Strategies for Release – 2009
A Report Prepared by DeVeaux and Associates for Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc.
Summary of findings
This report includes the preliminary findings of survey data gathered from 607 men housed in 29 prisons located across New York State.
More than half of those responding were African American males, averaging 42.5 years of age who had spent, on average, 16.7 years in prison.
- The largest percentage (46%) thought that their release would follow an appearance at their first (18%) or later parole (28%) board hearing.
- On average, respondents thought that maintaining a good disciplinary record was the most important action they could take to expedite their release.
- One in four thought that working on appeal (25%) was the most important thing they could do to speed up their release.
- On average, respondents spent the most time working on maintaining a good disciplinary record.
- On average, respondents were more likely to report involvement in activities related to release to improve themselves.
- Overall, a majority of respondents said that they would prefer to negotiate a contract that related performance measures to their release.
- On average, respondents were more likely to choose a release option because it provided the personal control needed to obtain the earliest possible release.
Introduction
Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc. (Citizens) was founded in 1992 initially to address the needs of family members who had incarcerated loved ones. The organization was incorporated in 1996, initially providing supportive counseling to the wives and family members of the incarcerated, cultural programming in various New York State prisons, and delinquency intervention programming for youth.
Citizens’ work now includes efforts to restore all the rights and attributes of citizenship among people in prison or jail and those who have been released. Citizens works in collaboration with other community and faith based organizations at each of the overlapping phases of the community integration process. The work at Citizens includes preventive efforts targeting at-risk youth, work that relates to the strengthening of families and personal relationships affected by experiences with the criminal justice system, and advocacy for the restoration of voting rights.
In 2009, Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc. surveyed men held in nearly half of New York States’ prisons. The survey included questions about prison rehabilitation and parole policies. The surveys were published in newsletters circulated by Prison Action Network and the Coalition for Parole Restoration. Help circulating the survey was also provided by various “in-house” organizations and by word of mouth. Overall, 607 surveys were returned from men housed in 29 prisons located across New York State.
As part of its mission to restore the rights of citizenship to people in prison and those who have been released, Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc. advocates for reform in the New York State correctional system and for reform of New York State parole policies. The surveys were designed to give voice to the incarcerated and then to include those voices in policy discussions about issues that affect their lives.
Demographic information
Between June 2009 and November 2009, 607 men were surveyed in 29 New York State prisons. More than half (52%) of those responding to the survey were African American males, while 38% identified themselves as a Latino (20%) or as White (18%) males. Ages of respondents ranged between 19 to 78 years, averaging 42.5 years of age.
Time spent in prison by respondents ranged from less than a year to 46 years, averaging 16.7 years in prison. At the time of the survey, about three in five (61%) of those responding were being housed in medium security facilities, while 39% were being held in a maximum-security prisons.
Table 1
Which of the following do you believe will result in your earliest release from prison?
| Response (N=560) | Percentage |
| Release at later board | 28% |
| Release at first board | 18% |
| Win on appeal | 16% |
| Conditional release | 14% |
| I have a determinate sentence and will do 85% of my sentence | 10% |
| Release before conditional release date | 5% |
| Clemency or pardon | 4% |
| I am going to max out | 4% |
During the survey, respondents were asked, “Which of the following do you believe will result in your earliest release from prison?” The largest percentage (46%) thought that their release would follow an appearance at their first (18%) or later parole (28%) board hearing. Among those remaining, 16% thought that working on their appeals would result in their earliest release from prison, 14% thought their release would follow conditional release procedures, while 8% were hoping to be released following a clemency proceeding or pardon (4%) or were expecting to do the maximum number of years of their sentence before being released (4%).
Respondents were asked to rate how important they thought each of the items in Table 2 (below) were related to their release. Their responses ranged between 1 and 4: 1 – very unimportant, 2- unimportant, 3- important and 4- very important.
Table 2
In your effort to get released, how important do you believe doing the following things are?
| Actions | N | Mean |
| Maintaining a good disciplinary record | 571 | 3.48 |
| Getting important people to help you | 564 | 3.44 |
| Learning a vocational skill | 570 | 3.43 |
| Getting a college degree | 564 | 3.34 |
| Maintaining a good assignment record | 568 | 3.33 |
| Getting a high school equivalence diploma (GED) | 554 | 3.31 |
| Working on an appeal | 571 | 3.22 |
| Taking part in an Alternative to Violence Program (AVP) | 574 | 3.06 |
| Taking part in a Network/Therapeutic Community | 532 | 3.05 |
| Transitional Services Program | 554 | 2.96 |
| Taking part in an Alcohol Substance or Abuse Treatment Program (ASAT) | 564 | 2.78 |
| Taking part in Alcohol Anonymous (AA) | 557 | 2.47 |
| Seeing a psychologist | 551 | 2.18 |
On average, respondents thought that maintaining a good disciplinary record was the most important action they could take (3.48), followed by getting important people to help (3.44), learning a vocational skill (3.43), and getting a college degree (3.34). Respondents thought that seeing a psychologist was the least significant action they could take to be released from prison (2.18).
Table 3
. . . the item you think is the most important
| Response (N=546) | Percentage |
| Working on appeal | 25% |
| Getting a college degree | 19% |
| Getting important people to help you | 16% |
| Getting a high school equivalence diploma (GED) | 9% |
| Taking part in a Network/Therapeutic community | 8% |
| Learning a vocational skill | 6% |
| Maintaining a good disciplinary record | 6% |
| Taking part in a substance abuse treatment program | 2% |
| Taking part in an Alternative to Violence program (AVP) | 2% |
| Participating in a transitional services program | 2% |
| Maintaining a good assignment program | 2% |
| Seeing a psychologist | 2% |
| Taking part in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) | 1% |
When asked to “select the item you think is the most important” thing to do to obtain release, one in four (25%) thought that working on their appeal (25%) was the most important thing they could do. Among those who did not favor working on their appeals, 19% thought that getting a college degree was important, while 16% thought getting important people to help them was the most important thing to do.
Personal Activities
Respondents were asked to estimate how much time they spent on a range of activities shown in Table 3 that were related to expediting their release. Their responses ranged on a scale between 1 to 4: 1- no time, 2- a little time, 3- some time and 4- a lot of time.
Table 4
How much time do you spend engaged in activities that might expedite your release?
| Actions | N | Mean |
| Maintaining a good disciplinary record | 569 | 3.36 |
| Maintaining a good assignment record | 556 | 3.17 |
| Learning a vocational skill | 546 | 2.92 |
| Getting important people to help you | 553 | 2.80 |
| Getting a college degree | 535 | 2.56 |
| Working on an appeal | 555 | 2.54 |
| Taking part in a Network/Therapeutic Community | 531 | 2.42 |
| Taking part in an Alternative to Violence Program (AVP) | 544 | 2.40 |
| Transitional Services Program | 547 | 2.30 |
| Getting a high school equivalence diploma (GED) | 520 | 2.23 |
| Taking part in an Alcohol Substance or Abuse Treatment Program (ASAT) | 539 | 2.08 |
| Taking part in Alcohol Anonymous (AA) | 538 | 1.74 |
| Seeing a psychologist | 538 | 1.36 |
Table 4 shows, on average, that respondents reported spending the most time working on maintaining a good disciplinary record (3.36) and working to maintain a good assignment record (3.17). These items were closely followed by learning a vocational skill (2.92) and getting important people to help them (2.8). Respondents said, on average, that they spent the least amount of time in Alcoholics Anonymous (1.74) and in seeing a psychologist (1.36).
Surveyed men were also asked to rate how closely statements shown in Table 5 below come to expressing their reasons for involvement in the activities they thought might expedite their release (see actions in Table 4). The responses they gave were rated on a scale ranging between 1 and 4: 1- very untrue, 2- untrue, 3- true and 4- very true.
Table 5
How close do the statements listed below come to expressing your personal reasons for involvement in these activities?
| Statements | N | Mean |
| These activities will help me to improve myself | 583 | 3.76 |
| Will provide me with the skills I need to stay out of prison | 577 | 3.53 |
| Allow me to maintain come personal control over my situation | 571 | 3.23 |
| Help me to keep busy and not think about when I am going home | 562 | 2.58 |
| Are things I do to impress the parole board | 556 | 2.09 |
On average, respondents were more likely to report involvement in these activities to improve themselves (3.76), gain the skills they needed to stay out of prison (3.53), and because they thought the activities would allow them to maintain some personal control over their situation (3.23). Respondents were least likely to get involved in activities in order to impress the parole board (2.09).
Paroling Policy
In some discussions about parole, there have been suggestions about experimenting with contracts between people in prison and the parole board. At the beginning of a prison sentence, people sentenced to time in prison would negotiate the things they needed to do to ensure release after a specific amount of time within in the sentencing guidelines set by the sentencing judge had been served or possibly accelerate the release date if the law allowed. Some states (like New York) use determinate or flat sentencing for certain offenders to fix release dates. In those situations, the judge sentences the person convicted of a crime to a specific determined period without the possibility of parole or accelerated release until that time expires. When surveyed, respondents were asked about the release policy they preferred shown in Table 6 below.
Table 6
Do you prefer to…?
| Response | Percentage |
| Be able to negotiate a contract | 57% |
| Have a determinate or flat sentence | 39% |
| Leave things as they currently are | 3% |
| Don’t care either way | 2% |
Overall, a majority of respondents (57%) said that they would prefer to negotiate a contract that related performance measures to their release, while about 2 in 5 preferred a determinate or flat sentence (39%). It is worth noting that just 5 in 100 preferred to leave things as they currently are (3%) or expressed no preference for either policy (2%).
Finally, respondents were asked how closely the statements made in Table 7 described the reasons why they preferred the release policy they selected in Table 6. Responses shown in Table 7 were rated on a scale of 1 to 4: 1- Not close at all, 2- Not very close, 3- Somewhat close, and 4- Very close.
Table 7
Please indicate how closely the following statements describe the reason why you preferred a particular option.
| Statements | N | Mean |
| Provide the personal control I need to obtain the earliest possible release | 500 | 3.45 |
| Lessen the stress and anxiety of not knowing when I might be released | 496 | 3.30 |
| Eliminate the games I must play to gain a favorable decision from the parole board | 490 | 3.02 |
On average, respondents were more likely to choose a release option because it provided the personal control needed to obtain the earliest possible release (3.45) compared to the other reasons shown. Respondents also chose a release option because it would lessen the stress and anxiety of not knowing when they might be released (3.30). Overall, respondents were least likely to be concerned with eliminating the games played to gain a favorable decision from the parole board (3.02).
