CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAMS AND PROBATIONERS IN TEXAS ...

CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAMS AND PROBATIONERS IN TEXAS Darrin D. Roberts, A.A.S., B.A.

Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2002

APPROVED: Gail A. Caputo, Committee Chair Tory J. Caeti, Committee Member Eric J. Fritsch, Committee Member Robert Taylor, Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice David W. Hartman, Dean of the School of Community

Service C. Neal Tate, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of

Graduate Studies

Roberts, Darrin D., Characteristics of community service programs and probationers in Texas. Master of Science (Criminal Justice), August 2002, 52 pp., 5 tables, references, 33 titles.

As a criminal sanction, community service involves unpaid labor on the part of convicted criminal offenders. Community service was created as an alternative to incarceration for low-level offenders. It now appears, however, that community service is rarely used as a true alternative to prison, but rather as an added condition of probation. The body of research on community service in the United States is modest, so relatively little is known about its characteristics and administration. Data were attained from 88 Texas probation professionals via self-administered written surveys in an effort to gather information about the use of community service as a criminal sanction in Texas. Frequency distribution analyses identified characteristics of both community service programs and offender participants in Texas.

Copyright 2002 by

Darrin D. Roberts

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... v

Chapter

1. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................... 1

Research Questions Document Overview

2. LITERATURE REVIEW.............................................................................. 4

Community Service in Europe Community Service in the United States Associated Cost Effectiveness Major Program Evaluations Offender Perceptions of Community Service Criticisms of Community Service

3. METHODOLOGY........................................................................................ 14

Study Group Human Subjects Data Collection The Pretest Description of the Questionnaire Administration of the Questionnaire Data Analysis

4. RESULTS...................................................................................................... 25

5. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................... 35

Research Question Implications Recommendations for the Future Structure and Success of Community Service Project Limitations and Ideas for Further Research

iii

APPENDICES................................................................................................................. 45 REFERENCES................................................................................................................ 47

iv

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