Acriminal history is an undeniably excellent predictor of future criminal behavior (Gendreau, Little, and Goggin, 1996). Yet despite stability in offending over time, most offenders, even those with serious criminal histories, eventually desist from crime (Brame, Bushway, and Paternoster, 2003; Kurlychek, Brame, and Bushway, 2006, 2007, in press; Langan and Levin, 2002; Maruna, 2001). Employment-based reentry programs are designed and evaluated with an eye toward hastening the desistance process for individuals with criminal history records (Drake, Aos, and Miller, 2009). In other words, these programs rely on employment and training to causally lower an individual’s likelihood of recidivism. Employment is an obvious starting point in the reentry process because it is the major “routine activity” of most adults, and individuals who are exiting prison look to work as their major source of legitimate income (Bucklen and Zajac, 2009; LeBel, Burnett, Maruna, and Bushway, 2008). Yet the most recent meta-analysis of experimental evaluations of noncustodial employment programs for individuals with a criminal history finds that

A Signaling Perspective on Employment-Based Reentry Programming Training Completion as a Desistance Signal

We reviewed medical and psychology databases for articles published between January 1980 and August 2005 demonstrating associations between HIV/Sexually Transmitted Infection risk and club drug use. Seventy-four articles were reviewed, of which 30 provided adjusted risk ratios for associations between HIV/sexually transmitted infection risk and club drug use among men who have sex with men. Definitions and lists of club drugs were broad and inconsistent. We constructed a conceptual framework of biologically plausible pathways for causation. Using Hill's criteria to examine club drugs as causal risk factors for HIV, we found the most evidence for methamphetamine and volatile nitrites; however, more studies are needed.

Club drugs as causal risk factors for HIV acquisition among men who have sex with men: a review.

Risk and protective factors for methamphetamine use and nonmedical use of prescription stimulants among young adults aged 18 to 25.

Scholars and policymakers have called for greater attention to understanding the causes of and solutions to improved prisoner reentry outcomes, resulting in renewed attention to a factor—prison visitation—long believed to reduce recidivism. However, despite the theoretical arguments advanced on its behalf and increased calls for evidence-based policy, there remains little credible empirical research on whether a beneficial relationship between visitation and recidivism in fact exists. Against that backdrop, this study employs propensity score matching analyses to examine whether visitation of various types and in varying amounts, or “doses,” is in fact negatively associated with recidivism outcomes among a cohort of released prisoners. The analyses suggest that visitation has a small to modest effect in reducing recidivism of all types, especially property offending, and that the effects may be most pronounced for spouse or significant other visitation. We discuss the implications of the findings for rese...

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Prison Visitation and Recidivism

Aims We examine the co-occurrence of abuse/dependence across different illicit drugs and test associations between these classes and major psychiatric disorders.

Method  Latent class analyses were used to characterize polysubstance abuse/dependence (AB/D) in 43 093 individuals who participated in the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to examine the association between the classes of life-time illicit drug AB/D and gender, age and race, as well as life-time Diagnostic and Statistical Manual version IV (DSM-IV) alcohol abuse/dependence, nicotine dependence, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social phobia and antisocial personality disorder.

Results  Five latent classes were identified: no AB/D (class 1: 92.5%), cannabis AB/D only (class 2: 5.8%), stimulants + hallucinogen AB/D (class 3: 0.6%), prescription drug AB/D (class 4: 0.6%) and polysubstance AB/D (class 5: 0.5%). Major depressive disorder and nicotine dependence were associated most strongly with class 5. Anxiety disorders were associated strongly with the prescription drug AB/D class while alcohol AB/D and ASPD were associated with classes 2, 3, 4 and 5 when compared to the reference class (class 1).

Conclusions  Significant heterogeneity exists in this US population for polysubstance AB/D patterns with evidence for a subgroup with high rates of sedative, tranquilizer and opiate AB/D and a history of anxiety disorders, a stimulant/hallucinogens group, a high-risk group with elevated rates of all psychiatric disorders and a milder cannabis AB/D only group. Replication of such classes across other samples has significant implications, such as characterizing risk groups that may be etiologically diverse.

A latent class analysis of illicit drug abuse/dependence: results from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

The last decades of the twentieth century witnessed a rapid buildup of prison populations followed by rapid increases in the numbers of individuals being released back to communities. Entering the twenty-first century, about 1,700 adults were leaving state and federal prisons each day. This article summarizes recent research on prisoner reentry and concludes that while progress has been made in increasing service delivery and improving intermediate outcomes, attaining substantial declines in recidivism may be more difficult than previously imagined.

Prisoner Reentry in the First Decade of the Twenty-first Century

The availability and use of club drugs have increased in the last decade. Media and researchers have responded with increased coverage and a variety of studies. Despite the increased attention, some of these drugs and the rave/club scene in which they seemingly gained popularity are relatively new. Questions remain about the people who use club drugs, how best to go about preventing or dealing with the use of these substances, and the social contexts, subcultures, and manner in which club drugs are used. Complicating matters, the use and users of club drugs seem to be continually evolving. Club drugs are reportedly now available and used in a wide variety of locations, and the users are changing demographically. Members of racial/ethnic groups who previously avoided club drugs are beginning to use these substances, and the average age of onset appears to be decreasing. Additional research on the epidemiology of club drug use among samples that are demographically and geographically diverse is needed. This...

Danielle M. Steffey

Papers

Prisoner Reentry in the First Decade of the Twenty-first Century

Club drug use among delinquent youth.