The RECID Data Set: Arrest Times for Released Prisoners
The RECID data set contains information on 432 inmates who were released from Maryland state prisons in the early 1970s. This data set is used briefly in Chapter 3 and extensively in Chapters 4 and 5. The first 20 cases are listed in Output 3.7. The data were kindly provided to me by Dr. Kenneth Lenihan who was one of the principal investigators. The aim of this research was to determine the efficacy of financial aid to released inmates as a means of reducing recividism. Results from the study are described in Rossi, Berk, and Lenihan (1980). (This book also reports results from a much larger follow-up study done in Texas and Georgia.) Half the inmates were randomly assigned to receive financial aid (approximately the same amount as unemployment compensation). They were followed for one year after their release and were interviewed monthly during that period. Data on arrests were taken from police and court records. The data set used here contains the following variables:
| WEEK | is the week of first arrest; WEEK has a value of 52 if not arrested. |
| ARREST | has a value of 1 if arrested; otherwise, ARREST has a value of 0. |
| FIN | has a value of 1 if the inmate received financial aid after release; otherwise, FIN has a value of 0. FIN is randomly assigned, with equal numbers in each category. |
| AGE | is the age in years at the time of release. |
| RACE | has a value of 1 if the inmate is black; otherwise, RACE has a value of 0. |
| WEXP | has a value of 1 if the inmate had full-time work experience before incarceration; otherwise, WEXP has a value of 0. |
| MAR | has a value of 1 if the inmate was married at the time of release; otherwise, MAR has a value of 0. |
| PARO | has a value of 1 if released on parole; otherwise, PARO has a value of 0. |
| PRIO | is the number of convictions prior to current incarceration. |
| EDUC | is the highest level of completed schooling, coded as |
| 2 = 6th grade or less | |
| 3 = 7th to 9th grade | |
| 4 = 10th to 11th grade | |
| 5 = 12th grade | |
| 6 = some college | |
| EMPI-EMP52 | represents the employment status in each of the first 52 weeks after release. These variables have values of 1 if the inmate was employed full time; otherwise, EMP1–EMP52 have values of 0. Data are missing for weeks after the first arrest. |