Predictors of Recidivism among Delinquent Youth: Interrelations among Ethnicity, Gender, Age, Mental Health Problems, and Posttraumatic Stress
Stephen P. Becker, Patricia K. Kerig, Ji-Young Lim, Rebecca N. Ezechukwu
(2012). Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 5, 145-160.
doi: 10.1080/19361521.2012.671798
This study investigated the interrelations among mental health problems, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), age,... more This study investigated the interrelations among mental health problems, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), age, ethnicity, gender, and recidivism over a three-year period in a sample of 417 male and 170 female juvenile offenders. At the time of first admission to a juvenile detention center, boys reported higher alcohol/drug use, whereas girls reported greater anger/irritability. Caucasian offenders evidenced higher rates of alcohol/drug use and somatic complaints than African American offenders. Younger age was related to higher levels of anger/irritability and depression/anxiety, although older adolescents with PTSD reported the highest levels of alcohol/drug use, anger/irritability, somatic complaints, and depression/anxiety. Across multiple admissions to detention, alcohol/drug use increased for all youth, whereas somatic complaints decreased for boys only. Younger offenders were more likely to recidivate than older offenders; however, girls and younger African American youth with PTSD were more likely to reoffend than were their peers.
How long after? A natural experiment assessing the impact of the length of aftercare service delivery on recidivism
Published in Crime & Delinquency
Although aftercare programs have been gaining popularity as a mechanism for helping offenders readjust to society,... more Although aftercare programs have been gaining popularity as a mechanism for helping offenders readjust to society, evaluations of their success remain varied. This is most likely due to the diversity of programs labeled as aftercare and the inability of research to isolate specific program components. The current study capitalizes on a natural experiment to examine the impact of one particular component, length of service delivery, on recidivism. The study employs survival analysis techniques on a population of inmates graduating from a motivational boot camp who either received no aftercare, 30 days of aftercare, or 90 days of aftercare (depending on the existing policy on their graduation date). Findings show that those receiving 30 days of aftercare services are indistinguishable from those receiving no aftercare services in terms of recidivism. Also, we find that although those receiving 90 days of aftercare did recidivate substantially less than those receiving 0 or 30 days of aftercare, after accounting for sample attrition, however, these findings also lacked statistical significance.
The Land of the (Not Quite) Free: Women and Religion Behind Bars by Amy Levin
originally published on the Feminism and Religion Project.
The sun was setting on an early Friday evening in October 2008 as I pulled into the parking lot of the Iowa... more
The sun was setting on an early Friday evening in October 2008 as I pulled into the parking lot of the Iowa Correctional Institute for Women, a maximum level security prison housing nearly 700 inmates. Though the serene drive on Iowa’s main highway lasted a mere 40 minutes from Grinnell to Mitchellville, my co-teacher and I felt worlds away from our tiny utopian bubble of books and booze. As we gathered our teaching materials for a course we designed called “Feminist Playwriting,” we made sure not to bring in any contraband, one of the many precautions given during our orientation for students participating in Grinnell Liberal Arts in Prison, a program created in 2003 that allows students to design liberal arts courses in either a men or women’s Iowa prison. My experience interacting with an incredible roomful of women, some who would suffer behind bars for the rest of their lives, was needless to say a life changing experience. That semester ignited a fire in me for prison rights, which recently has manifested in a concern for the nexus of religion and prison.
Many Americans view prison and prisoners through a binary lens – the good are free, and the bad are behind bars, or at least should be. We also tend to pride ourselves on the fact that we value freedom, but when Francis Scott Key invoked the phrase “Land of the Free,” he must not have predicted that the United States would imprison more people than any other country on the planet. America incarcerates roughly 2.3 million Americans, 208,000 of which are women. As a New York Times article in 2008 put it quite shockingly: “The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners.” These statistics do not even touch upon the staggering disproportionate number of African Americans in prison, and it certainly doesn’t tell us anything about women’s experiences in prison.
Glosa do postanowienia Sądu Najwyższego z dnia 19 stycznia 2012 r., I KZP 22/11
„e-Czasopismo Prawa Karnego i Nauk Penalnych”, poz. 1/2012
W komentowanym postanowieniu Sąd Najwyższy stwierdził, że art. 178a § 4 k.k. (zaostrzający surowość kary za... more
W komentowanym postanowieniu Sąd Najwyższy stwierdził, że art. 178a § 4 k.k. (zaostrzający surowość kary za prowadzenie pojazdu przez nietrzeźwego lub odurzonego kierowcę) posiada niejednorodny charakter normatywny. Pierwsza część przepisu wyraża instytucję nadzwyczajnego obostrzenia kary, ponieważ okoliczności w niej opisane poprzedzają właściwy czyn, za który sprawca ponosi odpowiedzialność karną. Druga część art. 178a § 4 k.k. wysławia typ czynu zabronionego, bowiem okoliczności w niej wskazane wpływają na ocenę stopnia społecznej szkodliwości czynu. Wynika z tego, że między art. 178a § 4 k.k. in fine a art. 244 k.k. nie zachodzi kumulatywny zbieg przepisów ustawy w rozumieniu art. 11 § 2 k.k.
W aprobującej glosie komentuję stanowisko SN, zwracając uwagę na to, że finalne tezy postanowienia są efektem jasno opisanej strategii wykładniczej, którą będzie można zastosować w procesie egzegezy nie tylko całego art. 178a § 4 k.k., ale również innych przepisów prawa karnego, dla których okaże się ona adekwatna. Kryteria podane przez SN „testuję” między innymi na art. 178 k.k. Ponadto, formułuję kilka dodatkowych argumentów przemawiających za słusznością zajętego przez Sąd stanowiska oraz rozstrzygam ciekawy i praktyczny problem związany z możliwym zbiegiem przesłanek opisanych w zdaniu 1 i 2 komentowanego przepisu.
Download (.pdf) Exploring the Effects of Specialized Sexual Behavior Treatment of Recidivism
by Texas State PA Applied Research Projects
Kelm, Charles, "Exploring the Effects of Specialized Sexual Behavior Treatment of Recidivism" (2005). Applied Research Projects, Texas State University-San Marcos. Paper 30.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/30
As adult sexual offenders admitted to an increasing number of offenses committed in their youth, the legal system,... more
As adult sexual offenders admitted to an increasing number of offenses committed in their youth, the legal system, policy makers, and law enforcement officials began to take juvenile sexual offenses seriously. Due to this, and the belief that juveniles can be rehabilitated, treatment programs for juvenile sexual offenders have increased in number. This paper evaluates the impact of two specific treatment programs in Texas.
This research assesses the impact of two specific treatment programs (specialized and general) operated by the Texas Youth Commission in reducing the likelihood of re-incarceration in juvenile sexual offenders. A sample group of 969 juvenile sexual offenders was obtained from the records of the Texas Youth Commission and reduced to 369 youth that had been released for the same three-year period. Each youth had an identified need for specialized sexual behavior treatment. Quantitative analysis was used to determine the significance of the impact of each treatment program in reducing recidivism (re-incarceration).
The research hypotheses state that specialized sexual behavior treatment programming and general resocialization treatment programming will reduce the likelihood of re-incarceration in juvenile sexual offenders. Results supported both hypotheses. Further research should be conducted assessing the effectiveness of individual treatment components in reducing the likelihood of recidivism.
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Legal character of Article 178a § 4 of the Penal Code
„Paragraf na drodze” 2011, nr 8, s. 27-37.
The author attempts to polemicise with two groups of views which claim that Article 178a § 4 Penal Code describes a... more
The author attempts to polemicise with two groups of views which claim that Article 178a § 4 Penal Code describes a qualified type of a prohibited act and a circumstance that makes a penalty more severe, respectively. After discussing interpretative difficulties that are linked with the linguistic construction of this article, the author points to weaknesses of the mentioned interpretive paths, referring to standards of classification of the prohibited act and also general principles of criminal liability. As a result of these deliberations, the author presents a proposal for overcoming interpretative difficulties, by discerning various institutions of criminal law in Article 178a § 4 Penal Code.
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Autor podejmuje polemikę z dwiema grupami poglądów, które traktują art. 178a § 4 k.k. jako kwalifikowany typ czynu zabronionego oraz okoliczność obostrzającą wymiar kary. Po omówieniu trudności interpretacyjnych, jakie są związane z językową budową tego przepisu, autor wskazuje na mankamenty wymienionych ścieżek interpretacyjnych, odwołując się do standardów typizacji czynu zabronionego oraz ogólnych zasad odpowiedzialności karnej. W efekcie przeprowadzonych rozważań autor przedstawia propozycję przezwyciężenia trudności wykładniczych, poprzez dostrzeżenie w art. 178a § 4 k.k. różnorodnych instytucji prawa karnego.
The Reintergration of Criminal Deportees in Society
For more information on this article contact Dr. Christopher A.D. Charles via email at ccharles@gc.cuny.edu
This article deals with reintegrating deportees in Jamaica. There is the belief among the citizenry, the media, and... more
This article deals with reintegrating deportees in Jamaica. There is the belief among the citizenry, the media, and the government that the deportees are fueling the crime rate. Jamaica has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Some 15,618 deportees were sent to Jamaica from various countries between 2005 and 2009. The purveyors of the deportee–crime link ignore the influence of garrison communities on the crime rate which are political communities governed by criminals. Another view argues that the deportees have a minimal impact on the crime rate. None of the viewpoints can be substantiated without a representative survey with a rigorous methodology on the deportee–crime link. The various viewpoints also ignore the need to reintegrate the deportees. Only one church group the Cornerstone Ministries has a reintegration program. The government has a temporary piecemeal program that provides assistance and temporary housing rather than reintegration. Some societies (e.g. China, New Zealand, and Australia) have reintegration programs for ex-offenders which give them a stake in conformity by reaccepting them in the community after punishment. These models can be applied to Jamaica with the creation of a national reintegration program taking into account
the cultural differences.
Examining the Predictors of Recidivism Among Men and Women Released From Prison in Ohio
2010. Makarios, Matthew D., Steiner, Benjamin, & Travis, Lawrence. Criminal Justice & Behavior, 37, 1377-1391.