Evidence Rating for Outcomes
Crime & Delinquency | Multiple crime/offense types |
Date:
Correctional boot camps (also called shock or intensive incarceration programs) are short-term residential programs that resemble military basic training and target convicted adults. The practice is rated No Effects and found not to reduce recidivism. The likelihood of boot camp participants recidivating was roughly equal to the likelihood of comparison participants recidivating.
Practice Goals
Correctional boot camps (also called shock or intensive incarceration programs) are short-term residential programs that resemble military basic training and target convicted adults. The first boot camps began operation in the adult correctional systems of Georgia and Oklahoma in 1983. Boot camps are designed as alternative sanctions to reduce recidivism rates, as well as prison populations and operating costs. The aim is to reduce recidivism by modifying participants’ problem behaviors that likely contribute to their odds of reoffending. Behavior modification occurs through reinforcement of positive behavior and immediate punishment of negative behavior. In addition, prison populations could be reduced because incarcerated individuals are diverted from traditional incarceration facilities and receive shorter sentences as participants in a boot camp program. Correctional operating costs can therefore be reduced by decreases in both the prison population and recidivism rates.
Target Population
Most adult boot camp programs limit participation to young, first-time, nonviolent individuals who have committed a crime. However, the eligibility criteria and selection process can vary substantially by program.
Practice Activities
Typically, boot camp participants are required to follow a rigorous daily schedule of activities that can include drill and ceremony, manual labor, and physical training similar to a military boot camp. Participants are awoken early every morning and are kept busy with various activities throughout the day with little free time. Strict rules regulate all aspects of individual’ conduct and appearance. Correctional officers act as drill instructors and may be given military titles that participants are required to address them by. They use intense verbal tactics to discourage opposition and instigate behavior change. Punishment for misbehavior is usually swift and may involve some type of physical activity such as push-ups.
Often groups will enter the boot camp as squads or a platoon, and may participate in an intake ceremony where they are immediately required to follow the rules, respond to staff in an appropriate way, and stand at attention. At the end of an individual’s term, there may be a graduation ceremony for those who have successfully completed the program.
Although most boot camps contain similar basic characteristics, there is no standard boot camp model and therefore individual programs can differ greatly. For instance, the amount of time and focus placed on physical training and hard labor compared to the therapeutic components of the program (such as academic education, drug treatment, or life skills training) may vary. Some boot camps may also offer an aftercare or reentry program designed to help program participants adjust to the community following their release, while others offer no such service.
In addition, the programs may differ on whether they are designed to be an alternative to probation or to prison. For example, in some jurisdictions a judge may sentence an individual to serve time in a boot camp instead of probation. In other jurisdictions, those already serving time in prison may be identified by correctional staff to be transferred into a boot camp program.
|
Crime & Delinquency | Multiple crime/offense types
Wilson, Mackenzie, and Mitchell (2008) found that across the 26 independent samples of adult boot camp participants, the mean odds ratio for total crimes was 1.05. This figure was not statistically significant, meaning that the likelihood of boot camp participants recidivating was roughly equal to the likelihood of comparison participants recidivating. The result suggests there is no general reduction in recidivism attributable to boot camps. |
Literature Coverage Dates | Number of Studies | Number of Study Participants | |
---|---|---|---|
Meta Analysis 1 | 1991-2003 | 26 | 113053 |
Wilson, MacKenzie, and Mitchell (2008) analyzed results from 32 unique research studies comparing recidivism for participants enrolled in correctional boot camp programs versus some type of comparison condition. Three of the studies reported results from multiple treatment-comparison contrasts. As a result, the 32 studies produced 43 independent samples for analysis. Of the 43 independent samples, 26 included adult boot camp participants and 17 included juvenile boot camp participants. The focus of the results reported here is on the 26 independent samples of adult boot camp participants.
A comprehensive search was used to locate eligible studies. Studies were eligible if (1) they evaluated a correctional boot camp, shock incarceration, or intensive incarceration program (i.e., a residential program for convicted persons that incorporates a militaristic environment and/or structured strenuous physical activity other than work); (2) they included a comparison group that received either probation or incarceration in an alternative facility (one-group research designs were not eligible); (3) study participants were under the supervision of the criminal or juvenile justice system (i.e., convicted of or adjudicated for an offense); and (4) they reported a post-program measure of criminal behavior, such as arrest or conviction. The comprehensive literature search is current through February 2008.
Of the 32 research studies located during the search process, 22 studies were government reports, eight were found in peer-reviewed journals, and two were available as unpublished technical reports. The 26 independent samples included a total of over 11,000 adult study participants. No information was provided on the racial/ethnic and gender breakdown of the studies’ samples (however, most of the study participants were males as only two studies examined the effects of female-only boot camps and seven evaluated mixed gender boot camps). The studies were located in various parts of the United States, including Louisiana, Texas, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, California, Alabama, and Pennsylvania.
The primary outcome of interest for the meta-analysis was recidivism or a return to criminal activity by the individual after leaving the program (i.e., post-release arrest, conviction, or reinstitutionalization). The analysis looked at nonviolent/nonperson crimes, mixed crimes (violent and nonviolent), and total crimes. Because recidivism data is usually reported dichotomously (whether an individual did or did not reoffend), the index of effectiveness used in the review was the odds ratio. The odds ratio is an index of the failure (or success) of one condition relative to another. An odds ratio of 1 indicates that both conditions had equal odds of failure. The independent treatment-comparison samples were the unit-of-analysis for the review. The mean odds ratio across studies was computed using the inverse variance weight method and assuming a random effects model.
These sources were used in the development of the practice profile:
Wilson, David B., Doris L. MacKenzie, and Faw Ngo Mitchell. 2008. Effects of Correctional Boot Camps on Offending. Campbell Systematic Reviews 1.
These sources were used in the development of the practice profile:
American Correctional Association. 1995. Standards for Adult Correctional Boot Camp Programs. Alexandria, VA: American Correctional Association.
MacKenzie, Doris L. and Eugene E. Hebert. 1996. Correctional Boot Camps: A Tough Intermediate Sanction. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.
https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles/bcamps.pdfParent, Dale. 2003. Correctional Boot Camps: Lessons From a Decade of Research. Washington, DC: Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.
https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/197018.pdfAos, Steve, Polly Phipps, Robert Barnoksi, and Roxanne Lieb. 2001. The Comparative Costs and Benefits of Programs to Reduce Crime. Version 4.0. Olympia, WA: Washington State Institute for Public Policy. (This meta-analysis was reviewed but did not meet CrimeSolutions' criteria for inclusion in the overall outcome rating.)
http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/rptfiles/costbenefit.pdfWilson, David B., Doris L. MacKenzie, and Fawn T. Ngo. 2010. Effects of Correctional Boot-Camps on Offending. Crime Prevention Review No. 5. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/000271620157800108Following are CrimeSolutions-rated programs that are related to this practice:
Age: 18+
Gender: Male, Female
Targeted Population: Prisoners
Setting (Delivery): Correctional
Practice Type: Alternatives to Incarceration, Boot Camps, Diversion, Specific deterrence
Unit of Analysis: Persons