Correctional boot camps are effective

Correctional boot camps, viewed by many as a cost-effective alternative to prison, allow eligible inmates to have their sentence reduced to six months, then be released on parole. Boot camps sound good in theory, but do they work?

"Boot camps beat traditional incarceration on three counts," Frank Clemente, professor of sociology, said. "Prisoners are released sooner, their rate of re-incarceration is lower and, if they do return to prison, they are less likely to have committed a serious crime such as robbery or murder.

"Apart from reducing the level of human misery, boot camps may also save the Commonwealth millions of dollars a year," Clemente said.

These findings came from a three-year study conducted by Clemente with the help of John H. Kramer, associate professor of sociology and executive director of Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing; research associate Jan Hendrickson-Smith; and Henry Sontheimer of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

Clemente and his fellow researchers compared prisoners serving conventional prison terms with "clients" at the boot camp in Quehanna, in rural Clearfield County, which opened in 1992.

"We visited the boot camp 15 times," Clemente said. "We developed a near-perfect matching system, pairing an individual boot camp prisoner with a comparable prisoner in a state prison. Our study matched the first 106 graduates of Quehanna and 106 inmates from traditional incarceration."

Graduates of Quehanna spent an average of 285 days in the prison system, compared to the 472 days spent by prison inmates. The boot camp graduates served, on average, 48 percent of their minimum sentence and 19 percent of their maximum sentence; while inmates at standard prisons served 104 percent of their minimum sentence and 40 percent of their maximum sentence.

As of May 1995, 71 percent of boot camp graduates of Quehanna had not been convicted of another violation, compared to 49 percent of those released from prison, Clemente noted.

Only 23 percent of boot camp graduates had been arrested again for a criminal offense, compared to 39 percent of inmates released from prison. Furthermore, boot camp graduates were far less likely to be convicted again of serious offenses such as drug possession, burglary, theft and assault.

"It costs the state of Pennsylvania $20,400 a year to house one inmate in a state correctional institution," Clemente said. "Because boot camp 'clients' are released sooner and commit fewer crimes, particularly serious crimes, the state could save $2 million a year for every 100 convicted offenders that go to boot camp instead of conventional prisons. By 1995, the boot camp program had already saved Pennsylvania millions of dollars."

Another key benefit is that boot camps alleviate overcrowding, which has burdened state prison systems all over the country.

"Finally, boot camp is in itself a positive experience for the offender," Clemente said. "Correctional boot camp is physically more demanding than Army boot camp. Tests show that boot camp programs, based on the President's Council on Fitness, result in an average weight loss of 27 pounds, a 27 percent increase in upper body strength and a 40 percent increase in cardiovascular endurance."

Candidates for boot camp cannot be currently convicted of homicide, kidnapping, rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse or a felony one robbery. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections automatically excludes inmates who have a history of escapes or violent offenses; are psychologically unbalanced; are in poor physical condition; or have medical problems.