APPLICANT LAST NAME:

Turner
APPLICANT FIRST NAME:
Lexie
APPLICANT EMAIL:
turneran@appstate.edu
DEPARTMENT:
https://cjinvolvedwomen.org/treatment-interventions-and-services/

Project Title:
Is probation/parole actually effective compared to gender specific rehabilitation programs for
women in the Watauga county criminal justice system?

Research Question:
My project is a research study on women offenders within the Watauga county criminal justice
system who are specifically on probation. Female offenders have been growing in population
immensely. Between the years of 1997 and 2007, the number of women on probation increased
by 88 percent while the male numbers only increased by 21 percent (Gehring 2). This is a huge
problem that exists not only in Watauga county but all over the United States. The ultimate goal
of the criminal justice system is to reduce recidivism, a term for a criminals tendency to re-
offend, and possibly eliminate it completely (Cowell 43). Our jails and system are built and
made for preventing criminals from getting back into the system after a first offense. This
research study will allow the criminal justice community to come up with better ways to reduce
recidivism of women offenders and fix the problems of probation. The numbers will only
continue to grow unless we establish the issues of the probation system and change our ways of
rehabilitation and reintegration back into society by putting gender specific programs into
production. The ultimate question I would like to answer is: Does regular probation offer the
necessary tools for rehabilitation and reduce recidivism compared to the possibility of women
specific programs among Watauga county women offenders?

Specific Goals:
My project will observe how women are treated on probation and the steps they have to take to
finish their probation period while comparing that to a program that focuses on rehabilitating
them psychologically through therapy and treatment help instead of a normal probation
experience. For example, this so called program will consist of lectures such as: women in
society, family, relationships, coping with emotions, taking care of yourself, becoming strong,
problem solving, and making changes. Within these lecture sessions, offenders will participate in
exercises that implement self-awareness and teach them new life skills. This Project will serve as
a great step in the right direction for women in the criminal justice system by allowing them to
become more successful, finishing probation, and learning new life skills. The possibility of
providing gender specific programs for women instead of normal probation could decrease
recidivism for women who are repeat offenders and also lower our population of women in
prisons.

Broader Significance:
The broader significance of this observational study is that it can lessen our society's problem of
overpopulated prisons and ultimately reduce recidivism. Probation is effective in the aspect of
keeping people out of prisons, but it is not doing the best possible job of reducing recidivism.
This gender specific programs will help teach women the skills and knowledge they need in
order to be successful. Most female offenders come from backgrounds of abusive homes,
abusive relationships, and sexual assaults (Smith 22). With these programs, female offenders will
have the rehabilitation opportunity of psychological therapy and treatment. It will allow them the
improve themselves as human beings and not just criminals tossed into a probation system that
treats every offender the same way. Everyone is completely different and require a certain type
of treatment, especially women, in order to successfully leave the criminal justice system
without committing a second offense. An example of an organization that has studied women on
probation and in the criminal justice system is the National Resource Center on Justice Involved
Women. The mission of the NRCJIW is to provide guidance and support to criminal justice
professionals and to promote evidence-based, gender-responsive policies and practices in order
to reduce the number and improve the outcomes of women involved in the criminal justice
system. I chose this program because I love its values and want to also improve probation
experiences for women offenders but in Watauga county. If we can improve or replace the
probation system with a gender specific program that takes their personal issues into account to
give them the best rehabilitation opportunities possible, the criminal justice system overall will
improve drastically. Recidivism will reduce if we just make a change and start by improving
small parts of the restorative aspect of the system, little by little (Viglione 1828).

Project Design:
This project is modeled as simply a research study. In order to obtain offenders to participate,
small gifts of $10.00 visa gift cards will be awarded in return for participation. One hundred
female offenders on probation will be observed throughout their experience over a year long
period. Fifty offenders will be participating in the gender specific rehabilitation program, and
another fifty will be experiencing regular probation. Within the gender specific rehabilitation
program, classes will be held and offenders will be required to attend all classes. These classes
will consist of lectures on topics such as: addiction issues, women in society, family,
relationships, coping with emotions, taking care of yourself, problem solving, and making
changes. The classes will be held once a month for eight months and will be taught by a
professional that specializes on women within the criminal justice system. An example of a
professional in this field would be Jane Parnell. Jane is a superintendent of the Washington
Corrections Center for Women, the largest facility for women inmates in the state, and has
experience supporting the state-wide effort to improve responses to women inmates. I understand
obtaining a professional to do this job will be difficult for little pay, but I believe a person like
Jane that is passionate about this issue would participate or ultimately volunteer for the program.

After analyzing the results of which one (gender specific program or regular probation) is more
effective to the offenders, action will then take place through congress to develop the gender
specific program and put it into action to change probation in the criminal justice system for a
better future.

Timeline:
January 1st 2020 - Obtain human subject research approval by the state of North Carolina

January 15th - January 27th: Obtain a professional to teach the classes for the program.

January 28th - February 28th : Collect offenders willing to participate. Fifty that will go through
the gender specific program and another fifty that will go through regular probation.

March 1st - October 1st : These eight months will be used to study the offenders, observe how
they are improving, if they break parole, and if they are attending lectures etc.

October 2nd - December 1st: Analyze results of the study, come up with revisions of the
program if needed.

December 2nd - January 2021: After analyzing the results of the research study and if my
hypothesis is correct, the development to put the program into effect throughout other states will
be the next step. This may take many years, but hopefully this program will spread its way across
the United States to change probation forever.

Personnel Involved:
The personnel involved will be me and 4 other students studying criminal justice at Appalachian
State University to conduct the actual study. We will all participate in observing the offenders
and their progress over the eight months. We will also be responsible for keeping all the data and
information organized throughout the entire process. A professional in the field of women in the
criminal justice system will also be involved to teach the classes once a month for the program.
The one hundred offenders are obviously a huge part of the personnel involved.

Sustainability Plans for the Project:
This project is very sustainable because we are just simply observing offenders throughout this
research study in Watauga county and we do not require an immense amount of materials and
resources. We also do not require the hiring of too many personnel and all we really need is a
decent size space to conduct the classes and store the files.

Expectations:
My hypothesis of this project includes that the program will be much more successful compared
to regular probation and the women participating in the program will have gained life
knowledge, and therefore make effort to change their lives in a positive way. Repeat offender
statistics will decrease and the female offenders will realize that the program did in fact help
them. In this case, the development of a real program will start to take hold and change the ways
of probation for a better future of preventing imprisonment all while reducing recidivism.

Plans after Results:
After the results of the study, the plan is to put into effect the gender specific rehabilitation
program throughout other counties and states. This will hopefully lead to more research being
done on the issue and the program being spread across the United States. To be able to achieve a
successful program that could possibly replace probation would greatly improve the criminal
justice system.

Detailed Budget:
• Monthly rental space: $350.00 per month ($3.500 in total)
• Filing cabinet: $36.19
• File folders (Set of 100): $12.00
• Gift cards: $1,000
 • Hiring professional: $450.00

Total Cost: $4,998.19

References:

Gehring, Krista S., Patricia Van Voorhis, and Valerie R. Bell. ""What Works" for Female Probationers."
UC EDU. 2011. 10 Mar. 2019
<https://www.uc.edu/content/dam/uc/womenoffenders/docs/MOVING%20ON.pdf>.

"NRCJIW." NRCJIW. 12 Mar. 2019 <https://cjinvolvedwomen.org/>.

Bilici, R., Ögel, K., Bahadır, G. G., Maçkan, A., Orhan, N., & Tuna, O. (2018). Treatment outcomes of
drug users in probation period: Three months follow-up. Psychiatry and Clinical
Psychopharmacology, 28(2), 149–155. https://doi-
org.proxy006.nclive.org/10.1080/24750573.2017.1391156

This article talks about research that aims to identify factors that affect treatment compliance of
drug users who have been sent for treatment under a three month follow up period within the
scope of probation. Their method of probation consisted of urine tests every fifteen days.
Subjects that were found incompatible with the treatment were also found with high craving,
novelty-seeking behaviour, and impulsive behaviour. In conclusion,the research found that those
specific subjects should be monitored more intensively and that structured treatment programs
enhance compliance and will lead to more successful drug treatment cases.

Cowell, A. J., Zarkin, G. A., Wedehase, B. J., Lerch, J., Walters, S. T., & Taxman, F. S. (2018). Regular
Article: Cost and cost-effectiveness of computerized vs. in-person motivational interventions in
the criminal justice system. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 87, 42–49. https://doi-
org.proxy006.nclive.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2018.01.013

This article focuses on how probationers are insufficiently motivated to seek treatment and that
probation staff have insufficient training and resources to successfully put offenders through the
probation period. It evaluated the cost effectiveness of a computerized intervention Motivational
Assessment Program to Initiate Treatment (MAPIT), relative to face-to-face Motivational
Interviewing (MI) and supervision as usual, delivered at the outset of probation. I found this very
interesting because it will help us understand how effective probation actually is and if we can
save money and time by sending certain offenders through computerized programs instead of
classic probation with a probation officer constantly supervising you.

Gavrilovici, O., & Dronic, A. (2019). How criminal justice professionals perceive the reintegration
process of minors and young adults in detention and under criminal proceedings. Peace and
Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology. https://doi-org.proxy006.nclive.org/10.1037/pac0000376

This article focuses on the perceptions of the professionals in criminal justice regarding the
reintegration process of minors, young adults, and women in detention as well as those under
criminal proceedings. Qualitative data from twenty one criminal justice professionals in Iasi,
Romania, were transcribed and thematically analyzed to explore their understandings of the
experiences of the inmates and persons in probation services. Things were then found relevant
with negative impact of reintegration using probation as their method. The article also talks
about how we could improve the reintegration process.

Smith, J. P. (2018). Change and new directions in the probation service: The development of the
practice and concept of mediation. Dissertation Abstracts International Section C: Worldwide.
ProQuest Information & Learning. Retrieved from
https://login.proxy006.nclive.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&
db=psyh&AN=2018-00720-050&site=eds-live&scope=site

This thesis thus considers mediation practice as a potential new direction for probation practice
using the views and experience of a sample of probation officers and managers. The
organisation, its present culture, ethos and practice have been analysed in relation to its
receptivity to new ideas. It is promoting the possibility that probation as a whole is not necessary
and meditation can solve many of the problems within probation services. This thesis is very
interesting and out there but i thought it was an interesting turn to my research about this topic.

Viglione, J., & Taxman, F. S. (2018). Low risk offenders under probation supervision: Risk
management and the risk-needs-responsivity framework. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 45(12),
1809–1831. https://doi-org.proxy006.nclive.org/10.1177/0093854818790299

Jill Viglione talks about the risk-needs-responsivity model within the restorative part of the
criminal justice system. Offenders are put on probation for most non-violent crimes and this
article explains that there are too many low risk offenders that are overly supervised. This means
the government is wasting time and money supervising people on probation that frankly do not
need that amount of supervising. A huge amount of those non-violent offenders are women. The
article talks about how the level of supervision should align equally with the offenders risk level.
In short, offenders that are more dangerous need higher amounts of supervision, offenders that
are less dangerous need less amounts of supervision. This would lead to better effectiveness of
probation overall and improve restorative justice.