Shock Incarceration in New York: Focus on Treatment.


MENU TITLE: Shock Incarceration in New York
Series: NIJ Program Focus
Published: August 1994
17 pages
34,764 bytes

NCJ 148410

Shock Incarceration in New York: Focus on Treatment

by Cherie L. Clark, David W. Aziz, and Doris L.
MacKenzie
------------
Highlights

New York State's Shock Incarceration program for
young adults provides a therapeutic environment
where young nonviolent offenders receive substance
abuse treatment, academic education, and other help
to promote their reintegration into the community. 

All aspects of the Shock Incarceration, or boot
camp, regimen have as their goal the development of
law-abiding citizens. The therapeutic approach
adopted by New York State's four Shock
Incarceration facilities encompasses drill and
ceremony, physical training, work, and education,
to which are added a heavy emphasis on substance
abuse education and treatment and the development
of personal responsibility. A program called
"Network," in which staff receive special training,
integrates all these components into a single
treatment environment.

New York's Shock Incarceration program has had the
following outcomes:

o Substantial savings in operational and capital
costs. This has been accomplished by reducing to 6
months the time these offenders would ordinarily
have spent in prison.

o Improvements in educational achievement. On
average, graduates of Shock Incarceration in New
York have improved their reading and math scores by
one grade level.

o When the return-to-prison rates of graduates are
compared to those of other inmates, the graduates
did as well as (or in some situations better than)
parolees who did not participate or complete the
program.
------------------

Shock incarceration facilities, or boot camp
prisons, for young adults are being developed in
city, county, State, and Federal jurisdictions.1
They provide shorter incarceration than the
youthful offenders would normally receive, but the
regimen involves strict, military-style discipline,
unquestioning obedience to orders, and highly
structured days filled with drill and hard work.
New York State's boot camps add a new dimension to
this typical regimen. In New York State, the
program is designed to provide a total learning
environment that fosters involvement,
self-direction, and individual responsibility.

Key components of this approach are substance abuse
education and a treatment program called Network,
which not only engages the specific participation
of Shock Incarceration inmates but overlies the
rest of the daily regimen of drill, ceremony,
physical training, work, and academic education.
Network was designed to establish living and
learning units within correctional facilities that
are supervised and operated by specially trained
correctional officers and supervisors.

The New York State Department of Correctional
Services began the Shock Incarceration program in
September 1987 and currently operates four adult
facilities dedicated to Shock Incarceration with a
total capacity of 1,570, including 180 beds for
women offenders and 225 beds for orientation and
screening.2 The department has introduced
innovative techniques not only for treatment but
also for facility management, staff training, and
aftercare program followup. 

New York's Shock Incarceration program has two
legislatively mandated goals:

o To treat and release selected State prisoners
earlier than their court-mandated minimum period of
incarceration3 without endangering public safety.

o To reduce the need for prison bedspace.

The program emphasizes treatment as a means of
promoting public safety. It seeks to build
character, instill responsibility, and promote a
positive self-image so that nonviolent offenders
can return to society as law-abiding citizens.
New York's Shock Incarceration program is divided
into two 6-month phases:

o Phase 1: an intensive incarceration program
operated by the Department of Correctional
Services.

o Phase 2: intensive community supervision
conducted by the Division of Parole.

Phase 1 is built around a therapeutic program
called "Network," which seeks to create a positive
environment to support successful reintegration of
inmates into the community. Within this general
framework, inmates engage in the activities
normally associated with boot camps. 

During phase 2, Shock Incarceration graduates are
intensively supervised in the community. In New
York City, where most of them return, a program
termed "AfterShock" helps with housing, drug and
alcohol treatment, relapse prevention, family
counseling, job training and placement, and other
critical needs. Much of this is accomplished with
the assistance of a variety of community-based
service agencies.

Eligibility and Selection 

In New York, judges cannot sentence offenders
directly to Shock Incarceration. Sentenced
offenders can enter the Shock Incarceration program
if they are legally eligible, if the Department of
Correctional Services (DOCS) staff determines they
are suitable for the program, and if they are
willing to become participants. Because Shock
Incarceration participants who successfully
complete phase 1 are released prior to serving
their mandated minimum prison terms, the
eligibility and suitability criteria have been
designed to ensure that the program admits only
candidates who will benefit from participation and
eliminates those who pose a risk to society.

To qualify, offenders must be under 35 and eligible
for parole within 3 years of admission to DOCS.
They must not have committed a violent or sexual
offense or been previously sentenced to an
indeterminate prison term. Both males and females
are eligible.

Screening

All offenders committed to DOCS who are legally
eligible for Shock Incarceration are sent to an
orientation and screening center at Lakeview Shock
Incarceration Correctional Facility (SICF). This
facility also houses 720 offenders, including all
eligible women offenders, in phase 1 and is the
training center for all Shock Incarceration staff.

When screening was decentralized, ineligible
inmates in some facilities would spread rumors
during screening that discouraged eligible inmates
from volunteering for Shock Incarceration.
Centralized screening was begun to increase the
proportion of inmates who volunteer for the
program, and it appears to have helped. In fiscal
year 1992-93 approximately 65 percent of eligible
offenders were admitted to the program after
screening, compared to about 47 percent in
1988.1989 when screening was not centralized.

At screening interviews, offenders are informed
about Shock Incarceration program requirements and
must decide whether they want to volunteer for the
program instead of serving their full terms in
prison. Participants are carefully examined for
mental and physical problems that would prohibit
them from taking part in the program. While the
evaluation is in progress, offenders are introduced
to some of the Shock Incarceration program
activities. DOCS officials believe this brief
exposure has lowered withdrawal
rates among those who enter Shock Incarceration. 

Entry and Removal

Male offenders who volunteer for the Shock
Incarceration program either remain at Lakeview or
are sent to one of the other three SICF's located
throughout the State. Females remain at Lakeview.
SICF's are minimum-security facilities, some of
which were formerly forestry camps; they are
located in remote wooded areas that afford
opportunities for hard outdoor labor. Male
participants enter in platoons of 54 to 60 once
each month, and the platoons proceed through the
180-day program as a unit.

The first 2 weeks of Shock Incarceration are called
"zero weeks." Inmates learn the basics of physical
training, drill and ceremony, and discipline. It is
a period of orientation, indoctrination, and
initial evaluation with a focus on strict
discipline and attention to detail. Most volunteer
dropouts occur during zero weeks. To minimize
zero-week dropouts, the period is emphasized as an
educational time for easing inmates into the
program requirements.

Exhibit 1 (at the end of this document) shows 
the weekday schedule of activities
for inmates in phase 1. They arise at 5:30 a.m. and
are kept busy until 9:30 p.m. with highly
structured activities including physical training,
work, drug and alcohol treatment, education,
recreation, and drill and ceremony. There are no
free time periods, no packages from home, no
commissary, no radios, no magazines, no newspapers,
and no television.

Offenders can be removed from Shock Incarceration
for legal, medical, disciplinary, or adjustment
problems, or they may voluntarily decide to leave.
Overall, about 37 percent of those admitted fail to
complete phase 1 and are sent to regular prisons to
complete their original sentences.
Characteristics of participants. In September 1993,
New York State had 1,188 males and 129 females in
the Shock Incarceration program. Exhibit 2 (at end of
file) presents some participant characteristics. 

Staff Training

Staff training is a key component of Shock
Incarceration. Staff in any DOCS facility can apply
for openings at SICF's. Once chosen they take part
in a 4-week training program patterned after the
Shock Incarceration regimen for offenders. The
training program is designed to familiarize all
staff with the concepts, goals, and structure of
the Shock Incarceration program. It seeks to give
them a better understanding of the inmates they
will work with and of the interrelationships among
security, programs, and administration. 

The training is largely experiential in format. The
schedule is based on a modified version of the
Shock Incarceration day, which includes physical
training, drill and ceremony, and instructor
development, while covering some aspect of the
6-month treatment curriculum. The course content
includes leadership skills and teaching techniques.
All staff, regardless of discipline, learn the
fundamentals of decisionmaking, substance abuse
concepts, learning theory, physical training, and
drill and ceremony. Group unity and teamwork are
also emphasized, as staff from different
disciplines work with inmates as a team.

To date, more than 1,500 staff members have been
trained during 14 sessions. In addition, DOCS has
provided staff training or technical assistance in
staff training to at least 15 other Shock
Incarceration programs located in 10 different
jurisdictions. The program director and supervising
superintendent have been involved in developing
standards for boot camps with the National
Institute of Corrections and the American
Corrections Association.

Phase 1: Intensive Incarceration

Over 40 percent of inmates' time is spent in
treatment and education. The program is divided as
follows:

o Physical training, drill and ceremony: 26
percent.

o Treatment and education sessions to treat
addictions: 28 percent.

o Academic education: 13 percent.

o Hard labor on facility and community projects: 33
percent.

Physical Training, Drill, and Ceremony

Each morning from 5:45 to 7:00 participants perform
calisthenics and run. Throughout the day, inmates
march to and from activities in platoon or squad
formation. Three times a day, formal company
formations of platoons muster before physical
training, work or school, and evening programs. 

Work

Participants perform 6 hours of hard work per day
while in Shock Incarceration, arranged in two
3-hour periods before and after lunch. Several
camps are located adjacent to State conservation
land, on which Shock Incarceration inmates cut
firebreaks or maintain public-use areas. Inmates
also work on the grounds of the Shock Incarceration
facilities. Altogether, inmates who complete Shock
Incarceration perform 650 hours of hard work.

Working in supervised crews, the inmates also
perform thousands of hours of community service for
cash-strapped municipalities and community groups
in the areas surrounding the four Shock
Incarceration facilities. In 1993 alone, New York
Shock Incarceration inmates performed approximately
1.2 million hours of community service. If these
municipalities and organizations had hired laborers
at $5 per hour to perform this same work, the cost
would have been $6 million. 

The staff and inmates from Shock Incarceration
facilities have also helped communities in the
aftermath of emergencies. Inmates from the Moriah
SICF helped contain and clean up after forest
fires. Summit and Lakeview inmates cleaned up after
tornadoes struck nearby communities, and inmates
from Lakeview cleaned beaches after a large number
of fish were found dead in Lake Erie.

In addition, Lakeview inmates provide services for
an ongoing Trooper Toys-for-Tots program. They
repair damaged donated toys and haul, sort, and
prepare them for distribution across the United
States and in Canada and other countries. In 1992,
thousands of dollars worth of toys were sent to the
victims of hurricane Andrew. The director of
Trooper Toys-for-Tots estimates that the value of
the toys repaired and distributed to needy children
has exceeded $960,000 since Lakeview began this
program in 1989.

Network 

This therapeutic approach has been used in DOCS
facilities since 1978, but due to recent budget
cuts, the program now functions only in Shock
Incarceration facilities. Network emphasizes a
decisional approach to problem-solving and building
self-esteem using a 5-step model taught in 12
sessions. An emphasis on family issues and
parenting skills that is part of most New York
Shock Incarceration curriculums responds to the
fact that approximately 75 percent of the women
inmates and half of the men are parents. 
Inmates are formed into platoons who live together
as a unit; they hold a Network community meeting
daily to resolve problems and reflect on their
progress. Network helps inmates adjust to community
living and develop socialization, employment,
communication, decisionmaking, and critical
thinking skills.

All staff, officers, counselors, supervisors,
teachers, and support staff in Shock Incarceration
facilities are trained in Network methods so that
the skills are reinforced in every aspect of the
Shock Incarceration program. Community agencies and
volunteers are also encouraged to participate,
further developing a network of resources. 

Substance Abuse Treatment 

New York's emphasis on putting alcohol and
substance abuse treatment within the context of a
therapeutic community distinguishes it from Shock
Incarceration programs in other parts of the
country. All offenders participate in Alcohol and
Substance Abuse Treatment (ASAT), a drug education
and group counseling program, for a minimum of two
3-hour sessions per week.

ASAT is based on the 12-step recovery program of
Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous and is
staffed by trained substance abuse counselors.
Materials from the Network program are also
included in the curriculum, revised in 1990. With
help from a Bureau of Justice Assistance grant,
Spanish translations of the curriculum were also
made available.

Education 

Improved educational achievement is a central
objective of New York's Shock Incarceration
program. All participants spend at least 12 hours
in academic work each week. Over the course of
their stay, participants complete at least 260
hours of academic education, including remedial
education, basic high school equivalency classes,
and preparation for the GED (General Equivalency
Diploma). Offenders who have completed high school
or obtained a GED spend these hours as tutors or
literacy volunteers. In fulfillment of the Network
concept, the education program also draws on
community resources, with volunteers from the
community participating as tutors.

Evaluation of Inmate Performance

Staff members evaluate inmates daily in three
areas.work assignments, Network, and drill and
ceremony.and do weekly evaluations of their
participation in substance abuse treatment and
education. Inmates are graded on the extent to
which they accept criticism and show respect;
manage their time; and demonstrate cooperation,
positive efforts, compliance with instructions, and
progress in the program. Participants get quick
feedback.both positive and negative.on their
progress. 

The Shock Incarceration program places strict
limits on inmates' behavior. For many participants,
such limits constitute a new and unique experience.
Many enter Shock Incarceration only to shorten
their term of confinement, and some later decide
they are unwilling to make the positive lifestyle
changes demanded by the program. Participants who
commit a single rule violation are not necessarily
forced to leave the program, but serious or
continual rule violations are generally cause for
dismissal. Because of the program's rigor, about 37
percent of those who enter Shock Incarceration do
not complete it.

While strict discipline and close supervision are
integral to the treatment plan, they also
contribute to facility security. Disruptive inmates
are removed from Shock Incarceration and
transferred to a higher security prison.
Graduation ceremonies are attended by DOCS
officials and State dignitaries, often including
judges, the Governor, and State legislators, in
addition to family members and friends. Graduation
certificates are presented, and special awards are
made to the two inmates with the highest and the
most improved evaluation scores. After the ceremony
many new graduates introduce Shock Incarceration
staff to their families.

Phase 2:
Intensive Community Supervision

The postprison phase of the Shock Incarceration
program.called "AfterShock".is operated by the
Division of Parole. AfterShock's goal is to
continue the intensity of supervision begun during
the incarceration phase and to provide
opportunities and programs in the community that
will improve parolees' chances for successful
reintegration.

Although AfterShock is statewide, the Division of
Parole concentrates most of its resources in New
York City where almost two-thirds of the Shock
Incarceration parolees reside. Parole officers
supervising Shock Incarceration graduates have
reduced case-loads.only 38 Shock Incarceration
graduates to 2 parole officers.to allow increased
contacts between the officers and parolees for home
visits, curfew checks, and drug testing. Shock
Incarceration parolees have priority access to
community services, such as educational and
vocational training, increased employment
opportunities, relapse prevention counseling, and
Network meetings. The Division of Parole (DOP)
contracts for specialized vocational and employment
services from the Vera Institute of Justice and for
relapse prevention services from the Fellowship
Center in New York City. Many Shock Incarceration
graduates have been hired by these service
providers to help other graduates readjust to
community living.

Outcomes

New York's enabling legislation specifically
requires DOCS to evaluate phase 1 of the program
and the Division of Parole to evaluate phase 2.
Evaluation staff from both agencies have
coordinated their efforts to avoid duplication and
to produce studies useful to policymakers. These
agencies prepare a joint annual legislative report.
Results of these efforts follow.

Cost Containment 

One goal of New York's Shock Incarceration program
is to reduce prison crowding. To achieve this goal,
DOCS staff must recommend a sufficient number of
eligible inmates for the program; a large
proportion of those recommended must volunteer to
enter the program; and a large number of offenders
entering the program must complete it. It is also
important that participants be offenders who
otherwise would be incarcerated rather than placed
on probation.

DOCS maintains that Shock Incarceration saves money
in two ways: first, by reducing expenditures for
care and custody; and second, by avoiding capital
costs for new prison construction. Graduation from
Shock Incarceration is the only systemic way New
York inmates can be released from prison before
their minimum parole eligibility date. Shock
incarceration facilities cost somewhat more per
inmate per day than either medium security or camp
facilities because they offer more programming and
have more staff. Yet Shock Incarceration saves care
and custody costs by shortening the terms of
confinement for those who complete the program. If
Shock Incarceration were not available, 60 percent
of those inmates would go to camps and 40 percent
would go to medium security facilities. Savings
realized from Shock Incarceration were calculated
by subtracting the cost of having to house
graduates if the program did not exist.

DOCS estimates it saves approximately $2 million in
care and custody costs for every 100 Shock
Incarceration graduates (about $20,000 per inmate).
For the first 8,842 graduates from Shock
Incarceration as of September 30, 1993, New York
DOCS estimates it saved $176.2 million in care and
custody costs. This savings takes into account
costs associated with the 5,331 Shock Incarceration
inmates who did not graduate.

Additionally, DOCS estimates that Shock
Incarceration has freed up enough space to
accommodate an additional 1,954 inmates. This saved
DOCS $129.1 million in capital construction costs
that would have been needed if the Shock
Incarceration program did not exist (based on a
per-bed capital cost of $52,000 for a camp bed and
$86,000 for a medium security bed). Altogether,
DOCS estimates that through September 1993 Shock
Incarceration saved $305.3 million in custody,
care, and capital construction costs. These
estimates do not include offsets for the added cost
of intensive parole supervision for Shock
Incarceration graduates, however. 

Educational Improvements 

On the Test of Adult Basic Education, a
standardized testing instrument used by DOCS, Shock
Incarceration graduates on average increased both
their reading and math scores by about one grade
level during their 6 months of confinement:
o 45 percent increased their reading scores, with
half of these going up two or more grade levels and
6 percent going up four or more grade levels. 

o 61 percent increased their math scores, with half
of these going up two or more grade levels and 14
percent going up four or more grade levels.

Of the 593 Shock Incarceration graduates who were
tested for the GED in fiscal year 1992.1993,
approximately 70.5 percent passed after a
relatively short period of preparation and study.

Return-to-prison rates. DOCS has compared the
return-to-prison rates of Shock Incarceration
graduates with three other groups at 12, 24, and 36
months after release:

o Inmates who would have been eligible for Shock
Incarceration but were paroled before Shock
Incarceration was established.

o Inmates eligible for Shock Incarceration who were
screened for participation but did not enter the
program.

o Inmates admitted to Shock Incarceration who
withdrew or were removed before completion. 

The results of those comparisons indicate that:

o After 12 months, 10 percent of Shock
Incarceration graduates returned to prison compared
to 16 percent for offenders who were eligible
before Shock Incarceration was established, 15
percent for those screened but rejected by DOCS,
and 17 percent for those who withdrew or were
removed from Shock Incarceration before completion.
 
o After 24 months, 30 percent of the Shock
Incarceration graduates returned to prison,
compared to 36 percent of the
pre-Shock-Incarceration inmates, 36 percent for the
considered inmates, and 41 percent of participants
who failed to complete the program.

This analysis performed by DOCS and DOP researchers
indicates that at 12 and 24 months, the Shock
Incarceration graduates have significantly lower
return-to-prison rates than offenders in the other
three groups. At 36 months, Shock Incarceration
graduates still return to prison at lower rates,
but the differences are only significant between
the program graduates and the considered inmates. 

It is important to note that these groups were not
randomly assigned nor were differences among groups
statistically controlled for in the analysis. It is
possible that these differences in return-to-prison
rates are really due to differences that existed
among the groups prior to the beginning of the
Shock Incarceration program. Certain types of
offenders could be selected by the staff, or
certain types of offenders may be willing to
participate. Therefore, any differences among
groups may be due to these preexisting differences
and not from what is done in the Shock
Incarceration program. Another possibility is that
the program is a way to select those who will be
better risks in the community if they succeed in
the program, because those who drop out of the
program fail at a higher rate than the other
groups.

Furthermore, the research does not untangle the
effects of the military atmosphere, the
rehabilitation aspects of the program, and the
intensive supervision. Any or all of these
components of the program could affect the
return-to-prison rates.

Since Shock Incarceration graduates are confined
for substantially shorter periods and fail at the
same or lower rates than the comparison groups,
DOCS officials believe the program is meeting the
goals of reducing the need for prison beds without
increasing the risk to public safety.

Ongoing Research

Long-term evaluation efforts are under way in New
York; these findings will increase understanding of
how well the program is working and lead to
modifications that will improve its effectiveness.

Multisite Evaluation

In March 1989, DOCS was selected to participate in
an NIJ-sponsored multisite study of Shock
Incarceration programs. Coordinated by Dr. Doris
MacKenzie, the multisite study has been examining
Shock Incarceration programs in eight States. The
research design and data collected are similar in
each site. The study has three parts.process
evaluation, impact of the program on individual
offenders, and system changes including costs and
benefits.and has been looking at:

o The goals of the programs.

o The success of Shock Incarceration programs in
achieving the goals.

o Components of shock incarcer-ation programs that
lead to success or failure.

Results are expected to be available in 1994. While
the eight programs have some common features, they
differ in participants, program components, and
aftercare. 

Typology of Shock Incarceration Successes and
Failures 

In addition to participating in the multisite
study, DOCS is developing a typology of shock
incarceration success and failure to determine what
inmate characteristics or aspects of the Shock
Incarceration process were associated with success
or failure in the program. A total of 63 interviews
were conducted with graduates returned to DOCS
custody and 30 with graduates who remained on
supervision for more than 12 months without any
violation. 

The study found that failure rates increased for
inmates whose family members had serious criminal
convictions or substance abuse problems, who were
arrested at a young age, who were incarcerated as
juveniles, or had a history of serious alcohol
abuse. The study also found that Shock
Incarceration graduates who exhibited unwillingness
to adhere to the rules of the phase 2 program (for
example, by getting a job that interfered with
parole supervision conditions, not attending
meetings regularly, or dropping out of substance
abuse treatment) were less likely to complete their
parole period successfully. DOCS staff are using
these findings to refine elements of the program
and requirements for postrelease supervision.

Conclusion

Much still remains to be learned about the shock
incarceration approach as an alternative sanction
for nonviolent offenders and particularly about New
York's therapeutic approach. This research used
preexisting groups for the comparisons (random
assignment was not used), and in the data analysis
no variables were added to control for differences
among groups. Therefore, the results should be
interpreted with caution. Also, attempts to
generalize the results to other boot camps should
not be done without a careful analysis of the
components of the programs being compared. As
described in this Program Focus, the New York Shock
Incarceration program include numerous components
that are not found in other boot camp prisons.

New York's Shock Incarceration program is notable
in terms of its size, intensity of treatment
programming and AfterShock care, and levels of
staff training. DOCS evaluation so far indicates
that the program is responding to the legislature's
call for reducing prison bedspace needs without
increasing the public's risk. Even more important,
New York's therapeutic approach may point the way
for redirecting the lives of a number of young
offenders, helping them stay out of the criminal
justice system once they have paid their debt to
the community.

Notes

1. Parent, D.G. (1989). Shock Incarceration: An
Overview of Existing Programs, Washington, D.C.:
NIJ Issues and Practices Report, National Institute
of Justice. See also MacKenzie, D.L. (1993). "Boot
Camp Prisons in 1993," National Institute of
Justice Journal, November: 21.28.

2. In 1990, New York's Lakeview Shock Incarceration
Facility became the first stand-alone such facility
in the Nation to be accredited by the American
Correctional Association (ACA). Since then, the
three remaining Shock Incarceration facilities,
Moriah, Monterey, and Summit, have received ACA
accreditation.

3. New York law permits Shock Incarceration
graduates to be paroled before they have served the
mandatory minimum prison term that would otherwise
apply.

Cherie L. Clark is the Director of Shock
Development for the New York State Department of
Correctional Services (DOCS). David W. Aziz, Ph.D.,
is a research specialist with DOCS. Doris L.
MacKenzie, Ph.D., is associate professor in the
Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology,
University of Maryland.

Additional information about the New York Shock
Incarceration program can be obtained from the New
York State Department of Correctional Services,
Building 2, Harriman Office Campus, Albany, NY
12226 (518.457.3007).

Women in Shock Incarceration

Rita finishes 50 sit-ups and springs to her feet.
At 6 a.m. her platoon begins a 5-mile run, the last
portion of this morning's physical training. After
5 months in New York's Lakeview Shock Incarceration
Correctional Facility, the morning workout is easy.
Rita even enjoys it, taking pride in her physical
conditioning.

When Rita graduates and returns to New York City,
she will face 6 months of intensive supervision
before moving to regular parole. More than
two-fifths of Rita's platoon did not make it this
far; some withdrew voluntarily, and the rest were
removed for misconduct or failure to participate
satisfactorily. By completing shock incarceration,
she will enter parole 11 months before her minimum
release date.

The requirements for completing shock incarceration
are the same for male and female inmates. The women
live in a separate housing area of Lakeview.
Otherwise, men and women participate in the same
education, physical training, drill and ceremony,
drug education, and counseling programs. Men and
women are assigned to separate work details and
attend Network group meetings held in inmates'
living units.  

The Network Program

The Network program objectives are grouped into
three basic areas:

o Responsibility for self.

o Responsibility to others.

o Responsibility for the quality of one's life.

Network teaches that in order to make responsible
decisions, participants must consider their own
wants and needs, the effect they have on others,
and their own particular situations. It teaches
them that responsible behavior results from
recognizing the difference between wants and needs
and learning appropriate ways of getting needs met.
Criminal behavior and substance abuse are negative,
dysfunctional attempts to meet one's needs. 

The Network program is based on the premise that a
sense of self-worth and personal pride are the
foundation of a responsible lifestyle. Network
environments are thus structured to foster respect
for self and others and to focus on supportive
community living methods. These methods have been
developed, tested, and refined by staff and
participants over time. 

When staff introduce participants to Network, they
clearly state the standards of behavior expected
and discuss how these standards support individuals
and the life of the community. All participants
must make a commitment to fulfill their personal
goals and live up to community standards. At daily
community meetings, their performance on the
standards are reviewed and evaluated. Members
participate in program management to
the degree that they demonstrate their capacity to
make informed, responsible decisions.

Exhibit 1. Daily Schedule for Offenders in New York
Shock Incarceration Facilities

A.M.

5:30 Wake up and standing count
5:45 6:30 Calisthenics and drill
6:3-7:00 Run
7:00-8:00 Mandatory breakfast/cleanup
8:15  Standing count and company formation
8:30-11:55 Work/school schedules

P.M.

12:00-12:30 Mandatory lunch and standing count
12:30-3:30 Afternoon work/school schedule
3:30-4:00 Shower
4:00-4:45 Network community meeting
4:45-5:45 Mandatory dinner, prepare for evening
6:00-9:00 School, group counseling, drug
counseling, prerelease counseling, decisionmaking
classes
8:00  Count while in programs
9:15-9:30 Squad bay, prepare for bed
9:30  Standing count, lights out



Exhibit 2. Characteristics of Participants
Males Females
Total Number of Participants, September 1993:
Males-1,188  Females-129

Average Age: Males- 25.2, Females-26.9

Average Years of Schooling: Males-10.4 years, Females-10.7 years

Average Number of Prior Felony Arrests: Males-1.4, Females-1.2

Parole Eligibility: Males-In 18.5 months, Females-In 19.4 months

Percentage Convicted of Drug Offense: Males-66.3 percent          
Females-82.2 percent

Percentage Committed From New York City: Males-53.2 percent,
Females-68.2 percent