Correctional Reform Research Articles

The Implication, Challenges, and Pathways of College Students' Ideal Education in the New Era

College students' ideal education in the new era is different from the ideal education of any period in the past. It has a unique times implication, including three aspects of political implication, innovation implication and actual effect implication. At the same time, there is also a gap between the expected state and the actual situation. It has fallen into the realistic dilemma of "weak political attributes", "insufficient reform and innovation", and "insufficient practical results". Only with a direction in heart can a person walk steadily and far. College students' ideal education in the new era must adhere to the correct reform path. Firstly, we need to optimize educational concepts and adhere to political attributes. Secondly, we need to activate educational motivation and innovate teaching paradigms. Finally, we must adhere to the "San Quan" education and consolidate educational effectiveness.

Exploring the infeasibility of enforcing mandatory in-prison rehabilitation in Jamaica

ABSTRACT Only about 21% of adult inmates in Jamaica participate in formal rehabilitation programmes. 1 As such, the government has taken steps to make in-prison rehabilitation mandatory. By drawing on interviews with 73 formerly incarcerated persons, this article explores the viability and practicability of mandatory in-prison rehabilitation. The evidence suggests that if made mandatory, in-prison rehabilitation may not support the effective reintegration of inmates who value agency. Coercion could also amplify change-resistant behaviours, and limited administrative capacity might also challenge the effective enforcement of the mandate. Towards achieving the effective reintegration of newly released persons and lowering the recidivism rate, the article proposes some correctional reforms which the Jamaican state can pursue in the absence of adequate capacity to implement mandatory in-prison rehabilitation. Such reforms include the need to bolster and enhance good governance systems.

Regulating Hidden Risks to Conservation Lands in Resource Rich Areas

Australia leads the world in formally dedicating private land to environmental conservation, helping governments protect critical biodiversity without straining the public purse. In Queensland, the booming resources sector threatens this biodiversity protection, even beyond landholders’ well-recognised lack of veto power over mining approvals on their land. Three structural legal biases increase this vulnerability. To differing degrees, Queensland’s laws assume that mining affects only land under or adjoining mining tenures, overlooking scientifically likely longer-distance impacts (‘boundary bias’); they emphasise protecting built and commercial infrastructure over ecological assets, overlooking significant investment in species and ecosystems (‘infrastructure bias’); and they allow consideration of proposed mining in isolation, without considering cumulative impacts on ecological assets (‘singularity bias’). Fortunately, Queensland law and policy precedents suggest potential corrective reforms.

Gender and Racial Gaps in Support for Policing and Correctional Reforms: Are the Gaps a Consequence of Political Partisanship?

Divisive criminal justice issues are typically framed through gender and racial lenses, with little empirical work considering the increasing role of political partisanship. Using the 2016 Cooperative Congressional Election Study ( N = 55,000), we estimate multivariate models of support for four policing and correctional reforms. The models initially point to gender gaps and racial gaps. However, as with many public policy issues, support for criminal justice reforms are largely a product of political partisanship—the gender and racial gaps are largely a consequence of gender and racial gaps in partisanship and appear to be driven by white Republican men. As legislative bodies continue to be overrepresented with individuals with the same demographic profile, criminal justice reform prospects are limited.

Realignment and Recidivism Revisited: A Closer Look at the Effects of California’s Historic Correctional Reform on Recidivism Outcomes

California’s 2011 Public Safety Realignment has received considerable attention nationally as a watershed moment in the movement to downsize prisons. The present study leverages data collected in 12 California counties to provide the most comprehensive examination to date of how Realignment has impacted recidivism for the key offender groups targeted in the reform. We find small to modest increases in rearrest in three of four groups targeted in the reform. The fourth group experienced moderate decreases in rearrest. Moreover, all groups experienced decreases in reconviction, which gives credence to the idea that a significant reprioritization of who should be in prison can positively affect public safety. These findings point to the complex ways that reforms like Realignment can affect custodial and community-based supervision systems by changing incentives for law enforcement and the people who supervise offenders. Our conclusions discuss the implications for other states and systems considering similar reforms.

A Proposal for Studying Social Media Sentiments about Corrections in the United States

A qualitative study of 85,000 engagements on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit about corrections reform using the Pulsar social media listening software. Assessing the alignment of social media expressions in forums, and the evidence in the literature materials about re-design thinking of successful reforms to U.S. corrections, reveal a resurgence of discontent that “nothing works” (1970s thinking). There is a disturbing disconnection between the sciences about what does work in rehabilitation—i.e., assessments, treatment, education, and employment—and the understandings in social media discourse. Accordingly, corrections professionals, policymakers, and students need to express informed opinions on social media platforms so that future corrections approaches trade “nothing works” for what has proved to work.

A Proposal for Studying Social Media Sentiments about Corrections Reform in the United States

A qualitative study of 85,000 engagements on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit about corrections reform using the Pulsar social media listening software. The assessment of empirical studies of successful reforms to U.S. corrections, reveal a resurgence of discontent that nothing works (1970s thinking). The results showed a disturbing disconnection between science about what does work in rehabilitation” i.e., assessments, treatment, education, and employment” and the understanding shown in social media discourse. Accordingly, corrections professionals, policymakers, and students need to express informed opinions on social media platforms so that future corrections approaches trade nothing works for what has proved to work.

Psychiatrists Can Take Steps to Enhance Value of Services

Psychiatrists Can Take Steps to Enhance Value of Services

From Bright Plots to Blind Spots: Mapping Departures in Case Review Post-Bail Reform in Two New Jersey Courts

This study documents the extent to which prosecutors and judges in New Jersey deviate from new case review protocols post-bail reform. We draw on a random sample of hearings observed in two courts ( N = 372) to (a) map prosecutorial requests to depart from risk-based recommendations for pretrial monitoring and (b) explore patterns in judicial review signaling more limited case processing. Findings show that in 16% of cases, prosecutors deviated from guidelines and most of these motions were adopted by judges to increase supervision. Deviations from process by judges were more frequent, with 39% of cases observed linked to one or more markers of reduced review. Multivariate results suggest that case-level factors influenced the patterning of these departures in different ways, with older defendants and most Latinx defendants receiving a more limited assessment of their cases. We discuss findings in connection to literature on corrections reform and smart decarceration initiatives.

Citizen‐agency versus state‐agency at the frontline in prisons and probation services: A systematic literature review

AbstractStreet‐level bureaucrats play a key role in the delivery of public services to the citizens with whom they interact. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta‐Analyses approach, we rely on a street‐level perspective to report a systematic review of 46 studies about officer–offender interactions in prisons and probation services. In doing so, we examine how correctional officers articulate state‐agency – whereby they focus on the implementation of rules and policies – and citizen‐agency – whereby their decisions regarding offenders are based on judgements of offenders' worth. Our results provide evidence that frontline work in prisons and probation services stems from a mix of citizen‐ and state‐agencies in which the former is prioritized over the latter: when rule enforcement allows it, correctional officers often make discretionary decisions based on professional judgements rooted in professional norms. In this respect, the managerial and actuarial approach to risk management and public protection involved by contemporary correctional reforms comes with new role expectations that conflict with correctional officers' rehabilitative ideals. At the same time, the literature provides many instances of officers coping with workload in order to meet policy objectives and organizational demands while maintaining satisfactory working conditions. In other words, there is an increasingly elaborate and fragile articulation of state‐ and citizen‐agencies at the frontline, in prisons and probations services. We conclude with some implications and an agenda for future research.

Trans Rights as Risks: On the Ambivalent Implementation of Canada’s Groundbreaking Trans Prison Reform

AbstractThis paper analyses policy documents and interviews conducted in federal prisons to trace the emergence and early effects of Canada’s recent wave of groundbreaking trans correctional reforms. I show that prison authorities were forced to adopt more inclusive policies due to the legal, financial, and reputational risks generated by new trans rights protections. Yet, by examining what rights both enabled and foreclosed once they materialized in the everyday of prison life, I argue that reform’s implementation was fraught with ambivalence. Namely, this ambivalence was felt by the correctional administrators tasked with translating nebulous policy principles into concrete guidelines; by staff, whose front-line duty involved weighing rights against risks; and by trans prisoners, who grappled with how to balance their new entitlements with risks and uncertainties. What trans correctional reforms reveal, then, is that rights and risks are caught in an ambivalent and co-constitutive relationship in Canada’s regime of prison governance.

Next Steps in Federal Corrections Reform: Implementation Update

Next Steps in Federal Corrections Reform: Implementation Update

Next Steps in Federal Corrections Reform: Implementing and Building on the First Step Act

Next Steps in Federal Corrections Reform: Implementing and Building on the First Step Act

Feedback Effects and the Criminal Justice Bureaucracy: Officer Attitudes and the Future of Correctional Reform

Although political scientists have documented the effects of incarceration on those serving time in prison and jail, there has been much less discussion about feedback effects on the attitudes of those who work in correctional institutions. This is a considerable oversight, given the enormous growth of the correctional workforce and its importance in the implementation of crime policy. In this article, we present original survey data from a large sample of California correctional officers. Our analyses suggest that characteristics of the institutions where correctional officers work—the levels of violence to which they are exposed, the proportion of inmates involved in high-quality rehabilitation programs, as well as the quality of management—help to shape officers’ attitudes toward rehabilitation. These dynamics have important implications for how public policies can create political constituencies among criminal justice officers. The attitudes of these officers should therefore be a concern for scholars, advocates, and practitioners who are interested in political strategies for long-term, meaningful reform to the correctional system.

Going Back to College? Criminal Stigma in Higher Education Admissions in Northeastern U.S.

Access to education is a constant theme in discussions germane to correctional reform, particularly to reduce rule breaking while incarcerated and re-offending after release from prison. Focusing on the latter, we examine the extent to which education is accessible for individuals who have felonious non-violent records in the United States (US). We generated a stratified random sample of 85 institutions of higher education (IHE) in the northeastern US and analyzed emails from admission departments in response to inquiries about how a felony record would affect admissions decisions. Results from multivariate models indicate that the institution type (public vs. private) significantly predicts how an IHE would use an individual’s criminal history in admissions decisions. Public IHEs are less likely to consider criminal history when reviewing an individual’s application and IHEs with higher proportions of minority students are associated with reduced consideration of an applicant’s criminal history in admissions decisions.

Offender reentry as correctional reform: finding the boundaries of meaning in post-prison supervision

ABSTRACTThe concept of offender reentry is seen as symbolic of correctional change. However, this acknowledgement belies the fact that the concept itself, and thus the parameters of that change, have not been well-defined. Several scholars consider this ambiguity in reentry’s meaning – beyond that of change – to be problematic for operating, evaluating, and sustaining efforts advanced in the name of reentry. When viewing these potential problems against claims of correctional change, the need to examine reentry’s meaning in an applied setting becomes all the more apparent. The current study does so from the perspective of post-prison supervision professionals employed with The Florida Department of Corrections. Survey questions explore reentry’s meaning on three dimensions. They include its status as a new guiding policy, its association with rehabilitation and other goals and activities, and organizational responsibility. The findings are interpreted within the context of understanding correctional change and future policy and research.

Abolitionism and the Paradox of Penal Reform in Australia: Indigenous Women, Colonial Patriarchy and Cooption

In this article we provide an explanation of abolitionism in the context of the Australian colonial project. Our intention is 10 advance a critical understanding of the paradoxes and challenges presented to the abolitionist vision by the project of penal reform. During the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Australia has witnessed the emergence of a diffuse patchwork of abolition and prisoner rights campaigns, which have been informed by the unique political and cultural contexts of the various Australian state jurisdictions. 1 Some of these campaigns, specifically in States such as New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, have had a profound impact by eliciting and shaping government and correctional penal reform programs (Brown and Zdenkowski 1982: Carlton 2007). Paradoxically, Australia has witnessed at the same time a revalorization of the prison and of punitive measures as primary solutions for dealing with social problems and structural disadvantage (Baldry et al. 2011).

Awakening the sleeping giant: the future of paroling authorities in America

ABSTRACT Discretionary paroling authorities often remain in the background of discussions about sentencing and correctional reform. However, they are key decision-makers who are poised to serve as gatekeepers to reentry and reincarceration given their authority to release offenders, set supervision conditions and revoke post-release supervision. By virtue of their function and place within the correctional continuum they are also well-positioned to act as a check and balance within that continuum. This article builds upon the idea first offered by Paparozzi and Guy (2009) that parole boards’ discretionary decisions, if properly constituted, can serve as a lynchpin to sound correctional practice. We advance this argument by further arguing that paroling authorities are indispensable feedback loops to correctional agency leaders regarding how policy translates into practice and how practice impacts policy, especially the adoption and use of evidence-based practices as they pertain to reentry and reincarceration.

To Rehabilitate or Not to Rehabilitate

AbstractIn this article, we review the recommendations on corrections made by the U.S. President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice under President Johnson in 1967 and compare these with the changes made in U.S. corrections over the past 50 years. Shortly after the Commission completed its report, dramatic changes occurred that impacted correctional policy and practice as support for law and order and correctional control moved corrections far from the Commission's recommendations for rehabilitation. The results of this research demonstrate that these approaches have not solved the nation's crime problems and have imposed hardships on individuals and communities. A current focus on evidence‐based corrections may provide a model for future decision making depending on whether the “times are ripe” for a return to a philosophy of rehabilitation. Any new commission will benefit from the research evidence that points to successful correctional interventions. Yet, there is much that still needs to be studied and learned. A new commission must be aware of and respond to the broader social conditions and beliefs and opinions of policy makers and the public that will influence receptivity to correctional reform. Recommendations should include clear guidelines for how research findings could be used to answer the still unanswered questions about rehabilitation interventions, as well as for how to ensure quality program delivery and public safety.

Critisism of The Juridical Positivism Paradigm on The Meaning of Pornography In The Judge Mindset

Pornographical in the way of lex spesialis was regulated in The Law No. 44/2008 and lex generalis loaded on The Criminal Code. The Judge interpreting pornography refer to textual definition of pornography according to the Law No. 44/2008 according the data founded that dominantly on juridical positivist paradigm. Juridical positivist paradigm is not the only one paradigm that used by the judge, moreover related about pornographical, need the change of appropriate paradigm concerning the judge mindset in interpreting pornography recorded to the judge considerations. The aim of this writing is to criticize the judge mindset and social sensitivity in interpreting and handling pornography. This study used qualitative and socio legal research to reveal the judicial considerations textual-contextually. With exposing the textual-contextual meaning of judge’s considerations, it can be traced to the legal paradigm used by judges and need to use appropriate legal paradigm related to the use of social theories that support it. The judge needs to have a non-doctrinal legal science perspective on the correct legal paradigm reform in giving judges consideration to pornographic cases. Judges are more likely shackled to the institutional structure and establishment of the juridical positivism paradigm.