundation, whether the clients obtained employment within 90 days after completing the full course of the program. This data was then coded and added to the data base for the present analysis. The data on employment show that 103 of these youthful offenders were provided with job placements as they completed or exited the Operation IDEA program. The mean wage, computed for the sample of 91 cases for which wage data was available, shows a value of $3.63 per hour. It should
Educational Upgrading for Youthful
Offenders
311
TABLE 13 Hourly Wage Rates for Youthful Offenders Placed in a lob Hourly wage rate Less than $3.00 $3.01 to $3.50 $3.51 to $4.00 $4.01 to $5.00 Over $5.00 Total
12 25 24 18 18 6 91
% 27.5 26.3 19.8 19.8 6.6 100.0
also be noted that in the sample of 259, some 210 youths completed the program. Nearly one half obtained employment and an additional 12 youths entered college or a technical trade school after completing the program. The distribution of hourly wage rates for the 91 cases where this data was available is given in Table 13. The data on hourly wage rates shows that about a third received job placements paying three dollars or less per hour. More than a fourth received placements paying over $4.00 an hour; and about half paid more than $3.50 per hour. The lowest hourly wage was $2.50 and the highest was $8.18. These jobs include only the direct placements from the IDEA program and its umbrella organization and do not include self placements or indirect placements for the clients. Summary aud Conclusions The findings from this research indicate that the IDEA program is associated with positive outcomes at a relatively modest investment. Yet this study has focused entirely on short-term impact and a long-range follow-up study might be preferred before applying the program elsewhere. Youthful offenders have special and complex problems. Equipping them with the essential basic skills in reading and math is necessarily the first step before considering placement. Results from this study show this educational upgrading effort resulted in significant improvement. Nearly a fourth of all those
312
Knox
who completed the eight week program passed and obtained their GED certificate. There are a number of studies which suggest that programs can be effective in helping the youthful offender to develop a more legitimate career trajectory. Platt ( 1970) has noted that to prevent or control delinquency essentially requires a remedy for the deficiencies in the primary agencies of socialization-the family and the school system. Educational attainment has been shown to be inversely related to delinquency (Simpson & Van Arsdol, 1967). To help the youthful offender requires a critical examination of the nature of their socialization and from this to develop modes of intervention to align their career trajectories in a fashion that will avert release and recidivism or a continued commitment to delinquency. Research on black males from the inner city who have dropped out of school shows these youths perceived the school as punitive and indifferent (Weber & Motz, 1968). Any alternative system should, of course, guard against these conditions. Spillerman ( 197 1) has argued that a combination of material inducements with a reward structure emphasizing peer group attainment can provide an effective strategy for motivating lower class youths. Shore ( 1972) noted that work programs should include opportunities for remedial education with further counseling for these youths once they are integrated into a well-planned program. These observations are further supported by the findings from this research. Gottlieb and Heinsohn (1973) have stated that a youth’s difficulty in fulfilling the expected student role permits the viability of subcultural integration for an alternative socialpsychological role in order to obtain a sense of self-worth. Along these same lines Gold (1978) has argued that youths who fail in, or are failed by, the school system will defend against this institutional threat to their self-esteem by adopting delinquent roles. Gold therefore recommends individually paced instruction in programs with a social, climate that will not produce the kinds of self-devaluation these youths experienced in traditional educational atmospheres. The IDEA program embodies this very concept, and the results showing improved self-esteem lend further support to Gold (1978).
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders
313
An important piece of research here is that by Ode11 (1974) who found that when delinquent boys were divided into four treatment modes: (1) traditional casework, (2) intensive casework, (3) education, and (4) education and employment, the latter two sociological components had greater positive impact than the first two psychological modes. This was explained as owing to the fact that the sociological programs enabled these youths to enter the legitimate opportunity structure and that this was also associated with improved self-images and identification with more conventional reference groups. The findings from this study clearly support those by Ode11 (1974). References Gold, M. Scholastic experiences, self-esteem, and delinquent behavior-A theory for alternative schools, Crime and Delinquenq, 1978, 24, 290-308. Gottlieb, D., & Heinsohn, A.L. Sociology .and youth. The Sociological Quarterly, 1973, 14, 249-270. Knox, G.W. An analysis of educational upgrading for youthful ojfenders: A preliminary report on Operation IDEA. (Research Monograph K-78-95). Chicago: Safer Foundation, 1978. Knox, G.W. Basic skills training for youthful offenders: An analysis and follow-up study of employment and GED results. Chicago: Safer Foundation, 1980. Odell, B.N. Accelerating entry into the opportunity structure: A sociologically-based treatment for delinquent youths. Sociology and Social Research, 1974,58, 312-317. Platt, A.M. Saving and controlling delinquent youth: A critique. Zssves itt Criminology, 1970, 5, l-24. Pownall, G.A. Employment problems of released prisoners. U.S. Department of Labor, Manpower Administration, Contract No. 81-19-37 with the University of Maryland, 1969. Rosenberg, M. SO&Q and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1965. Shore, M.F. Youth and jobs: Educational, vocational, and mental health aspects. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 1972, 1, 315-323. Simpson, J.E., & Van Arsdol, M.D., Jr. Residential history and educational status of delinquents and nondelinquents. Social Problems, 1967,15,25-40. Spillerman, S. Raising academic motivation in lower class adolescents: A convergence of two research traditions. Sociology of Education, 197 1, 44, 103-I 18. Toborg, M.A., Carter, L.J., & Milkman, R.H. The transition from prison to employment: An assessment of community-based assistance programs. Washington, DC.: The Lazar Institute, 1976. Weber, G.H., & Motz, A.B. Schools as perceived by the dropouts. Journal of Negro Education, 1968, 37, 127-134.
and Youth Smnccr RNVY..
Vol. 2. pp. 291-313. IYRU
in the USA. All rights reserved.
I~190-i409/8uI0su291-23$02.00!0 Copvrighc 6 IYWU Pcrgamon Press Ltd
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders George W. Knox Safer
Foundation
The research reported here comes from an evaluation of the short-term impact of a program called Operation IDEA. The sample includes all clients from the first eight cohorts of 259 youthful offenders. Each cohort, or group of clients, spends about two months in the program. The data used in this analysis was obtained from pre- and posttests using the Stanford Achievement Test and the Basic Skills Assessment measures for reading and math, a survey instrument, and agency records. Outcome data was collected for job placement and GED results. Of the 210 clients who completed the program 103 obtained employment with an average hourly wage of $3.63. GED data show that 109 took the examination after completing the program and 51 of these passed the exam and received their GED certificate. Findings also show significant (p < .OOl) differences between pre- and posttest educational scores as well as improved self-esteem.
Introduction: The IDEA Program Operation IDEA, the source of data for this study, is a program of the Safer Foundation in Chicago. The IDEA (Individualized Development for Educational Advancement) Program is designed to provide educational upgrading for the youthful offender. The program has an eight week group intake cycle. To qualify for enrollment, a client must: (1) be George W. Knox, Safer Foundation,
Chicago, Illinois 291
292
Knox
between 16 and 21 years of age, (2) have been out of school for at least two months, and (3) have been adjudicated for previous criminal offenses. In addition to upgrading the basic reading and math skills of the clients, the program is structured to simulate work experience. The clients are expected to conform to several conditions assumed to be characteristic of conventional work ethics. These conditions include: (1) being to class on time, (2) monitoring personal hygiene in terms of dress and personal appearance as might apply in an actual work situation, and (3) obeying the admonitions and verbal reprimands of project staff. The clients attend classes 25 hours per week and are paid the minimum hourly wage as a stipend. The program is staffed by 10 full-time employees and is located in Chicago’s downtown loop area. Youths have been referred to the program from many sources: police, courts, the Department of Corrections, parents and guardians, parole and probation officers, community groups and also walk-ins. An absolute requirement these youths must meet to enter the program is to be free of drugs. Clients pay no fee for services. The program makes use of volunteer staff from local colleges. It operates under not-for-profit corporation status from its umbrella organization the Safer Foundation and is open between the hours of 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M., Monday through Friday. It has been hard for the program to obtain government funding. During FY 1979 the program was budgeted for a client flow of 175 where the cost per client would be $1,440; however, partialing out the cost for the student stipend results in a unit cost of $860 for the scheduled eight-week period of instruction. Youthful offenders applying for admittance to the program are closely screened. This screening process involves a personal and educational diagnosis. It takes the applicant about two and one-half hours to complete the testing phase of the screening process. The curriculum is devised in accordance with the tested ability of the student from the screening process. There is both group instruction and individual tutoring along with peer group study for dyads and triads working on the same lesson material. Career counseling is provided and video equipment is used for simulating job interviews.
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders
293
Lesson assignments are monitored daily and all students are routinely assigned homework. A wide range of reading and study materials are made available to the students to encourage additional educational interests. Research Methodology The evaluation strategy for this project involved a preand posttest design with a survey instrument and standardized educational tests. The educational tests included the advanced level of the Stanford Achievement Test and the Basic Skills Assessment. When the program began operation in February, 1978 only the reading comprehension and math computation batteries of the SAT were used. Form A of the tests were used at pretest and form B for posttest. This author introduced two other SAT batteries beginning with the third cohort of clients: the math application and math concepts tests. It was felt that some competency measures were also needed and, beginning with the fourth cohort, the Basic Skills Assessment tests for reading and math were included in the testing protocol. The survey instrument was designed for this unique client population and is based on much theory and previous research. It includes several attitudinal scales such as the Rosenberg (1965) self-esteem scale. It also contains many items relating to the delinquent subculture and self-reported delinquency and background information. This instrument is described in detail in a recent research monograph (Knox, 1978). The procedure for administering the tests and the survey involved a rigorous adherence to routine safeguards. The tests were administered over a two-day period. For both intake and exit testing the students would be reseated as there is the ordinary tendency for these youths to sit with their friends. All the educational tests were timed by recommended standards and students were closely monitored during the testing sessions to enforce test conditions. The sample for this study consists of the first eight cohorts of 259 youthful offenders who were identified as program participants by being present for the testing sessions. Other demographic and background data were gathered for
294
Knox
this sample from the program client files. Outcome data were obtained for employment and GED results. The follow-up period was 90 days after the scheduled completion of the program. The job placement data came from Safer Foundation client files. GED data was obtained from the GED testing center in Chicago. Client Demographics and Family Characteristics The demographic data indicate the program serves, for the most part, black males with a mean age of 18.8. There were ten cases where ethnicity was missing but some 197 (79.2%) were black, 26 (10.4%) were white, and 26 (10.4%) were latino. Eight-seven percent of the clients were male and 13% female. Age of the client was missing in four cases and the distribution was as follows: 16 (n = 5, or 2%), 17 (n = 56, or 22%), 18 (n = 60, or 23.5%), 19 (n = 43, or 16.9%), 20 (n = 47, or 18.4%), 21 (n = 44, or 17.3%). Previous work history is a variable that is coded from the client files and measures the number of months of full-time employment in the private sector excluding government programs and work in institutions. This data was missing from 55 of the files. Some 56 (275%) of the ctients reported no previous work experience, 70 (34.4%) reported one to six months, 35 ( 19%) seven to I2 months, 24 ( 11.9%) 13 to 24 months, and 15 (7.5%) over 25 months work history. The bias in this measure is that of over-reporting actual work history, but still the majority report less than one year previous work experience and the mean value is seven months. Most of these youths live with their parents (n = 177,76%) or with relatives (n = 27, 11.6%). Table 1 shows that for more than half of these families the reported yearly income is less than $8,000. The bias here is likely to be that of over-reporting or artificially inflating the estimate for self-aggrandizement ( 17 missing values). Table 1 also shows the distribution for the number of family members in the household, and while this data was missing for 49 cases, it yields a mean of 4.6. Another item on the survey is a measure of perceived social class by asking the respondent. “What social class would you and your family be classified under?” The possible choices
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders TABLE
295
1
Characteristics of Youthful Offender Families
Estimated
vearlv familv income:
Under $1,000 $2,000 to 3,999 $4,000 to $5,999 $6,000 to $7,999 $8,000 to $9,999 $10,000 to $14,999 $15,000 to $19,999 $20,000 to $24,999 Over $25,000 Total Number One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight None Ten Eleven Total
of family members
n
Li”o
24 38 40 27 26 32 31 14 10 242
9.9 15.7 16.5 11.2 10.7 13.2 12.8 5.8 4.1 loo.0
34 17 26 30 29 18 25 12 12 3 4 2%
16.2 8.2 12.4 14.3 13.8 8.6 11.9 5.7 5.7 1.4 1.9 1oo.o
in household:
are: lower class, working class, middle class, and upper class. Obviously, this too is subject to the bias of artificial inflation. A total of 36, or 14.1% of those answering this item, felt they and their family were lower class. Most of these youthfui offenders (n = 134, or 52.5%) felt they were working class, about a third (n = 76, or 29.8%) felt they were middle class, and a few (n =9, or 3.5%) felt they were upper class. It is noteworthy that about two-thirds of these youths considered their family as having either a lower or working class status. Intimacy or “closeness” to parents is certainly a factor that would have to be included in the qualitative conditions of the family. Here it was felt useful to measure this variable in terms of knowledge about the educational attainment level of parents. Thus, the youthful offender was asked, separately, if
Knox
296
the father and mother completed high school or obtained a GED certificate; and the possible answers were “yes.” “no,” and “don’t know.” What emerged from this data shows that youthful offenders knew more about their mothers than their fathers in terms of whether the parents had themselves ever graduated from high school or its equivalent (GED). Regarding their knowledge of whether the father graduated from high school the responses were as follows: 91 (35. I%) “yes,” 81 (3 1.3%) “no,” and 87 (33.6%) “don’t know”; while for the mother the responses were: 118 (45.7%) “yes,” 87 (33.7%) “no,“’ and 53 (20.5%) “don’t know.” Above and beyond the fact that we are talking about families where at least a third of the parents are known to have not completed high school, this tends to support the notion that the youthful offender has a closer relationship with the mother than the father at least in terms of being intimate enough to know the educational experience of the parents. This lack of knowledge about parental education is in sharp contrast to knowledge about siblings. When asked if any of their brothers or sisters had graduated from high school and had gone on to enroll in a college or university some 13 1 (5 1.4%) answered “yes.” 106 (41.6%) “no,” and only 18 (7.1%) answered “don’t know.” The survey also indicated that about a third (n = 74, or 29.1%) of these youths were themselves a parent of at least one child. Nearly half of the sample (n = 120. or 46.9%) reported they have had hassles and problems with family members during the two-month period prior to enrolling in the program. Subcultural
Integration
and Youthful
Offenders
The importance of the subculture and offenders has been briefly discussed, as it relates to employment services for adult released prisoners, by Pownall ( 1969) who first advanced the subcultural model for explaining offender adjustment outcomes. Basically this thesis has two lines of argumentation: one dealing with etiology and the other with life-style continuity. When it is posited that involvement with, orientation towards, or integration into the deviant or illegitimate subculture was the social interaction factor that explains the onset of deviance
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders or crime for some persons then the etiology of the criminal act is being addressed by the subcultural model. In other words this is the age-old argument that children who “hang out” with other bad or deviant persons, will perhaps themselves “go bad.” Pownall’s (1969) research was addressed to the other facet of the subcultural model; that of showing that subcultural orientation, as measured by attitudinal variables that purportedly measure “trust” and “distrust,” may significantly differentiate adjustment outcomes of ex-offenders. Here we make no claims about the merits of the subcultural approach per se. Our intent is only to investigate the nature of subcultural integration as it relates to youthful offenders. Subcultural integration is necessarily a behavioral and historical type of measurement rather than an attitudinal one. Thus, the preferred measure of subcultural integration is that which self-reports the scope and extent of the subcultural network. The subculture scope relates to the different types of social elements that constitute the illicit or illegitimate subculture. The extent of subcultural integration relates to the number of contacts and number of different associates and friends who can be considered as subcultural in some respect. One feature of subcultural integration is that of having friends who have “done time” or who have been in prison at one time or another. By no means can we consider all released prisoners as being subcultural or illicit. One of the survey items relates to how many of their current friends have previously been in prison (two youths failed to answer this question). The results from this item are provided in Table 2. The data on number of current friends who have previously been in prison shows about a third of the youthful offenders reporting no such friends and about nearly a third reporting more than five such current friends. Another third of the youthful offenders reported between one to four current friends who have previously been in prison. The key finding here is that about two-thirds of these youthful offenders have one or more current friends who have Vdone time” and nearly a third report having five or more such current friends. Under many old, and some current, parole or probation guidelines, offenders were restricted from associating with other released prisoners. This is not the case here,
Knox
298 TABLE 2 Nuxuber of Current Friends Who Have Previously Been in Prison as Reported by Youthful Offenders Number of friends None One Two Three Four Five or more Total
72
5%
89 27 24 28 13 76 257
34.6 10.5 9.3 10.9 5.i 29.6 100.0
but the data strongly indicate that this pattern of affiliation is also characteristic of youthful offenders. The scope of subcultural integration also inciudes gang membership and affiliation. The data show that 174 (68%) reported they had never been a gang member, while 82, or 32% of the sample reported they had at some time been a gang member. Among those youthful offenders who indicated they had at one time or another been a gang member, additional survey data were available relating to how long they were a member. The data indicate that these youths have a range of between one and nine years of membership in gangs. Perhaps the most critical variable relating to gang membership is that of whether these youthful offenders have a current “tie-in” with any gang at the time they enter the program. The data indicates that 232 or 89.6% reported no such ties at present: but that 27 of these youths, or 10.4%, did report having a current “tie-in” with a Chicago gang. As an aside, it is important to note that during the program the youthful offenders were ail seated and working within one large classroom. Among these youthful offenders there were often times when two or more rival gangs would be represented in the classroom. As the program was located in the commercial downtown area of Chicago it was considered neutral turf; and so, perhaps for this reason, there were never any significant confrontations that were known between clients of rival gangs in the program. In fact, during a time
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders
299
TABLE 3 Number.of CurrentFriendsWho Are Gang Members As Reportedby Youthful Offenders Number of friends None
One Two Three Four
Five or more Total
n
%
177 5 4 9 1
69.1 2.0 1.6 3.5 0.4
60 256
23.4 1oo.o
when the Chicago street gangs were at war with one another, and with many killings being reported in the mass media, this program was perhaps the only place where peace prevailed between the gangs and some authority figure was a recognized mutual source of social control for them. Finally, regarding the gang and youthful offenders in this study, we have data on how many of their current friends belong to a gang. Findings from this item are shown in Table 3. An interesting pattern emerges from this data on the number of current friends who belong to a gang. Slightly more than two-thirds report no such current friends. But slightly less than one-fourth of the total sample report having five or more current friends who belong to a gang. This skewed distribution can be accounted for only in terms of the nature of organizational affiliation. In the case studies carried out for this research one example is shown where the youth attempts to break entirely free of gang involvement (Knox, situation, where a 1980). It is usually that, an “either-or” youth is either on friendly terms with gang members, or avoids them, or, in the case of previous membership, attempts to completely sever ties to the gang network. Another type of social network that can be considered within the scope of the subcultural milieu is that of friends who are either hustling or stealing to make a living. This item was included in the survey. The results from this item are shown in Table 4.
Knox
300 TABLE 4 Number of Current Friends Who Are Hustling or Stealing to Make a Living as Reported by Youthful Offenders
Number of friends None One Two Three Four Five or more Total
n
104 14 23 22 6
86
255
5%
40.8 5.5 9.0 8.6 2.4 -33.7 100.0
This data yields two key findings worthy of further inquiry. First, more than half of these youthful offenders, or 59.2%, reported having at least one or more current friends who are hustling or stealing to make a living. Just over onethird (n = 86, or 33.7%) of the youthful offenders indicated that they had five or more current friends who are either hustling or stealing to make a living. This is probably the most serious type of subcultural integration because it tends to the same kind of interaction pattern that would be measured by the theory of differential association to explain the onset and persistence of criminality. Drug abuse is also considered subcultural in nature because the procurement is illicit and the use and sale of the drug is illegal. The survey addressed drug abuse with three separate items; each of which will be discussed here, because this is within the scope of the subcultural network, even though our measures are not associational or social network oriented but are instead straightforward self-report behavior items. The first has to do with the frequency of smoking marijuana. The results are presented in Table 5. These findings show that about two-thirds are selfreported users. As with any survey item that asks the respondent to self-report aberrant conduct, the built-in bias is towards underreporting deviance. With this caution in mind it is interesting to note that close to one-fourth of the youthful offenders report smoking marijuana almost every day. This
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders TABLE
301
5
Frequency of Smoking Marijuana as Reported by Youthful Offenders
Frequency Littie or none Now and then Couple times a week Almost every day Total
n 91 72 36 5i 256
R 35.5 28.1 14.1 22.3 100.0
data on marijuana usage must be contrasted with the more serious types of drug abuse and two items were addressed to this. One item asked the youthful offenders if they have got high off of any drugs other than marijuana during the last two months. For the 258 youths who responded to this item some 189, or 73.3%, reported no; while 69, or 26.7%, reported yes. Again this kind of direct self-report item used on a population of serious youthful offenders can be expected to be met with suspicion and distrust no matter how much anonymity is guaranteed. This data represents a conservative estimate that at least one-fourth of these youthful offenders abuse drugs other than marijuana. Finally, another item asked the youthful offender, “Have you ever been addicted to drugs?” Twenty-six youths, or 10% of the sample, indicated they had in fact at one time been addicted to drugs. ‘In summary, the scope and extent of subcultural integration for these youthful offenders is strong enough to seriously impede the efforts of a program like Operation IDEA to have a positive impact. The value system of the subculture does not uphold educational aspirations and scholastic motivation. There is some evidence that subcultural influences can adversely affect program efforts that deal with the offender population (Toborg, Carter, & Milkman, 1976). Offense History Information on Youthful Offenders The purpose of this section is to describe in detail the extent of previous contacts these youthful offenders have had with the criminal justice system. The data come from both the
302
Knox TABLE 6 Number of Prior Arrests as Reported by Youthful Offenders Number None One Two Three Four Five Six to ten Eleven + Total
of arrests
n 7 42 38 31 22 22 42 ‘CI 31 241
% 2.9 17.4 15.8 12.9 9.1 9.1 17.4 15.4 100.0
survey and client records. This information indicates the severity of the backgrounds these youthful offenders have in terms of previous delinquency; that which was detected and that which may not have been detected. A brief preface is in order regarding self-report methodology and offense history information obtained from youthful offenders. The bias here is strong towards underreporting. With this caution in mind let us examine reported previous arrests. The responses to the item on previous arrests, for any crime including status offenses (not answered by 18 youths) are given in Table 6. These data show that the youthful offenders have a mean of 6.7 for previous arrests. More than half of the sample report three or more previous arrests and a third report more than five previous arrests. The validity of the data on those youths who reported no prior arrests is questionable because they could not have been eligible for the program they were participating in were this the case. Another important aspect of offense history is frequency of going to jail. Not all arrests result in overnight detention. The results for this item are shown in Table 7. The data indicate that these youthful offenders have a mean value of 3.1 for the number of times they have been in jail. A little over 10% reported they had never been in jail. About a third of the youths had been in jail only once. Yet about a third had also been in jail three or more times.
Educational Upgrading for Youthful
Offenders
303
TABLE 7 Number of Times in Jail as Reported by Youthful Offenders
Number of times in jail None One Two Three Four Five Six to ten Eleven or more Total
n
%
29 83 43 28 21 17 17 11 249
11.6 33.3 17.3 11.2 8.4
6.8 6.8 4.4 100.0
TABLE 8 Number of Prior Convictions as Reported by Youthful Offenders
Number of convictions None One Two Three Four
Five or more
Total
n
%
62 123 32 14 8
24.8 49.2 12.8 5.6 3.2
I1 250
4.4 100.0
Another variable from the survey deals with the number of prior convictions. The results for this item are presented in Table 8. The number of prior convictions shows a mean value of 1.3. Note that close to one-fourth report no convictions and that about a half report only one. Only about 15% of the sample report having three or more convictions. Age at first arrest is considered by some researchers to be a variable that can predict variation in future outcomes. We do not attach this same significance to the age at first arrest here, but include it as part of the overall description of offense history. This refers to any arrest for any offense. The age at first arrest showed a mean value of 14.6. More than half show a first arrest at age 15 or below. Some 2 1% show a first arrest when they were 12 years of age or younger.
304
Knox TABLE Self-Reported
Offenses
9
among Youthful
Offenders
of times committed in the last two months One Two Three Four Five or more
Number Offense
None
Armed robbery Burglary Assault
233 229 233
14 14 11
3 3
1 3 4
2 3 2
Theft (under (over $50) $50)
231 241
157
4
2
:,
Drug Pimping/prostitution sales Car theft Arson
2301 25 243 254
If 8 3
’ ; 1
:
; 0 0
:
The majority (88.7%) were first arrested before they were 18 years of age. Another item on the survey asked if the youth had ever been sent to a state training or reform school. Some 72, or 28%, indicated they had in fact been sent to a youth correctional institution. The traditional self-reported deviance and delinquency items were also included in the survey. Again this must, of course, be considered to be artificially deflated given the bias built in to this kind of methodology resulting in vast underreporting of actual deviance or delinquency. Nevertheless, it is useful to present this information here because it shows the range of offenses these youths are willing to admit to. The item itself measures those offenses or “crimes that you have committed or have been involved in” during the last two months. The results are provided in Table 9. This data on self-reported offenses shows limited crime and delinquency. Yet 10% of the sample report having committed or being involved in one or more armed robberies, one or more burglaries, one or more cases of assault, one or more cases of theft of goods valued over $50, and one or more drug sales. Only about six percent report involvement with auto thefts, three percent with pimping or prostitution, and less than two percent with arson. Recall, however. that these are offenses that may or may not have been detected and/or adjudicated.
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders
305
Fortunately we have a more reliable basis for determining the types of crimes for which these youthful offenders have been arrested and adjudicated. The basic intake process in the program requires data to be assembled about the client and this usually includes information on last type of arrest or conviction. Where more than one offense was indicated in the client file, then the most serious of the offenses was coded for presentation here {Data was missing in 22 cases). The data are shown in Table 10. The distribution of known offenses indicate that about 15% have been involved in robbery of one sort or another (armed, strong arm, attempted robbery, etc). Nearly a fourth of the sample was adjudicated or arrested for burglary. Theft was another large category and violent offenses were also represented here. These are generally quite serious offenses even though they range from murder to traffic violations. We also know something about the criminal justice status of these youthful offenders when they enter the program. Most are on probation (n = 149, or 63.4%). The next largest group are those who are on state parole (n = 36, or 15.3%), off parole (n = 9, or 3.8%), and for some their case is still pending (n = 6, or 2.6%). The county level of the criminal justice system is clearly the largest source of referral for these youths. In summary, the youths in this sample have an extensive prior history of contacts with the criminal justice system. Some have run the full gamut of agencies and institutions and others appear well on their way to a criminal career trajectory given the persistence and severity of prior conduct. We need not accept the pessimistic doctrine of “nothing works” or equivalent deterministic fallacies. For while these are youths who, in many cases, cannot correctly spell the crimes for which they have been adjudicated, there is potential in every human being, and the real crime is to waste these human resources. Findings on Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders The statistic used here is a paired sample a paired comparison the only data used are which we have both pre- and posttest scores. same as comparing the mean value for all who
t test. As this is those cases for This is not the take the pretest
306
Knox TABLE
10
Offense Categories for the Youthful Type of Offense Murder Armed robbery Burglary Theft Attempted theft Possession of drugs Strong arm robbery Unauthorized use of weapon Failing to register firearm Robbery Attempted murder Aggravated battery Attempted robbery Attempted burglary Assault Traffic violations Drug sales Involuntary manslaughter Battery Indecent exposure Criminal damage to property Shoplifting Deceptive practices Intimidation Disorderly conduct Possession of explosives Soliciting Fraud Prostitution Gambling Concealed weapon Arson Damage to property Criminal trespass Resisting arrest Auto theft Petty theft Total
Offender Sample n 1 30 L ;% 2 10 3 8 1 27 1 4 3 1 8 : I 13 1 2 3 1 1 5 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 W : 1 8 2 235
CI ,@ 0.4 12.7 22.8 9.7 0.8 4.2 1.3 3.4 0.4 11.4 0.4 1.7 1.3 0.4 3.4 0.4 0.8 0.4 5.5 0.4 0.8 1.3 0.4 0.4 2.1 0.8 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.8 0.4 2.1 1.7 0.4 3.4 0.8 98.8
_
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with all those who take the posttest. Thus, it is not a group comparison, but a comparison of the same students from one point in time to another. This is why our useable sample size will vary considerably. Shown in Table 11 are the t-test results for the entire series of tests that have been used to date in the IDEA program. As can be seen from the results in Table 11 the t-values are quite high; thus, all of these comparisons are statistically significant (p < .OOl). We are observing significant changes for those students completing the Operation IDEA program in all tests used. Of course, depending on which test is examined, the as measured by the value of extent of that change, the mean, varies somewhat as well. For example, from Table 11 it can be seen that there is over a full grade point level change between the pre- and posttest reading comprehension scores; but less so for the other SAT tests. The Basic Skills Assessment tests are not normed in a fashion as to provide grade level equivalencies per se, but as can be seen there is a larger improvement in the Basic Skills Assessment math test than in the reading test which parallels the results from the SAT batteries. GED Test Results The data on GED test results comes mostly from manual inspection of client test result records on file at the Chicago GED testing center. This manual retrieval resulted in obtaining 109 GED test scores (which indicates that 109 took at least some portion of the GED test after they completed the program). Fifty-one of these youths scored high enough to be granted the GED certificate. For the 109 youths who we have GED test scores available the mean score was 205. We will come back to these GED scores later, in order to see which type of test measures obtained in the program testing protocol show the highest correlations with post-program GED test results. In summary, nearly half (51 out of 109) of the youthful offenders who took the GED test after completing the program passed it. This may not seem significant in its own right. But for those 51 youths it means a genuine second chance, as they had failed to complete the traditional high school program.
*p < .001
SAT reading grade level SAT math computations grade levet SAT math concepts grade level SAT math ~~~li~~tions grade level Basic skills assessment WiKiitIg score I.&&c skills assessment math score
‘I‘es t
19.75
‘25.2 1
130.98
136.55
2.50
1.99
65
2.52 2.32
S.D.
66
Pretest
7.25 7.24 6.56 7.41
?I1
TABLE 11 Test Scores in the Youthful
155 149 112 92
R
Paired Sample t Tests for Educational
148.23
138.51
8.35 8.22 7.41 8.19
111
Posttest
Offender
23.22
23.18
2.47 2.44 1.84 2.40
s.n.
Sample
4.90
4.33
8.03 6.58 6.30 4.12
l-value
309
Educational Upgrading for Youthful Offenders TABLE 12 Correlations between Program Tests and GED Results
Type of test battery SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT SAT Basic Basic Basic Basic
pretest raw reading score pretest reading grade level posttest raw reading score posttest reading grade level pretest raw math computation score pretest math computation grade level posttest raw math computation score posttest math computation grade level pretest math concepts grade level posttest math concepts grade level pretest math applications grade level posttest math applications grade level Skills Assessment math pretest Skills Assessment math posttest Skills Assessment reading pretest Skills Assessment reading posttest
n
r
a7 98 93 94 82 94 91 93 70 66 67 59 39 40 54 54
.48 .52 .44 .49 .53 -51 .46 .49 .52 .57 :: .45 .63 .67 -62
Correiatioa of Test Scores with GED Results The purpose of obtaining correlation coefficients between the test batteries and the outcome measure of GED test scores is not that of evaluating these tests. In other words, the problem here is not that of determining whether these tests are equally predictive of GED test scores across ethnic or other demographic lines. This sample of youthful offenders is homogeneous with respect to race. What is useful, simply as a guideline, is to know what test scores have the higher correlations with GED results. From this analysis some moderately strong positive relationships emerge, all of which are significant (p < .OOI). These results are shown in Table 12. From the findings on the correlations between the various test batteries and the test scores from the GED test we find that the Basic Skills Assessment tests generally yield higher correlations with this outcome measure of GED results. The notable exception, however, is with the Stanford Achievement Test for mathematics applications. The math applications battery of the SAT test series yields two of the highest correlation
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Knox
coefficients; and the posttest score records the highest positive correlation with GED test results (r = .70). This test was not used initially when the program began serving clients; hence, it appears to have been a good decision to add this battery to the testing protocol. The same is true for the Basic Skills Assessment tests. Changes
in the Youthful
Offender
Self-Concept
We would hypothesize a positive change in self-esteem for the youthful offenders completing the Operation IDEA program. As described in our methodology section the selfesteem measure used here is the Rosenberg ( 1965) self-esteem scale. The statistic computed was again the paired sample t test. This showed the following results:
Self-esteem
1;2
Pretest M S.D. 29.86 3.82
Posttest S.D. A4 31.22 4.22
t-value 3.96
The above findings on self-esteem show a t-value of 3.96 which is statistically significant (p < .OOl). Our hypothesis is supported by this data. Again, this refers to only those who have completed the program, and just that simple fact of * “completing something,” especially an intense educational upgrading program, may be enough to impact the youthful offender’s self-concept in the short term. Employment
The data on employment consists of determining, from inspection of client files at the Safer Foundation, whether the clients obtained employment within 90 days after completing the full course of the program. This data was then coded and added to the data base for the present analysis. The data on employment show that 103 of these youthful offenders were provided with job placements as they completed or exited the Operation IDEA program. The mean wage, computed for the sample of 91 cases for which wage data was available, shows a value of $3.63 per hour. It should
Educational Upgrading for Youthful
Offenders
311
TABLE 13 Hourly Wage Rates for Youthful Offenders Placed in a lob Hourly wage rate Less than $3.00 $3.01 to $3.50 $3.51 to $4.00 $4.01 to $5.00 Over $5.00 Total
12 25 24 18 18 6 91
% 27.5 26.3 19.8 19.8 6.6 100.0
also be noted that in the sample of 259, some 210 youths completed the program. Nearly one half obtained employment and an additional 12 youths entered college or a technical trade school after completing the program. The distribution of hourly wage rates for the 91 cases where this data was available is given in Table 13. The data on hourly wage rates shows that about a third received job placements paying three dollars or less per hour. More than a fourth received placements paying over $4.00 an hour; and about half paid more than $3.50 per hour. The lowest hourly wage was $2.50 and the highest was $8.18. These jobs include only the direct placements from the IDEA program and its umbrella organization and do not include self placements or indirect placements for the clients. Summary aud Conclusions The findings from this research indicate that the IDEA program is associated with positive outcomes at a relatively modest investment. Yet this study has focused entirely on short-term impact and a long-range follow-up study might be preferred before applying the program elsewhere. Youthful offenders have special and complex problems. Equipping them with the essential basic skills in reading and math is necessarily the first step before considering placement. Results from this study show this educational upgrading effort resulted in significant improvement. Nearly a fourth of all those
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who completed the eight week program passed and obtained their GED certificate. There are a number of studies which suggest that programs can be effective in helping the youthful offender to develop a more legitimate career trajectory. Platt ( 1970) has noted that to prevent or control delinquency essentially requires a remedy for the deficiencies in the primary agencies of socialization-the family and the school system. Educational attainment has been shown to be inversely related to delinquency (Simpson & Van Arsdol, 1967). To help the youthful offender requires a critical examination of the nature of their socialization and from this to develop modes of intervention to align their career trajectories in a fashion that will avert release and recidivism or a continued commitment to delinquency. Research on black males from the inner city who have dropped out of school shows these youths perceived the school as punitive and indifferent (Weber & Motz, 1968). Any alternative system should, of course, guard against these conditions. Spillerman ( 197 1) has argued that a combination of material inducements with a reward structure emphasizing peer group attainment can provide an effective strategy for motivating lower class youths. Shore ( 1972) noted that work programs should include opportunities for remedial education with further counseling for these youths once they are integrated into a well-planned program. These observations are further supported by the findings from this research. Gottlieb and Heinsohn (1973) have stated that a youth’s difficulty in fulfilling the expected student role permits the viability of subcultural integration for an alternative socialpsychological role in order to obtain a sense of self-worth. Along these same lines Gold (1978) has argued that youths who fail in, or are failed by, the school system will defend against this institutional threat to their self-esteem by adopting delinquent roles. Gold therefore recommends individually paced instruction in programs with a social, climate that will not produce the kinds of self-devaluation these youths experienced in traditional educational atmospheres. The IDEA program embodies this very concept, and the results showing improved self-esteem lend further support to Gold (1978).
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An important piece of research here is that by Ode11 (1974) who found that when delinquent boys were divided into four treatment modes: (1) traditional casework, (2) intensive casework, (3) education, and (4) education and employment, the latter two sociological components had greater positive impact than the first two psychological modes. This was explained as owing to the fact that the sociological programs enabled these youths to enter the legitimate opportunity structure and that this was also associated with improved self-images and identification with more conventional reference groups. The findings from this study clearly support those by Ode11 (1974). References Gold, M. Scholastic experiences, self-esteem, and delinquent behavior-A theory for alternative schools, Crime and Delinquenq, 1978, 24, 290-308. Gottlieb, D., & Heinsohn, A.L. Sociology .and youth. The Sociological Quarterly, 1973, 14, 249-270. Knox, G.W. An analysis of educational upgrading for youthful ojfenders: A preliminary report on Operation IDEA. (Research Monograph K-78-95). Chicago: Safer Foundation, 1978. Knox, G.W. Basic skills training for youthful offenders: An analysis and follow-up study of employment and GED results. Chicago: Safer Foundation, 1980. Odell, B.N. Accelerating entry into the opportunity structure: A sociologically-based treatment for delinquent youths. Sociology and Social Research, 1974,58, 312-317. Platt, A.M. Saving and controlling delinquent youth: A critique. Zssves itt Criminology, 1970, 5, l-24. Pownall, G.A. Employment problems of released prisoners. U.S. Department of Labor, Manpower Administration, Contract No. 81-19-37 with the University of Maryland, 1969. Rosenberg, M. SO&Q and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1965. Shore, M.F. Youth and jobs: Educational, vocational, and mental health aspects. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 1972, 1, 315-323. Simpson, J.E., & Van Arsdol, M.D., Jr. Residential history and educational status of delinquents and nondelinquents. Social Problems, 1967,15,25-40. Spillerman, S. Raising academic motivation in lower class adolescents: A convergence of two research traditions. Sociology of Education, 197 1, 44, 103-I 18. Toborg, M.A., Carter, L.J., & Milkman, R.H. The transition from prison to employment: An assessment of community-based assistance programs. Washington, DC.: The Lazar Institute, 1976. Weber, G.H., & Motz, A.B. Schools as perceived by the dropouts. Journal of Negro Education, 1968, 37, 127-134.