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The Role of Supervised Community Service and Socio-Economic Status in Recidivism Pertaining to Financial Crimes Among Ex-Convicts David Adu-Boateng

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The Role of Supervised Community Service and Socio-Economic Status in Recidivism Pertaining to Financial Crimes Among Ex-Convicts David Adu-Boateng Nova Southeastern University Masthead Logo NSUWorks Fischler College of Education: Theses and Abraham S. Fischler College of Education Dissertations 1-1-2019 The Role of Supervised Community Service and Socio-Economic Status in Recidivism Pertaining to Financial Crimes among Ex-Convicts David Adu-Boateng This document is a product of extensive research conducted at the Nova Southeastern University Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. For more information on research and degree programs at the NSU Abraham S. Fischler College of Education, please click here. Follow this and additional works at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fse_etd Part of the Education Commons Share Feedback About This Item This Dissertation is brought to you by the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education at NSUWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fischler College of Education: Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of NSUWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Role of Supervised Community Service and Socio-Economic Status in Recidivism Pertaining to Financial Crimes among Ex-Convicts By David Adu-Boateng A Dissertation Presented to the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education School of Criminal Justice of Nova Southeastern University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Nova Southeastern University 2019 ABSTRACT THE ROLE OF SUPERVISED COMMUNITY SERVICE AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS IN RECIDIVISM PERTAINING TO FINANCIAL CRIMES AMONG EX-CONVICTS by David Adu-Boateng An individual’s economic situation impacts the commission of crimes, and ex-convicts inability to earn a living and integrate into society increases their propensity to commit financial crimes. Researchers indicate that the high rate of recidivism points to the fact that ex-convicts face significant challenges in their bid to adjust to life outside prison. Prior research and extant literature show that most ex-convicts re-offend within three years after their initial release from prison. Generally, the propensity to commit a financial crime increases after prison time among convicted felons. However, an elevated socio-economic status reduces an ex-convict’s propensity to commit financial crimes and recidivate. Therefore, it is expected that ex-convicts who participate in supervised community service will be less likely to commit financial crimes and recidivate. If most repeat offenses involve financial crimes, then recidivism can be significantly reduced by controlling the propensity to commit financial crimes among ex-convicts. This study employs a multivariate regression analysis to investigate a nationally aggregated archival data of paroled ex-convicts to determine the impact of socio-economic factors and supervised community service on ex-convicts’ inclination to commit financial crimes. The current study finds that elevated socio-economic status reduces financial crimes. However, there is no conclusive indication from the current study that supervised community service reduces recidivism pertaining to financial crimes among ex-convicts. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my dissertation committee members, Dr. Grace Telesco (Chair), Dr. Marcelo Castro, and Dr. Jared Bucker, for their patience and guidance. I wish to also express my gratitude to the PhD program administration personnel of the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education, School of Criminal Justice for their assistance. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their support throughout this process. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Tables…………..................………………………………………………………v List of Figures……...….…………..……………………………………………………..vi Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................1 Background ...................................................................................................................1 Problem Statement .......................................................................................................2 Dissertation Goal ..........................................................................................................4 Significance of the Study ..............................................................................................4 Barriers and Issues ........................................................................................................6 Definition of Terms ......................................................................................................7 Summary .......................................................................................................................9 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ..........................................................................................10 Recidivism among Ex-convicts ..................................................................................10 Socio-Economic Status... ............................................................................................15 Supervised Community Service .................................................................................18 Research Questions and Hypotheses. .........................................................................21 Summary .....................................................................................................................24 III. METHODOLOGY .....................................................................................................28 Background .................................................................................................................28 Research Participants... ...............................................................................................29 Research Instruments... ...............................................................................................31 Research Design and Procedures..... ...........................................................................31 Data Analysis and Appropriateness ............................................................................32 IV. RESULTS ...................................................................................................................37 Introduction .................................................................................................................37 Demographics of Ex-Convicts and Hypothesis Testing for H1... ..............................37 Demographics of Ex-Convicts and Hypothesis Testing for H2... ..............................43 Summary of Results..... ...............................................................................................47 V. DISCUSSION .............................................................................................................50 iii Introduction .................................................................................................................50 Interpretation of Results... ..........................................................................................50 Conclusions.................................................................................................................57 Limitations and Delimitations..... ...............................................................................59 Implications of Findings and Recommendations..... ..................................................61 Summary..... ................................................................................................................65 APPENDIX A ....................................................................................................................67 APPENDIX B ....................................................................................................................88 APPENDIX C ....................................................................................................................92 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................103 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Methodology and Hypotheses Testing.........................................................................35 2 Ex-Convicts Admitted to Prison – Top 5 by Total Crime Rate ...................................38 3 Ex-Convicts Admitted to Prison – Bottom 5 by Total Crime Rate .............................38 4 Descriptive Statistics of Financial Crimes and Non-Financial Crimes Cases .............40 5 Logistic Regression for Financial Crimes – H1 ...........................................................41 6 Descriptive Statistics of Parole and Non-Parole Recidivism .......................................44 7 Recidivism Rates of Parole and Probation Ex-convicts in 2010 .................................45 8 Logistic Regression for Financial Crimes – H2 ...........................................................45 9 Results from Hypotheses Testing ................................................................................58 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Conceptual Model of Intervening Factors ..................................................................23 1 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION Background This research paper examines the impact of supervised community service and socio-economic status on the propensity of ex-convicts to commit financial crimes. Researchers indicate that the high rate of recidivism points to the fact that ex-convicts face significant challenges in their bid to adjust to life outside prison. Prior research and extant literature show that about sixty-seven percent
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