Institutional Confinement Research Articles

Ireland’s National Innovation System: An Exploratory Study of Supporting Institutions and Dynamic Actors

Abstract This paper begins with a brief look at the literature on national innovation systems (NIS). Building on the NIS approach, we present a simple conceptual framework. National innovative competence is dependent on the presence of dynamic STI actors, operating within the confines of compatible institutions. We distinguish the roles played by different STI actors and argue that heterogeneous actors engage in innovation for different reasons. Collaborative innovation is not always a natural consequence of engagement in innovation but is characterised by a distinct set of considerations. The latter part of the paper is concerned with the application of this conceptual framework to the case of Ireland. We identify the institutions pertaining to Ireland’s current innovative performance. An outline of STI actors according to their role in the system is then presented. In turn we outline the various contributions of Irish STI actors and explore their motives for engaging in innovation and collaborative innovation.

Roar, Alma Mater, Roar

Changing the Subject: How the Women of Columbia Shaped the Way We Think About Sex and Politics is a capacious and delightful book about an important subject. Rosalind Rosenberg tells the story of the impact of women on Columbia University and Columbia University's impact on the world of scholarship and reform, especially as these interlinked realms have related to understandings of gender and race. To accomplish this, the author offers many stories of New York's intellectual life, moving far beyond the institutional confines of Columbia. At moments, the real subject of her book is a lively intellectual history of women in New York City. And what a fascinating account this is. The book provides a rich narrative of intellectual striving and achievement made possible by the unique opportunities available to women in the city. In one respect, New York women shared many of the conditions of other urban women; in another respect, they enjoyed and suffered special status. As Rosenberg tell us, at least since the mid-nineteenth century, women in New York were more likely to engage in paid work than those in other cities. Whereas nationally, one in five women were employed outside the household at the turn of the century, the proportion was close to one in three in New York City. Because the city was built on small industry, commerce, and services, women had much more varied job opportunities available to them. Alongside the many who labored as garment workers, clerks, and domestics were the educated women who taught in the city's public schools. Because of the high cost of living in New York, married women in the city were more likely to seek to retain their jobs than elsewhere. In New York this led to important political battles, recounted here, to enable married teachers to keep their jobs, even after the birth of children, and to receive equal pay. As the author develops these narratives, she emphasizes the important links of women's employment history to higher education, especially at Columbia University.

Secular humanism and "scientific psychiatry"

The Council for Secular Humanism identifies Secular Humanism as a "way of thinking and living" committed to rejecting authoritarian beliefs and embracing "individual freedom and responsibility ... and cooperation." The paradigmatic practices of psychiatry are civil commitment and insanity defense, that is, depriving innocent persons of liberty and excusing guilty persons of their crimes: the consequences of both are confinement in institutions ostensibly devoted to the treatment of mental diseases. Black's Law Dictionary states: "Every confinement of the person is an 'imprisonment,' whether it be in a common prison, or in private house, or in the stocks, or even by forcibly detaining one in the public streets." Accordingly, I maintain that Secular Humanism is incompatible with the principles and practices of psychiatry.

The historical development of prisons in South Africa: A penological perspective

President Nelson Mandela commented during his time of incarceration1 “Prison not only robs you of your freedom, it attempts to take away your identity. It is by definition a purely authoritarian state that tolerates no independence and individuality. As a freedom fighter and as a man, one must fight against the prison’s attempt to rob one of these qualities.” Historically, the characteristic feature of the development of South African prisons was its resemblance to the mine compound. Such compounds housed mine workers, of whom many were convicts supplied by the prison system. Even by 2006 these remnants of the past are distinct in the large communal cells crammed with rows of beds in which prisoners are housed. It is currently assumed that institutional confinement has always been employed as the usual method of dealing with offenders throughout history. This has been assumed, almost universally, because presently offenders are confined within penal institutions, such as, prisons, reformatories, reform schools and jails. However, the use of institutions for the extended confinement of offenders, as the prevailing method of punishment, is a relatively contemporary innovation and was primarily a product of American influences. The use of the prison as an institution for the detention of offenders for the period of their sentence is approximately two hundred and fifty years old. The suffering and anguish of living conditions to which inmates are subjected in overflowing prisons cannot be calculated in figures and graphs. The consequences of housing too many people in too little space means that inmates are doubled-bunked in small cells designed for one, or forced to sleep on mattresses in unheated prison gyms, temporary housing, hallways, or basements. In this article a review of the origin and development of prisons in South Africa will be given. A historical look into the Department of Correctional Services in South Africa and the change in direction of the penal system during the past century will also be reviewed. An assessment of the overcrowding of penitentiaries over the decades together with the problems experienced will be discussed.

Listening to Juvenile Offenders: Can Residential Treatment Prevent Recidivism?

This paper explores clients’ perspectives on their treatment in two different residential correctional facilities for juvenile male offenders. Although a wealth of literature has investigated risk factors for recidivism, little is known about how youth offenders experience the treatment or deterrence aspects of institutional confinement. Through an ethnographic study of two correctional facilities and in-depth interviews with 19 young men, the author provides a rich description of how youth offenders understand their time in residential care and examines how these programs influence offenders’ motivations to desist from crime. The principles derived from this study will provide critical information for social workers and researchers seeking to enhance the effectiveness and quality of institutional care for male juvenile offenders.

The subversiveness of the marginalized women of scripture: Models of faith and action for twenty-first century women

T his decade of the twenty-first century is a pivotal one for Catholic women. The Church is in turmoil due to many factors, not least of which are the recently uncovered scandal ofpedophilia, the decline of vocations to the all-male priesthood, and the current transition taking place within the papal leadership. The effect these factors will have on the role of women in Catholic ministry is yet to be seen. I propose, though, that the role of women in the Catholic Church does not solely depend upon external circumstances. The female laity does not have to wait meekly until the Magisterium sees fit to grant greater participation to its sisters in the faith. There are circuitous routes that can be taken to claim ownership of the reins of our collective destiny if we but seek them out. It is my contention that the stories o f our biblical matriarchs can shed some light on a proposed course of action for assuming leadership. They, like many women in the Church today, were marginalized by the traditional social and religious institutions o f their time. Yet, these women of scripture possessed exemplary faith, and the wisdom and ingenuity to work within the confines imposed on them by their culture and society. So, too, can the female laity of the modern Church maneuver within the institutional confines imposed on them in the name of "tradition." My approach will be a bit different from the usual ways of addressing the question of female leadership within the Church. In the first of a series of two articles, I will select and analyze particular women in the First and Second Testaments

Birth's encrypted Messages

This paper examines the nature of sexual and gender relations as they impact upon birth and takes a comparative look at some of the often oppressive ritualised hospital procedures and structures and at the agency and agents of their perpetuation within hospitals in modern America and postcolonial Jamaica. The liberating power of finding space beyond institutional confines to allow women and families freedom to choose their way of birthing will also be touched on.

Mental Illness and the Freedom to Refuse Treatment: Privilege or Right.

The Sell v. United States (2003) U.S. Supreme Court decision necessitates an evaluation of forced medication, informed consent, and incompetence to stand trial. Are the criminal justice and mental health systems entwined in procedures that create unjust consequences? Charles Sell's refusal to take psychiatric medication prevented him from being tried on Medicaid fraud and resulted in his confinement in forensic institutions for more years than he would have served had he been convicted and received the maximum sentence for his alleged crime. The current reliance on drug-dominated treatment models backed by force and its historical antecedents are examined in relationship to present-day practices and prospects for recovery.

Does human resource management matter in a transitional economy? China as an example

This paper investigates the significance of how firms manage their human resources (HRs) within the confines of powerful social institutions in a transitional economy, the People's Republic of China (China). We propose that two dimensions, the role of human resource management (RHR) and followers' perception of the leader (TOP), are important contributors to firm performance as are the influences of the regional economy and firm ownership. We tested our hypotheses with a survey of 180 firms from nine cities in China. We found that both role of HRM (RHR) and follower's perception of top-level management (TOP) are important to firm performance. The study confirms that while social institutions remain powerful in a transitional economy, effective HRM is important to firm performance.

Outpatient commitment's next frontier: Sexual predators.

Since 1990, at least 15 states have enacted Sexually Violent Predator laws (SVP laws) that allow indefinite civil commitment of dangerous sex offenders (SVPs) at the end of their prison term. This article examines the use of outpatient commitment under SVP laws. Most states have not yet established formal outpatient commitment programs, including constructing outpatient facilities, hiring necessary staff, and arranging for treatment in the community. Several states have not yet released any SVPs from institutional confinement to outpatient commitment. This article argues that (a) the Constitution, SVP statutes, and sound public policy require states that have enacted a SVP law to provide outpatient commitment for SVPs, and (b) outpatient commitment should be an option for initial commitment of SVPs. Outpatient commitment should be significantly less expensive than institutionalization. Failure to provide it will invite lawsuits that states will lose and result in burgeoning SVP populations in institutions.

HIV-prevention capacity building in gay, racial, and ethnic minority communities in small cities and towns.

********** HIV disease continues to be a major public health problem. As of June 1999, 711,344 people in the United States had been diagnosed with AIDS, and an estimated 1 million people were infected with HIV (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 1999). HIV infection is most often transmitted through behaviors that are associated with social stigma--sex between men and injection drug use. Of all those diagnosed with AIDS, nearly one-half (48 percent) are men who have sex with men (MSM); 25 percent are women and men who are injection drug users (IDU) (CDC, 1999). Racial and ethnic minority members are disproportionately represented in these groups and may be further stigmatized by their minority community members (De La Rosa, Khalsa, & Rouse, 1990; Diaz, Buehler, Castro, & Ward, 1993; Luckey, 1995; Morales & Fulliove, 1992; Quimby, 1993; Ramirez, Suarez, De La Rosa, Castro, & Zimmerman, 1994). Furthermore, HIV carries its own stigma (Alonzo & Reynolds, 1995). Just being perceived as engaging in high-risk behaviors that lead to infection or supporting those who may can be enough to trigger sanctions (Green, 1995). Taking a public position in support of gay rights, syringe exchange, or increased services for HIV-infected people may taint someone. Discrimination based on stigma is compounded in small cities and rural areas because maintaining privacy is more difficult than in larger cities (Burnette, 1999; McGinn, 1996). In addition to the problems faced by individual members of high-risk groups, tensions also exist at the community level. The African American community's experiences with the Tuskeegee study and the sexual-orientation minority community's (lesbian, gay male, bisexual, and transgender) experiences with forced interventions such as castration, confinement in institutions, and aversion therapy re-enforce distrust in these communities and result in reluctance to cooperate with government and medical institutions (Benedek, 1978; Katz, 1994). Stigma and marginality not only explain many of the barriers facing HIV-prevention programs, but also help explain the inability of some providers to reach members of racial, ethnic, and sexual minority groups. The Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Medical Association reported that many providers lack the necessary knowledge, attitudes, and skills to reach members of the gay and lesbian community (American Medical Association, 1996). One way to establish ties and win the trust of stigmatized populations is to bring these populations together in the planning, development, and implementation of public health programs (Stoto, Abel, & Dievler, 1996). Supporting this understanding, the CDC in 1993 announced that state territorial health departments must establish HIV-prevention committees made up of citizens who mirror the AIDS epidemic population. These committees were instructed to develop prevention plans for jurisdictions to use in their requests for funds. Funds could be denied or reduced if a committee's plan was not adequately reflected in the application or if the committee refused to concur with the application. When notified of these new requirements, the Pennsylvania Health Department asked faculty at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health for technical assistance in designing an HIV-prevention intervention. This article describes the community leadership development model that emerged from this collaboration and presents guidelines for developing leadership among stigmatized groups. INDENTIFYING INDIGENOUS LEADERS If HIV-infected people and members of high-risk communities were to participate at the local level, infrastructures for capacity building were needed in the at-risk communities. Capacity building required the identification and recruitment of competent and committed local people who were members of the groups at risk or who had strong and trusting relationships with these groups. …

Law & Psychiatry: "I Vote. I Count": Mental Disability and the Right to Vote

Law & Psychiatry: "I Vote. I Count": Mental Disability and the Right to Vote

Correctional institution based sex offender treatment: a lapse behavior study.

The correctional community has engaged in a surge of sex offender treatment programs, both within the confines of the correctional institutions as well as at the community level. While there has been an increase in efforts to assess the effectiveness of these programs the research has been hampered by inconsistency in appropriate outcome measures. The present study addresses these shortfalls, while focusing on the early behavioral lapse indicators. The study focuses on the premise that not all sex offenders lapse in similar manners, and that those with adult and statutory victims would show more impulsive-criminal trends in lapse behavior when compared to those with child victims. The results support the premise on several variables, but not on sexual deviancy.

Clinical prediction of violence as a conditional judgment.

Previous research on the prediction of violence in mentally ill individuals has focused primarily on determinations about the appropriateness of institutional confinement. The assessment and management of violent, mentally ill individuals in the community, however, requires clinicians to take a more detailed look at the factors that might precipitate or inhibit violence in the community. This paper examines a model of conditional prediction, in which clinicians provide assessments of the factors that they expect to be associated with violence in particular patients. These types of predictions were elicited from clinicians for a sample of 712 patients seen in an urban psychiatric emergency room. These patients were then followed in the community for 6 months, using both interviews and official records. Results showed that clinicians were generally accurate about the seriousness and location of the violence, but overestimated the role of medication compliance and drug use in the violent incidents.

Family Strategies and the Institutional Confinement of "Idiot" Children in Victorian England

This article examines the role of families in the institutional confinement of idiot children in Victorian England. First, it surveys the changing historiography of mental hospitals, showing how historians of medicine are increasingly looking to paradigms of familial strategies and household structure to understand why people were committed to asylums. Second, it contributes to the growing literature on the characteristics of patients by examining the results of admission records for more than 2,000 children admitted to one philanthropic institution—the Earlswood Asylum for Idiots. Third, it selects a sample of 400 inmates to investi gate more extensively the geographical location of the "institutionalising " family and the occupation of guardians. Last, this article applies the technique of nominal record linkage to medical records and census enumerators'schedules to discover any demographic factors involved in families' decision to commit children to the Earlswood Asylum.

Treatment Successes with Mentally Retarded Sex Offenders

Abstract Eight men with mental retardation, residing in the community, were enrolled in treatment that extended across home and their work place. All the men had been referred for services through their case management agency because of culturally unacceptable expressive sexual behaviors and five of them had been jailed for alleged sex offenses, mostly for Child Molestation. After three years, the major product of treatment was that there were no other sex offenses committed. As a result, all the men remained outside of institutional confinement subsequent to beginning treatment. Collateral, positive benefits of treatment also included: successes in culturally-normative relationship formation, improvements in their adaptive skills useful in the community and at work/day program, movement to less restrictive living environment, and successful treatment of other DSM-III-R diagnoses. Treatment elements consisted of: individual therapy and individual education in sexuality, culturally appropriate social skills, and assertiveness; Group Therapy that combined education and therapy; coordination therapy and educational services with family or care providers through in-home services and on-site consultation with Day Program/Vocational Training agency staff. All the educational and therapeutic tools and devices used were easily available from commercial sources.

Imprisonment as rehabilitation: Offenders' assessment of why it does not work

The imprisonment of offenders is compared with hospitalization of psychiatric patients as confinement in total institutions. Although the number of patients in hospitals has decreased in all western countries in recent years because institutionalization is contraindicated as a means of rehabilitation, the number of offenders in prison has increased. The consequences of putting people in prison are discussed. Thirty-six prisoners were asked about punishment and prison as a place for rehabilitation and for the prevention of reoffending. They were interviewed and they completed a questionnaire. Eighteen offenders serving community work (CW) completed an abridged version of the questionnaire. Offenders serving their sentence in prison seem to become more hostile and critical toward ordinary society than offenders serving community work. The feeling of being a deviant in the society was reinforced in prison. Two-thirds of the prisoners did not believe that imprisonment would have any deterrent effect. Nine out of ten respondents agreed that prisons are “criminal universities.” The offenders accepted that their offenses were, and should be, illegal and were ready to be punished. The prisoners, however, did not think that long-term passive imprisonment made sense. A great majority proposed “community work” as the most appropriate and effective punishment with regard to rehabilitation. The prisoners are probably right. Imprisonment does not lead to rehabilitation or a law-abiding life outside prison. Confinement is a pseudosolution to the criminal problem. The necessary steps in a rehabilitation program for offenders are outlined.

THE CIRCLE IS SACRED : A MEDICINE BOOK FOR WOMEN

Review by Katharine English Freelance Writer and Regular Environmental Contributor to Point Communications, Inc. and COLORS Magazine, 1363 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94115, USA. TEL: 415-922-1144, Fax: 415-922-9553. Lee, Scout Cloud, Ed.D, THE CIRCLE IS SACRED : A MEDICINE BOOK FOR WOMEN, Tulsa, OK: Council Oak Books, 1995. 272 pp. US$17.95 paper ISBN: 0-933031-97-1. Scout Cloud Lee is a woman of many talents. Trained as a recreational therapist (and author of several books on the subject), she now works primarily as a motivational speaker, focusing her work on personal development and dream-stalking, the Native American concept for what more conventional Westerners might call listening to your inner voice. But that's not all. Lee is also a spiritual healer -- or Medicine Woman -- and a singer. And with the publication of this book, she joins a growing list of authors who are providing members of a troubled age with new tools for living, grounded in age-old wisdom. The time of the gun and the rifle are over, says Lee in the book's preface. The time of the Medicine Power is here (8). Lee's Medicine Power is an interesting marriage of traditional Native American ritual, Christian referencing and New Age folk lore. While the mix may baffle some readers, or seem an odd contradiction to others, in its own strange way, it works. Starting with a broad overview of the need for ritual in daily life, Lee offers a series of practical steps toward spiritual awakening and healing: honoring the Earth and the Creator with ritualized, individual prayer, creating alters and sacred space, ceremonial dancing, sweat lodges, healing circles, and an important primer on Earth etiquette. It's easy to see how Western ideas of Christianity complement Lee's approach. Ritual prayer has always played a part in Christian ceremony; Rome uses incense, while Native American tradition calls for sagebrush. And Lee's altars allow the introduction of personal, individualized offerings, so that the inclusion of an effigy of Jesus of Nazareth in no way precludes a rock from Mother Earth, a feather from an eagle, or a handwritten poem expressing a personal sentiment. Lee's point seems to be empowerment through inclusivity, demolition of social and ritualistic barriers and a basic celebration of life. These concepts can seem foreign to a cynical Western audience crippled by the media and a largely out-of-touch traditional Church body politic. Unconditional love of life and ritual without walls, are uncommon practices within the hallowed confines of most religious institutions, despite biblical teachings to the contrary. But perhaps the most fundamental and moving aspect of Lee's spiritual guide is her unflinching certainty about the Earth's inseparable bond with all that we worship and revere as sacred. In fact, it is the very root of what we call holy, and the entity that will ultimately set us free from our (ironically enough) Earth- bound troubles.

Self Concept and Delinquency

The Tennessee Self Concept Scale was adminsitered to 243 insitutionalized delinquent males and females to determine (1) if there were significant differences between the self concepts of non-delinquents and confined delinquents and (2) if there are significant differences in the self concepts of the subjects according to months of institutional confinement, age, and sex. Analyses indicated that the subjects have abnormally lower self concepts than non-delinquents and that females and the youngest subjects have significantly lower self concepts than their male and older counter-parts. Subjects confined from 13 through 24 months are significantly more critical of themselves indicating a willingness to recognize what they perceive as negative attributes. Age and sex were the only significant predictors of Total Self Concept, and age was also a significant predictor of perceived Behavior. Sex was a significant predictor of Personal and Family Self scores. Scores indicated that most of the subjects held themse...

Graduate Surgical Education From a 'Town' Perspective

In the 1950s when surgical residents graduated from their programs, the pace of graduate surgical education was at a fevered pitch. These were the postwar years, when enormous strides in education and research were made almost daily. Research was well funded from almost all agencies, especially from the federal government. In those years, it seemed that all residents were turned out with excellent credentials to enter academia; however, soon there were not enough academic vacancies for the number of applicants. Consequently, many of these residents (myself included) went into private practice (town) and soon helped to develop an academic environment within the confines of private health care institutions. The enthusiasm from the medical school environment spilled into the private practice arena. Here were great reservoirs of clinical material and, in many instances, encouragement and support from hospital administration. Some private institutions developed well-run basic research laboratories that were instrumental in