Showing papers in "International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology in 1981"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the adolescent or pre-adolescent offender who commits sexual assaults and the victim, and the extent of this problem is not fully recognized nor its significance, appreciated.
Abstract: offender and to the victim. One serious omission in this developing body of knowledge is the juvenile sexual offender. Scant attention has been paid to the adolescent or pre-adolescent youngster who commits sexual assaults.1-3 It appears that the extent of this problem is not fully recognized nor its significance, appreciated. Although the sexual offender is commonly thought to be an adult, such behavior may in fact date back to his teenage years. In more than half (56 per cent) of the cases of child molestation referred to
106 citations
TL;DR: In the state of Ohio, shock release was introduced by Denton and Pettibone as discussed by the authors in 1965 and has been successfully used to reduce recidivism rate of 8.9 per cent.
Abstract: Shock probation-or shock release-was introduced in Ohio in 1965. Offenders originally sentenced to penal institutions may be released by the Cour-t after a &dquo;shock&dquo; incarceration period of 30 to 130 days, and are then returned to the community under probation supervision. In addition to its treatment uses, &dquo;shock&dquo; release provides a useful way f ojsentencing judges to review their own institutionalization decisions, thus permitting them to grant leniency where such is subsequently seen to be more appropriate than was realized at the time of sentence. It gives both the offender and the judge a &dquo;second chance&dquo;. This system is described in the article by Denton* and Pettibone &dquo;How to Reduce Needless Incarceratiofz&dquo; in this Journal, Vol. 17, No. 2, pages 138-147. It was then said that &dquo;between 1965 and December, 1971, 2,581 off enders had been released-af ter judicial review of previous commitment decisions-on &dquo;shock&dquo; probation. So far, only 120 of these have been returned to State institutions, a recidivism rate of 8.9 per cent. This rate is excellent in view of the merely nominal nature of probation services that many counties provide&dquo;. The present article by Vito and Allen shows that recidivism up till the present time has been substantially higher among shock probationers than normal probationers, and discusses the reasons for this. We sent tlze article to Mr. Denton for his comments, and append a review of the article.by Mr. George W. Farmer, Probation Depart-
22 citations
TL;DR: An additional underserved psychiatric group is that of mentally disordered offenders who have historically demonstrated a potential for violence and
Abstract: T HE last decade has seen the emergence of specialized treatment -*centers for mentally disordered offenders (MDO). These have included such diverse programs as psychiatric treatment in metropolitan jails,1.2.3 court diagnostic centers,4 evaluation and treatment of sex offenders,5 various mental health services to probationers,6.7,8.9 and outpatient treatment of juvenile delinquents.l° An additional underserved psychiatric group is that of mentally disordered offenders who have historically demonstrated a potential for violence and
19 citations
TL;DR: Wilson et al. as discussed by the authors pointed out that the sheer scale of the truancy in many urban schools renders explanations in terms of personal and family problems inapplicable for all but a small minority of truants.
Abstract: TRUANCY is a perennial problem associated with compulsory education which was said (Fitzherbert, 1977) to be treated surprisingly lightly, in spite of its serious social implications, and to be neither adequately documented nor researched. The dominant view of the causes of truancy appears to be that it is symptomatic of personal, social and family maladjustment (Tyerman, 1958; Stott, 1966; Farrington, 1972; Denny, 1974; Student Unit. 1978). This view, however, has been strongly contested and it was pointed out that the sheer scale of the truancy in many urban schools renders explanations in terms of personal and family problems inapplicable for all but a small minority of truants (Grunsell, 1975; Walter, 1978). The family has been implicated also through its social class, conditions of overcrowding (Tibbenham, 1977), and a lack of parental control and supervision (Jain, 1979), as well as its afhnity with families of adjudicated juvenile delinquents (Tennent, 1970). A competing view attributes the causes of truancy to school curricula which are irrelevant and unrelated to the most important school objectives as seen by the children themselves : learning things directly useful in a job and real life situations (Delinquency and the Schools, 1967; Morton-Williams et al., 1968; Wilson et al, 1977). Predictably, the remedies recommended for truancy range from intervention aiming at the resolution of the underlying personal and family problems (Stott, 1966; Education Department, 1978) to structural changes of the school, curricula and teaching methods (The Pack Report, 1977; Wilson et al., 1977). Research in approved schools, on residential programmes analogous to these recommended
16 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe part of a street addict life style that has values, rules, and regulations that must be learned for the narcotic addict to become "competent", as addicts refer to it.
Abstract: Within this context, the present paper will attempt to show how the world view of the narcotic addict is often disregarded or not understood by professional therapists committed to rehabilitating him/her. It will describe part of a street addict life style that has values, rules, and regulations that must be learned for the narcotic addict to become &dquo;competent&dquo;, as addicts refer to it. This paper will focus on the roles that addicts assume in the street and status
7 citations
TL;DR: This paper reviewed the adequacy of various attempts to explain delinquency by values and concluded that the most common context in which explanation by values has been invoked is in attempting to explain why lower class youth exhibit higher rates of officially recorded delinquency than middle class youth.
Abstract: ONE of the more recurrent themes in the criminological literature is that the values held by delinquents must be important to understanding their behaviour. The most common context in which explanation by values has been invoked is in attempting to explain why lower class youth exhibit higher rates of officially recorded delinquency than middle class youth. This article seeks to review the adequacy of various attempts to explain delinquency by values.
6 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a program for training inmates as paraprofessional social workers described in this article suggests new opportunities for social work education and correctional practice, and highlights the efforts of one undergraduate program to address them.
Abstract: situation has been for the prison to be a field setting for graduate social work students. However, the program for training inmates as paraprofessional social workers described in this article suggests new opportunities for social work education and correctional practice. From the inception of the training program, problems and issues developed that needed to be addressed if social work education was to provide inmate paraprofessionals effective in institutional and community-based human service programs. This article reviews these educational issues and highlights the efforts of one undergraduate program to address them.
4 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined family size and place in family of young offenders formally dealt with by the police in the Australian State of Victoria and found that young offenders tend to come from large families and were also more likely to be middle children rather than the oldest or the youngest in the family.
Abstract: OVER a 12-year-period four independent surveys have been conducted in the Australian State of Victoria which examined family size and place in family of young offenders formally dealt with by the police. All of these surveys provided support for the proposition that young offenders tend to come from large families and were also more likely to be middle children rather than the oldest or the youngest in the family. The exercise of police discretion which results in some young offenders not being formally dealt with, and thus not being included in these surveys, does not affect the
3 citations
TL;DR: The Prison-psychoses as mentioned in this paper are reactions to the loss of freedom, the weariness of life, enforced communality with the same people, and the idleness of serving time instead of time serving the prisoner.
Abstract: p RISONERS live in circumstances that have the necessary ingre-~dients for emotional breakdowns: the loss of freedom, the weariness of life, the enforced communality with the same people, and the idleness of &dquo;serving time&dquo; instead of time serving the prisoner. The loneliness yet the lack of privacy, the antipathies and the dislikes, the suspiciousness and the untrustingness, the deprivations, the pettiness and centredness of everybody around, the contradictions and the lack of certainty and the insecurity from within which touches even the core of sexual identity. Few survive unscathed the rigors of prison life. Psychopathology is rifel and many prisoners develop severe psychotic reactions. These reactions have been called prison-psychoses, and they have been the cornerstone &dquo;on which, according to Jaspers2, the whole teaching on the matter of reactive psychoses has been built.&dquo; But not all psychoses seen in prison are &dquo;prison-psychoses&dquo;. Some are just &dquo;psychoses in prison&dquo;3 that is, regular and common psychotic illnesses that develop or reappear on a person who happens to be a prisoner at the time. On the other hand, some &dquo;psychotic reactions&dquo; in prison are reactions to the
2 citations
2 citations
TL;DR: Although fossil remains of human-like skeltetons have been found dating back to about 2 to 5 million years agol, recent studies have indicated that hominids existed at least 1 million years prior to thiS2 as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Although fossil remains of human-like skeltetons have been found dating back to about 2 to 5 million years agol, recent studies have indicated that hominids existed at least 1 million years prior to thiS2. During a great famine or drought, primates that would eventually evolve into homo sapiens withdrew for better feeding and safety to the tropical seashores of Eastern Africa. There, random natural selection processes made them more streamlined for swimming purposes. They lost their hair and developed a bony ridge designed to support the evolving roof of cartilage over the nose: for
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors make the argument that clinicians and other concerned persons should concentrate more on the context of confinement and less on the personalities of those who commit suicide, and this is not to argue against case studies which provide greater detail on lifethreatening behaviours and their management but rather to emphasise broader explanations of prisoner suicide.
Abstract: prevention. Moreover, our attention has been drawn to apparent increases in the incidence of suicide among young people in recent years. There have nevertheless been a few studies which implicitly or explicitly claim reductions in fatal suicide attempts or other, selfinjurious behaviour among persons in confinement4, 5. The tentative findings of these studies should thus be taken into consideration by those interested in basic or applied research on this subject. Another point is that while suiciding prisoners do not appear to differ substantially from non-suiciding prisoners, there is some evidence that they tend to be younger, unmarried, and perhaps more prone to classification as psychologically or psychiatrically disturbed6,7. Such distinctions are not very useful in predicting suicide, however, and many have made the argument that clinicians and other concerned persons should concentrate more on the context of confinement and less on the personalities of those who commit suicide. This is not to argue against case studies which provide greater detail on life-threatening behaviours and their management but rather to emphasise broader explanations of prisoner suicide. This should entail a critical evaluation of use of dissociation areas for manifestly suicidal prisoners (when congregate settings may be
TL;DR: The learning habits of delinquents have been a subject of intense scrutiny by psychologists, sociologists, psychiatrists, and criminologists as discussed by the authors, who have attempted to respond to the problem by making schoolwork easier, by setting up special programs for many unmotivated school-age pupils and by establishing vocational training schools.
Abstract: THE learning habits of delinquents have been a subject of intense scrutiny by psychologists, sociologists, psychiatrists and criminologists. Juvenile delinquents are notoriously poor students, have learned precious little at school, have repeated certain grades, did not excel at anything connected with school and attendance was poor. Schools have attempted to respond to the problem by making schoolwork easier, by setting up special programs for many unmotivated school-age pupils and by establishing vocational training schools. Some of these approaches are commendable, yet truancy and school drop-out rates continue to rise.
TL;DR: The field of probation has been exposed to considerable scrutiny from within the field and by outside forces as discussed by the authors, and many significant books and studies, such as the Presidential Task Force Report on Corrections (1967), National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals: Report on corrections (1973), James Q. Wilson's Thinking About Crime (1975), David Fogel's We Are the Living Proof (1975, State and County Probation Systems in Crisis (1976), Improved Probation Strategies (1978), and two studies: Critical Issues in Adult Probation (1979) and Probation in an
Abstract: DURING the past two decades, the field of probation has been exposed to considerable scrutiny from within the field and by outside forces. Many significant books and studies, such as the Presidential Task Force Report on Corrections (1967), National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals: Report on Corrections (1973), James Q. Wilson’s Thinking About Crime (1975), David Fogel’s We Are the Living Proof (1975), State and County Probation Systems in Crisis (1976), Improved Probation Strategies (1978), and two studies: Critical Issues in Adult Probation (1979) and Probation in an Era of Diminishing Resources (1979) provide various insights into the many problems facing the field of probation.
TL;DR: In the last hundred years or so, such prison systems have passed through four stages: capricious, para-military, rehabilitative and anarchic as mentioned in this paper. And as this evolution takes place within the context of the evolution of the wider society, so the role of the governor has developed within a context of prison policy.
Abstract: ’I’HE quintessential features of the role of the English prison governor are not peculiar to England. His role is paralleled by similar developments in prison systems in other Western industrialised societies. The only difference lies in the nomenclature used. In other prison systems the governor may be called the wardenas in the United States, for example, or the superintendent, as in Australia. Such societies have a good deal in common, and the evolution of their prison systems is a good example of that common denomination. Just as this evolution takes place within the context of the evolution of the wider society, so the role of the governor has developed within the context of prison policy. In the last hundred years or so, such prison systems have passed through four stages. These may be described, consecutively, as capricious, para-military, rehabilitative and anarchic.
TL;DR: A 6-year-old boy who witnessed the fatal shooting of his mother by his father, apparently as the result of an argument over his father's involvement with other women, is sent to the maternal grandparent's home seven hundred miles away.
Abstract: Hank is 6 years old. Five months ago he witnessed the fatal shooting of his mother by his father, apparently as the result of an argument over his father's involvement with other women. After his mother's bloody body was removed from the home and his father was taken to jail, Hank and his younger sister were sent to the maternal grandparent's home, seven hundred miles away. Hank has frequent nightmares, is fearful, tries to "listen in" in all adult conversations in the home, and is afraid to go to the kitchen by himself. The local pediatrician finds strong suggestions of earlier physical abuse of both children. Hank's father calls the children from prison each week and always ends his conversation with Hank by reminding him he is now the "man of the house" and must take care of everyone.
TL;DR: Ten years have elapsed since the Comprehensive Drug Rehabilitation and Treatment Act took effect on January 1, 1971, in Massachusetts, and the time is appropriate to report what has happened to a group of drug offenders during the past ten years, especially to those drug offenders who, for many, have had significant consequences.
Abstract: Ten years have elapsed since the Comprehensive Drug Rehabilitation and Treatment Act took effect on January 1, 1971, in Massachusetts. The &dquo;Quinn Bill&dquo;, as it was called, provided many special considerations for drug offenders and the time is appropriate to report what has happened to a group of these offenders during the past ten years, especially to those drug offenders who, for many
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the word "recidivism" to describe the increase in recidivism in the age group of males 18-24 years in the UK.
Abstract: Introduction Overcrowding in prisons is a relative term that needs interpretation. Basically if in any country there is but one person in custody for a criminal offence then such a description is applicable. The increase per unit of the population in crime in England and Wales has risen steadily over the past decade. The reasons are multifactorial, three of which are: (1) The abolition of the death penalty in 1965 has resulted in an ever-growing number of prisoners serving life sentences; this will eventually settle itself with the passing of time. (2) A real increase in recidivism particularly amongst the age group of males 18-24 years. The active ingredient here is the word &dquo;recidivism&dquo;.