Money, Work, and Crime: Experimental Evidence presents the complete details of the Department of Labor's $3.4 million Transitional Aid Research Project (TARP), a large-scale field experiment which attempted to reduce recidivism on the part of ex-felons.
Beginning in January 1976, some prisoners released from state institutions in Texas and Georgia were offered financial aid for periods of up to six months post-release. Payments were made in the form of Unemployment Insurance benefits. The ex-prisoners who were eligible for payments were compared with control groups released at the same time from the same institutions. The control groups were not eligible for benefits. The assumption that modest levels of financial help would ease the transition from prison life to civilian life was partially supported. Ex-prisoners who received financial aid under TARP had lower rearrest rates than their counterparts who did not receive benefits and worked comparable periods of time. Those receiving financial aid were also able to obtain better-paying jobs than the controls. However, ex-prisoners receiving benefits took longer to find jobs than those who did not receive benefits.
The TARP experiment makes a strong contribution both to an important policy area-the reduction of crime through reducing recidivism-and to the further development of the field and experiment as a policy research instrument.

Contenu

List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
I The Transitional Aid Research Project Experiments: Background, Design, and Outcomes
1 An Overview
Introduction
The Social Problem
Adjustment Problems of Released Prisoners
The Transitional Aid Research Project
2 Historical Background of the Transitional Aid Research Project Experiments
Origins of TARP
The Baltimore LIFE Project
From the LIFE Project to TARP
3 Design of the Transitional Aid Research Project Experiments
Introduction
Early Design Considerations
Implementing the Experiment
Estimating the Efficiency of the TARP Experiments
Work Disincentives
Geographic Coverage
Assignment to Experimental and Control Groups
State Administrative Arrangements for TARP
Recruitment of TARP Participants
Analysis of TARP Data Files
Other Related Research Conducted under TARP
4 Implementation of Transitional Aid Research Project Experimental Design
Introduction
Randomization Success
The Georgia Commutation Order
The Experimental Treatments and Their Delivery
TARP Costs
Some Conclusions Concerning Implementation
5 TARP Outcomes: Effectiveness Masked by Unanticipated Side-Effects
Introduction
Overall Experimental Outcomes
Why Did TARP Appear to Fail? An Array of Possible Explanations
A Conceptual Reinterpretation of the TARP Experiments
Testing the TARP Counterbalancing Model
Policy Implications of the LIFE and TARP Projects
II Ex-Prisoners and Their Postprison Experiences
6 The World of Ex-Prisoners
An Overview of Part II
A Technical Note
7 Participants in the Transitional Aid Research Project
Introduction
Age and Sex
Race and Ethnic Compositions
Family Backgrounds of TARP Participants
Educational Attainment and IQ
Preimprisonment Work Experiences
Family Arrangements of TARP Participants at Arrest and on Release
Previous Criminal Records of TARP Participants
Offenses of Conviction
Continuing Ties: Parole and Discharge
Gate Money at Release
Epilogue
8 Postrelease Social and Psychological Adjustment Patterns
Introduction
Postrelease Marital Status and Living Arrangements
Illness and Hospitalization
Self-Assessments of Adjustment
Adjustment in the Postrelease Year
9 Employment and Earnings
Introduction
Finding a Job
Earnings from Employment
Employment and Earnings Conditional on Work
Control Groups: Determinants of Employment
Some Conclusions
10 Arrests and Arrest Charges
Introduction
Arrest Rates
Arrest Charges
Some Observations on Rearrest
III Modeling and Estimating the Effects of the Transitional Aid Research Project
11 Model of the Effects of the Transitional Aid Research Project: Theoretical Foundations
Introduction
The Theoretical Foundations of the TARP Model
The Specification of the Nonrecursive TARP Model
Some Complications and Caveats
Estimation Procedures
12 Estimating Transitional Aid Research Project Models for Texas and Georgia
Introduction
TARP Results in Texas
Georgia TARP Results
Some Conclusions
13 Transitional Aid Research Project Payments, Job Search, and Weekly Wages
Introduction
Texas Wage Analysis
Georgia Wage Analysis
Conclusions
IV Conclusions
14 The Policy Implications of the Transitional Aid Research Project
Introduction
The Employment Strategy
Effective Transitional Financial Aid Strategies
A Call for Additional Research
V Appendices
A Data and Instruments
B "Nobody Knows the Troubles I've Seen": Postrelease Burdens on the Families of Transitional Aid Research Project
The Significant Woman Substudy
Characterizing the Significant Women
"Objective" Financial Drain on Household Resources
From the Subjective Side
What Does the Satisfaction Index Mean?
Determinants of Satisfaction
Determinants of Financial Impact
Conclusions
C Women Ex-Offenders in the TARP Experiment
Introduction
Characteristics of TARP Women: Prerelease and Postrelease
Replication of the Counterbalancing Model
Reduced Form Results
Structural Equation Results for TARP Money Received
Structural Form Equation for the Number of Economic Arrests
Structural Form Results for the Number of Weeks Employed
Structural Equation Results for the Number of Weeks in Jail or Prison
Conclusion