‘Boot Camps’ in 11 States Use Behavior Modification to Reform Inmates

Kevin McClain was dirty, sullen, withdrawn, on drugs and about to be fired when he broke into a police car to steal guns. The judge gave him a choice: five years in a cell or a few months in “boot camp.”

McClain chose regimented days of classes, drills, humiliation and abuse.

“He went in strictly as a little old teen-age wild boy. He came out as a disciplined young man,” said his grandfather, George Ottis Hinton.

‘He’s Always Hugging’

“All he studies now is work,” said his grandmother, Lestereen Hinton. “And he’s always hugging on us and telling us, ‘I love you.’ ”

“I feel like I’m alive now,” said McClain, of Shreveport, one of 618 men and women sent to the shock-incarceration program at Hunt Correctional Center since it opened 2 1/2 years ago, and one of 296 graduates.

Eleven states have such programs aimed at behavior modification instead of just punishment, and a dozen are considering them. President Bush proposed boot camps as part of his anti-drug plan. The U.S. Justice Department next year will issue the first national review of shock incarceration, said Doris McKenzie, a Louisiana State University researcher working on the study.

The report will cover seven of the 11 states: Georgia and Oklahoma, which have the nation’s two oldest prison boot camps, both opened in late 1983; New York and Texas, which focus on drug users and sellers, and Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina. Alabama, Mississippi, Arizona and Michigan also have programs, but a study of all 11 would have been too expensive, McKenzie said.

The seven were chosen for differences in the inmates accepted, whether they are assigned by judges or corrections officials, whether they may drop out, whether counseling is a major part of the program, how much supervision inmates get on parole, and how many hours a day the program lasts.

Encouraged by Graduates

Louisiana will issue a report on its program this month, but officials say they are encouraged by graduates such as the 20-year-old McClain.

“Compared to regular parole, where there’s 70% to 80% failure, it’s doing real well,” said Shreveport parole agent Louis Stacks.

The program, known officially as the Intensive Motivational Program of Alternative Correctional Treatment, involves intensive follow-up: at least four meetings a week with the parole officer, curfew checks, full-time school or work, community service and random drug and alcohol tests.

Even where IMPACT appears only to increase parole agents’ work, those in charge say it’s worth continuing. “It has its problems. But if the problems are ironed out, as I guess the department is trying to do, eventually it might be a very successful program,” said supervisor Sherman Butler.

State officials say shock incarceration also saves money. They estimate that McClain’s training and parole supervision cost about $3,400, compared to an average cost of $9,100 a year for inmates in regular prison.

Success Rate

And the number of people who make it through parole is encouraging, said Corrections Department spokeswoman Martha Jumonville.

More than half of those who entered boot camp either dropped out or were kicked out. Of 283 men and 13 women who made it through in the program’s first 17 months, 70 were sent back to prison for violating parole. That 23.6% recidivism rate compares to 29% for inmates paroled after serving one-third or more of their sentences, and a 36% rate for those released early because of credit earned for good behavior in prison.

Most of the IMPACT parolees were caught drinking, using drugs or violating curfew rather than committing new crimes--the reason most other parolees are returned to prison. However, many of the 296 IMPACT parolees had been out only a few months--much too short a time to say whether they would make it.

“By and large, we find we don’t have any problem for the first month or two,” said Kenneth Temple, one of two parole officers who deal with IMPACT cases in New Orleans. “It’s like babies--they’re really cute for the first few months. . . . The real proof of the pudding is in four, five or six months.”

Some fail even after making it through the period of heavy supervision that is designed to help IMPACT parolees adjust to the outside world.

Arrested on Drug Charges

Dennis Daniels, for example, had graduated to regular parole before he was arrested on charges of burglary and drug possession. He escaped from jail and was caught in Salt Lake City.

Stacks said Daniels fell apart after he lost his job at a funeral home in cutbacks attributed to the state’s failing economy. “But you know, counting the time he was in IMPACT, that was two years he wasn’t committing any new crimes. . . . All this going downhill, it took maybe a week, two weeks.”

McClain said he was using Methedrine, LSD, Valium and booze when he was arrested. His friends were doing drugs, so he stole money for drugs. He bathed--reluctantly--once a week. “I just didn’t care. I felt very low.”

Now he is not only working full time at County Market, where he was a part-time janitor before his arrest, but he has been promoted.

“He’s outgoing, talks to people, gets along with people real well. He does a great job. Respects his superiors. He gets here 30 minutes before work,” said Gary Creel, store director at the supermarket.

McClain said he hadn’t expected to be offered an apprenticeship in the meat department, but knows why he deserved it. “I’d run to get stuff, run here, run there. The rest of the maintenance guys were just walking and moping along.

“I was just so full of energy from the IMPACT, it hasn’t worn off.”