0 - National Criminal Justice Reference Service

e
comparison groups, including milieu therapy (35 %), counseling (40%), and the no treatment
male group (41%). In addition, there was a strong positive relationship between number of
months in the prison TC and success on parole. The male TC treatment group also stayed drugfiee
and crime-fiee for significantly longer periods than the comparison groups. Similar arrest
results were found among the females, with the TC group having a signiscantly lower arrest rate
than the combined counseling and no-treatment groups. However, the differences between the notreatment
group and the counseling and TC groups were not significant.
The Cornerstone Program
The Comerstone Program at Oregon State Hospital was a 32-bed TC for correctional
inmates that began in 1975 (Field, 1984; 1989; 1992). It was similar to the modified TC concept
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of Stay’n Out in New York, but had a higher proportion of professional staff and trained
correctional officers. In a 3-year follow-up study, Field (1 992) tracked about 200 inmates
admitted to the program fiom 1983 to 1985, separating them into four groups: 1) 43 program
graduates (PG), 2) 43 nongraduates who completed at least 6 months (NG>6 mo.) of the
program, 3) 58 nongraduates who completed 2 to 6 months (NG 2-6 mo.), and 4) 65
nongraduates who left before 60 days (NG 0-2 mo.). In a 3-year follow-up study, program
graduates had a signiiicantly lower reincarceration and reconviction rate than all comparison
groups. Generally, as the length of time in treatment increased, recidivism rates declined. Three
years after release, 37% of program graduates had no rearrests compared to only 21% of Group 2
(NG>6 mo.), 12% of Group 3 (NG 2-6 mo.), and 8% of Group 4 (NG 0-2 mo.). Slightly more
than half the program graduates (51%) were not convicted of any crime after three years,
compared to only 28 percent of Group 2 (NG>6 mo.), 24% of Group 3 (NG 2-6 mo.), and 11%
of Group 4 (NG 0-2 mo.). After three years, 74 percent of the program graduates were not
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This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not
been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s)
and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.