Every Sunday, “Back in the Day” looks at an article that ran on this date in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The items are verbatim, so don’t blame us today for yesteryear’s bad grammar.
The director of the State Mental Health Team for Courts and Corrections today refuted a statement by Corrections Chief Ray Belnap that the men in Hawaii State Prison constitute a “hard core” population.
At least 50 per cent of the men now housed in the old prison in Kalihi possess the characteristics of successful parolees, said Dr. John J. Blaylock.
Belnap, commenting recently on the prison’s record low number of inmates, said “the 225 people we now have are residual types — professional or proven offenders, the most difficult to handle.”
Blaylock contradicted this while disclosing the findings of a study which he conducted of 100 parolees from the prison.
Among his conclusions:
>> A parolee has a better chace of making it “on the outside” if he had a good wife and a good job.
>> Crime is a “young man’s phenomenon” and the older parolees have the best success rate.
>> The public needlessly fears the release of sex criminals from the prison.
>> Race, religion and educational differences have no bearing on the success … of a parolee.
>> … More than half of the prison inmates have the qualities for a successful parole.
Blaylock was assisted in his research by Deanna Chang, graduate student in sociology at the University of Hawaii.
His purpose was to identify factors that influence a successful parole, or failure, and possibly establish some guidelines to judge inmates coming up for parole. …
In the process of his study, the psychologist delved into the nature of the men who make up the present prison community. And he contends that it is not a “hard core” group. He said by the prison’s own definition of “hard core” inmates, they account for less than
20 per cent of the prison community. This is the proportion of prisoners who violate rules and are sent to the adjustment center — a prison within the prison,” he said.
Moreover, he continued, 60 per cent of the inmates have minimum sentences of five years or less, and 40 per cent have minimums of three years or less.
“This does not indicate that the Parole Board thinks it is a hard core group,” he commented.
