Oregon Department of Corrections employees tracking convicted criminals who reoffend say the Oregon Accountability Model, the state’s model for rehabilitative practices in penitentiaries, is showing signs of success.
Inmate recidivism by new parolees, as defined by the Oregon DOC, is anyone who receives a new felony conviction within three years of release from prison. According to a Oregon DOC recidivism report, 28.7 percent of those released in 2006 (the most recent year documented) became repeat offenders, down from a 36.3 percent rate documented when the report began in 1987.
Oregon DOC spokesperson Jennifer Black said the Oregon Accountability Model, or OAM, has been in place as the correctional business model in the state “for a very, very long time.”
Black said the model is designed to provide a foundation for inmates to lead successful lives upon release, and includes giving inmates access to work, education and drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs.
“Our mission is to hold offenders accountable for themselves and help them be successful at reintegrating,” Black said. “Right under 30 percent of the people who get out of prison will commit another crime; if you look at the trend, it’s actually going down.”
Captain Terry Brown, who oversees the Oregon State Penitentiary, said another large part of implementing the model is giving attention to inmate and staff relations.
“The staff-inmate interaction is a very large part of the OAM,” he said, “because the programs don’t work if the inmates feel threatened.”
“I always take it one step further to include staff interactions with each other, because a lot of (inmates) didn’t have very good social training or background and it helps them to see folks interacting in a respectful, professional way.”
Brown said pursuing this philosophy involves pre-shift briefings to alert staff to potentially volatile situations, so they might be better prepared to react in such a way that reflects the OAM mission. However, the philosophy does not include formal meetings on the OAM philosophy.
Also noted was the relationship between OAM and the Inside-Out Program in Oregon, which brings together University students and incarcerated students to study for college credit in a shared environment, something Brown considered a linchpin of success for the OAM.
“Any self-improvement programs help,” Brown said. “The inmates get very excited about it … I think it’s been a success.”
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