Prison

About: Prison is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 25120 publications have been published within this topic receiving 470474 citations. The topic is also known as: jail & gaol.

Achieving Accurate Pictures of Risk and Identifying Gender Responsive Needs: Two New Assessments for Women Offenders 1

Abstract: With women offenders representing only seven percent of the U.S. prison population, prevailing correctional policies continue to focus on the risk and needs of male offenders. However, in recent years, the female prison populations have increased more rapidly than male populations (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005). Such rapid growth draws strong attention to existing practices of assessing and classifying women offenders (Van Voorhis, 2004). Current classification procedures involve the use of statistically-derived assessments that predict an offender’s likelihood of recidivism or an inmate’s likelihood of serious misconducts. They provide a risk score that determines the custody level of one’s prison assignment if incarcerated or level of community supervision if on probation or parole. Some assessments also identify needs that must be addressed in order to meet basic needs, change offender behavior, or assure humane prison adjustment (Clements, McKee, & Jones, 1984). Since these assessments are so important to the lives of offenders, it is unfortunate that most were originally developed for men and then applied to women with little regard for their

Homelessness and Housing Insecurity Among Former Prisoners

Abstract: The United States has experienced dramatic increases in both incarceration rates and the population of insecurely housed or homeless persons since the 1980s. These marginalized populations have strong overlaps, with many people being poor, minority, and from an urban area. That a relationship between homelessness, housing insecurity, and incarceration exists is clear, but the extent and nature of this relationship is not yet adequately understood. We use longitudinal, administrative data on Michigan parolees released in 2003 to examine returning prisoners' experiences with housing insecurity and homelessness. Our analysis finds relatively low rates of outright homelessness among former prisoners, but very high rates of housing insecurity, much of which is linked to features of community supervision, such as intermediate sanctions, returns to prison, and absconding. We identify risk factors for housing insecurity, including mental illness, substance use, prior incarceration, and homelessness, as well as protective "buffers" against insecurity and homelessness, including earnings and social supports.

The Impact of Incarceration on Women’s Mental Health: Responses From Women in a Maximum-Security Prison

Abstract: Many women enter prison with significant mental health conditions. Without appropriate intervention during incarceration, there is the potential for these conditions to worsen during confinement. As a result, women, most of whom will eventually be released from prison, might return to their families and communities with even more complex mental health needs. We examined women's perceptions of how incarceration had affected their mental health. Our study approach included descriptive surveys and focus groups with women in prison. Our analysis revealed that women's mental health might worsen, might improve, or might remain the same as a result of incarceration. Women's accounts also provide evidence to support the need for all women's correctional institutions to adopt a trauma-informed approach to care of this vulnerable population.

Meta-analysis and the rehabilitation of punishment

Abstract: Do we know what “works” in the way of rehabilitative treatment in corrections? Not yet. Has the old “nothing works” literature been invalidated by new reviews of research claiming to show, through meta-analysis, that treatment really does work, at least when it is “appropriate?” Not likely. Would production of this knowledge enhance the ability of prison officials to do their job? Not ever. Their job, and their highest duty, is to administer justice, not treatment. Individualized treatment muddles the message of punishment, making it less principled and not necessarily more humane. A “confinement model” of imprisonment is proposed, which rejects rehabilitation as an official goal and yet allows for programs of work, education, and other activities within the mission of a prison.