Marion County corrections officials applied for participation in the project because of their desire to find suitable sanctions for intermediate offenders, who were often released after serving a fraction of their original sentences. Twenty-eight offenders were assigned to the experimental study, half each to ISP and to prison. Offenders assigned to ISP were required to engage in intensive contacts with probation and surveillance officers, participate in daily work or job-seeking activities, pay victim restitution, observe a strict curfew for three months, take drug and alcohol tests, and provide community service. Although the ISP costs were 75 percent of those to send an offender to prison, at the end of one year none of the experimental offenders remained on ISP and half had been sentenced to prison for technical violations of their ISP terms. Furthermore, during the same year, two-thirds of the prison-control offenders had been released from prison despite their average 5-year sentences. Because of the screening criteria for ISP programs, the impact on overcrowding may be minimal. In jurisdictions where offenders serve very short terms, prisoners may actually choose to serve their sentences over participating in this type of community alternative. 5 tables, 3 figures, and 29 references
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