Correctional Boot Camps

The term correctional boot camps refers to correctional programs that involve a relatively short period of placement (90–180 days) in a setting similar in environment, attitude, and activities to military basic training or boot camp. The offenders, often referred to as cadets, involved in a correctional boot camp program are required to participate in military-style drills and physical activities and are required to comport themselves in a manner similar to the military (e.g., responding to questions with a vigorous “Yes, Sir!” or “No, Sir!”). Correctional boot camp cadets typically are youthful, nonviolent offenders with few prior convictions.

Advocates of correctional boot camps claimed these programs are effective in reducing subsequent offending and helped reduce the prison population by being an alternative to imprisonment. In a roughly ...