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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 11:13 pm
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Results for offender rehabilitation
76 results foundAuthor: Cox, Alexandra Title: Beats & Bars: Music in Prisons: An Evaluation Summary: This report is an evaluation of a series of five-day music projects which took place in eight men's prisons across England from October 2007 to July 2008. The evaluation was aimed at understanding the impact of the project on its participants' engagement with purposeful activities while in prison, in particular the impact of the project on their engagement with the Learning and Skills department, as well as their behavior and general well-being in prison. Seventy-one men participated in this evaluation. Details: London: Irene Taylor Trust, 2008. Source: Internet Resource: accessed March 22, 2019 at: https://irenetaylortrust.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/beatsandbars.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://irenetaylortrust.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/beatsandbars.pdf Shelf Number: 115359 Keywords: Correctional ProgramsMusical ProgramsOffender Rehabilitation |
Author: Kempinen, Cynthia A. Title: Pennsylvania's Motivation Boot Camp Program: What Have We Leanred Over the Last Seventeen Years? 2011 Report to the Legislation Summary: Act 215 of 1990 established Pennsylvania‟s State Motivational Boot Camp Program, which opened in June 1992. The Boot Camp, which serves as a six-month alternative program to traditional prison, was intended to provide a more intense rehabilitative setting conducive to achieving the goal of crime reduction. Act 215 of 1990 also mandated the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing and the Department of Corrections to evaluate the program and to provide annual reports to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. Act 112 of 2004, changed the reporting requirement from every year to every other year, with the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing and the Department of Corrections alternating years. On October 27, 2010, Governor Rendell signed Act 95 of 2010, which removed the mandatory reporting requirement. The legislation, however, still provides that the Department of Corrections and Commission on Sentencing monitor and evaluate the program to ensure that program goals are being accomplished. Since 1993, the Commission has submitted 14 reports that have provided: 1) information on the utilization of the Boot Camp; 2) an in-depth profile of the Boot Camp Offender; 3) findings from a Offender Survey designed to measure programmatic success; and 4) results from its various studies examining whether the Boot Camp has achieved its goals of reforming offenders and reducing crime. In light of Act 195 of 2010, the current Legislative Report provides a reflective summation of what we have learned from our Boot Camp evaluations over the years, as well as findings from our latest study comparing the recidivism of Boot Camp graduates with offenders released from prison. Details: Harrisburg, PA: The Commission, 2011. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 14, 2011 at: http://pcs.la.psu.edu/publications/research-and-evaluation-reports/state-motivational-boot-camp-program/ResRptBC2011Rev3.pdf#navpanes=0 Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://pcs.la.psu.edu/publications/research-and-evaluation-reports/state-motivational-boot-camp-program/ResRptBC2011Rev3.pdf#navpanes=0 Shelf Number: 120764 Keywords: Alternatives to Incarceration (Pennsylvania)Boot CampOffender RehabilitationRecidivismSentencing |
Author: New Zealand. Department of Corrections. Strategic Analysis and Research Title: Evaluation of the Faith Based Unit and Target Communities Programme Summary: An evaluation was undertaken recently by Strategy, Policy and Planning on the Faith-based Unit (FBU) at Rimutaka Prison and the associated “Target Communities” (TC) programme that assists prisoners with community reintegration. Questions that the evaluation sought to address were: • To what extent does the FBU (and TC) succeed in engaging and positively motivating prisoners? • How successfully does the programme operate within a custodial environment? • To what extent does the FBU (and TC) succeed in achieving its aims of prosocial change, and reduced re-offending? With respect to the first question, the evidence gathered indicates that prisoners generally engaged well with the FBU experience and the post-release support, and expressed high levels of motivation to make changes in their lives. Prisoners and released offenders who were interviewed for the evaluation disclosed a wide range of benefits they felt they had achieved from FBU participation. There was general endorsement for the community change approach which the unit sought to maintain. Within this environment, participants felt that they had the opportunity to learn and grow, and to prepare themselves for life on the outside. They spoke of being treated with decency and respect, and that as a result they had been given hope. Those involved with the Target Communities service in particular were without exception extremely grateful for the commitment displayed to them by the volunteers. At the same time, they were aware that they were still on a journey that had only really just begun. The level of community engagement achieved by Prison Fellowship New Zealand (PFNZ), in terms of the sheer numbers of community members enlisted to work alongside the offenders, is quite remarkable, and unique within the prison system. With respect to the second question, evaluation findings point to a range of differences in the perspectives of PFNZ and Prison Services which have meant a difficult relationship between the two parties. A “clash of cultures” is observed, between PFNZ staff’s unwavering belief in the value of the programme, and their earnest desire to ensure that participating offenders gain maximal value from their time in the unit, while a number of key personnel within Prison Services tend to view the programme more sceptically, and sometimes act in ways that have been interpreted (by PFNZ) as devaluing the unit’s worth. Quantitative analysis using psychometric instruments supported prisoners’ claims of making positive changes while in the unit, showing significant changes in offending-related beliefs. With respect to reconviction data, an RQ analysis revealed no significant impacts amongst the (admittedly small) FBU sample. Some reduction in the seriousness of new offending was identified, but this fell below the level of statistical significance, and thus cannot be interpreted as conclusive proof of a positive effect. The absence of measurable impacts on reconvictions is consistent with the findings from a number of previous studies internationally on similar faith based programmes. However, the relatively small sample size available for inclusion in the reconviction analysis means that the results ought not be considered conclusive. A theoretical model (programme logic) that is hypothesised to effect transformation of FBU participants was extracted from the interviews with stakeholders. The model emphasises that the primary mechanism of change for the FBU is the therapeutic community. This evaluation did not attempt to test the effectiveness of the principles of the therapeutic community model since PFNZ have only recently gained clarity about that approach. However, that could occur through a followup evaluation at a later date. A number of key learnings and recommendations are made about the future of the FBU, subject to decisions on renewal of the contract with PFNZ. These relate to the relationship between PFNZ and the Department, programme length, and the sentence planning processes that support the unit’s operation. Details: Wellington, NZ: New Zealand Department of Corrections, 2010. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 29, 2011 at: http://www.corrections.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/486357/Final_version_of_FBU_evaluation_report_-_web_version.pdf Year: 2010 Country: New Zealand URL: http://www.corrections.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/486357/Final_version_of_FBU_evaluation_report_-_web_version.pdf Shelf Number: 121195 Keywords: Correctional ProgramsFaith-Based InitiativesOffender RehabilitationRecidivism |
Author: Heseltine, Karen Title: Prison-based Correctional Offender Rehabilitation Programs: The 2009 National Picture in Australia Summary: In recent years, correctional administrators both in Australia and overseas have invested significant resources in the development and delivery of offender rehabilitation programs. These initiatives have occurred in the context of an impressive evidence base, attesting to the notion that such efforts are likely to have a greater impact on recidivism than incarceration alone and perhaps now, more than any time in the last 30 years, there is widespread optimism that such initiatives will help to reduce reoffending and improve community safety. This report provides an updated account of the nature and scope of custodial-based offender rehabilitation programs in Australia. It does this in three ways — first, it describes those programs that are offered to adult offenders in public prisons throughout Australia and highlights changes that have occurred in practice since the first audit of programs was completed in 2004. Second, it identifies areas of programmatic strength in relation to internationally accepted good practice criteria. Third, it describes some of the future developments that are likely to occur in the next few years and discusses some of the possible impediments to developing programs further that may exist. The final report comprises two sections. It begins with a description of the legislative guidance and/or mandate that underpins the delivery of rehabilitation programs in each jurisdiction. This is followed by a description of the custodial-based offender rehabilitation programs that are currently offered in Australia and how these have changed over time. It concludes with a general discussion of the challenges that face service providers in the next few years. The second section provides a more detailed description of programs, reported by jurisdiction. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2011. 99p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 20, 2011 at: http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/5/6/4/%7B564B2ECA-4433-4E9B-B4BA-29BD59071E81%7Drpp112.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/5/6/4/%7B564B2ECA-4433-4E9B-B4BA-29BD59071E81%7Drpp112.pdf Shelf Number: 121773 Keywords: Correctional Programs (Australia)Offender RehabilitationRecidivismReoffending |
Author: Heseltine, Karen Title: Prison-Based Correctional Rehabilitation: An Overview of Intensive Interventions for Moderate to High-Risk Offenders Summary: Correctional rehabilitation programs are routinely offered to moderate to high-risk offenders in all Australian jurisdictions. The similarities in service provision between states and territories is great; most, if not all, offer programs that are dedicated towards reducing risk in sexual and violent offenders, as well as addressing more general causes of offending. This paper describes some of the changes that have occurred to service provision since the last national review of offenders programs was conducted in 2004. It highlights the trend towards the delivery of high intensity (greater than 100 hour face-to-face contact) programs in Australia and notes some of the differences that exist between the various jurisdictional approaches to offender rehabilitation. These newer programs (rolled out since 2004) are of a generally high standard, are well-embedded within correctional case management systems and are consistent with evidence-based principles of offender rehabilitation. It seems likely that these programs will have a positive impact on recidivism, although rigorous evaluation of program outcomes still needs to occur. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2011. 6p. Source: Internet Resource: Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, No. 412: Accessed May 23, 2011 at: http://www.aic.gov.au/en/publications/current%20series/tandi/401-420/tandi412.aspx Year: 2011 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/en/publications/current%20series/tandi/401-420/tandi412.aspx Shelf Number: 121783 Keywords: Correctional Programs (Australia)Offender RehabilitationRecidivism |
Author: Great Britain. Ministry of Justice Title: Competition Strategy for Offender Services Summary: The Competition Strategy for Offender Services sets out our ambition for encouraging greater involvement of the private and voluntary sectors in the rehabilitation of offenders to cut re-offending and to improve outcomes and efficiency. Competition between providers will be used to drive efficiency, reform services and encourage innovation. Details: London: Ministry of Justice, 2011. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 18, 2011 at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/policy/moj/competition-strategy-offender-services.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/policy/moj/competition-strategy-offender-services.pdf Shelf Number: 122084 Keywords: Offender RehabilitationOffenders (U.K.)Privatization |
Author: Jolliffe, Darrick Title: A Systematic Review of the National and International Evidence on the Effectiveness of Interventions with Violent Offenders Summary: A systematic review is a scientifically rigorous form of literature review which uses robust and replicable methods for locating, appraising and synthesising evidence from prior studies. This systematic review identified and obtained available evidence from previous evaluations which assessed the effectiveness of interventions with violent offenders. The review was commissioned to provide a comprehensive overview of the available evidence to inform policy on the commissioning of prison and probation services and was not designed specifically to evaluate National Offender Management Service (NOMS) or Her Majesty’s Prison Service (HMPS) programmes. It therefore captured evaluations of a broad range of interventions and programmes run in a number of different countries. When combining results from the obtained studies the review indicated that, overall, interventions with violent offenders were successful at reducing general and violent re-offending. The review identified elements of programmes and interventions (such as the content of the intervention and the delivery of the intervention) which were associated with a reduction in re-offending. As NOMS and HMPS currently provide interventions for violent offenders which incorporate elements identified as effective, this research indicates that the programmes and policies used by NOMS and HMPS are in line with the current evidence base. A relatively small number of high quality studies were identified. This limits the generalisability of the findings and suggests that more high quality evaluations (such as randomised control trials) of interventions for violent offenders need to be conducted to establish what works best and for whom. Details: London: Ministry of Justice, Research, Development and Statistics, 2007. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: Ministry of Justice Research Series 16/07: Accessed October 21, 2011 at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/review-evidence-violent.pdf Year: 2007 Country: International URL: http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/review-evidence-violent.pdf Shelf Number: 123077 Keywords: Offender RehabilitationRecidivismViolent Offenders |
Author: Wyse, Jessica J.B. Title: Rehabilitating Criminal Selves: Gendered Strategies in Community Corrections Summary: Despite sweeping changes to the criminal justice system, scholars have documented that the formation of criminal subjects remains deeply gendered. While women’s criminality is explained as emanating out of psychological disorder and a fractured self, men’s is understood as a rational choice made by a whole self. Drawing upon observational, interview and case note data collected within the probation/parole system of a Northwestern State, I both concur with and challenge this standard narrative. I present a unified concept of the gendered selves that underlie contemporary notions of men and women as criminal subjects and link the particular rehabilitative strategies officers employ to these gendered beliefs. I suggest that officers are critical of the criminal selves of both men and women, positing the male self as flawed or underdeveloped and the female as permeable and amorphous. Responsive to these beliefs, officers attempt to rehabilitate men via encouraging “non-criminal” thought processes and behaviors and modeling a conventional, officious interactional style. For women, offices attempt to solidify women’s boundaries, discourage relationship formation, model a healthy relationship and contain women’s emotions. I focus particularly upon interactions within supervision meetings, as I will argue that it is within this space that officers, facing substantial resource constraints, are able to work towards rehabilitative goals. Details: Ann Arbor, MI: Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 2012. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: Population Studies Center Research Report 12-751: Accessed January 26, 2012 at: http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/pdf/rr12-751.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/pdf/rr12-751.pdf Shelf Number: 123770 Keywords: Alternatives to IncarcerationCommunity CorrectionsOffender Rehabilitation |
Author: Prison Reform Trust Title: Old Enough To Know Better? A briefing on young adults in the criminal justice system in England & Wales Summary: This briefing by the Out of Trouble programme, a five year campaign run by the Prison Reform Trust, to reduce the number of children and young people in prison, highlights the reforms needed to address the issue of 18- to 20-year-olds in the criminal justice system. According to the briefing, while 18- to 25-year-olds make up one in ten of the population as a whole, they account for a third of those sent to prison each year. Nearly two thirds of young people released from custody in the first quarter of 2008 reoffended within the year. The report argues that the criminal system is both failing to divert young men and women from falling into a pattern of offending in the first place, and then doing little to help them turn their lives around when they do. For the sake of future victims of crime, it argues, a more focused and intensive approach to rehabilitating young offenders in this age group is needed. The briefing calls on the government to build in its decision to reprieve the Youth Justice Board and apply its multi-agency approach to young adults as well as children, and makes a series of recommendations, including: introducing a robust community sentence, tailored to the specific needs of this age group; diverting first-time and low-level offenders out of the criminal justice system through the use of restorative pre-court disposal similar to the Youth Restorative Disposal; expanding the age-remit of youth offending teams (YOTs) to engage with 18-20 year-olds; developing sentencing guidelines specific to young adults; establishing specialist services for young adults both in the community and in prison that reduce alcohol and drug misuse as drivers to crime; ensuring that the new diversion and liaison schemes at police stations and courts are equipped to respond to the particular needs of young men and young women with mental health problems or learning difficulties and learning disabilities. Details: London: Prison Reform Trust, 2012. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed on January 27, 2012 at http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/OldEnoughToKnowBetter.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/OldEnoughToKnowBetter.pdf Shelf Number: 123838 Keywords: Juvenile Detention (U.K.)Juvenile Diversion (U.K.)Juvenile Inmates (U.K.)Offender RehabilitationSentencing Guidelines |
Author: Smith-Heisters, Skaidra Title: The Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act: Prison Overcrowding, Parole and Sentencing Reform (Proposition 5) Summary: California’s prisons are overburdened because state policies have created an endless cycle of incarceration that does little to promote public safety. An estimated one-third of inmates in California prisons are nonviolent recidivists who have never been sentenced for a violent crime.1 Meanwhile, as a result of sentencing changes in the late 1970s and early ’80s, the prison population has quadrupled, the parolee population has more than quadrupled, and general fund expenditures for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) have ballooned from 2 percent to 10 percent, or more than $10 billion today. State institutions are at double their capacity, resulting in such poor performance that portions of the state’s criminal justice system are now run by federal mandate. The threat of federal takeover of more of the state’s failing prison system is real and significant. Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act, will be decided by voters in the November 4, 2008 General Election. The proposition contains within it some of the important reform measures that numerous advisory committees have for years urged the state to implement.2 These reforms would help to break the state’s appallingly high prison recidivism rate by bringing California’s parole terms and sanctions for parole violation more in line with other states’, which have managed incarcerated populations more effectively. Proposition 5 would also build on the cost-saving drug treatment programs approved by voters in 2000 under Proposition 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act. Details: Los Angeles, CA: The Reason Foundation, 2008. 19p. Source: Policy Brief 74: Internet Resource: Accessed on February 3, 2012 at http://reason.org/files/fca481a6c38c69c7f9ae9761e97bb053.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: http://reason.org/files/fca481a6c38c69c7f9ae9761e97bb053.pdf Shelf Number: 123928 Keywords: Nonviolent Offenders (California)Offender RehabilitationParolePrison Overcrowding (California)Sentencing Reform |
Author: Boque, Bradford Title: Motivational Interview in Corrections: A Comprehensive Guide to Implementing MI in Corrections Summary: This guide explains how to implement motivational interviewing (MI) in correctional settings. Motivational Interviewing is a counseling technique that enables people to get beyond their reluctance to change problem behaviors. MI is directive (focused on goals), client-centered, and non-confrontational. The first four chapters of this guide “address background and fundamental issues related to agency or systemwide implementation of MI … [while the last two chapters] address agency issues, such as organizational norms, mental models, and leadership styles that can significantly affect the success of MI implementation”. These chapters are: what MI is; how MI is learned; supervising and coaching to support implementation; assessing motivational interviewing skills; and planning to help individuals develop MI skills in a correctional setting. A glossary is also included. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. National Institute of Corrections, 2012. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 27, 2012 at: http://static.nicic.gov/Library/025556.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://static.nicic.gov/Library/025556.pdf Shelf Number: 124278 Keywords: Correctional ProgramsCorrectionsMotivational InterviewingOffender CounselingOffender Rehabilitation |
Author: Maier, Elizabeth Title: Evidence-Based Initiatives to Reduce Recidivism Summary: This report was commissioned by the Vermont Legislature pursuant to Act 41 during the 2011-2012 Legislative Session. The study involved two parts: 1) a literature review of “innovative programs and initiatives, including local programs and prison-based initiatives, best practices, and contemporary research regarding assessments of programmatic alternatives and pilot projects relating to reducing recidivism in the criminal justice system;” (Act 41, Section 10); and 2) a survey of Vermont criminal justice service providers to identify innovative programs and assess the level of evidenced-based programming in the state. Although this report is not an exhaustive analysis of evidence-based initiatives which reduce recidivism it does suggest an effective strategy for the future collection and dissemination of information regarding evidence-based programs and practices at both the national and state level. Details: Northfield Falls, VT: Vermont Center for Justice Research, 2011. 89p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 3, 2012 at: http://www.vcjr.org/reports/reportscrimjust/reports/ebiredrecid_files/DOCRR%20LitRev%20Report.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.vcjr.org/reports/reportscrimjust/reports/ebiredrecid_files/DOCRR%20LitRev%20Report.pdf Shelf Number: 125145 Keywords: Evidence-Based PracticesOffender RehabilitationRecidivism |
Author: Fletcher, Del Roy Title: Offender Peer Interventions: What Do We Know? Summary: The deployment of offenders in peer mentoring roles is increasingly viewed by the UK Government as a key means of ensuring continuity of support for those released from prison, making mainstream services go further; and providing employment opportunities for those displaying an aptitude for such roles. The Justice Secretary in a November 20th 2012 speech has put mentoring at the centre of his emerging plans to improve rehabilitation. The joint Department for Work & Pensions and Ministry of Justice (2010) offender employment review has also recommended that prisoners should provide peer support to assist prison-based Employment and Benefit Advisers. Similarly, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (2011) has suggested investing in offenders that display an aptitude for mentoring roles to improve the prison learning and skills system. 1.2. Aims and objectives of the research Very little is currently known about the practice of using offenders as peer mentors. The present study seeks to begin to address this gap in our knowledge and has four key objectives: • to develop the evidence-base regarding the practice of using offenders in peer mentoring roles • to establish what works (and what does not) • to identify the individual and wider benefits and how these can be maximised in future provision • to develop principles of 'best practice'. 1.3. Research design CRESR has taken a qualitative approach to conducting the research. Qualitative methods are best suited to providing an in-depth understanding of the views, experiences and behaviours of key stakeholders as required by this study. The research comprised three key components: • a literature review to identify and synthesise international evidence • an in-depth case study of the practicalities of using offenders in peer support roles • an expert consultation with individuals drawn from the UK policy and practitioner community. Literature review The study began with a literature review which focussed on U.K. and U.S. material published in English from the 1980s onwards. The search strategy comprised four main methods: • review of academic databases • search of criminal justice agency websites • contact with an international network of experts • 'snowballing' from generic mentoring reviews. Key messages -- • the use of offenders in peer support roles is increasingly recommended by the UK Government as a key means of ensuring continuity of support for those released from prison; making mainstream services go further; and providing employment opportunities for those displaying an aptitude for such roles • yet the evidence-base for this type of approach is meagre. Very little research has investigated the use of offenders in peer support roles and many of the relevant studies have been carried out by individuals keen to extol its virtues • peer support is congruent with the dominant policy discourse which views crime and unemployment as manifestations of personal failure and poor social behaviour. Consequently, the deployment of peers underlines the importance of messages about personal responsibility and self-improvement • the case for the approach rests on four key propositions. First, peers can be effective 'identity models' for offenders- people they can identify with and are living proof that turning away from crime is possible. Second, peer support is necessary because offenders view professional staff as authority figures and are more likely to listen to individuals that have 'walked in their shoes'. Third, it is cost-effective. Finally, the approach can build social capital and resilience within deprived communities • previous research suggests that in the right circumstances peers may be better at engaging offenders; can act as 'identity models'; may be more effective at sharing information and knowledge; and can support managerial and front-line staff struggling with growing workloads • however, it also indicates that the pool of individuals possessing the requisite experience, aptitude and skills may be small; high rates of peer turnover may compromise service delivery; the ambiguity of the role means that mentors are placed in a 'grey area' where they are neither service users nor professionals; and peer programmes require considerable maintenance and support • the case study has exemplified some of the difficulties of integrating a non-traditional workforce. Peers have often lacked confidence and the necessary work-related 'soft' skills; some have found the transition to peer worker difficult and engaged in inappropriate behaviour. Moreover, the deployment of offenders can also reduce organisational flexibility because of the large amount of management support that is required. Details: Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Hallam University, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, 2012. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 29, 2013 at: http://www.shu.ac.uk/_assets/pdf/cresr-using-offender-KEP-report.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.shu.ac.uk/_assets/pdf/cresr-using-offender-KEP-report.pdf Shelf Number: 127419 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionOffender RehabilitationPeer Mentoring (U.K.)Peer Support |
Author: Blumstein, Alfred Title: Extension of Current Estimates of Redemption Times: Robustness Testing, Out-of-State Arrests, and Racial Differences Summary: As information technology has increased the accessibility of criminal-history records, and concern for negligent-hiring lawsuits has grown, criminal background checking has become an important part of the hiring process for most employers. As a result, there is a growing concern that a large number of individuals are handicapped in finding employment because of a stale criminal-history record. The current study is an extension of a NIJ-funded project intended to provide the empirical estimates of what we call “redemption time,” the time when an individual with a prior arrest record has stayed clean of further involvement with the criminal justice system sufficiently long to be considered “redeemed” and relieved of the stale burden of a prior criminal-history record. In the current study, we address new issues that that are important in moving the research on redemption forward and making the findings applicable to relevant policy. In the first section, we introduce the background of this project by discussing the increasing use of criminal background checks by employers, the potential size of population with criminal records that such background checking can affect, and our initial research on redemption that empirically examines when a criminal record loses its relevance in predicting future crime (“redemption times”). In the second section, we explore the issue of robustness of redemption time estimates. In our previous project, we generated our estimates of redemption times using rap sheets from New York State of individuals first arrested in 1980. Using additional data from 1985 and 1990 sampling years in New York as well as data from two additional states, Florida and Illinois, we test the sensitivity of the 1980 New York results to these alternative data. The results show that the redemption time estimates are reasonably robust across sampling years and states, and the range of estimates is presented to summarize the results. In the third section, we examine the relationship between the crime type of the first crime event and the crime type of a possible second arrest. This recognizes that employers are concerned mostly about particular types of offense that their employees may commit, based on the nature of the job position. We estimate the recidivism risk and redemption time of particular second-offense types, focusing particularly on violent and property crimes, often an employer’s primary concern, based on the prior offense type and age at the prior. We find that the prior crime type is associated with the recidivism crime type and thus redemption time, especially for violence, and the association is more prominent for older offenders. We also find that that association diminishes as time since the prior increases. In the fourth section, we address the relationship between race and longer-term recidivism risk, which is relevant to the concern of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that criminal background checks have a disparate impact on minorities. The results show that 1) the racial rearrest-risk ratio is smaller than the arrest-prevalence ratio, and 2) the rearrest-risk ratio declines over time, so that the recidivism risk of blacks approaches the risk of whites over time. In the last two sections, we conclude this report by summarizing our findings, discuss future work, and describe our outreach efforts to disseminate our findings on this important public policy issue to stakeholders. Details: Final Report to the U.S. National Institute of Justice, 2012. 114p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 8, 2013 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/240100.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/240100.pdf Shelf Number: 127552 Keywords: Criminal Background InvestigationsCriminal HistoriesEx-Offender EmploymentOffender Rehabilitation |
Author: Kansas Department of Corrections Title: Offender Programs Evaluation: Volume VII Summary: This evaluation report initially proceeded from a set of evaluation questions. These questions, initially discussed in detail in Volume I - January 1997, continue to guide the inquiry, data organization, and reporting format. The output (process) data in this report provides a statistical review of offender program participation for a five-year period from FY 2002 through FY 2006. Outcome (recidivism) data begins with FY 1992 and covers up to a fifteen-year period (through the end of FY 2006). Information is provided for each of the following programs: · Sex Offender Treatment o Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP) o Substance Abuse Treatment Component of SOTP · Substance Abuse Treatment o Alcohol and Drug Addiction Primary Treatment (ADAPT) (outcome data only) o Chemical Dependency Recovery Program (CDRP) o Substance Abuse Treatment for Females o Therapeutic Community (TC) (recidivism data covers FY 1997 – FY 2006 only) · Academic Education (process data only) · Special Education (process data only) · Vocational Education · Transitional Training Program · Pre-Release Reintegration Program · Work Release Program (recidivism data covers FY 1995 - FY 2006 only) · InnerChangeTM Program o InnerChange Program (recidivism data covers FY 2000 - FY 2006 only) o Substance Abuse Treatment Component of InnerChange Program. Details: Topeka, KS: Kansas Department of Corrections, 2007. 171p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 4, 2013 at: http://www.doc.ks.gov/publications/program-evaluation-reports/ProgramsEvaluationVII.pdf Year: 2007 Country: United States URL: http://www.doc.ks.gov/publications/program-evaluation-reports/ProgramsEvaluationVII.pdf Shelf Number: 127816 Keywords: Correctional Institutions (Kansas, U.S.)Correctional ProgramsOffender RehabilitationPrisonersTreatment Programs |
Author: Olson, Jeremiah Carl Title: Social Construction and Political Decision Making in the American Prisons System(s) Summary: With over two million inmates, the United States’ prison population is the largest in the world. Nearly one in one hundred Americans are behind bars, either in prisons or pre-trial detention facilities. The rapid growth in incarceration is well-documented. However, social science explanations often stop at the prison gates, with little work on treatment inside prisons. This black box approach ignores important bureaucratic decisions, including the provision of rehabilitative services and the application of punishment. This dissertation offers a systematic analysis of treatment decisions inside the American prisons. I use a mixed methods approach, combining multiple quantitative datasets with environmental observation at four prisons, and original interviews of twenty-three correctional staff members. I offer the only large-n comparative analysis of American state prisons. Characteristics of the inmates as well as characteristics of staff are explored. I am able to analyze data at the state, facility and individual level. All of this is to answer a crucial and somewhat overlooked question; how do prison staff decide who should be punished and who should receive rehabilitative treatment? I find that theories of social construction offer insight into the treatment of American prison inmates. Specifically, I find that socially constructed racial categories offer explanatory value for inmate treatment. Black and Hispanic inmates are less likely to receive important rehabilitative programs, including access to mental health and medical care. Black and Hispanic inmates are also more likely to receive punishment including the use of solitary confinement in administrative segregation units. I find, consistent with theories of representative bureaucracy that staffing characteristics also impact treatment decisions, with black and Hispanic staff members expressing lower preferences for punishment and prisons with higher percentages of black staff members utilize administrative segregation less. I provide a historical overview of the changing social constructions of crime and prisons inside the United States, from colonial to present day America. I argue that the treatment of prisoners changes as our conception of crime changes. I discuss recent bipartisan attempts at prison reform and offer my own suggestions for reform of the American prison system. Details: Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky, Political Science, 2013. 222p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed May 13, 2013 at: http://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=polysci_etds Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=polysci_etds Shelf Number: 128713 Keywords: Correctional ProgramsCriminal Justice PolicyDecision-MakingOffender RehabilitationPrisons (U.S.) |
Author: Centre for Social Justice Title: Can Secure Colleges Transform Youth Custody? Transcript from a roundtable discussion on Secure Colleges Summary: The case for change is clear. Last year more than 3,500 young offenders were sentenced to custody and more than 70% of them went onto reoffend within a year, despite an average of around £100,000 per annum being spent on their detention. There is an urgent need to improve the educational attainment of children in custody, reduce the sky-high levels of reoffending, and turn around the lives of these young people for their own sake and for the sake of the communities that are blighted by the crime they commit. The CSJ has long argued for education to play a central role in the rehabilitation of young offenders. We were delighted to host a roundtable on Secure Colleges with the Minister for Prisons and Rehabilitation, Jeremy Wright MP, and leading voices from the criminal justice and education sectors. Our aim was to bring together key individuals and organisations that can help the Coalition Government make the idea of Secure Colleges a successful reality in the UK. Details: London: Centre for Social Justice, 2013. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 25, 2013 at: http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/publications/can-secure-colleges-transform-youth-custody Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/publications/can-secure-colleges-transform-youth-custody Shelf Number: 128796 Keywords: Educational ProgramsOffender RehabilitationRecidivismReoffendingYoung Adult Offenders (U.K.) |
Author: Knight, Victoria Title: A Study to Identify How 16 + Young Offenders across Leicestershire Engage with Education, Training or Employment Summary: This research is in response to Leicestershire Youth Offending Service’s (YOS) targets with respect to 16+ year old young offenders’ educational, training and employment (ETE) status. They have found that a high proportion of this cohort is failing to engage or partially engage with ETE. Using information that is already collected by the YOS, De Montfort University’s Community and Criminal Justice Division were asked to explore how this might inform their practice and identify risks about this particular group. This report is divided into sections which include context of the study, and includes some literature, methodology, findings and conclusions. The conclusion also offers a summary of the findings with also some potential indicators about ETE amongst 16 + young offenders, which might offer guidance for practitioners. Details: Leicester, UK: De Montfort University, Community and Criminal Justice Division, 2010. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 18, 2013 at: https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/ Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/ Shelf Number: 129025 Keywords: Educational ProgramsEmployment ProgramsOffender RehabilitationVocational Education and TrainingYoung Adult Offenders (U.K.) |
Author: Disley, Emma Title: Lessons learned from the planning and early implementation of the Social Impact Bond at HMP Peterborough Summary: At a time when government finances are stretched there is growing interest in finding new ways to fund public services which improve social outcomes. One new funding model currently being tested is a Social Impact Bond (SIB). A SIB is a form of payment by results (PBR) in which funding is obtained from private investors to pay for interventions to improve social outcomes. If these interventions succeed in improving outcomes, this should result in savings to government and wider benefits to society. As part of a SIB, the government agrees to pay a proportion of these savings back to the investors. If outcomes do not improve, investors do not receive a return on their investment. In September 2010 the first ever SIB was launched in the UK. Approximately £5 million of investment funding from private individuals and charities is being used to pay for interventions for offenders serving short prison sentences (less than 12 months) at HMP Peterborough, a prison in eastern England. RAND Europe has been commissioned to evaluate the development, implementation and operation of this first ever SIB. This report is the first output from the evaluation. It identifies early lessons from the development and implementation of SIB at HMP Peterborough. Such lessons may inform future SIBs or wider payment-by-results (PBR) pilots under consideration by the Ministry of Justice and other government departments. Details: Cambridge, UK: RAND Europe, 2011. 91p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 10, 2013 at: http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1166.html Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1166.html Shelf Number: 129617 Keywords: Costs of Criminal JusticeIncarcerationInterventionsOffender RehabilitationPrisonsSentencingSocial Impact Bonds (U.K.) |
Author: Clinks Title: Integrated Offender Management Cymru All Wales Youth to Adult Transition Model Summary: This report summarises the views of criminal justice and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector practitioners working in Wales. These stakeholders were asked about their views in relation to service provision for young adults (16-25 year olds) in the Criminal Justice System (CJS), and specifically how Integrated Offender Management (IOM) could be utilised to support a new approach. The IOM Cymru board initiated this work to establish how an all-Wales IOM strategy could support young adults (16-25 years old) in the CJS. Young adults were recognized by IOM Cymru as a priority group within the system, with distinct needs, for whom a number of gaps exist between youth and adult services. This report has been written by Clinks (www.clinks.org) and is supported by Transitions to Adulthood Alliance (www.t2a.org.uk), a broad coalition of organisations and individuals that promotes the need for a distinct and radically different approach to young adults in the CJS. The views and opinions represented are that of practitioners from across Sectors who work with young adults in the CJS. Over 200 practitioners attended three events, as well as three separate online surveys targeted at different stakeholders providing a further 48 responses. The responses from practitioners and service managers provided us with two broad strands of information: - an overview of young adult services, and - the role of IOM in supporting young adults. These two strands have provided Clinks and IOM Cymru with a wide range of existing good practice, some clearly identified development needs, a view on the role IOM Cymru could play in designing services, and how IOM could practically deliver targeted services for young adults. We have supplied 17 recommendations as a result of the consultation exercise. These represent an opportunity to improve services for young people in their transition to adulthood, hopefully diverting them away from crime and helping them to positively contribute to their communities and wider society. There is overwhelming support from practitioners for a new approach that recognises young adults as an important and distinct service user group. Much can be achieved without the need for legislative change and without the need for large-scale investment in new services. They look at an approach which is about inter-agency cooperation, better service design, responsive approaches, a better understanding of maturity and how to support clients transitioning from youth to adult services which so often radically differ from one another. It is also clear that IOM is seen as a good vehicle through which to implement a different, multi-agency, and more coherent approach to supporting young adults in the CJS. The recommendations in this report are intended to spur on change in Wales. We recommend that stakeholders with an interest in the young adult agenda consider their priorities in relation to this report's recommendations and assign appropriate resources to assist in the undertaking of these activities. This will require human resources to take forward, and if possible should not be left to chance but should invest in the development of better services at this early stage in the development of IOM services for young adults so as to ensure the best possible outcome. Details: London: Clinks, 2013. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 31, 2014 at: http://www.t2a.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Clinks_2013_IOM__young-adults-in-Wales_CONSULTATION.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.t2a.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Clinks_2013_IOM__young-adults-in-Wales_CONSULTATION.pdf Shelf Number: 131817 Keywords: Offender ManagementOffender RehabilitationYoung Adult Offenders |
Author: Fox, Chris Title: Personalisation in the criminal justice system: what is the potential? Summary: The Criminal Justice Alliance has published a policy briefing by Professor Chris Fox and colleagues on the potential for personalisation within the criminal justice system and lessons that can be learned from the social care sector over recent decades. This briefing highlights the key elements of personalisation which include offenders and their supervisors working together, and the need to focus on relationships, communities and offender responsibility. It goes on to discuss the need to look at an individual's strengths and skills first, before their needs and vulnerability, and the importance of encouraging individuals to become active citizens. The paper examines how a personalisation agenda could be achieved within a justice reinvestment model, focusing on community budgets, and whether the transforming rehabilitation changes are likely to help or hinder a personalised approach. Details: London: Criminal Justice Alliance, 2014. 20p. Source: Policy briefing: Internet Resource: Accessed June 9, 2014 at http://criminaljusticealliance.org/Personalisation_in_the_CJS.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://criminaljusticealliance.org/Personalisation_in_the_CJS.pdf Shelf Number: 132428 Keywords: Justice Reinvestment Offender Rehabilitation |
Author: Northern Ireland. Criminal Justice Inspection Title: An Inspection of Approved Premises in Northern Ireland Summary: The use of approved premises to assist offenders to resettle back into society helps reduce the risk of individuals reoffending and strengthens public protection arrangements in Northern Ireland. The importance of the APs' role cannot be underestimated, both in terms of their contribution to the public protection arrangements in Northern Ireland, and in providing support for the rehabilitation of offenders. One of the most significant findings of this inspection has been to tangibly demonstrate that offenders reduce their risk levels while living in APs. The inspection confirms that the criminal justice agencies, especially the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI), and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) give this issue significant priority. Their involvement has helped raise standards, and they support APs' staff to manage offenders more effectively. We found that the level of cooperation between the voluntary organisations which run the APs and the statutory agencies is a model of best practice, and evidence of effective partnership arrangements which are delivering significant public protection. There are several challenges - the governance standards required by funders are increasingly demanding for small charitable groups that manage APs. The larger organisations are better equipped to deal with the requirements of corporate governance, and have greater access to funds to modernise facilities, and to employ and rotate well-trained staff. It is difficult to reconcile local community concerns about the location of APs with the reality of just how difficult it is for some offenders to find suitable accommodation. The limitations imposed on offenders residing in APs through residency contracts and licence conditions are stringent, and many are returned to prison if they fail to abide by the rules. This policy is essential if public confidence in the concept of rehabilitation is to be retained. The report concludes that the APs practice have progressed since we last inspected. They continue to play a vital role in delivering public protection and providing offenders who want to change their behaviour with a new start. Details: Belfast: Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland, 2013. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 16, 2014 at: http://www.cjini.org/CJNI/files/50/500620a6-e62f-4eb8-82b3-1c686eff1368.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.cjini.org/CJNI/files/50/500620a6-e62f-4eb8-82b3-1c686eff1368.pdf Shelf Number: 132472 Keywords: Offender Reentry (Northern Ireland)Offender RehabilitationRecidivism |
Author: Turner, Shelley Title: Case Management with Women Offenders: Literature Review Summary: This literature review relates to case management in community corrections with women offenders. The review summarises research outcomes about best practice principles for the management of women offenders under community corrections supervision. The review also examines the outcomes of evaluations of case management as a supervisory and rehabilitative mechanism. The central purpose of the review is to inform a Dedicated Women's Case Management pilot project conducted by Corrections Victoria, which involves using specialist case managers for women offenders, assessed as being at medium to high risk of re-offending or with multiple and complex needs. The review examines international and Australian literature on effective practice and 'what works' with offenders and, in particular women offenders, to reduce recidivism, as well as international and Australian literature on case management approaches in community corrections, with particular reference to those designed for women offenders. Details: Melbourne: Department of Justice - Corrections Victoria, 2010. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 19, 2014 at: http://www.corrections.vic.gov.au/utility/publications+manuals+and+statistics/literature+review+on+case+management+with+women+offenders Year: 2010 Country: International URL: http://www.corrections.vic.gov.au/utility/publications+manuals+and+statistics/literature+review+on+case+management+with+women+offenders Shelf Number: 132510 Keywords: Case ManagementCommunity Based CorrectionsCommunity SupervisionFemale OffendersOffender Rehabilitation |
Author: Zajac, Gary Title: An Examination of Pennsylvania's Rural County Prison Systems Summary: This study explores issues surrounding the operation of the 44 rural county jails in Pennsylvania. County jails house two primary categories of inmates - presentenced detainees and sentenced inmates. Presentenced detainees are inmates who have not made bail or have not yet been sentenced (and may or may not yet have been convicted of an offense). Some of these presentenced detainees may be bailed at any moment, and, thus, are in custody for widely varying lengths of time. At any given time, over half of a county jail's population may be presentenced detainees. Sentenced inmates are those who have been convicted and are serving their sentence in a county facility. Sentenced inmates in county jails nationwide typically have sentences of less than one year, but in Pennsylvania they can serve up to two years or more. County jails in general face a unique set of challenges, including large numbers of inmates who spend only a very short time in custody, difficulty in classifying and assessing a short-term inmate population, challenges in providing treatment services to inmates who may be in custody for only a short period, and financial issues related inmate medical costs and strained county budgets. County jails are often quite small, in some cases housing just over 20 inmates, making it difficult to maintain specialized staff positions to deliver needed services to inmates. In Pennsylvania, county jails in recent years have begun to serve as a relief valve for the increasingly strained state prison system. The state system has transferred hundreds of inmates to county jails since 2009, as many of these jails have excess capacity. The current study examines trends in rural county jail populations and demographics, jail capacity, capital projects and development (undertaken and planned), budgets, and staffing over the period 2004 through 2011. This study also documents types of treatment programs and services being offered at the jails and compares them to what is known about effective offender rehabilitation practices. Finally, this study also explores fiscal and other challenges facing the 44 rural county jails. Details: Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania State University, 2012. 83p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 17, 2014 at: http://justicecenter.psu.edu/research/documents/JailsFinalReportJusticeCenterversion.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://justicecenter.psu.edu/research/documents/JailsFinalReportJusticeCenterversion.pdf Shelf Number: 131699 Keywords: Correctional AdministrationCounty JailsInmatesOffender RehabilitationPrisonersPrisonsRural AreasTreatment Programs |
Author: Nolan, Amanda Title: Outcomes for Offender Employment Programs: Assessment of CORCAN Participation Summary: What it means While CORCAN participation supports offender reintegration by helping offenders obtain employment after release, results of this research also highlight the importance of assisting offenders in retaining their initial employment to help decrease their likelihood of reoffending. Findings further highlight the importance of community employment in reducing the likelihood of reoffending and readmission to federal custody. What we found - 61% of offenders employed with CORCAN were granted day parole, compared to 41% of offenders employed with Correctional Service Canada (CSC) institutional employment (excluding CORCAN), and 51% of offenders who were not employed in the institution. - Offenders employed with CORCAN were 1.09 times more likely than offenders employed in non-CORCAN institutional employment and 1.37 times more likely than offenders not institutionally employed to obtain a job in the community, even after controlling for important risk factors. - Community Employment Centre (CEC) participation, as well as vocational certification in addition to CORCAN employment were both found to contribute to an increased likelihood of obtaining a job in the community. - Involvement in CORCAN employment was not found to have a significant impact on the length of time that offenders retained their first job post-release. - There was no overall association between CORCAN participation and direct reductions in recidivism (any revocation or revocation with a new offence). - Offenders who were employed in the community, regardless of institutional employment participation, were almost three times less likely to be revoked with a new offence than those who were not employed. Why we did this study Approximately 60% of offenders in the CSC have employment needs identified at intake to federal custody. CORCAN is a key rehabilitation program that focuses on providing offenders with employment and employability skills training. Offenders who participate in CORCAN are afforded the opportunity to develop employment skills though vocational certification and on-the-job skills training during their incarceration. There is a need for CSC to examine the effect of CORCAN participation on key correctional results. What we did The current research compared the outcomes of three study groups: 1) offenders who participated in CORCAN employment, 2) offenders who participated in CSC institutional employment (employment that is not part of CORCAN and involves general work around the institution), and 3) offenders who had no employment assignment during their incarceration. Analyses examined: rates of institutional charges and admissions to segregation, time to and type of first conditional release, community job attainment and retention, and recidivism (any revocation and revocation with a new offence while on conditional release). Details: Ottawa: Correctional Service of Canada, 2014. 41p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report No. R-283: http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/005/008/092/005008-0283-eng.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Canada URL: http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/005/008/092/005008-0283-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 133127 Keywords: Employment ProgramsEx-Offender Employment (Canada)Offender RehabilitationRecidivismVocational Education and Training |
Author: Aitken, Jonathan Title: Meaningful Mentoring Summary: The mentoring of offenders is one of the most promising pathways to rehabilitation in today's Criminal Justice System. It is about to move from the margins of rehabilitation practice to the mainstream of national policy, thanks to recent developments in the government's strategy for Transforming Rehabilitation (TR). Although mentoring is an idea whose time has come, it has so far been poorly defined and erratically implemented. Mentoring is a fuzzy concept which is in fashion but short of facts. This report attempts to portray various types and forms of mentoring now being used within the criminal justice system. We have tried to learn lessons and draw conclusions from what is happening across the spectrum of mentoring activity. Out of this spectrum we believe it is possible to identify examples and themes which constitute best practice. Once these are understood and implemented in the new TR strategy, we believe that the present free-for-all could be replaced by a coherent plan for more effective mentoring in all the geographical areas administrated by the new Community Rehabilitation Companies. Details: London: Centre for Social Research, 2014. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 25, 2014 at: http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/UserStorage/pdf/Pdf%20reports/mm.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/UserStorage/pdf/Pdf%20reports/mm.pdf Shelf Number: 133132 Keywords: Mentoring (U.K.)Offender Rehabilitation |
Author: Burgess, Cheryl Title: Women in Focus: An Evaluation Summary: Women in Focus was introduced in South West Scotland as a partnership between Criminal Justice Social Work Services and Barnardo's, aimed at supporting women on court orders to complete these orders and to avoid custody through breach. Support workers from Barnardo's were located in criminal justice social work offices, and using a mentoring-style approach, Women in Focus provided support for women to meet the requirements of court orders and to access community resources aimed at supporting them in the longer-term. The development and operation of Women in Focus resulted from the concerns that many practitioners, policy-makers and others have expressed in relation to the increasing imprisonment of women in Scotland (and internationally). The report sets out the mentoring approach introduced and examines issues arising from the implementation and operation of the service. The report also attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of the service in terms of increased community re/integration and reductions in breach and reoffending. However, innovative attempts, while making a significant difference to the individual women who are able to access them, are introduced and required to operate within, a wider social, political and economic context that can influence how services operate (i.e. short-term funding imposes its own constraints) and how 'effective' these innovative services can be seen to be. Details: Stirling: Scottish Centre for Crime & Justice Research, 2011. 69p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 23, 2014 at: http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Women_in_Focus_FINAL_REPORT.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Women_in_Focus_FINAL_REPORT.pdf Shelf Number: 133389 Keywords: Community ServicesFemale Offenders (Scotland)MentoringOffender RehabilitationOffender TreatmentRecidivism |
Author: Radcliffe, Polly Title: The development and impact of community services for women offenders: an evaluation Summary: This evaluation examined six services developed in third sector partnerships for women offenders in the community. The study was designed to capture best practice in services which were known to be at risk of funding cuts. The research which included interviews with staff, stakeholders and service users, examination of project documents and the collection of monitoring data, took place in 2011/2012, one year into an initiative to extend the limited network of 'one stop shop' services for low risk women offenders. A number of evaluations had already established the value of providing holistic services to women offenders in women-only settings, particularly for those who have suffered sexual and physical violence. There has however continued to be a shortage of evidence about the impact of these services on reoffending outcomes. As we describe, a combination of factors, including a lack of any common measurement system, has meant that reoffending data have not been consistently collected in the services that took part in our evaluation. We make recommendations for ways in which such services might in the future map women's interim progress; progress that is so richly described in the qualitative accounts of service users, staff and stakeholders. In many ways this evaluation charts the opening of a 'policy window' that we very much hope will not be closed in the new environment of Payment by Results contracts in England and Wales. Deaths of women in custody; lobbying by campaigning groups and charitable organisations; the publication of a series of influential reports describing the exponential rise in the imprisonment of low-risk women offenders and an increasing body of evidence that showed that such imprisonment served to exacerbate the psychological strain, substance misuse and anguish that accompanies so much of women's offending, had created a consensus that made government action possible. Short-term government funds were found for the extension of an existing model of one-stop-shop service for low-risk women offenders. The new network of services was developed in hastily constructed third sector/statutory sector partnerships with the hope that they would become integrated into mainstream commissioning arrangements. As we will show, these new services have been innovative in their linking of third and statutory sector, criminal justice, health and welfare and women-specific agencies. They have achieved much within short timescales and in many ways have presented new challenges in multiagency working. In the current climate of economic austerity and belt tightening, we hope that our report will provide evidence of how such challenges can be overcome and contribute to existing learning on the provision of services for women offenders in the community. Details: London: The Institute for Criminal Policy Research, School of Law, Birkbeck College, 2013. 94p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 24, 2014 at: http://www.icpr.org.uk/media/34025/ReportNuffieldfinal.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.icpr.org.uk/media/34025/ReportNuffieldfinal.pdf Shelf Number: 133406 Keywords: Community OrganizationsCommunity ParticipationFemale Offenders (U.K.)Gender Specific ResponsesOffender Rehabilitation |
Author: Hutton, Linda Title: 'Moving On': Throughcare for Young Male Offenders in Renfrewshire. A report on outcomes in relation to the 3-year service evaluation Summary: Moving On Renfrewshire' started as a partnership between Action for Children, Fairbridge and the Prince's Trust as a response to the significant number of individual voluntary organisations working in Polmont YOI. Eligible young people are identified as soon as possible after they enter custody. A 'youth work' approach is taken to support the young offenders and linkages are made with other services both during and after custody. The evaluation of the project notes high levels of voluntary engagement with 81% of the young people who were referred to the project engaging with it in prison and 75% continuing to engage with it post-release. The project was found to contribute towards reductions in reoffending rates, improved physical and mental wellbeing and improved personal relationships. Details: Glasgow: Robertson Trust, 2011. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 24, 2014 at: http://www.therobertsontrust.org.uk/index.php/publicationstemp/offenders-and-their-families/ Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.therobertsontrust.org.uk/index.php/publicationstemp/offenders-and-their-families/ Shelf Number: 133409 Keywords: Juvenile AftercareJuvenile ReentryOffender RehabilitationVoluntary and Community OrganizationsYouthful Offenders (U.K.) |
Author: Gilhuly, Kim Title: Rehabilitating Corrections in California: The Health Impacts of Proposition 47 Summary: California's sentences for low-level crimes would alleviate prison and jail overcrowding, make communities safer, and strengthen families, and shift resources from imprisoning people to treating them for the addictions and mental health problems at the root of many crimes. A Health Impact Assessment of reforms proposed by a state ballot initiative predicts the changes would reduce crime, recidivism, racial inequities in sentencing, and save the state and its counties $600 million to $900 million a year - but only if treatment and rehabilitation programs are fully funded and implemented properly. Human Impact Partners conducted an in-depth assessment of the public health and equity impacts of reclassifying six non-serious offenses - crimes of drug possession and petty theft - to misdemeanors. The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, Proposition 47 on the November 2014 state ballot, would also allow people currently in prison for those crimes to apply for lower sentences, release, and to have their records cleared of the crime, and redirect savings from the reduction in the prison population to mental health and substance abuse programs, truancy and dropout prevention, and services for victims of violent crime. Fundamentally, prison is not a healthy environment. Every day, conditions in California's dangerously overcrowded prisons and jails causes physical and mental harm - disease, depression, violence, rape, suicide, and more - on thousands of incarcerated men and women. Many of these people were convicted of crimes that pose no serious threat to others, but can be traced to their own substance abuse and mental health problems. They need treatment, not punishment. And treatment is much less costly than punishment, returning $3.77 in benefits for every dollar spent. A shift in how we charge and sentence people who have committed non-serious, non-violent, and non-sexual crimes has far-reaching implications for the health and well-being not only of those who commit these offenses, but of their families, their communities, and the public. This Health Impact Assessment predicts that full implementation of the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act would: - Decrease state corrections spending by $200 million to $300 million a year, and county corrections spending by $400 million to $600 million a year, according to estimates by the state Legislative Analyst's Office. - Increase state funding for mental health and substance abuse programs, school truancy prevention and victim services by $200 million to $300 million a year. - Reduce the number of people convicted of felonies by more than 40,000 a year, and the number sentenced to prison by more than 3,000 a year. - Allow more than 9,000 people now in prison for felonies for low-level crimes to apply for reduced sentence and release. This includes about 1,500 people who are serving extended sentences for a second strike for one of these low-level offenses. - Reduce violent and property crime by reducing the number of people who re-offend by at least 10% a year among people who participate in treatment programs. - Reduce the rates of incarceration of African- Americans and Hispanics, who are more likely to be sentenced to prison, county jail, or probation as whites for the same low-level crimes. African- Americans are only 7% of California's population but they represent almost one-fourth of prison admissions. Hispanics are arrested and imprisoned at a slightly higher rate than their share of the population, and are 60% more likely to be jailed. Details: Oakland, CA: Human Impact Partners, 2014. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 2, 2014 at: http://www.prop47impacts.org/docs/HIA_Full_Report_92314.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.prop47impacts.org/docs/HIA_Full_Report_92314.pdf Shelf Number: 133539 Keywords: Criminal Justice ReformDrug OffendersMental Health ServivcesMisdemeanorsOffender RehabilitationPetty TheftSentencing Reform (California) |
Author: Fawcett, Jo Title: Development of Electronic Monitoring in Scotland - Analysis of Consultation Responses Summary: Background 1.1 The consultation paper 'Development of Electronic Monitoring in Scotland: A Consultation on the Future Direction of the Electronic Monitoring Service' was launched in September 2013, seeking views on the operation of the current electronic monitoring service in Scotland as well as options for future development of the service which could include satellite tracking and remote alcohol monitoring. 1.2 The consultation response form comprised 21 open questions covering the broad themes of radio frequency monitoring, GPS, and other electronic monitoring issues. The final question asked for any other comments that had not been covered elsewhere. 1.3 Forty-eight responses were received from organisations in the public, private and third sectors as well as other independent and professional bodies and academic institutions. Overview of responses 1.4 A majority of the organisations responding to the consultation were broadly supportive of the development of electronic monitoring to be integrated better into the rehabilitative journey. The key themes in responses related to the need for electronic monitoring to be part of a rehabilitative, person-centred 'package' of support, the need for interaction and integration between statutory services and the service provider and the need for effective information sharing between organisations. 1.5 Whilst the current system for handling breach of orders was broadly supported by some organisations responding to the consultation, there were more widespread suggestions for improvements. The main suggestions for improvements focused on further improving speed of response, simplification of the system, the need for greater clarity regarding consequences of breach and improved communication and information sharing. 1.6 The main barriers to greater use of electronic monitoring related to a perceived lack of understanding and awareness generally, public perceptions of electronic monitoring as a 'soft' punishment, the need for evidence on the effectiveness of electronic monitoring in terms of reducing reoffending and concerns about the appropriateness of offenders' living arrangements when under electronic monitoring. A small number of respondents also cited privacy and human rights issues as an area of potential concern. 1.7 Responses to the consultation indicate a degree of positive support, notably from but not limited to CJAs, for the concept of developing the scope of electronic monitoring. Many of the suggested areas for development and improvement reaffirmed the themes identified above. Details: Edinburgh: Scottish Government Social Research, 2014. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 8, 2014 at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0046/00462137.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0046/00462137.pdf Shelf Number: 134275 Keywords: Alternatives to IncarcerationElectronic Monitoring (Scotland)Offender RehabilitationOffender Supervision |
Author: McGuinness, Paul Title: The use and impact of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974): Final Report Summary: 1. This research arises from a current Government review of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974). It considers how recent changes to it may affect offender rehabilitation and employment opportunities, and how employers and ex-offenders perceive and are affected by the law. 2. Criminal convictions are an issue for a considerable portion of the Scottish population. Scottish Government analysts have analysed data from the Scottish Offenders Index to produce actual and estimated numbers of persons within the Scottish population having a criminal conviction. This analysis showed that over 38% of men and 9% of women born in 1973 are known to have at least one criminal conviction. Extrapolating to the population as a whole, at least one-third of the adult male population and nearly one in ten of the adult female population is likely to have a criminal record. 3. Criminal records checks are now a regular experience for many people. Currently over one million applications for basic disclosure of criminal convictions are processed every year by Disclosure Scotland. Recent changes have included the creation of a heightened checking scheme for people working with vulnerable groups. 4. Research and review have increasingly raised questions about the ability of the Act to support the smooth integration of people with historical criminal convictions. Rehabilitation periods set out in law have been criticised as too long in light of research on the declining risks of recidivism over time as well as research on the stigmatising effect of waiting for a criminal record to expire. Amendments to the Act have increased the range of professions and situations that are exempted from the Act. 5. Employment is one of the most strongly correlated predictors of reduced reoffending. Not only does it help establish financial stability, but also roots a range of positive social relationships and bases of identity. However, amendments to the ROA which increasingly exempt professions in health and social welfare sectors may be exacerbating barriers to employment for ex-offenders in a labour market where such professions are expanding relative to industrial and manufacturing jobs. 6. Surveys of employers regularly show a lack of knowledge about the ROA and a bias against recruitment of ex-offenders, although there are important exceptions to this particularly where an employer has had prior experience of interviewing or hiring ex-offenders. Most employers who have taken the time to interview or have employed ex-offenders reported positive experiences and a willingness to further recruit from this group. 7. Ex-offenders report experiences of feeling discouraged, stigmatised and being wrongly questioned about their backgrounds when attempting to gain access to employment and education. These perspectives show how legislative frameworks and employer attitudes which affect recruitment of ex-offenders have an effect not only on the employment rates of people trying to reintegrate into society but also on their long-term psychological and general well-being. 8. This report sets out three possible approaches to reform, graduating in the degree to which they would alter existing practices and presumptions. The most minimal modification of the Act's rehabilitation periods would reduce the passive waiting time. Providing a certificate of rehabilitation would create a more active mode of acknowledging restoration of a person's status as a welcomed member of society. Judicial imposition of occupational disqualification shift focus onto the specific exclusion from certain jobs where a case by case analysis determines this is appropriate. Details: Glasgow: Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, 2013. 63p. Source: Internet Resource: Report No. 02/2013: Accessed February 7, 2015 at: http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/SCCJR-ROA-Final-Report-26-June-2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/SCCJR-ROA-Final-Report-26-June-2013.pdf Shelf Number: 134557 Keywords: Ex-Offender EmploymentOffender RehabilitationOffenders (U.K.)Prisoner ReentryRecidivism |
Author: Muir, Rick Title: Everyday justice: Mobilising the power of victims, communities and public services to reduce crime Summary: This report argues for reforms to the way the criminal justice system deals with victims, communities and offenders, in order to repair the everyday relationships damaged by crime and social exclusion. Crime is both a cause and a consequence of a breakdown in relationships: a lack of positive family and wider social relationships very often lies behind offending behaviour, while crime itself damages relationships, harming victims and fostering fear and mistrust within communities. Yet our criminal justice system does very little to repair the relationships that are damaged by crime and social exclusion. The system is set up as a confrontation between the state and the accused, rather than providing for direct reparation between the victim and the offender; it also gives local communities very little role in achieving justice and tackling the causes of crime. Furthermore, rather than providing the kind of consistent relationships with professionals that would aid rehabilitation, the system passes offenders between a range of different agencies, with too many falling between the cracks. This report proposes means to tackle the everyday, high-volume but relatively low-harm offences that make up the vast majority of crimes by mobilising the collective power of all relevant actors and institutions to ensure reparation for harm done and rehabilitation for the offender. Its recommendations cover three areas. - Offering greater direct reparation from offenders to their victims, including a right to restorative justice, to improve victims' confidence in the system while helping to reduce reoffending by bringing home to the offender the damage they have caused. - Fostering greater community involvement in the justice system, particularly through neighbourhood justice panels, to secure greater public confidence in the courts. - Providing offenders with the kind of stable and consistent relationships with criminal justice professionals that the evidence tells us are likely to promote desistance from crime, by making the justice system more integrated, and placing all young adult offenders aged 18-21 under the responsibility of the successful local youth offending teams. Details: London: Institute for Public Policy Research, 2014. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 19, 2015 at: http://www.ippr.org/assets/media/publications/pdf/Everyday-justice_Jul2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.ippr.org/assets/media/publications/pdf/Everyday-justice_Jul2014.pdf Shelf Number: 134980 Keywords: Community ParticipationCriminal Justice Reform (U.K.)Offender RehabilitationRestorative JusticeVictim-Offender Mediation |
Author: Zajac, Gary Title: An Examination of Rural Prisoner Reentry Challenges Summary: This study explored issues and challenges surrounding the reentry of state prison and county jail inmates to rural communities in Pennsylvania. Reentry refers to the process of a prisoner transitioning to the community after a period of secure confinement in a state or federal prison or county jail. The research used secondary data from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and the Pennsylvania Board of Probations and Parole and used primary data from interviews and surveys to: estimate the number and characteristics of state prison and county jail prisoners likely to be released into rural Pennsylvania communities over the next 5 years; identify and document reentry programs and services available to released state and local prisoners in rural Pennsylvania; conduct a gap analysis of reentry services available in rural Pennsylvania for successful reentry; and provide public policy considerations. According to the research results, releases of county jail inmates to rural counties are projected to hold constant over the next 5 years; however, releases of state inmates are projected to increase slightly over the same period. The most likely explanation for the slight increase in releases of state inmates is that state parole approval rates have increased somewhat over the past several years. The most notable demographic trends among released inmates are an increase in the number of older inmates being released, and a slight increase in the number of female inmates being released. Significant reentry needs for returning rural inmates include assistance with employment, housing and transportation. Transportation is crucial to the reentry process as the lack of public transit in rural areas can hamper returning inmates in finding and getting to jobs and housing, getting to treatment groups and medical and mental health appointments, and making required meetings with their parole agents. The challenges of finding work and suitable housing are magnified for "hard to place" offenders, such as those with serious mental illness and sex offenders, as the latter face significant restrictions on where they can live and work. This research also found that returning inmates also face some stigma for their status as ex-offenders. This is most notable for returning sex offenders. While there appears to be a reasonably robust network of social services and programs in rural counties for returning inmates, these services are unevenly distributed between rural counties. Most notably, there are very few reentry programs for sex offenders in rural counties, and almost no programs that specifically address the most important rehabilitative needs of ex-offenders, including programs that address ex-offenders' thinking, decision-making and problem-solving skills and their peer networks, all of which are strongly linked to recidivism reduction. Details: University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University, Justice Center for Research, 2013. 162p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 20, 2015 at: http://justicecenter.psu.edu/research/recently-completed-projects Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://justicecenter.psu.edu/research/recently-completed-projects Shelf Number: 135275 Keywords: Offender RehabilitationPrisoner Reentry (Pennsylvania)Rural AreasRural Inmates |
Author: Great Britain. Ministry of Justice Title: Transforming Rehabilitation: A revolution in the way we manage offenders Summary: 'Transforming Rehabilitation - a revolution in the way we manage offenders' describes the Government's proposals for reforming the delivery of offender services in the community to reduce reoffending rates whilst delivering improved value for money for the tax payer. The proposals set out in the consultation paper include: - opening the majority of probation services to competition, with contracts to be awarded to providers who can deliver efficient, high quality services and improve value for money; - commissioning to be managed centrally, with specifications informed by local delivery requirements within 16 regional contract package areas, to generate economies of scale and deliver efficiencies, whilst responding to local needs; - contract package areas to align closely with other public service boundaries, to support more integrated commissioning in the future; - more scope for providers to innovate, with payment by results as an incentive to focus on rehabilitating offenders - we expect to see increased use of mentors and an emphasis on addressing offenders' 'life management' issues; - key functions to remain within the public sector, including the direct management of offenders who pose the highest risk of serious harm. We have already consulted on the principles behind many of the proposals in the consultation paper through the 'Punishment and Reform: effective probation services' consultation. We now wish to undertake a shorter, focused consultation exercise, as although many of the underlying themes and issues are the same, our latest proposals contain some significant differences. In Part B of the paper ('Extending our reform programme'), we are seeking a wide range of views on further proposals which could support our reforms. In Part C ('System specification questions'), we set out some detailed issues on which we particularly want the views of current practitioners, sentencers and potential providers, as we finalise the operational design of the new system. Details: London: The Stationery Office Limited, 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Consultation Paper CP1/2013: Accessed September 18, 2015 at: https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/transforming-rehabilitation/supporting_documents/transformingrehabilitation.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/transforming-rehabilitation/supporting_documents/transformingrehabilitation.pdf Shelf Number: 136818 Keywords: Offender RehabilitationOffender SupervisionProbationReoffending |
Author: Monahan, John Title: Risk Assessment in Criminal Sentencing Summary: The past several years have seen a surge of interest in using risk assessment in criminal sentencing, both to reduce recidivism by incapacitating or treating high-risk offenders and to reduce prison populations by diverting low-risk offenders from prison. We begin by sketching jurisprudential theories of sentencing, distinguishing those that rely on risk assessment from those that preclude it. We then characterize and illustrate the varying roles that risk assessment may play in the sentencing process. We clarify questions regarding the various meanings of "risk" in sentencing and the appropriate time to assess the risk of convicted offenders. We conclude by addressing four principal problems confronting risk assessment in sentencing: conflating risk and blame, barring individual inferences based on group data, failing adequately to distinguish risk assessment from risk reduction, and ignoring whether, and if so, how, the use of risk assessment in sentencing affects racial and economic disparities in imprisonment. Details: Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia School of Law, 2015. 57p. Source: Internet Resource: Virginia Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper, No. 53 : Accessed September 21, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2662082 Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2662082 Shelf Number: 136838 Keywords: Mass IncarcerationOffender RehabilitationRisk AssessmentSentencing |
Author: Council of State Governments, Justice Center Title: Locked Out: Improving Educational and Vocational Outcomes for Incarcerated Youth Summary: The report, Locked Out: Improving Educational and Vocational Outcomes for Incarcerated Youth, reveals that despite spending between $100,000 to $300,000 per incarcerated child in secure facilities, only 13 states provide all incarcerated youth with access to the same types of educational services that students have in the community. Meanwhile, only nine states offer community-equivalent vocational services to all kids in lock-up. While most youth incarcerated 10 years ago were in facilities operated by state government, nearly two-thirds of youth locked up in the U.S. today are held in facilities operated by local government agencies or nonprofit or for-profit organizations. The survey, conducted by the CSG Justice Center and in partnership with the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators, asked leaders in each state: Who is responsible for educating kids incarcerated in this patchwork of institutions? The report found that in more than 80 percent of states, no single state agency is charged with this authority, leaving an absence of leadership and, ultimately, accountability for ensuring youth make sufficient progress towards college and career readiness. The report also found: Fewer than one in three states is able to document what percentage of youth released from a juvenile correctional facility subsequently obtain a high school diploma; In nearly half of the states, it is up to the parent or guardian of the youth, or perhaps a community-based organization advocating on his or her behalf, to get that young person enrolled in a public school or another educational setting after his/her release from a correctional facility; In more than one-third of states, youth released from a facility are automatically enrolled in an alternative educational setting, which often do not meet state curricular and performance standards and suffer from lower graduation rates that traditional public schools. Details: New York: Center for State Governments Justice Center, 2015. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 6, 2015 at: https://csgjusticecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/LOCKED_OUT_Improving_Educational_and_Vocational_Outcomes_for_Incarcerated_Youth.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://csgjusticecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/LOCKED_OUT_Improving_Educational_and_Vocational_Outcomes_for_Incarcerated_Youth.pdf Shelf Number: 137210 Keywords: Educational ProgramsJuvenile OffendersOffender RehabilitationVocational Education and Training |
Author: RMIT University Title: Evaluation of the Redevelopment of Community Correctional Services: Final Report Summary: Community corrections in Victoria instigated the Corrections Long Term Management Strategy (CLTMS) in 2001.The Reducing Re-offending Strategy was a component of CLTMS and was designed to guide correctional policy and practice over the next decade. A major feature of the Reducing Re-offending Strategy was the Redevelopment of Community Correctional Services (CCS). Within the available funding, 42.3 million dollars was allocated to the Redevelopment of Community Correctional Services. The Redevelopment was initiated to strengthen the capacity of Community Correctional Services to manage offenders and to reduce the number of prison beds. There were three compelling reasons that this was necessary: - The prison system was under enormous pressure due to a dramatic rise in prison numbers; - There was a financial imperative to expand community corrections as a more cost effective alternative to prison and there was a need for a greater range of sentencing options; - There was a growing evidence base that community correctional services had more potential to assist offender rehabilitation and reduce re-offending than a custodial sentence. A key indicator of success was an increase in substitution from prison to community based correctional services with an anticipated reduction of 350 prison beds over the four year period of implementation. The intended longer term outcome of the implementation of Redevelopment was a reduction in re-offending. Details: Melbourne: RMIT University, 2005. 124p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 25, 2016 at: https://assets.justice.vic.gov.au/corrections/resources/19ef8778-54fe-4660-b203-6dfa1ec7d33e/evaluation_redevelopment_community_correctional_services_final_report.pdf Year: 2005 Country: Australia URL: https://assets.justice.vic.gov.au/corrections/resources/19ef8778-54fe-4660-b203-6dfa1ec7d33e/evaluation_redevelopment_community_correctional_services_final_report.pdf Shelf Number: 137974 Keywords: Alternatives to IncarcerationCommunity CorrectionsCommunity-Based CorrectionsOffender RehabilitationRecidivismReoffending |
Author: Gilbert, Jarrod Title: Youth Desistance in Aotearoa New Zealand: What We Can Learn from Higher Risk Former Offenders Summary: This report is based on a study of 51 people who were imprisoned at a young age and who were assessed as having a medium to high risk of re-offending, but who nonetheless desisted from crime. The research was commissioned to understand how and why this desistance occurred. Despite uniformity of the qualifying factors, there were significant differences between many participants within the research cohort. At each end of this spectrum of difference we identified high- and low-end outliers, and these became important lenses through which to view different desistance processes and challenges. - Prison was reported to be a deterrent from crime by 81 percent of the cohort. - Sentence length was not related to deterrence: there were no meaningful differences between longer and shorter sentences. - Deterrence was influenced by both fear of returning to prison and the boredom associated with imprisonment. Executive summary - There was a sense among most participants that they did not 'fit in' with other prisoners. Nonetheless, many reported in hindsight that the prison experience had some positive effects. - Those who had spent time in both youth and adult units reported that youth units were harder, more frightening and more dangerous places than adult facilities, and that they felt less safe within them. - In order of likelihood, the decision to desist was made in prison, before prison, and after prison. The decision to desist was most often a conscious and quick one, made at the point of arrest, conviction or imprisonment. For a minority of subjects the decision formed over a longer timeframe and tended not to be overt or conscious. Both types of desistance decision ended in a 'switch' in thinking, meaning a desire to not commit crime in the future. - One strong deterrent element of imprisonment among some participants was the shame they felt about the embarrassment caused to other family members. Details: Canterbury, NZ: Independent Research Solutions, 2014. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 30, 2016 at: http://www.jarrodgilbert.com/uploads/1/1/6/3/11633778/desistance_report_final.pdf Year: 2014 Country: New Zealand URL: http://www.jarrodgilbert.com/uploads/1/1/6/3/11633778/desistance_report_final.pdf Shelf Number: 138493 Keywords: DesistanceDeterrenceJuvenile OffendersOffender RehabilitationReoffendingRepeat Offenders |
Author: Antwi, Alex Title: Social Reintegration of Offenders and Recidivism in Ghana Summary: In Ghana, the issue of offenders returning home safely to lead law-abiding lives has been a daunting task. Every year, hundreds of offenders leave the prison but relapse into criminal behaviour sooner or later after their release. It is on record that 24% of ex-offenders recidivate again and again. This implies that secondary crime prevention strategies in Ghana are ineffective in reforming, rehabilitating and reintegrating the offenders. The question this study sought to address is: what is the nature of the transition of offenders in Ghana? In addressing this question, a sample of offenders who were recidivists, case managers, social workers, prison evangelists and family members of the recidivists were purposively engaged in in-depth interviews. The findings suggest that most ex-offenders re-offend because of individual characteristics, family relationships, community context and penal policies which have been categorized into the institutional push and pull factors as well as social and community push factors. The institutional push factors stem from the fact that penal policies in Ghana mainly focus on custody, deterrence and retribution rather than rehabilitation. Consequently, prison-based interventions are ineffective in transforming the inmates into law-abiding citizens because governments are not obliged to finance rehabilitation programmes. The social and community push factors find expression in social rejection. The social system outside the prison is coercive and non-supportive. Although most ex-prisoners go back to their families, they face coercive interpersonal relationships. In addition, most of them do not get the needed support from the larger society due to the stigma of prison record. The negative perceptions of the public on prisoners have remained static and these reinforce the stigmatized identities of ex-offenders in Ghana. As a consequence, most ex-offenders lack legitimate support from micro and macro sources. The lack of civic engagement in conventional activities prevents ex-offenders from having a meaningful interactions with pro-social others and build new identities. The weak ties to conventional society also imply that informal controls which are critical in criminal desistence also become weak. This produces anger, strain, low self-esteem, lack of self-control and a sense of social rejection. Thus most ex-offenders in Ghana tend to seek support from illegitimate sources by developing the criminal capital, leading to re-offending behaviours. The study recommended a shift of emphasis in penal policy reforms from punitive to rehabilitative measures so as to hold governments responsible for financing rehabilitation in Ghana prisons. Further, ex-offenders should be re-engaged in civic activities to enhance their acceptance back into their communities in Ghana. Description: Details: Legon, Accra: University of Ghana, 2015. 265p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed September 30, 2016 at: http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/handle/123456789/8364 Year: 2015 Country: Ghana URL: http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/handle/123456789/8364 Shelf Number: 140526 Keywords: Offender RehabilitationOffenders Recidivism Reintegration |
Author: New York State. Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Title: 2010 Inmates Releases: Three Year Post Release Follow-up Summary: Return-to-custody data are presented for inmates released from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) in 2010. This includes inmates who were released from parole program facilities as well as those released from correctional facilities. Return rates are based on a three-year follow-up period and are analyzed relative to several demographic and legal history characteristics. Return rates among the 2010 release cohort are compared to those found for an aggregated release cohort covering 1985 to 2010. Trends in rates of return among the annual release cohorts since 1985 are also presented. Details: Albany, NY: The Department, 2014. 64p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 26, 2016 at: http://www.doccs.ny.gov/Research/Reports/2014/2010_releases_3yr_out.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.doccs.ny.gov/Research/Reports/2014/2010_releases_3yr_out.pdf Shelf Number: 146022 Keywords: Offender RehabilitationRe-offendingRecidivism |
Author: European Forum for Urban Safety Title: Innovative Strategies for the Prevention of Re-offending: Practices and recommendations for local players Summary: The repetition of offences feeds European crime statistics in large part. The overall rise in prison populations is constant. Studies reveal that a limited number of persons commit three-fourths of offences in certain categories. Regardless of the organisation of criminal justice systems, re-offending rates range between 50% and 70% across Europe , and the human and economic costs resulting from this crime are increasing in all the member-states of the European Union. This is why the necessity of implementing strategies for the prevention of re-offending is recognised as a priority by international and European institutions. The Recommendations of the Council of Ministers to the member states concerning new methods of dealing with juvenile delinquency and the role of juvenile justice emphasise the leads to follow in this matter: ‘The principal objectives of juvenile justice and the associated measures aimed at juvenile delinquency should be the following: preventing the first offence and re-offending; (re)socialising and (re)integrating the delinquents…’. The objectives of the comprehensive strategies of the European Union in the areas of employment, the fight against discriminations and social inclusion, put the accent on a way of thinking that focuses on the importance of the social and economic re-integration of those being released from prison or young multiple-offenders. Along the same lines, the Council of Europe, in the framework of its integrated programme ‘Responses to daily violence’ , has identified twelve principles of action. It is indicated that an ‘integrated national policy aiming at reducing daily violence should include, in particular, prevention centred on offenders: eventually, re-adaptation and reintegration of offenders in society and the prevention of re-offending should be considered objectives worthy of a comprehensive prevention policy.’ Since the European Urban Charter, proclaimed in 1992 and setting forth in its articles devoted to urban security and crime prevention that ‘the prevention of re-offending and creation of alternative solutions to incarceration constitute essential objectives’, the European Union has made the prevention of re-offending one of its overall strategic objectives. The European penitentiary rules, adopted since 2006, are an example of the evolution of the attention of the European Union on this topic. Details: Paris: The Forum, 2009. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed october 26, 2016 at: http://www.stop-reoffending.org/fileadmin/recidive/Activities/PDF/Initiative__VA_.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Europe URL: http://www.stop-reoffending.org/fileadmin/recidive/Activities/PDF/Initiative__VA_.pdf Shelf Number: 140840 Keywords: Offender RehabilitationRe-offendersRecidivism |
Author: Foster, Rowan Title: Evaluation of the Employment and Reoffending Pilot: Lessons learnt from the planning and early implementation phase Summary: The evaluation of the Employment and Reoffending Pilot aims to draw out lessons learned from its design, development, implementation and delivery, including any reasons for the results it achieves, providing valuable learning to inform the implementation of Transforming Rehabilitation. This report contains findings from the first phase of the evaluation, covering the set-up and first six months of operation of the pilot. Annex D - Topic Guides used in the Employment and Reoffending Pilot Evaluation is published as a separated document alongside this report. Details: London: Ministry of Justice, 2013. 54p., annex. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 15, 2016 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/265287/employment-reoffending-pilot.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/265287/employment-reoffending-pilot.pdf Shelf Number: 146640 Keywords: Ex-offender EmploymentOffender RehabilitationRe-offendingRecidivismRehabilitation Programs |
Author: Allen, Rob Title: Rehabilitation Devolution - how localising justice can reduce crime and imprisonment Summary: The new Conservative Government provides a fresh and promising context in which to reform criminal justice, by devolving power and responsibility to a more local level and learning from American "Justice Reinvestment" (JR) initiatives. The term JR has come to cover a variety of programmes/approaches, both in the UK and the USA, which aim to shift resources away from the unnecessary use of criminal prosecution and imprisonment into more local, productive and cost effective ways of preventing crime and reducing reoffending. The last few years have seen important reforms at federal and state level in the USA. More than half of states have introduced JR laws or policies which have sought to reduce the severity of sentences for nonviolent offences, and to reduce breaches of parole and supervision, in order to avert unaffordable prison growth. The extent to which these have contributed to the stabilisation or reduction in prison numbers is contested in some states, but the overall trends have changed - 2014 was the first time in 38 years that both federal and state prison populations fell in tandem. Many states have used some of the spending earmarked for new prisons to strengthen alternatives. There are four main areas for learning; first about how a much more locally based approach to criminal justice has enabled experimentation and reform, which has involved a wide range of stakeholders from different levels and branches of government, and from outside it. Second, how the politics of criminal justice has become more moderate with much of the leadership coming from conservatives who previously took a hard line, and with almost all of the JR measures enjoying bipartisan support. Third, the measures introduced to moderate prison growth have been based on comprehensive data collection and analysis which has enabled the costs, benefits and impacts to be carefully evaluated. Finally, some states embracing JR have required a proportion of the savings to be reinvested in programmes to reduce re-offending. They have also created incentives to manage low risk and low level offenders at the county rather than state level by strengthening probation supervision. JR initiatives in England and Wales have sought to test whether financial incentives can reduce the use of imprisonment for under 18’s, and encourage agencies at a local level to lower demand on the criminal justice system. Consortia of local authorities have shown that they can use financial incentives to stimulate measures to reduce the numbers of under 18s imprisoned; and localising financial responsibility for the cost of remanding under 18 year olds has coincided with falls in numbers in custody. There is enough promise in the results to warrant an expansion of JR. Details: London: Transform Justice, 2016. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 11, 2017 at: http://www.transformjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/TRANSFORM-JUSTICE-REHABILITATION-DEVOLUTION.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.transformjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/TRANSFORM-JUSTICE-REHABILITATION-DEVOLUTION.pdf Shelf Number: 144829 Keywords: Alternatives to IncarcerationCosts of CorrectionsCosts of Criminal JusticeCriminal Justice ReformJustice ReinvestmentOffender Rehabilitation |
Author: Crow, Iain Title: Resettling Prisoners: A Review Summary: The resettlement of citizens coming out of prison is an important part of the Government's Reducing Re-offending Action Plan. This review looks at the available research to see what can be learned about the most promising approaches to resettlement. Concern about the resettlement of offenders goes back many years, at least to the end of the nineteenth century, and one its most constant features is the high proportion of exprisoners who re-offend, some of them returning to prison several times. Recent concern about resettlement has been fuelled both by the intractable nature of the problem, and by the increasing numbers needing to be resettled. There is particular concern about the resettlement of certain groups within the prison population, including short-term prisoners and women prisoners. Although the available research has its limitations, there are a number of pointers to the lessons that can be drawn from what we know. • Offenders often have a mixture of factors contributing to their offending behaviour. Those leaving custody are likely to have several inter-related resettlement requirements (accommodation, employment, training, health issues). Research evidence underlines the importance of multi-modal action addressing the full range of offenders' needs. • Offenders need continuity of engagement, and not just to be moved about from one person and agency to another. Good linkage between agencies is important. Integrated case management is one of the fundamental principles of NOMS, an aspiration that needs to be achieved for successful resettlement to become a reality. • Important though practical interventions are, successful resettlement is not just about practical support. Several studies refer to the importance of personal determination and resilience in resisting re-offending on release. Agencies can play a part in encouraging and reinforcing ex-prisoners’ own efforts. Not all offenders are equally capable of helping themselves, but this suggests a twin-track strategy of supporting those who have the capacity to help themselves, while targeting resources more effectively on those who are less capable. • Families and friends can play a vital role in providing supportive relationships, and the connections needed to obtain jobs. Research underlines the importance of sustaining those relationships through imprisonment, and on release. • The available literature points to the importance of not only addressing the needs of the offender, but also paying attention to the communities from which they come. Researchers point to the fact that commonly the communities to which prisoners return are disadvantaged, and need support in re-integrating offenders. This highlights the role that restorative justice might play in offender re-integration: a community which feels there has been some restoration and that there is the potential for offenders to contribute to community well being is more likely to support exoffenders. The NOMS vision agreed by the Chief Executive and Board in January 2005 refers to, ‘Engaging local communities in the management and resettlement of offenders’. In this context the voluntary and community sector has a crucial role to play, and the success of NOMS will be judged not only on how well the former prison and probation services work together, but the extent to which the VCS, and employers, become effective partners. • There is a need to extend provision for women offenders in the light of a significant increase in the numbers sent to, and leaving prison in recent years. Research highlights the need of women returning to the community for both practical support, and to repair, or sometimes avoid, damaged relationships. • For the majority of prisoners with mental health problems there is little follow-up post-release. Positive approaches to improving access to healthcare services for prisoners on release are needed. • There is a significant likelihood of people returning to drug use and crime quite soon after release if there is nothing in place at the time of release. The extent of drug misuse, and its close relationship to re-offending, means that treatment in prison needs to be linked directly to aftercare. • Recent research has focused on efforts to understand what factors have been instrumental in desistance from crime: what happens when people cease to offend. Although research in this area is still very much in progress, it indicates the importance of a holistic approach to offenders, and suggests that, as with re-entry courts in America, it is important to recognise the achievements of offenders who desist, as well as punishing failure. • A viable resettlement strategy needs to consider not only individual offenders, but also the social context in which resettlement takes place. This means combating social exclusion by ensuring that there is an adequate supply of social housing, of training opportunities relevant to the needs of offenders, and work with employers to ensure that job opportunities are available to ex-prisoners. Concern about resettlement has been fuelled by changes in sentencing and supervision in recent years, which have contributed to an increase in the numbers released from prison, from 45,557 in 1992 to 88,104 in 1999. Put simply, the larger the prison population, the bigger the problem of re-integration. Reducing the size of the prison population is therefore an important pre-requisite for a successful resettlement strategy Details: Layerthorpe, York. UK: York Publishing, 2006. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 6, 2017 at: http://canatx.org/rrt_new/professionals/articles/CROW-RESETTLING%20PRISONERS.pdf Year: 2006 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://canatx.org/rrt_new/professionals/articles/CROW-RESETTLING%20PRISONERS.pdf Shelf Number: 141356 Keywords: Offender RehabilitationPrisoner ReentryPrisoner ReintegrationPrisoner Resettlement |
Author: Great Britain. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation Title: The Implementation and Delivery of Rehabilitation Activity Requirements Summary: When making a community or suspended sentence order, a court may include a rehabilitation activity requirement - that is, a requirement that the defendant participates in activity to reduce the prospect of reoffending. Rehabilitation activity requirements are commonly known as RARs. RARs were introduced in 2015. Formerly, court orders used to specify both the nature of an activity to be undertaken and the number of days, but now only the maximum number of days of activity need be specified. This allows for the precise activity to be determined following a more in-depth assessment after sentence and allocation to probation services, and amended subsequently if needs be. An activity day can be of any duration, from less than an hour up to one day, according to the length of the session. The considerations the court should take into account in deciding the maximum number of RAR days for any individual are not set out in legislation, but the enabling Act2 makes clear that the primary purpose of RARs is rehabilitation. The court should also take into account the nature of the offending, as RARs can have functions other than rehabilitation, and indeed the order can also include other punitive requirements (for example unpaid work). In legislating for RARs, the government aimed to ensure flexible and efficient use of sentencing so as to reduce reoffending, as it sought to encourage innovative work under new arrangements for delivering probation services, introduced at about the same time. RARs in practice RARs have taken centre stage in community sentencing for rehabilitation, and having superseded supervision and activity requirements, as intended, they are now the vehicle for most rehabilitative activity. Orders requiring specific programmes of intervention (known as accredited programmes, deemed to be effective in reducing the likelihood of reoffending) and also alcohol, drug and mental health treatments are much less common. As RARs were introduced, established Probation Trusts were disbanded and new organisations - Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and a National Probation Service (NPS) - created to deliver probation services. The transition has been challenging, and performance so far is variable. In our routine inspections we are finding the quality of NPS work acceptable by and large (but there are notable exceptions and shortfalls) whereas CRCs are often struggling to deliver quality work consistently well. Generally, we are finding CRCs with high, variable or changing caseloads for some professional staff, and insufficient attention given so far to staff supervision and quality assurance. Other common shortcomings include inadequate assessment or subsequent management of the risk of harm to others, inadequate or inconsistent supervision of service users, and - of particular relevance here - insufficient purposeful intervention likely to reduce an individual's likelihood of reoffending. The change to new arrangements has been very demanding, and to compound matters, workload shortfalls have led to financial constraints and uncertainties for CRCs and a reluctance to commit to the settled arrangements with other providers needed to support RAR and other delivery. Information is not collected on the distribution of RAR orders (as between CRCs and the NPS) but the CRCs carry the bulk of these cases. This is the context for our inspection of RARs. Details: London: HMIP, 2017. 58p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 6, 2017 at: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/02/Report-Rehabilitation-Activity-Requirement-Thematic-final.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/02/Report-Rehabilitation-Activity-Requirement-Thematic-final.pdf Shelf Number: 145339 Keywords: Offender ManagementOffender RehabilitationProbationProbationers |
Author: Saliba, Antoinette Mary Title: Beyond the Prison Walls: the role of a criminal record check in balancing risk management and reintegration through employment Summary: The role of rehabilitating ex-offenders has traditionally been understood as belonging firmly within the administration of corrections and as such governed by the state. This thesis is undertaken within the area of criminal justice studies and examines what happens beyond the realms of corrections, through the utilisation of the criminal record, specifically in relation to employment. It brings into focus the reintegration of ex-offenders into the community and the impact of their criminal record on their reception by non-government institutions, employers and the community. To this end, this thesis uses theories of governmentality and the discourse of failure as outlined by Michel Foucault. These theories are applied to the analyses of the governing of ex-offenders by non-government organisations, institutions and employers within society. Furthermore, a Foucauldian genealogical approach is taken in relation to the disjointed and, at some stages, simultaneous development of facets of the criminal record within Victoria. Quantitative and qualitative Victorian data are considered in relation to the construction and development of the criminal record. This approach is utilised to gain a purchase on the particular ways in which the criminal record is constructed and used by prospective employers as a form of risk assessment for the possible future behaviour of ex-offenders. This form of risk assessment used by prospective employers will be considered against the forms of risk assessments performed by Corrections in relation to reoffending. Specifically, an in-depth analysis will be undertaken of the Victorian Intervention Screening Assessment Tool (VISAT), to illustrate how risk assessment tools have a tendency to reduce an immense level of information into simplistic and predetermined formats. Furthermore, the growing practice of criminal record checks will be analysed for its impact on the employment options of ex-offenders. This will be presented through a critical analysis of various forms of data, including employment advertisements, employment statistics of offenders and future industry indications. Through this multi-dimensional analysis of texts relating to criminal records and Corrections data, this thesis examines the role played by non-government institutions as distinct from the role of Government itself in thwarting stated aims of rehabilitation. Finally, recommendations will be made which are aimed at improving this problematic condition. The research findings support the conclusions that the criminal record is a complex, multifaceted inscription and as such, its reduction to a simplistic predetermined form - the National Police Certificate - makes it an inappropriate risk assessment tool for prospective employers. Furthermore, this research has found that the way the criminal record is used significantly impacts on the reintegration of ex-offenders. It is argued that the inability of ex-offenders to become gainfully employed and regain full active citizenship, subsequent to participation in rehabilitation programs and correctional intervention contributes to the high rate of recidivism. It is therefore concluded that society has a critical role to play in the successful reintegration of ex-offenders and the lowering of recidivism rates. Details: Melbourne: RMIT University, 2012. 264p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed May 17, 2017 at: https://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/eserv/rmit:160273/Saliba.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Australia URL: https://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/eserv/rmit:160273/Saliba.pdf Shelf Number: 131275 Keywords: Criminal Background ChecksCriminal RecordEx-Offender EmploymentOffender ReentryOffender Rehabilitation |
Author: Ring, Kevin Title: Using Time to Reduce Crime: Federal Prisoner Survey Results Show Ways to Reduce Recidivism Summary: Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) today released the findings of the first-ever independent survey of federal prisoners, which focused on the type and quality of educational and vocational training programs, as well as substance abuse and mental health treatment, currently available in America's federal prisons. "Using Time to Reduce Crime: Federal Prisoner Survey Results Show Ways to Reduce Recidivism" offers unique insights from inside federal prisons and includes 13 recommendations for reform. "Roughly 94 percent of federal prisoners are going to go home one day. If they leave smarter, sober, and job-ready, they will be much more likely to thrive - and our country will be safer and more prosperous," said FAMM President Kevin Ring. "Unfortunately, our survey found that the federal government is failing to make recidivism-reducing programming available to all prisoners who need it. President Trump's new budget proposal, which slashes the Bureau of Prisons' staff and corrections officers, will only make the problem worse." Key findings from the report include: Access to quality education is scarce. Most classes lack rigor and substance and are taught by other prisoners. Inmates reported taking classes such as crocheting and one based on the TV show Jeopardy. Attaining a college degree is difficult, if not impossible, for most prisoners. Most jobs afforded to inmates are "make work" jobs to service the prisons, such as cleaning bathrooms and living spaces or dining hall services. Vocational training is popular and coveted, but is limited and only offered to prisoners who are close to their release dates. Not all inmates who need substance abuse or mental health services are getting help. Two-thirds of respondents said they entered prison with a drug or alcohol addiction. In addition, more than two-thirds said they had not received mental or behavioral health treatment in prison. These types of programs should be expanded to help all prisoners in need of treatment, no matter the length or duration of their sentence. Most prisoners are housed too far away from their families to maintain connections. Family connections have been proven to reduce recidivism, yet most prisoners are housed more than 500 air miles away from home. The report also provides 13 recommendations for policymakers to improve prisoners' chances of success once they reintegrate into society. Details: Washington, DC: Families Against Mandatory Minimums , 2017. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 5, 2017 at: http://famm.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Prison-Report_May-31_Final.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: http://famm.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Prison-Report_May-31_Final.pdf Shelf Number: 145922 Keywords: Correctional Treatment ProgramsFederal InmatesOffender RehabilitationPrisonersRecidivismVocational Education and Training |
Author: Aitken, Jonathan Title: What Happened to the Rehabilitation Revolution? How sentencers can revive it How it can be helped by a hung Parliament Summary: The Rehabilitation Revolution has been championed in one form or another by at least two former Home Secretaries, five past Secretaries of States for Justice and a previous Prime Minister. Yet for all the ministerial support for the basic thesis of offender rehabilitation the reality of this so-called revolution has been a disappointment. For more than a decade, informed opinion has broadly agreed that the rehabilitation of offenders needs to be at the heart of an effective criminal justice system. Embedding rehabilitation across the criminal justice system can provide the basis on which the root causes of offending can be tackled, helping to reduce the volume and severity of offending and ultimately improving lives and enabling a reduction in the size of the prison population. The paradox of this consensus is that successive governments have failed to live up to the bold policy statements which so many have promised in the area of rehabilitative criminal justice reform. There has been no shortage of fine words: from the Labour Government's White Paper A Five Year Strategy for Protecting the Public and Reducing Reoffending1 introduced in 2006 by Home Secretary Charles Clarke; through a compendium of speeches advocating offender rehabilitation from successive Conservative Justice Secretaries Kenneth Clarke (2010-12); Chris Grayling (2012-15); Michael Gove (2015-16) and Liz Truss (2016-17), to the speech given by David Cameron in February 2016. That was the first speech from a Prime Minister on prison and rehabilitative reform for some 20 years and yet there has been depressingly little in the way of tangible progress. Both the national reoffending rate and the size of the prison population have remained stubbornly high. While it is true that in recent years the custodial population has remained stable at just under 86,000, in April 2006 it was 77,000, and given recent increases it now approaches 90,000.2 This 12 percent rise has been accompanied by year-on-year falls in recorded crime. The prison estate itself has been changing - though arguably neither fast enough nor necessarily for the best. Her Majesty's 136 prisons have now fallen to 117:3 cutting costs, but at the risk of exacerbating overcrowding. The recently opened HMP Berwyn, near Wrexham in North Wales, will offer modern facilities for more than 2,100 prisoners when completed - but the location and larger size of the prison means prisoners will be more distant from their families. For many this will make them inaccessible to their families and prove detrimental to effective rehabilitation, as highlighted in Lord Farmer's recent and important review. In the prisons dangerous episodes have been getting worse. The latest statistics show that in the past year all records were broken in English and Welsh prisons by 40,161 selfharming incidents, 120 suicides, 224 other deaths in custody and 26,022 assaults of which 6,844 were on staff - 650 of them serious. So why have successive governments failed so consistently? Why has an apparent consensus stalled? It is worth recalling David Cameron's speech in 2016 on prison and criminal justice reform, with the major commitments made in that address having mostly already been trailed in the speeches of the then Justice Secretary Michael Gove and some of his predecessors: 1. Making sure that prisons are places of positivity and reform designed to maximise the chances of people going straight when they come out. 2. Addressing prisoners' illiteracy, addiction and mental health problems. 3. Revolutionising the prison education system. 4. Measuring the performance of individual prisons. 5. Giving prison governors new powers to set up therapeutic communities, drug free wings and abstinence-based treatment programmes that prisoners need. 6. Delivering Problem Solving Courts in England and Wales. 7. Helping prisoners to find work on release. 8. Delivering lower re-offending rates. Details: London: Centre for Social Justice, 2017. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 16, 2017 at: http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/core/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/CSJJ5667-Rehab-Revolution-WEB.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/core/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/CSJJ5667-Rehab-Revolution-WEB.pdf Shelf Number: 147360 Keywords: Correctional ProgramsCriminal Justice ReformOffender RehabilitationPrison ReformPrisonsSentencingTreatment Programs |
Author: Routledge, Gillian Title: A Protocol and Experimental Trial: The Checkpoint Desistance Programme in Durham Summary: The movement from punishment to support for offenders is not new, and whilst research has continually built on the theoretical basis around deterrence and desistance, policy decisions appear to have moved much more slowly. As a consequence, there have been several calls to conduct more experiments in determining what actually works in reducing reoffending. Applying the theories of deterrence and supported desistance, this paper describes a protocol for conducting an experiment in the form of 'Checkpoint', a Randomised Control Trial in a police and partner setting. It will cover who will be eligible, what the treatment provision should be and why; what implementation considerations need to be addressed and how the outcomes can be collected and analysed. It will also describe and summarise Phase One of Checkpoint, which is the setting up of the experimental environment and securing and testing the treatment. Details: Cambridge, UK: Wolfson College, 2015. 129p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed October 11, 2017 at: http://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/alumni/theses/Gillian%20Porter.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/alumni/theses/Gillian%20Porter.pdf Shelf Number: 137656 Keywords: Desistance Offender RehabilitationRecidivism Reoffending |
Author: Pham, Duy Title: Reconnecting Justice: Lessons Learned and the Agenda Ahead Summary: The Center for Law and Social Policy's (CLASP) commitment to advancing policy solutions for low-income people cannot be sufficiently achieved without acknowledging the disproportionate impact our criminal justice system has on low-income communities and communities of color. "Law-and-order" policies over the last 30 years have led the United States to incarcerate people at a higher rate than any other developed nation, having devastating and perpetual consequences on employment, education, and health for those incarcerated and their communities. In addition, these policies and their consequences disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color and are a manifestation of implicit biases and structural racism in our justice system.3 Research has shown that Black and Latino individuals are more likely to be arrested, sentenced, and punished more severely for the same crimes as White individuals. This likelihood is one factor among many that has led to Blacks and Latinos comprising 59 percent of all prisoners, despite making up only 26 percent of the overall population. Furthermore, the economic impact of incarceration cuts deep in low-income communities: as recently as 2014, the median annual income for individuals prior to incarceration was less than $20,000, which is more than $30,000 below the national median. The disproportionate impact of our criminal justice system on low-income individuals and people of color continues well beyond incarceration. Each year, 650,000 people, many of whom are nonviolent offenders, are released from jails and prisons as returning citizens. As they reintegrate into society, they face nearly insurmountable barriers to finding sustainable employment, housing, and health care.10 These barriers often serve as perpetual punishments that work counter to the original rehabilitative mission of corrections and lead to recidivism: over two-thirds of returning citizens are rearrested within three years of release and three-quarters are rearrested within five years. These high rates of recidivism not only have public safety implications, but also contribute significantly to the cycle of mass incarceration, which is both morally problematic and fiscally unsustainable. Packed into the public investment in our justice system and policies is a moral and fiscal dilemma. At the same time that we have bolstered investments in mass incarceration, we have invested far less in more productive and prosperity-boosting areas of public spending - such as education - especially for low-income communities that have been hit the hardest. This tradeoff has damaging cyclical effects, is part of larger negligent policies that produce and criminalize poverty, and perpetuates mass incarceration. Although education is only one dimension of this issue, its direct relationship with criminal justice involvement and outcomes - and the disparate impact of that on low-income communities, particularly those of color - led CLASP to explore this intersection. As part of our work to identify policy solutions that help low-income, low-skilled adults advance in the workforce, we are focusing on the unique and challenging needs of people who have been involved in the criminal justice system. A criminal record can have a strong negative impact on someone's economic trajectory, and opening up education and training opportunities for this population is an essential part of the solution at both the policy and practitioner levels. Investments in correctional education have already demonstrated their effectiveness, with research concluding that correctional education leads to a 43 percent reduction in recidivism, and a 13 percent higher likelihood of post-release employment. Likewise, smooth, supportive, and sustainable educational and career pathways that connect correctional education to continuing opportunities to earn credentials and upgrade skills upon reentry offer more stabilizing prospects for success in the labor market. Details: Washington, DC: Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), 2017. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 29, 2017 at: https://www.clasp.org/sites/default/files/public/resources-and-publications/publication-1/Reconnecting-Justice-Lessons-Learned-and-the-Agenda-Ahead.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.clasp.org/sites/default/files/public/resources-and-publications/publication-1/Reconnecting-Justice-Lessons-Learned-and-the-Agenda-Ahead.pdf Shelf Number: 148586 Keywords: Correctional Education Ex-Offender Employment Offender RehabilitationRacial Disparities Socioeconomic Status Vocational Education and Training |
Author: Tate, Hayley Title: Prisoners' perceptions of care and rehabilitation from prison officers trained as Five Minute Interventionists Summary: This qualitative study explores the perceptions of 10 prisoners who were supervised by staff trained as 5 Minute Interventionists during the early rollout of the scheme. Five Minute Intervention (FMI) training prepares prison staff to turn everyday conversations into opportunities for rehabilitation using skills such as active listening, motivational interviewing and socratic questioning. The aim is that with these FMI skills staff can take every opportunity to encourage the people in their care to strengthen their decision making skills and build a stronger sense of self-efficacy while working with hope toward positive change. Details: London: HM Prison and Probation Service, 2017. 5p. Source: Internet Resource: Analytical Summary 2017: Accessed November 30, 2017 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/662699/prisoners-perception-of-care-from-prisoner-officers-trained-5-minute-interventionists.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/662699/prisoners-perception-of-care-from-prisoner-officers-trained-5-minute-interventionists.pdf Shelf Number: 148588 Keywords: Interventions Offender Rehabilitation |
Author: Great Britain. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation Title: Quality & Impact Inspection: The Effectiveness of Probation Work by the London Community Rehabilitation Company Summary: This is our second inspection of probation services delivered by the London Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC). The first (in 2016) covered North London only. In this pan-London inspection we found that, with the exception of effective unpaid work arrangements, the CRC does now have the basics in place, albeit later than originally envisaged in its contract. The CRC had acted on our 2016 recommendations. It had used them as a catalyst for change, and adopted a more conventional operating model. Londoners under probation supervision are now being seen, and seen sufficiently regularly in the main. The organisation still relies too much for comfort on agency staff, and it is in the middle of a large-scale performance improvement project, with one in three professional staff affected at the outset. While maintaining this year's focus on assessment and planning in each case, the CRC now needs to improve materially the extent to which it delivers its plans for each individual under probation supervision. The CRC is now turning its attention to two other key tenets of good probation services: local strategic partnerships, and the range of specialist services (interventions) required to make a real difference to people's lives and prospects. Critical relationships with local strategic partners suffered under the CRC's previous operating model, but CRC leaders are taking the opportunity now to re-energise these essential networks. We were pleased to see the CRC's working relationship with the National Probation Service beginning to improve, from a low base. The consistent provision of specialist services is particularly difficult in our capital city, where the funding and other priorities of 32 individual boroughs and the Mayor's office can differ. Even so, too many Londoners under the CRC's supervision are not given the specialist services they need to make a difference to their lives and outlook. Things are set to improve: the CRC has well-developed plans to increase the range and quality of its rehabilitative services this year, and we hope to see not just plans but good provision, next time we inspect. Individual caseloads have reduced when compared with those we saw in North London a year ago. We gauge that staff morale is better overall. And seeing beyond the CRC's extraordinary preparations for our inspection, we are in no doubt that the quality of work has improved from a very low base, and is still improving. Public protection and rehabilitative work are still not good enough, but rehabilitative work is at least comparable in quality to the average in other CRCs we have inspected. That is not acceptable - as that average is itself unacceptable, in our view - but it is a notable improvement and achievement for this CRC and its staff. There is much more for this CRC to do, but it has made significant progress over the last year. Details: Manchester, UK: HM Inspectorate of Probation, 2018. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed March 8, 2018 at: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2018/03/London-CRC-QI.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2018/03/London-CRC-QI.pdf Shelf Number: 149320 Keywords: Offender RehabilitationOffender Supervision Privatization Probation Probation Officers Probationers |
Author: DeJesus, Edward Title: New Funds for Work: Connecting Systems for Justice-Involved Young People Summary: Today many evidence-informed models exist to connect justice-involved young people with education, job training, and employment opportunities. Collaboration between juvenile-justice and workforcedevelopment agencies can ensure that young people have access to these opportunities. The quality of these linkages varies widely across jurisdictions, unfortunately, and years of recommendations have not significantly changed the equation. Recent federal legislation has created a more promising climate for collaboration between these systems. In 2014 Congress passed, and President Obama signed into law, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The first update to the primary federal law related to job training since 1998's Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the law was meant to increase alignment among WIOA programs, and with other related programs. The most significant change related to young people was a shift that increased the amount of youth service dollars local workforce development boards must spend on outof-school youth from 30 percent to 75 percent. This shift of the WIOA Youth program from a program directed mainly to in-school young people to disconnected youth created a new opportunity to direct services to young people facing a variety of barriers to employment. Meanwhile, the movement to reduce or eliminate youth detention, incarceration and racial injustice in the youth justice system has gotten stronger and stronger. Today, 48,043 young people are incarcerated or in some type of residential placement on any given day, a big reduction from the 107,493 kids incarcerated on any given day in 19996 . States have closed youth prisons and reduced the number of young people incarcerated. Advocates have established coalitions in key states to empower young people, families and the community to advocate for more prison closures and redirecting dollars back to building continuum of care in the community7 Both WIOA and the movement to close youth prisons are focused on improving outcomes for young people who are in-risk or at-risk - and both have a long way to go. Minority youth still comprise 69 percent of youth in residential placements according to the most recent OJJDP data, and both systems struggle to serve subpopulations such as LGBTQ youth and young people with disabilities. Both systems also have a lot to offer the other, yet in our practice the two systems rarely work together to achieve these shared outcomes. Workforce agencies struggle to reach or engage justice-involved young people, often focusing instead on young people who are easier to serve and staying away from the tougher kids, many of whom have had involvement with the justice system. Meanwhile, juvenile justice systems are often unaware that local workforce agencies have resources for their young people. Details: Harrisburg, PA: Youth Advocate Programs, 2017. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 8, 2018 at: http://www.yapinc.org/Portals/0/Documents/Fact%20Sheets/Connecting%20Systems.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: http://www.yapinc.org/Portals/0/Documents/Fact%20Sheets/Connecting%20Systems.pdf Shelf Number: 149392 Keywords: Educational program Employment Programs Job Training Juvenile Offenders Offender RehabilitationYouth Employment Youthful Offenders |
Author: Great Britain. HM Inspectorate of Probation Title: Probation Supply Chains: A Thematic Inspection Summary: The original policy intent of Transforming Rehabilitation was exceptionally ambitious. Government sought to reconfigure probation delivery while also requiring additional probation services to be delivered, and with wholly different payment mechanisms as well. New probation providers needed to become notably more efficient than the 35 probation trusts they replaced, to deliver all that was expected of them within their anticipated funding. The changes to what and how probation was delivered were to be brought about very quickly. Government was successful in restructuring probation services to time and within the implementation budget.11 Expectations about third-sector involvement changed as evaluation progressed, and it became clear that bids for CRC ownership were not forthcoming from the sector. The government nevertheless expected the sector to be heavily involved as Tier 2 or Tier 3 providers. It was envisaged that the CRCs would enlist the expertise of specialist voluntary organisations through subcontracting arrangements. Government intended that this mixed provider landscape of both private companies and third-sector organisations would lead to innovation, drive efficiencies, ensure value for money for the public purse and improve reoffending outcomes. Third-sector involvement and supply chain development were never an absolute requirement. Instead, the Target Operating Model (TOM 3)12 repeatedly confirms that CRCs were not being told how to deliver. TOM 3 encourages working with local partner organisations, but it was left to the market to decide. Transforming Rehabilitation prohibits the NPS from directly commissioning specialist rehabilitation and resettlement services, and so saves the NPS the set-up costs of procurement. Our assumption is that it was thought to be a sensible strategy for one body (the CRC) to contract with sub-providers locally, and that this would increase efficiency and effectiveness for all, but the rationale is not clearly stated in the documentation we have seen. There was never any one national body responsible for the stewardship of specialist services across the country. To a variable extent, probation trusts and those before them assumed responsibility and nurtured local provision, with the probation value chain in mind. There is still no one body with that stewardship responsibility, but post Transforming Rehabilitation the dynamics have changed. Some responding to Transforming Rehabilitation consultations predicted difficulties with the proposed arrangements for local specialist services - for example, a concern about how local services could meet a CRC footprint. However, we are not aware that a paucity of Tier 2 provision was foreseen by government. Details: Manchester, UK: HM Inspectorate of Probation, 2018. 75p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2018 at: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2018/04/Probation-Supply-Chains-Thematic-Report.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2018/04/Probation-Supply-Chains-Thematic-Report.pdf Shelf Number: 149944 Keywords: Alternatives to IncarcerationOffender RehabilitationProbation |
Author: Harbinson, Erin Title: Is Corrections "Collar" Blind?: Examining the Predictive Validity of a Risk/Needs Assessment Tool on White-Collar Offenders Summary: Risk/needs assessment tools are essential to implementing supervision and interventions that reduce recidivism in correctional populations (Bonta, 2002). A substantial amount of research exists supporting the use of risk, need, and responsivity principles to reduce recidivism among correctional populations (Smith et al., 2009). However research thus far has not examined whether or how these principles or risk/needs assessment generalize to white-collar offenders (Gendreau et al., 1996). The primary goal of this dissertation is to validate a risk/needs assessment instrument, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC)'s Post Conviction Risk Assessment (PCRA), on a sample of white-collar offenders. To accomplish this goal, a sample of 31,306 white-collar offenders who started supervision under the AOUSC between October 2006 and October 2014 were used to examine the validity of the PCRA in predicting revocation. Results from binary logistic regression identified that PCRA risk levels create statistically significant groups that are associated with a white-collar offender's likelihood of being revoked while on supervision. Results from analyzing the predictive validity of the overall PCRA risk score with revocation supported the use of the PCRA as a strong predictor, showing that white-collar offenders are more likely to be revoked as their scores on the PCRA increase. Additionally, binary logistic regression identified both similarities and differences in significant items from the PCRA for white-collar offenders compared to other types of offenders, suggesting that there may be some unique aspects of risk for white-collar offenders. However, when white-collar offender specific scoring was generated for the PCRA, there were no significant improvements in prediction of revocation within the sample. The results of this study demonstrate that white-collar offenders share similar criminogenic needs to "street" offenders, but sometimes they manifest differently. The study concludes by discussing the overall contributions of this research to the fields of corrections and white-collar crime, and suggests future areas of research. Details: Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati, 2017. 164p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed April 30, 2018 at: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/pg_10?0::NO:10:P10_ETD_SUBID:153797#abstract-files Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/pg_10?0::NO:10:P10_ETD_SUBID:153797#abstract-files Shelf Number: 149965 Keywords: Offender RehabilitationOffender Risk AssessmentOffender SupervisionWhite Collar CrimeWhite-Collar Offenders |
Author: Thielo, Angela J. Title: Redemption in an Era of Penal Harm: Moving Beyond Offender Exclusion Summary: For nearly forty years, the United States was in the grips of punitive thinking and mired in an era of mass imprisonment. The hallmarks of this paradigm were the embrace of policies and practices that systematically excluded convicted offenders from full participation in civic, social, and economic life. In recent years, however, it appears that American corrections has experienced a historic transformation that involves efforts to foster offender inclusion in society. Thus, policymakers are increasingly questioning the use of mass imprisonment and are embracing a campaign to downsize American prisons. Similarly, they are advocating for reentry services for released offenders and calling for reductions in the collateral consequences that attach to a criminal conviction. Punitive rhetoric seems in decline, replaced by discussion of the importance of offender rehabilitation and, ultimately, redemption. This dissertation is an attempt to explore these developments. Specifically, based on a 2017 national, opt-in Internet survey of 1,000 respondents, the study investigates the extent to which the American public rejects the exclusion of offenders and supports their inclusion. In this regard, public support of four aspects of offender inclusion was assessed: the (1) rehabilitation, (2) reentry, (3) reintegration, and (4) redemption of individuals with criminal records. The results reveal that support for offender inclusion is extensive. First, regardless of how it is measured, support for rehabilitation is strong. Americans see rehabilitation as a central goal of prisons, support treatment programs, and favor the new innovation of problem-solving specialty courts. This embrace of treatment is long-standing and must be considered a core American cultural belief or what Alexis de Tocqueville called a "habit of the heart." Second, the respondents endorsed the concept of prisoner reentry programs, supporting the delivery of an array of supportive services to inmates released to the community. Third, the sample members recognized that collateral consequences could be barriers to offender reintegration, stating that such legal restrictions should be disclosed to criminal defendants, reviewed regularly by legislators, and eliminated if not shown to prevent criminal conduct. The respondents favored voting rights for ex-offenders but were divided on access to jury duty. Support for ban-the-box statutes was high. The subjects were split on the policy of the expungement of records, apparently trying to balance concerns of public safety with concerns over offenders being allowed to resume a prosocial life. It appears that the extent to which citizens permit record expungement is conditioned by how long offenders have been crime free and the dangerousness of the crime committed. Fourth, the public manifested a realistic assessment of the extent to which offenders are capable of leaving a life in crime. Still, about four in five supported rehabilitation ceremonies that would declare ex-offenders "rehabilitated" and the granting of official "certificates of rehabilitation" that could be used when seeking employment, licenses, and other social goods. Taken together, these findings reveal that the American public possesses a "sensibility" (to use Michael Tonry's term) that is far more inclusionary than exclusionary. Although not necessarily demanding a transformation of correctional policy, it is clear that the citizenry is open to a range of progressive policy initiatives that seek to foster offender redemption in this era of penal harm. Details: Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati, 2017. 179p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed April 30, 2018 at: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/pg_10?210335119405562::NO:10:P10_ETD_SUBID:148896 Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/pg_10?210335119405562::NO:10:P10_ETD_SUBID:148896 Shelf Number: 149966 Keywords: Collateral ConsequencesOffender RehabilitationOffender ReintegrationPrisoner Reentry |
Author: McIntyre, T.J. Title: Criminals, Data Protection and the Right to a Second Chance Summary: In 2016 Ireland belatedly introduced legislation to allow for the expungement of adult criminal records and, in doing so, highlighted a changing technological and legal context which challenges the assumptions underlying rehabilitation laws. The potential impact of convictions on individuals' life chances has increased as mandatory vetting has become more widespread. Even where vetting is not required, internet search engines render criminal histories easily accessible to curious third parties. In the other direction, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) have developed privacy and data protection principles which require states to limit the availability of information about old convictions. In this article we outline the limitations of the Irish legislation and use it as a case study to consider these wider issues, examining how it illustrates the growing importance of European privacy and data protection norms in national criminal justice and rehabilitation systems. Details: (2017) 58 Irish Jurist (ns) 27. 37p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 8, 2018 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3150591 Year: 2017 Country: Ireland URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3150591 Shelf Number: 150108 Keywords: Criminal RecordsData ProtectionExpungementOffender Rehabilitation |
Author: Clinks Title: Under represented, Under pressure, Under resourced: the voluntary sector's role in Transforming Rehabilitation Summary: Under represented, Under pressure, Under resourced is the third and final report in a series looking at the voluntary sector's role in Transforming Rehabilitation (you can also read the first report and second report). Clinks surveyed 132 voluntary sector organisations between February and April 2017 and gathered six in depth case studies. The survey results were analysed by the Third Sector Research Centre and by using the same questions posed in our 2015 survey we have been able to record changes over time. As a result Clinks has identified seven key findings and made 11 recommendations that we believe can make a difference, and help us to understand what the next generation of probation services could look like. Since 2015, in response to feedback from our members and other voluntary sector organisations, Clinks has led the trackTR partnership to undertake in-depth research into the voluntary sector's experience of the changes to probation services brought about by the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms. We have assessed the impact the reforms have had on organisations, the services they deliver, and the people they support; and will use the findings to advocate on behalf of the voluntary sector to government and to probation services run by the National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). Details: London: Clinks, 2018. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 9, 2018 at: https://www.clinks.org/sites/default/files/basic/files-downloads/clinks_track-tr_under_final-web.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.clinks.org/sites/default/files/basic/files-downloads/clinks_track-tr_under_final-web.pdf Shelf Number: 150132 Keywords: MentoringOffender RehabilitationPartnershipsProbationVolunteers |
Author: Bartels, Lorana Title: Swift, Certain and Fair: Does Project HOPE Provide a Therapeutic Paradigm for Managing Offenders? Summary: This book presents a detailed analysis of Hawaii's Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) program. Developed by Judge Steven Alm in Hawaii in 2004, this model of 'swift, certain and fair' justice has been widely adopted across the United States. The book argues that although HOPE has principally been viewed in terms of its deterrent impact, it is in fact best understood through the lens of therapeutic jurisprudence and solution-focused courts, especially drug courts. Bartels presents a detailed overview of HOPE's operation, as well as a critical assessment of the evaluation findings of HOPE and other programs based on this model. Crucially, the book draws on observational research to demonstrate that much of the commentary on HOPE has been based on misunderstandings about the program, and Bartels ultimately provides much-needed in-depth analysis of critiques of the HOPE model. A rigorous study which concludes by identifying key issues for jurisdictions considering implementing the model and areas for future research, this book will be of special interest to scholars of criminal justice, recidivism and drug-related issues. Details: Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.237p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 17, 2018 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3125644 Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3125644 Shelf Number: 150250 Keywords: Offender ManagementOffender RehabilitationOffender SupervisionProbationProject HOPE |
Author: Yesberg, Julia Title: Exploring Mechanisms of Change in the Rehabilitation of High-Risk Offenders Summary: The success or failure of many different types of treatment is often measured by one type of outcome. For example, treatment for substance abuse might be judged to have failed if a patient "goes on a bender" some time after completing the programme. The same is true for offender rehabilitation. Treatment success or failure is usually determined by whether or not an offender is reconvicted of a new offence in a specified follow-up period. We know from the literature that offender rehabilitation can have modest but significant effects on reducing recidivism. Yet we know little about what brings about these reductions (i.e., how the treatment worked). This thesis explores possible mechanisms of change in offender rehabilitation. I propose that although a reduction in recidivism is an important long-term outcome of treatment, there are a number of additional outcomes that have the potential to explain not only if but how treatment works and why it is unsuccessful in leading to a reduction in reoffending for some offenders. Study 1 is a typical outcome evaluation of New Zealand's rehabilitation programmes for high-risk male offenders: the High Risk Special Treatment Units (HRSTUs). I compared the recidivism rates of a sample of HRSTU completers with a comparison sample of high-risk offenders who had not completed the programme (a between-subjects design). I found that relative to the comparison group, treatment completers had significantly lower rates of four different indices of recidivism, varying in severity. The remainder of the thesis explored possible mechanisms of change within the HRSTU sample (a within-subjects design). Study 2 examined immediate outcomes of treatment, which I defined as within-treatment change on dynamic risk factors. I found that offenders made significant change on the Violence Risk Scale during treatment, but there was no significant relationship between treatment change and recidivism. Studies 3 and 4 examined intermediate outcomes of treatment, which I defined as barriers (risk factors) and facilitators (protective factors) that influence the process of offender re-entry. Study 3 validated an instrument designed to measure these factors: the Dynamic Risk Assessment for Offender Re-entry (DRAOR). I found that the tool had good convergent validity and reliably predicted recidivism above a static risk estimate. Study 4 used the newly validated DRAOR to test an explanation for the lack of a direct relationship between treatment change and recidivism. I tested whether treatment change had an indirect relationship with recidivism through its influence on the re-entry process. I found that treatment change was related to a number of re-entry outcomes; however, only two models could be tested for mediation because the re-entry outcomes themselves lacked predictive ability. Nevertheless, findings from Study 4 suggest the re-entry process is an area worthy of further investigation. Taken together, the findings from this thesis highlight the importance of considering alternative treatment outcomes in addition to whether or not a programme leads to a reduction in long-term recidivism outcomes. Answering the question of how treatment works requires an exploration into possible mechanisms of change. This thesis was only a preliminary investigation into such mechanisms; however, the findings have both practical and theoretical implications for the way we conceptualise how treatment programmes work. Developing a greater understanding of mechanisms of change in offender rehabilitation has the potential to lead to the design and delivery of more effective programmes Details: Wellington, NZ: Victoria University of Wellington, 2015. 229p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed May 17, 2018 at: http://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10063/4300/thesis.pdf?sequence=2 Year: 2015 Country: New Zealand URL: http://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10063/4300/thesis.pdf?sequence=2 Shelf Number: 150253 Keywords: Offender ReentryOffender RehabilitationOffender TreatmentTreatment Programs |
Author: Rope, Olivia Title: Global Prison Trends 2018: a global view on the state of prisons Summary: Every year, Global Prison Trends by Penal Reform International (in collaboration with the Thailand Institute of Justice) provides us with a global view on the state of prisons. And, every year, this report is, unfortunately, hardly a surprise - we read about the degrading conditions in which people are imprisoned, and about their growing number. Yet the level of crime in most societies is constantly decreasing. The question that remains unanswered, therefore, is why our societies focus their response to unlawful behaviours so often on prison? Where is the proportionality in sentencing when we punish nonviolent offences with lengthy prison sentences? Is this the only response we can offer? The chapter on drugs and imprisonment in this report highlights that a high number of prisons in the world are overcrowded due to the incarceration of people for drug-related offences, in particular non-violent offences involving use and possession for personal use. This directly reflects our contemporary addiction to punishment and showcases the disproportionality of punishment in relation to the offence. The use of harsh prison sentences for people who use drugs or for those who play a minor role in the drug trade also shows the inefficiency, limitations and perverse effects of current drug control policies. Not only are punishment and incarceration becoming the sole instruments used to enforce the law, but also they are serving to implement moral norms which have no link with the reality of the offence that they are supposed to punish. This trend of over-incarceration and punishment of people who use drugs is seen on every continent. The deep impact it has on prison systems and on people in prison and their communities has sparked the current global debate on drug policy reform. In recent years, more and more countries have been introducing amendments to their drug laws; for example, by decriminalising the use of drugs in Norway and Colombia, and by replacing prison terms with monetary fines in Ghana and Tunisia or with community service, as envisaged in Senegal. Other countries have gone even further. Ecuador gave an amnesty to drug couriers and released thousands of prisoners. Countries that have traditionally adopted harsh stances on drugs, such as Malaysia and Iran, are reviewing their death penalty policies for drug offences, and removing people from death row. These changes and reforms are being discussed and implemented in a global environment that remains highly stigmatising, where drugs are still considered 'evil' and prohibition approaches prevail. They are therefore born out of a real need - the need for societies to stop exposing their citizens to greater risks from arrests related to drug use than come from the act of using drugs Details: London: Penal Reform International; Bangkok: Thailand Institute of Justice, 2018. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 23, 2018 at: https://www.penalreform.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/PRI_Global-Prison-Trends-2018_EN_WEB.pdf Year: 2018 Country: International URL: https://www.penalreform.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/PRI_Global-Prison-Trends-2018_EN_WEB.pdf Shelf Number: 150332 Keywords: Drug OffendersDrugs and CrimeOffender ReentryOffender RehabilitationPrisonPrison PopulationPrisoners |
Author: Council of Economic Advisors Title: Returns on Investments in Recidivism-reducing Programs Summary: Crime imposes a significant burden on Americans' well-being and tax-financed resources. These costs are amplified by a cycle of crime that results in re-arrest rates for released American prisoners in excess of 50 percent. Rigorous and evidence-based prison reforms are proposed to break the crime cycle, thereby reducing future crime and lowering incarceration expenditures by facilitating more successful re-entry to the workforce upon prison release. In this policy brief, CEA reviews the evidence on the underlying factors that determine the value of such prison programs and provides estimates on their rates of return. There are numerous programs that have been tried in one form or another over many decades. We do not aim to cover the entire scope of prison reform programs but focus instead on three main categories: programs that address mental health, substance abuse, or education and that are delivered inside correctional facilities. 2 We find that there is great variation in the effectiveness across programs such that reallocation of budgets from poorly to well performing programs may both lower spending and improve results. In addition, CEA finds evidence that certain individual programs can reduce crime as well as reduce spending by lowering long-run incarceration costs. Programs that save at least one dollar in crime and incarceration costs for every dollar spent are deemed cost effective. More specifically, with a focus on rigorous studies of the programs that have been previously implemented, CEA finds that, on average, programs that address the prisoner's mental health or substance abuse problems may reduce the cost of crime by about $0.92 to $3.31 per taxpayer dollar spent on prison reform and long-run incarceration costs by $0.55 to $1.96, for a total return of $1.47 to $5.27 per taxpayer dollar. Despite these positive returns, there are many programs-such as those in which the primary focus is education-for which the evidence base is inconsistent and rates of return more uncertain. Given this uncertainty, CEA estimates by how much rates of recidivism would have to be reduced in order for the programs to break even given their costs. We calculate that educational programming needs only to achieve a modest impact on recidivism rates (about a 2 percent reduction) in order to be cost effective. Overall, increased investment in better evidence is needed to guide future investments into programs to reduce recidivism. Many programs, even if they are found to be cost effective may have small sample sizes or unique characteristics that may be difficult to replicate or scale up, and some studies with high-quality research designs are too dated to provide needed insight. Carefully designed, broad-based national programs that target a wide variety of offenders in conjunction with carefully designed empirical evaluations would improve the ability of policymakers to allocate criminal justice funds to achieve the greatest possible social benefits. Details: Washington, DC: The Council, 2018. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 23, 2018 at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Returns-on-Investments-in-Recidivism-Reducing-Programs.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Returns-on-Investments-in-Recidivism-Reducing-Programs.pdf Shelf Number: 150338 Keywords: Correctional EducationCost-Benefit AnalysisEvidence-Based PracticesJustice ReinvestmentOffender RehabilitationRecidivism |
Author: Shingler, Jo Title: The effectiveness of rehabilitative services for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people: a rapid evidence assessment Summary: To provide effective criminal justice services that respect diversity, it is vital to establish what evidence exists about how to achieve the best outcomes for people in prison or on probation, who are Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME). A rapid evidence assessment (REA) was conducted to explore the research evidence looking at the effectiveness of rehabilitative correctional interventions in reducing reoffending or substance misuse, among BAME people. In addition, the review also considered those factors that affect how people in these groups respond to these interventions, in custodial or community correctional settings. A previous internal literature review carried out by HM Prison and Probation Service (unpublished, 2012) revealed a lack of empirical evidence about the efficacy of rehabilitative interventions aimed at reducing reoffending, for people who are BAME. This REA updates that review, and expands its scope to explore the wider research literature on factors impacting BAME individuals' response to rehabilitative programmes aimed at reducing reoffending. REA methodology was employed to search a range of databases. The review focused on a range of populations both in prison and in the community. The target population included men, women, young adults (including those under the age of 18) and populations of any ethnic background or grouping. It is important to note that defining BAME in this way results in a large, indiscriminate and heterogeneous group, which makes it challenging to draw any meaningful conclusions about improving the responsivity of correctional programming. However, it was necessary to include the diverse population range given the lack of evidence about specific populations, and this highlights the need for much more and better quality research to achieve a more nuanced understanding of what works, with whom and under what conditions. Given the dearth of relevant and high-quality research into the effectiveness of rehabilitative correctional interventions among BAME people, this review included international literature, published in English. Comparability and generalisability of any non-UK studies was carefully considered and presented within the findings of the review. The search process yielded 3,101 studies, of which only 11 were of sufficient relevance and methodological rigour for inclusion. The type and quality of research design was varied. Of the 7 quantitative studies: 1 was a meta-analysis of high quality studies that used control and/or comparison group designs; 4 were randomised control trials; and 2 were studies that compared people from different ethnic groups on factors predicting different responses to treatment (treatment attrition and resistance to treatment). Four studies were qualitative in nature. Five studies were conducted in the UK and 6 were carried out in North America or Canada. The REA indicates there is still insufficient evidence relevant to understanding how to improve outcomes for individuals from a BAME background. However, the research reviewed points to some tentative but promising approaches for increasing the responsivity of correctional programmes to people who are BAME. First, the evidence suggests that the content of 'standard' correctional programmes can be experienced as relevant to BAME participants, and that BAME participants can benefit from such programmes. However, some studies suggest that treatment that is: culturally aware, sensitive and inclusive; that is delivered by culturally aware and sensitive staff; and delivered by staff from similar ethnic backgrounds to their clients is preferred, and is more likely to reduce the chances that potential BAME participants will experience any fear or resistance associated with feeling isolated or misunderstood. Second, there are some barriers to effective treatment for BAME clients that may interfere with them starting, completing or engaging in treatment. Such barriers could include experiences or fear of racism or discrimination, and the perception and possible reality that the intervention will not be culturally relevant. There is early evidence that a strong sense of cultural identity and pride is associated with greater reductions in substance misuse among juveniles. Explicitly recognising and encouraging cultural identity could be a promising approach to facilitating greater responsivity of correctional programmes for people who are BAME. The research is in its infancy, and further work is required to understand and draw firm conclusions about how to improve participation and engagement in, and retention and reoffending outcomes, of BAME individuals in prison and on probation. However, the research reviewed points to some promising approaches which could help achieve this aim: Efforts could be made to make correctional interventions more relevant to BAME groups. Work is needed to increase the number of BAME clients taking up interventions; increase the number of BAME staff members working within interventions; ensure treatment materials are relevant to BAME groups; and doing more to actively engage with and respect cultural experiences and differences. BAME clients need to be facilitated to express their cultural identity free from fear of being stereotyped or discriminated against. Results from the REA indicate that the idea that therapy, or 'treatment', is a predominantly white construct, in some cases with no cultural equivalent. The lack of understanding, recognition or acceptance of this amongst some cultural groups suggests further work is needed. This may usefully include engaging with and raising awareness among some BAME participants and their families about notions of treatment. Future research should aim to evaluate treatment effectiveness on large sub-groups of minority ethnic participants in both custodial and community settings. Alongside this, additional larger scale research to increase understanding about the barriers to interventions for BAME individuals in prison and on probation is necessary, in order to learn how to make correctional interventions more responsive and appealing to individuals from different ethnic groups. Details: London: HM Prison & Probation Service, 2018. 96p. Source: Internet Resource: Ministry of Justice Analytical Series: Accessed July 10, 2018 at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/721977/_the-effectiveness-of-rehabilitative-services-for-BAME.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/721977/_the-effectiveness-of-rehabilitative-services-for-BAME.pdf Shelf Number: 150795 Keywords: Correctional ProgramsEthnic MinoritiesOffender RehabilitationOffender Treatment |
Author: Howard, Flora Fitzalan Title: The experience of electronic monitoring and implications for practice: A qualitative research synthesis Summary: The aims of the study were to understand the experience of electronic monitoring (EM) in the Criminal Justice System (CJS), and how this sanction can be implemented most effectively to achieve best outcomes, including compliance with legal requirements, rehabilitation and desistance. The findings of six qualitative studies of the experience of EM were synthesised using Thematic Synthesis (Thomas and Harden, 2008). Key findings - Six studies of sufficient quality and focus were included, examining the experience of EM in England, Belgium, New Zealand, Canada and the US. EM was used as an alternative sanction, or as part of an early release scheme (none looked at EM for people on bail). The findings may be limited by the small number of primary studies available, and variations in how EM is used in different countries. - EM appeared to offer a range of potential benefits. These included the opportunity for 'headspace', reflection and to disengage from antisocial aspects of life. Additionally, EM could facilitate access to employment and training opportunities, and allow for relationships and social capital to be developed. - Individuals are not guaranteed these benefits. They appeared to be influenced by the individual's circumstances and their response. For some people, EM could lead to a deterioration of relationships, and act as a barrier to employment opportunities. - The nature of EM and the consequences of non-compliance meant that monitored life could be stressful and pressured for some. Individuals' private lives felt intruded on and people living in the same household could be negatively affected. - For many people, EM offered valued freedom, despite life still feeling controlled. For some, autonomy and self-sufficiency improved, but others appeared to experience a lack of control and choice, and may have become overly reliant on others. - From the perspectives of people that are reflected in the research literature, the advantages of EM usually outweighed the disadvantages, and those sentenced to EM tended to readily accept this, particularly if the alternative was to spend time in prison. - People appeared to comply with EM mainly through fear of punishment for non-compliance. Behaviour change may be maintained while EM was active. However, people felt their reoffending and longer-term outcomes may be less affected by EM, and identified additional critical support needed, for example interventions that helped them to think differently or provided them with necessary risk management skills. - From the perspective of monitored people, and the wider evidence base, people's compliance may potentially be enhanced by making EM feel procedurally just. Compliance with EM and rehabilitative outcomes may also be improved by including structured interventions and support to target criminogenic needs (facilitating changes in thinking and skill development), access to employment, hope, self-efficacy and positive relationships. These may also prevent people's future chances of desistance being diminished. Details: London: HM Prison & Probation Service, 2018. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: Analytical Summary 2018: Accessed July 12, 2018 at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/723218/The_experience_of_electronic_monitoring_and_implications_for_practice__a_qualitative_research_synthesis.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/723218/The_experience_of_electronic_monitoring_and_implications_for_practice__a_qualitative_research_synthesis.pdf Shelf Number: 150832 Keywords: Alternatives to IncarcerationCommunity SupervisionElectronic MonitoringOffender RehabilitationOffender SupervisionRecidivismTagging |
Author: Doleac, Jennifer L. Title: Strategies to Productively Reincorporate the Formerly-Incarcerated into Communities: A Review of the Literature Summary: Two-thirds of those released from prison in the United States will be re-arrested within three years, creating an incarceration cycle that is detrimental to individuals, families, and communities. There is tremendous public interest in ending this cycle, and public policies can help or hinder the reintegration of those released from jail and prison. This review summarizes the rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of programs that aim to improve the reintegration and rehabilitation of the formerly-incarcerated. While there is a need for much more research on this topic, the existing evidence provides some useful guidance for decision-makers. The importance of evaluating existing and new strategies is also discussed. Details: Bonn: Institute of Labor Economics, 2018. 55p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 11646: Accessed July 18, 2018 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp11646.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: http://ftp.iza.org/dp11646.pdf Shelf Number: 150901 Keywords: Employment Ex-Offender Employment Offender RehabilitationPrisoner Reentry Recidivism |
Author: Bhuller, Manudeep Title: Incarceration, Recidivism, and Employment Summary: Understanding whether, and in what situations, time spent in prison is criminogenic or preventive has proven challenging due to data availability and correlated unobservables. This paper overcomes these challenges in the context of Norway's criminal justice system, offering new insights into how incarceration affects subsequent crime and employment. We construct a panel dataset containing the criminal behavior and labor market outcomes of the entire population, and exploit the random assignment of criminal cases to judges who differ systematically in their stringency in sentencing defendants to prison. Using judge stringency as an instrumental variable, we find that imprisonment discourages further criminal behavior, and that the reduction extends beyond incapacitation. Incarceration decreases the probability an individual will reoffend within 5 years by 29 percentage points, and reduces the number of offenses over this same period by 11 criminal charges. In comparison, OLS shows positive associations between incarceration and subsequent criminal behavior. This sharp contrast suggests the high rates of recidivism among ex-convicts is due to selection, and not a consequence of the experience of being in prison. Exploring factors that may explain the preventive effect of incarceration, we find the decline in crime is driven by individuals who were not working prior to incarceration. Among these individuals, imprisonment increases participation in programs directed at improving employability and reducing recidivism, and ultimately, raises employment and earnings while discouraging further criminal behavior. For previously employed individuals, while there is no effect on recidivism, there is a lasting negative effect on employment. Contrary to the widely embraced 'nothing works' doctrine, these findings demonstrate that time spent in prison with a focus on rehabilitation can indeed be preventive for a large segment of the criminal population. Details: Bonn: Institute of Labor Economics (IZA): 2018. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 11645: Accessed July 18, 2018 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp11645.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Norway URL: http://ftp.iza.org/dp11645.pdf Shelf Number: 150902 Keywords: Employment Ex-Offender Employment Offender RehabilitationPrisoner Reentry Recidivism |
Author: Duwe, Grant Title: The Effects of the Timing and Dosage of Correctional Programming on Recidivism Summary: This study examined the effects of program timing and duration on recidivism outcomes among 1,879 offenders released from Minnesota prisons in 2005. The point at which prisoners entered programming did not have a significant effect on recidivism. Earlier involvement in interventions, however, significantly increased programming dosage, which was, in turn, associated with better recidivism outcomes. Significant findings were observed for the point at which prisoners exited programming, particularly in relation to the overall length of their imprisonment. In general, recidivism was significantly lower when prisoners exited programming closer to their release from prison. Details: St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Corrections, 2017. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 24, 2018 at: https://mn.gov/doc/assets/The%20Impact%20of%20Timing%20and%20Dosage%20on%20Recidivism_tcm1089-317090.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://mn.gov/doc/assets/The%20Impact%20of%20Timing%20and%20Dosage%20on%20Recidivism_tcm1089-317090.pdf Shelf Number: 153071 Keywords: Correctional Programs Offender RehabilitationRecidivism Rehabilitation Programs |
Author: Great Britain. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation Title: An inspection of probation services in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland Community Rehabilitation Company Summary: Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland (DLNR) is the second of the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) owned by the Reducing Reoffending Partnership that we have inspected over the past year. We found that DLNR CRC requires improvement. Its sister CRC, Staffordshire and West Midlands, also received the same rating and there are some common themes. Resources are tight in DLNR. Tough decisions have been made by the organisation, including reductions in posts and premises. To make savings, the CRC opted to use a very basic approach to assessing individuals. As a result, the information key to effective sentence plans is much too scant. A few months before our inspection, this practice had been changed but it was too early to see improvement. In practice, the poor quality of assessments and reviews contributed to the risk of harm not being managed properly in domestic abuse and child safeguarding cases. This is concerning, given the recommendations we made in our thematic inspection of domestic abuse when we visited Leicester, part of this CRC. Key findings from that inspection have been seen again in DLNR. The CRC needs to act quickly to improve its handling of risk of harm, to protect victims. A high proportion of staff are not equipped with the knowledge or skill needed to do essential work to reduce the risk of people committing more crime. They are not given the time to do that work well either. The CRC should urgently review its approach to learning and development, so that staff can have confidence in their professional work. Resources also need to be addressed. We found unpaid work and Through the Gate services to be good. People are seen quickly after sentence and offered services matched to their needs. We saw real drive from all the Through the Gate staff and a recognition that, although outcomes need to improve, they will go the extra mile to provide a good service in demanding prison settings. Coordination and communication between the different staff involved are some of the best we have seen so far in this inspection programme. Leaders in the CRC are committed and passionate. They aim to provide services that will improve the opportunities of people under probation supervision to move away from crime and rehabilitate. The organisation understands its challenges well. Details: Manchester: The Author, 2019. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 18, 2019 at: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/01/DLNR-CRC.pdf Year: 2019 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/01/DLNR-CRC.pdf Shelf Number: 154644 Keywords: Alternatives to Incarceration Community Supervision Desistance Offender RehabilitationProbation Reoffending |
Author: Cox, Scott L. Title: Living Shakespeare at the Lansing Correctional Facility, Kansas: Rehabilitation and Re-creation in Action Summary: Living Shakespeare is an all-male, all-inmate theatre program offered under the auspices of Arts in Prison at the Lansing Correctional Facility in Lansing, Kansas. It was founded by Scott L. Cox in September 2011 and has produced four full-length productions of Shakespearean plays to date. The program, inspired by Shakespeare Behind Bars at the Luther Luckett Correctional Center in LaGrange, Kentucky, operates under the belief that participation in a Shakespeare-based theatrical production program offers the inmates opportunities to develop skills necessary to their successful reintegration to society. This dissertation explores the first three years of the Living Shakespeare program with the aim of determining whether the program aids in the prison's stated goal: rehabilitation. The dissertation includes a brief historical account of the development of prison theatre, focusing on the use of Classical and Shakespearean drama with incarcerated populations, culminating in a case study of Shakespeare Behind Bars. The primary case study, which makes up the bulk of this dissertation, is of Living Shakespeare and its ensemble members. The author frames the study as Practice-as-Research (PAR), an approach to performance studies which values performance and theatrical practice as a valid research model. Knowledge is ascertained not solely through an account of the practice but by applying the methodology of ethnography. Observations of the process, field notes, conversations with the participants, questionnaires and interviews all figure into a qualitative analysis of the Living Shakespeare program. The author aims to demonstrate that a Shakespeare-centered theatre process provides the prisoners with the means of attaining twelve specific goals related to rehabilitation and offers rare opportunities for transcendence. Details: Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas, 2016. 316p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed March 12, 2019 at: https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/21835 Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/21835 Shelf Number: 154899 Keywords: Arts in PrisonsArts ProgramsCorrectional ProgramsOffender RehabilitationTheatre Programs |
Author: Gardner, Amanda Title: Prison Arts Resource Project: An Annotated Bibliography Summary: The Prison Arts Resource Project (PARP) is an annotated bibliography of evidence-based studies evaluating the impact of arts programs in U.S. correctional settings. Each of the 48 entries includes information about the arts program as well as the study research goals, methods and a summary of findings. Adult offender and juvenile offender programs are identified. While not an exhaustive list, this collection of annotated impact studies represent publicly available evidence that can be accessed by individuals and organizations seeking to develop their own evaluation or research, or who are seeking evidence of impact for the purposes of program development and policy improvement. Details: Washington, DC: National Endowment for the Arts, 2014. 57p. Updated 2018) Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 12, 2019 at: https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/Research-Art-Works-Oregon-rev.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/Research-Art-Works-Oregon-rev.pdf Shelf Number: 154900 Keywords: Arts in PrisonsArts ProgramsCorrectional ProgramsOffender Rehabilitation |
Author: California Lawyers for the Arts Title: Arts-In Corrections:: County Jails Project Summary: California Lawyers for the Arts became involved in advocacy to restore California's stellar Arts-in-Corrections programs in 2011, just as the US Supreme Court was requiring the state to reduce severe overcrowding in the state's prisons. In addition to having the nation's largest state prison population, California also claimed one of the highest recidivism rates in the country at nearly 70%. We worked actively with Dr. Larry Brewster of the University of San Francisco and the William James Association to conduct a collaborative demonstration project in several state prisons that involved pre and post surveys of the students. Based on the evidence we gathered at that time, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) was persuaded to provide the California Arts Council with a $2.5 million contract in 2014 for a two-year pilot project providing arts programs in up to 19 state prisons. CLA's Arts in Corrections Initiative, which has received major funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, the Quentin Hancock Fund, the Wallace A. Gerbode Foundation and the Art for Justice Fund, brings a new level of awareness and appreciation for the value of effective arts programming in correctional facilities. The goal of this multi-year study is to measure the behavioral and attitudinal changes experienced by residents in county jails throughout California and the impact on their lives through self-reported surveys administered at the end of sequential art classes. A third year of support from the NEA Locals program is supporting outreach to additional counties in California and the development of a tool kit for national distribution. In collaboration with art organizations in Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Nevada, Sutter, and Yuba Counties, we evaluated the results of the 10 to 18-week art classes attended by a total of 119 men and women. At the end of each program, the participants completed surveys that were designed by Dr. Larry Brewster of the University of San Francisco School of Public Administration. The art classes were held in Santa Cruz Main Jail, San Francisco County Jail - San Bruno Complex, MCJ Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, Fresno County Jail, Sacramento County Jail - Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center, Wayne Brown Correctional Facility in Nevada City, Sutter County Jail, and Yuba County Jail. The residents engaged in the arts reported a number of attitudinal and behavioral changes that can improve their lives. In addition to helping the inmates and their institutions, these benefits can extend to their families, their communities, and the society to which they return. Artists engaged in this work benefit from having socially meaningful work that connects them to larger public policy issues. Details: s.l.: The Program, 2018. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 13, 2019 at: =https://www.calawyersforthearts.org/resources/Documents/cla.countyjailsprojectreport.revisedapril2018.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://www.calawyersforthearts.org/resources/Documents/cla.countyjailsprojectreport.revisedapril2018.pdf Shelf Number: 154933 Keywords: Arts in PrisonsArts ProgramsCorrectional ProgramsJailsOffender RehabilitationRehabilitation Programs |
Author: Bilby, Charlotte Title: Re-imagining futures: Exploring arts interventions and the process of desistance Summary: This report was commissioned by the Arts Alliance, the national body representing arts in criminal justice. Jointly funded by the Ministry of Justice and the Monument Trust, the Arts Alliance represents a growing network of over 470 arts practitioners and organisations working in prisons and the community to support men, women and young people to lead crime-free lives, through creative interventions. The coalition Government's Transforming Rehabilitation strategy and ongoing austerity measures mean rapid and complex change across the Criminal Justice System. This includes opening up the market, restructuring of the prison and probation service and the introduction of payment-by-results mechanisms to re-offending outcomes. The Transforming Rehabilitation agenda also includes acknowledgement of offenders' complex backgrounds and a call for increased development of offenders' vocational skills to enhance future employability alongside learning opportunities which address responsiveness and diversity issues (NOMS, 2012; MoJ, 2013). This landscape presents huge challenges and potential opportunities for innovative arts projects, which contribute towards the important 'intermediate' outcomes that enable individuals to make positive steps towards effective rehabilitation. This research, along with the growing body of evidence, suggests there are strong reasons to consider arts in criminal justice an area of considerable significance and innovation. Arts practice aims to bring about a positive affect experience in the participant (Parkes & Bilby, 2010). The affective experience, which can include a sense of community cohesion, that time is passing at a different pace, or an improved feeling of self-satisfaction and achievement, can be linked to desistance from crime. Desistance is the process by which people who have offended stop offending (primary desistance) and then take on a personal narrative (Maruna, 2001) that supports a continuing non-offending lifestyle (secondary desistance). Change is not a linear process; rather some will zigzag and will offend again on the journey to secondary desistance. In order for desistance from crime to take place, Giordano, Cernkovich and Rudolph (2002: 999-1002) suggest that there is a four-stage process which includes an openness to change; exposure and reaction to 'hooks' for change (or turning points); imagining and believing in a 'replacement self'; and a change in the way that offending and deviant behaviour is viewed. Maruna (2007: 652) notes that 'desistance is typically understood to be more than just an absence of crime. Desistance is the maintenance of crime-free behaviour and is an - active process in itself- it involves the pursuit of a positive life'. This research considers the possible relationships between the intricate process of abstaining from crime and the influence that taking part in some form of art-based enrichment activity might have on participants. Employing a qualitative methodology, the research addresses a number of questions linked to intermediate steps (or outcomes) in an individual's journey to desistance from crime. The research specifically explores how arts interventions contribute towards enabling people to form positive identities, build new narratives and build positive relationships with peers, staff and family. It also begins to investigate how arts interventions enable people to make significant behavioural changes. The latest National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Commissioning Intentions Document (October 2013) recognises the importance and complexity of these intermediate steps, which may lead to desistance from crime. The research team investigated five arts projects in four criminal justice settings, including practising visual arts in a high security adult male prison; music and deejaying skills with young offenders in the community; a music making project in a resettlement (open) prison and creative writing and bookbinding in a closed female prison. The research team spent at least four sessions with each of the projects observing the activities and interviewing participants, arts practitioners and prison staff as part of an in-depth qualitative methodology. The team also used participants' written work and evaluations, and examples of the work produced in the arts activities. This data was analysed using a thematic, content analysis approach. This piece of research demonstrates a clear link between taking part in arts-based activities and the movement towards secondary desistance. It identifies the importance of arts practice for the participants and shows what types of outcomes successful projects should be producing. The research also highlights the importance of collecting qualitative as well as quantitative data on arts projects and their participants when measuring these changes. Analysis of the data across all five projects produced the following key findings: - Participation in arts activities enables individuals to begin to redefine themselves, an important factor in desistance from crime. - Arts projects facilitate high levels of engagement. This is significant because many individuals in contact with the Criminal Justice System have struggled to engage with productive activities in the past. Participants must engage in order to be able to redefine themselves. Engagement in arts projects has also been shown to lead to greater participation in education and work-related activities. - Arts projects can have a positive impact on how people manage themselves during their sentence, particularly on their ability to cooperate with others - including other participants and staff. This correlates with increased self-control and better problem-solving skills. - Engagement with arts projects facilitates increased compliance with criminal justice orders and regimes. - Arts projects are responsive to participants' individual needs. Current policy documentation on commissioning services to meet offenders' needs highlights the importance of responsiveness in meeting diverse needs. The status of arts practitioners as professional artists is highly significant in the success of projects and their impact on participants. The value of this should not be underestimated by agencies of the Criminal Justice System when considering using external organisations. - Arts projects provide safe spaces for individuals to have positive experiences and begin to make individual choices. The findings from this research clearly indicate that arts projects can contribute to an individual's journey to desistance. The findings highlight key outcomes for participants and the importance of the relationships with project facilitators. There is now a need for longitudinal research, combining both qualitative and quantitative methods, to assess how far the findings presented here are sustained in the long term. Details: London: Arts Alliance, 2013. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 25, 2019 at: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/16846/1/Re-imagining_Futures_Research_Report_Final.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/16846/1/Re-imagining_Futures_Research_Report_Final.pdf Shelf Number: 155161 Keywords: Arts ProgramsCorrectional ProgramsDesistanceMusic TherapyMusical ProgramsOffender RehabilitationRecidivismRehabilitation ProgramsWriting Programs |
Author: Prisoners' Education Trust Title: Greenhouses not Warehouses: Commissioning Education to Plant Seeds of Hope and Opportunity Summary: Prisons are being given increasing flexibility and control over education budgets and the ability to commission a wide range of provision. Governor-led commissioning is an exciting opportunity to increase engagement of prisoners in education to achieve a whole-prison learning culture. The PLA has produced this workbook aimed at helping governors and managers plan and commission education. It includes a self-assessment tool and provides advice, case studies and additional resources around ten key aspects of commissioning. This timely resource sets out the crucial questions to be thinking about and suggestions for how to bring together the right people to answer them for your prison and population. Details: London, United Kingdom: Prisoner Learning Alliance and Prisoners' Education Trust, 2017. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 31, 2019 at: https://www.prisonerseducation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/PLA-Greenhouses-not-warehouses-Workbook-web-version-1.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://ec.europa.eu/epale/mt/node/72547 Shelf Number: 156115 Keywords: Correctional Programs DesistanceEducation Program Incarceration Offender Rehabilitation Prison Programming PrisonersReoffending |
Author: Knoth, L. Title: Washington State Adult and Juvenile Recidivism Trends: FY 1995 - FY 2014 Summary: Previous reports published by WSIPP have shown a gradual decline in recidivism for adults released from prison through the 1990s and early 2000s. This report updates our review of recidivism trends for adults released from prison and expands the scope of our report to include youth populations and additional adult populations. This report provides a high-level overview of general changes in Washington State recidivism trends from FY 1995-FY 2014. The report analyzes recidivism for four samples of criminal justice-involved populations: adults convicted of a criminal offense, adults released from incarceration in prison, youth convicted of a criminal offense, and youth released from a commitment in a Juvenile Rehabilitation (JR) facility. Consistent with our prior reports, our analyses found gradual declines in overall recidivism for all four populations from FY 1995-FY 2014. However, examination of recidivism trends by type of recidivism, type of initial offense, and demographic characteristics indicates that the magnitude of the decline in recidivism varied among different sub-populations. Details: Olympia, Washington: Washington State Institute for Public Policy, 2019. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 4, 2019 at: http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/ReportFile/1703/Wsipp_Washington-State-Adult-and-Juvenile-Recidivism-Trends-FY-1995-FY-2014_Report.pdf Year: 2019 Country: United States URL: https://www.wsipp.wa.gov/Publications Shelf Number: 156166 Keywords: IncarcerationJuvenile RehabilitationOffender RehabilitationPrisonRecidivism |
Author: Eser, Sophie Title: The Responsible Man: A Study in Two Private Prisons Summary: With the expansion of the use of private prisons and detention centres worldwide and the increasing involvement of private actors in the provision of custodial services, this doctoral thesis considers life inside two private prisons in England. Using theoretically informed ethnography it evaluates the effect of responsibility on men imprisoned in two private prisons in England. Firstly, it briefly reviews the background and development of prison privatisation in England and Wales and considers the role and place of private prisons as part of a wider neo-liberal shift. Secondly, using qualitative data gathered inside two private prisons, it evaluates if these prisons, through their regimes, are trying to create responsible self-governing prisoners. The thesis reviews both, how regimes and practices in place in these two prisons attempt to forge responsible prisoners, and how individual men and groups of prisoners experience, feel about, cope with and assimilate penal messages of self-governance and responsibility. Finally, it questions both the impact of responsible prisoners for prisons and the impact of responsibility on prisoners and argues that, whilst there is a benefit to fostering environments in which prisoners are enabled to become responsible and self-governing, a careful balance must be maintained, as for some men the responsibility itself becomes characteristic of the "pain of imprisonment". Details: Oxford, UK: Keble College, University of Oxford, 2014. 264p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed June 12, 2019 at: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:8274c151-0121-4804-8965-89d48d7d8d25/download_file?file_format=pdf&safe_filename=THESIS01&type_of_work=Thesis Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:8274c151-0121-4804-8965-89d48d7d8d25/download_file?file_format=pdf&safe_filename=THESIS01&type_of_work=Thesis Shelf Number: 156395 Keywords: Correctional Administration Offender RehabilitationPrivate Prisons Privatization |