Illinois State Police

About: Illinois State Police is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Criminal justice & Information system. The organization has 38 authors who have published 74 publications receiving 1764 citations.

Results from the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National findings

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Evaluating the Long-Term Effects of Prisoner Reentry Services on Recidivism: What Types of Services Matter?

Abstract: We analyzed data collected for a large multi-site evaluation of 12 prisoner reentry programs in 12 states to examine the impact of pre-release services on time to rearrest and number of rearrests up to 56 months post-release for male offenders. A two-stage matching quasi-experimental design was used to define the comparison groups and multivariate models were used to examine the relationships among service and program receipt and recidivism. Participation in the reentry program was associated with longer time to arrest and fewer arrests after release. However, the specific services delivered as part of the program showed modest or inconsistent impacts on recidivism. Services that focused on individual change were more beneficial than services that focused on practical skills and needs. Practitioners should consider careful sequencing of program and service delivery in prison, linking in-prison services to post-release assistance, and evaluating all services and programs for fidelity and effectiveness.

Zooplankton of Lake Kivu, East Africa, half a century after the Tanganyika sardine introduction

Abstract: The introduction into Lake Kivu of the planktivorous fish Limnothrissa miodon at the end of the 1950s raised major concern about the fate of mesozooplankton, but few data were available to assess the impact of predation. In this study, we followed zooplankton variations in Lake Kivu for 3.5 years. Present Lake Kivu mesozooplankton is dominated by cyclopoid copepods (Thermocyclops consimilis, Mesocyclops aequatorialis and Tropocyclops confinis), but cladocerans and rotifers are also present. Each year, total crustacean abundance in the plankton increased to a distinct seasonal maximum following a rise of phytoplankton production associated with a deep epilimnetic mixing in the dry season (August-September). This dependence on phytoplankton resource suggests that mesozooplankton dynamics in Lake Kivu is mainly bottom-up controlled, contrary to expectations from the food web structure. However, measurements of body size indicate that sardine predation affects the cladoceran Diaphanosoma excisum, whereas the larger copepods may efficiently escape predation by migration in the deep mixolimnion at daytime. Total biomass of mesozooplankton in Lake Kivu is lower than in lakes Tanganyika and Malawi. This may be related to the disappearance of a large grazer that existed before the sardine introduction, whereas the large lakes of the same region have a more complex pelagic food web, with piscivorous fish, and with calanoid copepods, which can more efficiently exploit phytoplankton production.

Gender and sentencing: A meta-analysis of contemporary research

Abstract: I. IntroductionThere are currently over one million women under the supervision of the United States criminal justice system.2 This includes more than 100,000 women incarcerated in local jails and federal and state prisons.3 These statistics are not entirely surprising given that since 1985, women have been entering prison at twice the rate of males and now represent the fastest-growing segment of the United States prison population.4 Scholars credit amplified law enforcement efforts, changes to state and federal sentencing guidelines, and "equality with a vengeance" for the dramatic growth in the female prison population.5 Statistics reveal that the number of female arrests has risen 34% from the early 1980s through 2000.6 However, the 34% increase in arrests provides only a partial explanation for the 400% jump in female imprisonment.7Changes in state and federal sentencing policies are, by far, the most commonly cited cause of the expansion in the female prison population.8 Researchers point specifically to the "war on drugs" and associated sentencing policies as being primarily responsible for new trends in female sentencing practices.9 As a result of these policies and practices, women stand a higher chance of serving time for drug offenses than men.10Shifts from indeterminate to determinate sentencing structures at both the state and federal levels could have also had a potentially negative impact on female offenders. In the push to eliminate judicial discretion and create a one-size-fits-all sentencing scheme, policymakers chose "equal" sentencing over "special treatment" of female offenders." This choice effectively ended judicial consideration for mitigating circumstances such as family obligations, and has translated into longer prison terms for women.12 As documented by Daly and Tonry, determinate sentencing guidelines are based on "past average sentences for men or on an average for men's and women's sentences."13 The development of sentencing grids based on male or male/female averages "equalizes" justice by increasing female prison terms to the equivalent of their male counterparts.14 Researchers are now beginning to explore the impact of these policy changes on women in the criminal justice system.During the past twenty years, there has been an indisputable rise in the number of women serving prison sentences.15 The expanding female prison population is often linked to contemporary shifts in federal and state sentencing policies.16 However, empirical investigations of the relationships among these phenomena have produced inconsistent findings. Three of the most recent studies on gender and sentencing report that judicial decisionmaking favors female over male offenders.17 Other scholars report no substantive differences in sentencing outcomes between women and men, after controlling for legal and demographic characteristics.18Inconsistent scientific findings produced by gender/sentencing research are not entirely unexpected given the considerable differences in data, methodology, and statistical analyses found among sentencing studies. Daly and Bordt's study, Sex Effects and Sentencing: A Review of the Statistical Literature, is the most recent attempt to control for methodological variations and synthesize this body of work.19 Their review of over forty sentencing studies published between 1960 and 1990 found that women were generally at an "advantage" over male defendants in sentencing decisions.20Since the early 1990s, sentencing practice has undergone a major transformation with the implementation of sentencing guidelines, mandatory sentencing, and "get tough" policies.21 Sentencing research is also evolving to include the examination of the indirect and interactive effects of explanatory variables in analytic models and multilevel interactions between place, judicial culture, and individual characteristics.22 Daly and Bordt's study is still relevant to understanding how gender impacts sentencing, but with the changes in sentencing policy and research, there is a wealth of new scholarship on this this topic that should inform this discussion. …

Use of Cessation Methods Among Smokers Aged 16-24 Years – United States, 2003

Abstract: Smoking cessation among adolescent smokers is relatively rare, with approximately 15.6% of smokers aged 12-19 years quitting smoking in a 4-year period (approximately 4% per year). Rates for failed quitting attempts among younger smokers are higher than those for adults (43%), with approximately 58% of high-school smokers having tried to quit at least once for 1 day or longer in the preceding year. To track the history of quitting behavior among smokers aged 16-24 years, Roswell Park Cancer Institute (Buffalo, New York) initiated the 2-year longitudinal National Youth Smoking Cessation Survey (NYSCS) in 2003. This report summarizes key findings from the survey regarding lifetime use of smoking-cessation methods. The findings indicated that smokers aged 16-24 years who had tried to quit were more likely to use unassisted quitting methods than assisted quitting methods; none of the unassisted methods are recommended by the Public Health Service (PHS) clinical guidelines for treatment of tobacco use and dependence, whereas most of the assisted methods are recommended for adults and have been determined to be effective. Many youths aged 16-24 years are trying to quit smoking but often underestimate the rapid progression to tobacco dependence; therefore, PHS clinical practice guidelines for treating tobacco use and dependence recommend that certain clinical interventions proven to be effective among adults be used in youth-based approaches to cessation. In addition, other components of comprehensive tobacco-control programs also increase smoking cessation and should be implemented at CDC-recommended levels to lower tobacco use among youths and adults.