Citation

Lee CB, Teske RH. Int. J. Offender Ther. Comp. Criminol. 2015; 59(3): 230-258.

Affiliation

Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0306624X14554256

PMID

25646012

Abstract

Previous studies about recidivism of offenders have focused primarily on the nature of the sanctions and factors specific to the individual offender. This study addressed both individual and community factors, using a cohort of felony-level, driving while intoxicated (DWI) probationers (N = 370) charged in Harris County, Texas. The study investigated specific deterrent effects of sanctions on success or failure of probationers while controlling for the community contexts to observe how informal social control processes contextualize individual-level predictors.

RESULTS of a series of event history analyses tracking probationers for a period of 8 years indicated that severity of punishment, swiftness of punishment, criminal history, and completion of DWI education programs significantly affected the probationer's survival time, whereas no significant influence of community contexts on survival time or success was observed. Reducing the felony charge to a misdemeanor, a shorter period of probation, and past criminal history, combined with an almost immediate guilty plea, were significantly associated with short-term failure on probation.

Language: en