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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:57 pm
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Results for post-traumatic stress disorder
7 results foundAuthor: Reichert, Jessica Title: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Victimization Among Female Prisoners in Illinois Summary: This research study involved interviews with 163 randomly-selected female inmates in the general population at Illinois Department of Corrections’ facilities. This is the second in a series of reports by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (Authority) on victimization among female prison inmates. Prevalence of and types of prior victimization among study respondents was explored. Study participants were asked questions on prior victimization in their lives and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were gauged with the PTSD Symptoms Checklist (PCL). This study shares the level and correlates of female inmate PTSD symptomology. Participants’ PTSD scores were then correlated with other factors: Demographics; Offense type and criminal histories; Sentence length; Prior abuse types (physical, sexual, and intimate partner emotional abuse); The number of prior abuse types; Specific prior abuse violations; Number of prior abuse violations; Severity of abuse; and Drug and alcohol abuse. The information presents a contextual picture of PTSD symptomology for female prison inmates, which can impact basic functioning, including the ability to prevent further criminal involvement, maintain a job, enjoy healthy relationships, and avoid abusing drugs and alcohol. This report offers support for the utilization of a standardized assessment of trauma for offender populations, as other studies have found that trauma scores significantly predict future criminal offending, as well as risky sexual behavior for adolescent females. Details: Chicago: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, 2010. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 14, 2010 at: http://www.icjia.state.il.us/public/pdf/ResearchReports/PTSD_Female_Prisoners_Report_1110.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.icjia.state.il.us/public/pdf/ResearchReports/PTSD_Female_Prisoners_Report_1110.pdf Shelf Number: 120506 Keywords: Female Inmates (Illinois)Post-Traumatic Stress DisorderSexual Abuse |
Author: Lynch, Shannon M. Title: Women's Pathways to Jail: The Roles & Intersections of Serious Mental Illness & Trauma Summary: This multi-site study addressed critical gaps in the literature by assessing the prevalence of serious mental illness (SMI), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance use disorders (SUD) in women in jail and pathways to offending for women with and without SMI. Using a randomly selected sample (N = 491) from rural and urban jails, this study employed a structured diagnostic interview to assess current and lifetime prevalence of SMI (e.g., major depression, bipolar, and psychotic spectrum disorders), PTSD, and SUD in women in jail. Women’s prior access to treatment and level of functional impairment in the past 12 months was also assessed. Next, qualitative Life History Calendar (LHC) interviews were conducted with a subset of the sample (N = 115) to examine how onset of different types of criminal activity and delinquency vary as a function of mental health status and trauma exposure. Finally, we also interviewed corrections staff members (N = 37) at participating jail sites to assess staff members’ perceptions about the prevalence of mental health difficulties in women in jail as well as staff beliefs about women’s pathways to jail. Notably, 43% of participants met criteria for a lifetime SMI, and 32% met SMI criteria in the past 12 months. Substance use disorders were the most commonly occurring disorders, with 82% of the sample meeting lifetime criteria for drug or alcohol abuse or dependence. Similarly, PTSD rates were high with just over half the sample (53%) meeting criteria for lifetime PTSD. Women also met criteria for multiple lifetime disorders at high rates. Finally, 30 to 45% of individuals who met criteria for a current disorder reported severely impaired functioning in the past year. Women with SMI reported greater rates of victimization and more extensive offending histories than women who did not meet criteria for lifetime SMI. In a test of our proposed model, experiences of childhood victimization and adult trauma did not directly predict offending histories; instead both forms of victimization increased the risk of poor mental health, and poor mental health predicted a greater offending history. Next, quantitative LHC data were analyzed to elucidate patterns of offending over the lifespan. SMI significantly increased women’s risk for onset of substance use, drug dealing/charges, property crime, fighting/assault, and running away. In addition, experiences of victimization predicted risk of offending. The third component of this study included interviews with corrections staff including supervisors, health practitioners, and corrections officers/deputies. These staff members indicated a general awareness that women’s experiences of victimization were linked with their entry into the criminal justice system. Further, many staff were aware of women’s mental health problems. In particular, they expressed concern that there were limited resources in jail for women struggling with mental illness, and that women were then released from jail with little to no assistance to support their attempts to change behavior and lifestyle. Understanding female offenders’ pathways to offending, including both risk for onset and risk for continued offending, helps elucidate the complexity of their experiences and identify key factors and intervening variables that may ameliorate or exacerbate risk. This type of research is critical to development of gender responsive programming, alternatives to incarceration, and problem-solving court initiatives. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, 2012. 91p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 17, 2013 at: https://www.bja.gov/Publications/Women_Pathways_to_Jail.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: https://www.bja.gov/Publications/Women_Pathways_to_Jail.pdf Shelf Number: 127341 Keywords: Drug Abuse and CrimeFemale Offenders (U.S.)JailsMentally Ill OffendersPost-Traumatic Stress DisorderSubstance Abuse and Crime |
Author: New Jersey. Police Suicide Task Force Title: New Jersey Police Suicide Task Force Report Summary: Nationally, suicide is the eleventh leading cause of death. While New Jersey has one of the lowest suicide rates in the nation, suicide is also a leading cause of injury death in the state, exceeded only by motor vehicle crashes and drug overdoses. In 2007, New Jersey had more than 600 suicides, and suicides exceeded homicides by a ratio of approximately three to two. For each completed suicide, approximately eight non-fatal attempts result in hospitalization. Yet the impact of suicide cannot be measured by the number of deaths alone, because suicide has devastating consequences for loved ones, co-workers and society. The law enforcement community in New Jersey and elsewhere has long been faced with the troubling issue of law enforcement officer suicide, which routinely takes more lives than deaths occurring in the line of duty. The stress of law enforcement work as well as access to firearms puts officers at above average risk for suicide. The impact of suicide in the law enforcement community has led many to call for a more concerted effort to improve prevention. On October 5, 2008, Governor Jon S. Corzine announced the formation of the Governor’s Task Force on Police Suicide. A fourteen member panel was established representing various branches of law enforcement, mental health professionals, service providers, and survivors’ organizations. A list of the Task Force members is included in Appendix A. Chaired by the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Human Services, the Task Force was charged with examining the problem of law enforcement1 suicide in New Jersey, and developing recommendations for suicide prevention. The Task Force members shared their expertise and reviewed a great deal of material on law enforcement officer suicide. Additionally, a number of guest speakers made presentations. A complete list of presentations is included in Appendix B. The Task Force also surveyed law enforcement supervisors on their utilization of mental health services for their officers. The Task Force’s recommendations focus on: • Providing more suicide awareness training to law enforcement officers and supervisors; • Improving access to and increasing the effectiveness of existing resources; • Recommending the adoption of best practices; and • Combating the reluctance of officers to seek help. Details: Trenton: The Task Force, 2009. 55p. Source: Internet Resource: http://www.nj.gov/lps/library/NJPoliceSuicideTaskForceReport-January-30-2009-Final(r2.3.09).pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://www.nj.gov/lps/library/NJPoliceSuicideTaskForceReport-January-30-2009-Final(r2.3.09).pdf Shelf Number: 128169 Keywords: Mental Health ServicesPolice StressPolice Suicides (New Jersey, U.S.)Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder |
Author: Larsen, Amanda Title: Potential Factors Influencing Leniency toward Veterans who Commit Crimes Summary: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that occurs following a traumatic experience and has symptoms that can severely impair functioning. Military personnel are particularly likely to experience trauma, and thus are commonly diagnosed with PTSD. Importantly, because PTSD is correlated with expressions of anger and aggression, military veterans are at an increased risk of committing crimes upon returning from deployment. Although legal records have shown that veterans with PTSD are often charged with lighter crimes and/or given lighter sentences compared to people not diagnosed with PTSD, to date no psychological research has directly investigated if jurors truly are inclined to give veterans with PTSD lighter sentences than veterans without PTSD. It also remains unclear how various factors related to PTSD may influence jurors’ sentencing recommendations. The purpose of the present research was to compare judgments of guilt for veterans with PTSD to civilians and to investigate whether various factors lead to increased leniency from jurors. Participants read fictional court documents describing a crime and reported perceptions of guilt, responsibility, and feelings toward the defendant. Results indicated that the diagnosis of PTSD, timing of diagnosis, and type of combat experienced influenced various perceptions of the defendant and his sentencing. Future directions are discussed. Details: Illinois Wesleyan University, 2013. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Honors Projects, Paper 157: Accessed May 13, 2013 at: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1156&context=psych_honproj Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1156&context=psych_honproj Shelf Number: 128722 Keywords: Mentally Ill OffendersPost-Traumatic Stress DisorderVeterans (U.S.) |
Author: Holbrook, Justin G. Title: Veterans’ Courts and Criminal Responsibility: A Problem Solving History & Approach to the Liminality of Combat Trauma Summary: In September 2010, a federal judge dismissed a criminal case involving a veteran accused of assaulting a federal police officer to allow the case to be heard by the Buffalo Veterans Treatment Court, a division of Buffalo City Court. For those involved in veterans’ advocacy and treatment, the case is significant for a number of reasons. First, it is the first criminal case nationwide to be transferred from federal court to a local veterans treatment court where the goal is to treat - rather than simply punish - those facing the liminal effects of military combat. Second, the case reignites the still unsettled controversy over whether problem-solving courts generally, and veterans courts specifically, unfairly shift the focus of justice away from the retributive interests of victims to the rehabilitative interests of perpetrators. Third, the case serves as a signal reminder to all justice system stakeholders, including parties, judges, attorneys, and treatment professionals, of the potential benefits of sidestepping courtroom adversity in favor of a coordinated effort that seeks to ameliorate victim concerns while advancing treatment opportunities for veterans suffering from combat-related trauma. This chapter explores these issues in light of the history of combat-related trauma and the development of veterans’ treatment courts around the country. Details: Chester, PA: Widener University School of Law, 2010. 53p. Source: Internet Resource: Widener Law School Legal Studies Research Paper Series no. 10-43: Accessed May 15, 2013 at: https://d3gqux9sl0z33u.cloudfront.net/AA/AT/gambillingonjustice-com/downloads/205863/Veterans_Courts-Law_Article_Widener_Law_School.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: https://d3gqux9sl0z33u.cloudfront.net/AA/AT/gambillingonjustice-com/downloads/205863/Veterans_Courts-Law_Article_Widener_Law_School.pdf Shelf Number: 128736 Keywords: Post-Traumatic Stress DisorderProblem-Solving CourtsVeteransVeterans Courts |
Author: Holbrook, Justin G. Title: Veterans Courts: Early Outcomes and Key Indicators for Success Summary: The growing trend within the judicial, treatment, and advocacy communities toward specialized courts for military veterans raises important questions about the effectiveness of such courts in rehabilitating veterans. Both principally and practically, veterans courts observers may take opposing positions regarding the appropriateness and effectiveness of placing veterans in a specialized, treatment-based court program simply because of their military service. This chapter explores these challenging issues in two parts. First, we undertake a discussion of first principle concerns related to veterans courts by reviewing research studies examining the link between veterans and criminal misconduct. The return of 1.6 million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has re-ignited the still unsettled controversy over whether veterans suffering from combat trauma are more likely than their non-veteran counterparts to commit criminal misconduct after returning home. While firm conclusions may be difficult (and unpopular) to draw, the issue warrants attention in any serious discussion about the merits and best practices of veterans court programs. Second, we present early findings from an assessment we conducted of the practices, procedures, and participant populations of certain veterans courts operating as of March 2011. Of the 53 courts invited to participate, 14 provided a response by completing either an online or paper survey. Of these, seven submitted sample policies and procedures, participant contracts, plea agreements, and mentor guidelines for our review. Drawing on these courts’ common practices and procedures, we identify key operational components courts should consider in implementing veterans court programs. We also conclude that veterans court outcomes, at least at present, appear at least as favorable as those of other specialized treatment courts. Details: Chester, PA: Widener University School of Law, 2011. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: Widener Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 11-25: Accessed May 15, 2013 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1912655 Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1912655 Shelf Number: 128737 Keywords: Post-Traumatic Stress DisorderProblem-Solving CourtsVeteransVeterans Courts |
Author: Perlin, Michael Title: 'John Brown Went off to War': Considering Veterans’ Courts as Problem-Solving Courts Summary: In this paper, I seek to contextualize veterans courts in light of the therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) movement, the turn to problem-solving courts of all sorts (especially focusing on mental health courts), and the societal ambivalence that we have shown to veterans in the four decades since the Vietnam war. I argue that TJ’s focuses on how law actually impacts people’s lives, on the law’s influence on emotional life and psychological well-being and on the need for law to value psychological health and avoid the imposition of anti-therapeutic consequences whenever possible can serve as a template for a veterans courts model (if we are to expand these courts robustly). TJ is the explicit inspiration for many of the most important problem-solving courts (including Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren’s mental health court in Broward County), but it is also clear that many such courts – specifically, some drug courts – do not follow TJ principles, existing, instead in a “due process-free zone” (implicitly rejecting the basic TJ premise that therapeutic outcomes cannot trump due process). Just as mental health courts should ensure that defendants receive dignity and respect, and are given a sense of voice and validation, so should veterans courts. And we must also recognize that our treatment of injured war veterans provides a vivid example of society’s general ambivalence toward guaranteeing robust social rights. Thirty years ago, in Falter v. Veterans’ Administration, a case seeking to force the VA into implementing a “patients’ bill of rights” at VA hospitals, the trial judge observed that the case was basically about “how [plaintiffs] are treated as human beings.” This observation must be at the forefront of any assessment of veterans courts. Despite general low recidivism rates, Veterans Courts have received criticism as some have argued that they provide veterans with a “hall pass“ to certain criminal-defense rights that others do not have, and that, from an entirely different perspective, they are stigmatizing because they perpetuate the stereotype that veterans are returning “war-crazy.” I address these and other criticisms in my paper. One critical issue that has received almost no attention we are just beginning to take seriously in the mental health courts context: how can we assure that there is experienced, dedicated, knowledgeable counsel assigned to represent defendants in such tribunals? We know that if there has been any constant in modern mental disability law in its thirty-five-year history, it is the near-universal reality that counsel assigned to represent individuals at involuntary civil commitment cases are likely to be ineffective. How can we be sure that counsel in these cases be more effective?. I offer some conclusions and suggestions for those jurisdictions that are implementing veterans courts, so as to optimally assure adherence to TJ values in a court setting that continues to provide litigants with the full range of constitutional rights to which they are entitled. Details: New York: New York Law School, 2013. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: NYLS Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12/13 #52; NYLS Clinical Research Institute Paper No. # 30/ 2012: Accessed May 15, 2013 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2221375 Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2221375 Shelf Number: 128741 Keywords: Post-Traumatic Stress DisorderProblem-Solving CourtsVeterans (U.S.)Veterans Courts |