Offenders In Prison Research Articles

What are prison offender managers’ experiences of delivering New Me MOT?

What are prison offender managers’ experiences of delivering New Me MOT?

Aggression management of criminal offenders in prison setting

IntroductionA new approach of social therapy for criminal offenders was applied in Penalty Facility in Niš, Serbia. It is based on three month peer-training focusing on recognizing of triggers for anger, understanding emotional manifestation and learning socially acceptable ways of anger expression.ObjectivesTo estimate how the impact of pear-based training influences the level of agression of criminal offenders in prison settings.MethodsOne hander and six prisoners were randomly assigned to program. The six previously educated inmates trained the participants through 12 work-shops. An independent professional evaluated change in aggression levels after training using Buss&Perry Aggression Scale. We compared subgroups with shorter versus longer sentences pre and post training using Student’s t test. And univariate logistic regression analysis for impacts of sociodemographic variables on aggression scores.ResultsWe found a significant higher scores of anger (6.6 ± 4.7 & 11.8 ± 4.2, p=0,043) hostility (15.5 ± 8 & 20.1 ± 6.5, p=0,029) and total aggression (32 ± 14 & 48 ± 21, p=0,023 in subgroup with longer sentences at baseline. After training anger (12.4 ± 4.8 & 15.5 ± 5.6, p= 0,0167), physical aggression (14.6 ± 51. & 17.2 ± 5.6 ,p=0,024) and total aggression score (55.5 ± 14.1 & 68.2 ± 18, p=0,0152) remained higher in the group with sentences more than five years. Lower education level is associated with undesirable outcome-higher level of aggression after training.ConclusionsThree months training was not sufficient for adopting skills for better control of aggressive behavior in criminal offenders never the less the length of the sentences.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Socioeconomic Implications of Long-Term Incarceration in Nigeria Prisons

Governments all over the world are faced with the task of combating crime, a problem that has affected both modern and historical cultures. Offenders are imprisoned in response to crime for varying lengths of time in an effort, among other things, to rehabilitate them and turn them into law-abiding citizens. Long-term incarceration, though, has unexpected consequences. Analyzing the socioeconomic implications of long-term incarceration in Nigeria is the goal of this paper. The paper makes the case that recidivism and unforeseen socioeconomic consequences for the family, business, social ties, state resources, and way of life result from the long-term incarceration of criminals. It concludes that, in an effort to rehabilitate the offender through long-term incarceration, more adverse effects are caused on the prisoner, their family, the economy, and other members of society. The paper recommends, among other things, that parole be used rather than keeping offenders in prison for an extended amount of time.

Profile of Serial and Single-Victim Homicide Offenders in Brazil: A Brief Descriptive Study

ABSTRACT This study presents the criminal profile of homicide offenders in prisons across Brazil. The sample was N = 189 male participants, single-victim homicide (n = 87) and serial homicides (n = 102). Most of the sample had less than nine years of formal education and the most frequent age was 15–28. Robbery homicide was the most frequent motivation for both groups and fight/settling scores were more common in the single homicide group. Men victims were more frequent for both groups. Acquaintances (56.3%) in single homicides and unknown to the aggressor (64.4%) in serial homicides. Firearms was the main method of execution. Mental disorder was more frequent (24.5%) in serial homicides.

Offender Management: Reducing hazards and building resilience

This article examines the psychological impact of working in a multi-agency team managing registered sexual and violent offenders. A review of the nature of the role and data collected from psychological surveillance identifies personal and work-related hazard and resilience factors. The study found that much of the variance in anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and secondary trauma could be predicted by the psychological surveillance survey's resilience and hazard measures; each mental health condition had a different set of predictors with some common features. The findings are a first step towards increasing the resilience of multi-agency offender management teams with suggestions for reducing hazards and improving individual and team resilience. These findings can help reduce the mental health problems experienced by offender managers working with registered sexual and violent offenders in prisons, probation and policing.

Exploring the Risk of Resulting in Homicide and Suicide in Spanish Missing Person Cases

The study explores in depth the relationship between missing persons’ psychosocial and criminological characteristics/circumstances and violent-fatal outcomes (suicide and homicide). A relational analytical explicative study of 929 cases and controls was designed using a retrospective and stratified design. Data gathering was conducted through the content analysis of judicial and police information, as well as the development of psychological autopsy techniques and semi-structured interviews with the persons involved in the missing person cases including offenders in prison. Bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques were utilised for analyses. The findings showed that there are different risk and protective factors which can distinguish between good state of health, suicide, and homicide outcomes. This research entails implications for prevention and police risk assessment system.

The various faces of vulnerability: offering neurointerventions to criminal offenders.

In recent years, we have witnessed considerable progress in neurotechnologies that visualize or alter a person's brain and mental features. In the near future, some of these technologies could possibly be used to change neural parameters of high-risk behavior in criminal offenders, often referred to as neurointerventions. The idea of delivering neurointerventions to criminal justice populations has raised fundamental normative concerns, but some authors have argued that offering neurointerventions to convicted offenders could be permissible. However, such offers raise normative concerns too. One prominent worry that is often emphasized in the literature, relates to the vulnerability of convicted offenders in prison and forensic patients in mental health facilities. In this paper, we aim to show that as far as vulnerability is considered relevant within the context of offering medical interventions to offenders, it could contribute to arguments against as well as in favor of these offers.

Childhood maltreatment and impulsivity in offenders: Examining the mediating roles of self-compassion and cognitive reappraisal

BackgroundThe higher impulsivity of offenders in prison is a challenge for prison intervention. Childhood maltreatment, one of the factors closely related to the generation and development of impulsivity, is also prevalent in offenders. Therefore, it is critical to investigate the underlying paths that generate impulsivity in offenders who have experienced childhood abuse. ObjectiveTargeting positive protective factors, this study aimed to probe the mediating roles of self-compassion and cognitive reappraisal in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and impulsivity in offenders. MethodsThe participants included 2643 offenders, 1534 males and 1109 females. Each participant completed the appropriate questionnaires to measure childhood maltreatment, impulsivity, self-compassion, and cognitive reappraisal. The PROCESS macro was used to perform the mediation analysis and hypothesis testing. ResultsThe findings showed that childhood maltreatment indirectly affected offenders' impulsivity through self-compassion and cognitive reappraisal, and the mediating effect of self-compassion was stronger than that of cognitive reappraisal. Further analyses found that sexual abuse indirectly affected impulsivity through self-compassion, and the remaining types of childhood maltreatment were associated with impulsivity in indirect pathways through self-compassion and cognitive reappraisal. ConclusionsThe results suggest that reinforcing practical training in self-compassion and cognitive reappraisal, especially the former, might facilitate the reduction of impulsive symptoms among offenders with backgrounds of childhood maltreatment.

Performing well: Male prisoner experiences of drama, dance, singing and puppetry in England

This paper outlines art form impacts used within Staging Time at an adult male sex offender prison in England by drawing on the voices of prisoners (aged 21–75 years), including those with undiagnosed autistic traits. We qualitatively investigate prisoner experiences from drama (n = 11), dance (n = 12), puppetry (n = 7) and singing (n = 15) projects using a theory of change approach. Based on a themed analysis of self-report data from 4 world cafés and 44 follow-up questionnaires, we conclude arts projects positively contribute to health and well-being, forming healthy relationships and prison culture. By applying a desistance theory lens, we argue arts projects provide building blocks towards crime abstinence. Whilst all arts projects improved prisoner well-being, dance had a greater propensity for increasing physical fitness. With a focus on dance impacts, our research widened to stakeholder and practitioner interviews (n = 4), alongside analysis of secondary data from dance performance audience feedback sheets (n = 48) collected by Staging Time. Audience members included prison staff, prisoners, prisoner family members and close friends and a small group of invited stakeholders. Arts projects have wider impacts on staff, other prisoners and family members.

Education & Training in a Scottish Young Offender Prison

Education & Training in a Scottish Young Offender Prison

Drug Use Disorders before, during, and after Imprisonment

Drug-involved offenders have been long overrepresented in prisons. Intensified drug law enforcement in many countries increased both incarceration rates, especially for drug offenses, and numbers of drug-involved prisoners. This is attributable to four features of drugs and drug markets. Drug use disorders typically are not the only problems facing drug-involved prisoners. A high proportion exhibit severe mental health problems such as major depression, personality disorders, and psychotic disorders. Before incarceration, many drug-involved prisoners have unstable housing and are at high risk of homelessness; incarceration increases that risk. The high concentration of drug-involved offenders in prisons presents numerous challenges. After release, the most obvious are high rates of drug relapse and recidivism. Former prisoners have extraordinarily high risks of drug overdoses shortly after release; in the long term, diseases acquired during imprisonment are transmitted in the community. Effective prison-based drug treatment holds promise to break this cycle and mitigate physical and mental health problems of drug-involved prisoners. Unfortunately, access to treatment modalities proven to be effective in reducing drug use and recidivism is limited. A paradigm shift in drug enforcement and treatment is needed to meet the challenges presented by individuals with drug use disorders more effectively.

On Counteracting the Investigation of Prison-Related Crimes: Features of the Preliminary Stage

Introduction: the article analyzes the content and typical methods and ways that convicts, suspects, and defendants held in correctional institutions and pre-trial detention centers use to counter the investigation of penitentiary crimes. Aim: using the analysis of investigative and judicial practice for criminal cases initiated against persons who committed crimes while in custody or while serving their prison terms, we make an attempt to identify the most distinctive features of counteracting the investigation of prisonrelated crimes. Methods: dialectical method of cognition, general scientific methods of analysis and generalization, empirical methods of description, interpretation; theoretical methods of formal and dialectical logic. Results: using a scientific approach that highlights the preliminary stage of investigation of crimes, we reveal some typical counteraction techniques used by prison offenders. Conclusions: destruction, concealment, staging, and falsification are among the most popular methods used directly by offenders to prevent prison-related crimes from being solved. The indirect attitude of offenders toward counteracting the investigation of prison-related crimes is successfully implemented by creating a crowd effect, as well as using the media and the activities of human rights organizations. Keywords: Prison-related crime; counteracting crime investigation; correctional institution; pre-trial detention center; convicted person; suspect; defendant

‘A sense of purpose’: Older prisoners’ experiences of successful ageing behind bars

There is growing interest in ageing offenders and their lives in prison. However, this subject is often studied from a deprivation perspective, focusing on issues such as lack of medical care and proper environmental conditions. This article highlights experiences of wellbeing while ageing in confinement, using the conceptual framework of successful ageing. An interpretive phenomenological analysis perspective was used to analyse the narratives of 18 older prisoners. The narratives revealed four themes: ‘Like all other older men’: comparing ageing in prison with ageing within the community; ‘Better than what I have outside’: prison as an escape from a life of loneliness, poverty and delinquency; ‘Here I get some respect’: the older prisoner as a mentor; and ‘I feel accomplished’: experiences of growth and self-discovery as a means for successful ageing in prison. The findings suggest that ageing in prison may not be perceived as a single, unified process, but as a personal and individual phenomenon, and that old age may facilitate positive changes in the lives of ageing offenders in prison.

The Polish model of civil post-conviction preventive detention in the light of the European Convention on Human Rights

ABSTRACT The article presents an overview of the Polish model of post-conviction preventive detention (PPD) and analyses its compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights. PPD is defined as detention of offenders who present a high re-offending risk, which may be applied for an unspecified period after the conclusion of an offender's prison sentence for preventive reasons. Until 2013 the Polish system of PPD was relatively limited. However, in 2013, in the atmosphere of moral panic aroused by the media in the context of the expected release of dangerous offenders sentenced to a death penalty under communism and saved by the 1989 amnesty law, the Parliament adopted a law which significantly extended it. The new law allowed on placement of offenders, after completion of their sentence, in the allegedly therapeutic centre. The law raised serious controversies among legal scholars and psychiatrists, however in 2016 the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that, for the most part, it was consistent with the Constitution. The article argues that the system of detention established in the 2013 law violates the ECHR. That is caused not only by the flawed legal regulations but also practical problems resulting, among others, from unexpectedly high influx of new detainees.

ЛИЧНОСТЬ ПЕНИТЕНЦИАРНОГО ПРЕСТУПНИКА: ПОНЯТИЕ И КРИМИНАЛИСТИЧЕСКАЯ ЗНАЧИМОСТЬ ЕЕ СВОЙСТВ

The subject of the study was the forensic aspects of the concept and properties of the per-sonality of the prison offender. The article presents the solution of the following tasks: identi-fication of the problems of criminalistic understanding of the definition "personality of prison offender", which is widely spread in the legal literature; establishment of criminalistic interre-lations and interdependencies between the personality features of prison offender and individual circumstances of crimes committed by them; identification of the main directions of using personality features in tactics and methods of investigation of unlawful acts committed by persons staying in The research is conducted on the basis of analysis of the works of scientists who have previously analyzed some aspects of the penitentiary crime and personality of the penitentiary criminal, as well as the forensic significance of the personality properties of the criminal and the related methodological recommendations for the investigation of penitentiary crimes. The research used the dialectical method of scientific knowledge, private-scientific methods of analysis and generalization, the method of comparison, the method of modelling, the socio-logical method used in the survey of correctional officers who attended advanced training courses at the Academy of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service in 2014-2018. The results obtained were systematised and compared in order to identify interrelations and interdepen-dencies. As a result of the study the author's concept of understanding the penitentiary offender is formulated. The arguments in favour of generalisation under this concept of all categories of persons (convicts, suspects, defendants) staying in conditions of isolation in correctional institutions and pre-trial detention centres are given. The main groups of properties of the personality of a penal offender were analyzed. Identified criminally relevant tasks, solved with the use of information about these properties, the main sources of information about the personality of prison criminals. An attempt to comprehend the process of formation of crimi-nologically significant information concerning the penitentiary criminals was made. We ana-lyzed changes in the penitentiary crime situation that indicate the biological, psychological and social characteristics of the personality of the penitentiary offender. Five main types of personality of prison criminals were identified. Possibilities of use of the mentioned properties for construction of the criminalistic characteristic of penitentiary crimes, serving as the starting point in formation of the corresponding criminalistic recommendations are shown.

“It’s Us Doing It!” The Power of Participatory Action Research in Prison: A Contradiction in Terms? – Phase 1

We describe and reflect upon the process of setting up participatory action research (PAR) with a group of men resident on a personality assessment and treatment service in a medium security prison for male offenders. The service is part of the national offender personality disorder (OPD) pathway, a joint initiative between the National Health Service England and Her Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service set up in 2011. Its aim was to provide a pathway of services for offenders, likely to be diagnosed with a personality disorder, to reduce risk of re-offending and improve psychological health and wellbeing. Consistent with PAR principles, prisoners were trained as co-researchers with the aim of co-producing new knowledge and improving their community. To our knowledge, this is the first PAR project conducted within the OPD pathway. We focus here on initial stages of research design and development. By sharing our experiences, we contribute to the literature on co-production research highlighting key benefits and challenges of PAR in this setting. Key learnings such as the importance of obtaining organizational support, taking time for establishing trust, relationship-building and research training are discussed.

MANDATORY MINIMUMS: EQUAL BUT UNEQUAL

The war on drugs promulgated drastic sentencing reform in the 1980s that has proven to be disastrous to the American criminal justice system. Decades-worth of mandatory minimum sentencing reveals the deleterious effects these provisions inflict upon the American population. Mandatory minimum sentencing undermines the criminal justice system by eroding fundamental fairness, tying judges’ hands, and discriminating against defendants’ distinctive cases. These laws arbitrarily and disproportionately impact minorities, overcrowd prisons, and incur unconscionable expenses. This article argues for the abolition of mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offenses and the restoration of judicial discretion. This article proposes that Congress take legislative action to resolve the multitude of issues associated with mandatory minimum sentencing. Abolishing mandatory minimum sentencing and restoring judicial discretion is paramount to rectifying the deleterious effect of the war on drugs and rehabilitating the criminal justice system. Taking action in this way has the capability to deter excessive plea deals, decrease the number of low-level offenders in prison, curb racial disparity, reduce recidivism, lessen mass incarceration, and save taxpayers thousands of dollars annually. Part I of this article highlights an array of problems associated with mandatory minimum sentencing. Part II argues for the legislature to abolish mandatory minimums to resolve the shortcomings addressed in Part I. Part III explains how abolishing mandatory minimums will positively affect the criminal justice system and expounds upon the issues and the resolution proposed in Part I and II, respectively.

Psychopathology, psychosocial factors and sexuality of incarcerated sexual offenders in Greek prison

There are few studies in Greece on sexual offenders. The research aims to contribute knowledge and information related to psychopathology, psychosocial factors and the sexuality of this particular category of convicts for sexual offenses. The search took place in the Greek prison in Grevena, where the largest number of sexual offenders are being held. This is a quantitative study and descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used. The study involved 127 sexual detainees and used the STAI, BDI, EPQ, SCL-90 questionnaires and a special sexual behavior questionnaire. The reliability of the tools was high as the lowest price of Cronbach alpha was equal to 0.733 (STAI) and the highest was 0.975 (SCL-90). The Special Sexual Behavior Questionnaire was 0.877 reliable. ResultsThe results of the research confirmed the heterogeneity of the population of sexual perpetrators in many categories of data. The importance of some factors such as abuse in childhood, substance use, difficulty in having close relationships, and young delinquent behaviour in the subsequent delinquent evolution of the individual also emerged. Our study did not show particularly high levels of psychopathology except for some elements of anxiety and depression. The results also showed the existence of high transient anxiety, while in the subscales Paranoid Idea and Compulsiveness we had the highest average scores and lower in the subscales Phobic Stress, Aggression and Psychoticism. We had high scores on the scale Neuroticism-Stability and the lowest on the scale Psychoticism-Superego. There were no significant differences between adult and pediatric rapists in terms of differences in stress levels and depression. Sexual perpetrators against minors had higher scores than the dimensions Psychoticism-Superego and Neuroticism-Stability. Minor statistically significant differences in the dimensions Aggression, Anxiety, Paranoid Idea and Neuroticism-Stability were also found. The results show that juvenile delinquency is becoming more serious and violent. Substance users are less likely to sexually abuse a minor. As for the early onset of sexual activity, it appears to be associated with an increased risk of adult rape as well as the fact that the perpetrator's sexual abuse during childhood increases the likelihood that as an adult he or she will harm his or her relatives. In terms of sexual behaviour, incarceration in prison burdened almost all sexual problems of detainees with statistically significant differences in sexual desire and erection problems. There was a universal reduction in the sexual behavior of sexual offenders in prison and a universal reduction in all sexual practices used before imprisonment. Masturbation is the main sexual practice in prison. The main gender of sexual attraction is women despite its significant statistical decline. Statistically, attraction to underage girls has also declined, while homosexual and bisexual tendencies have increased, but there are no statistically significant differences. There was also a significant decrease in the use of pornographic material with adult women and minors, while the use of pornographic material with homosexual content increased. ConclusionsThe investigation of psychopathology, sexual behaviour and those psychosocial factors that characterize and determine the lives of sexual offenders, offers important data and knowledge on which we will rely for the development of therapeutic and preventive programs. Future research on sex offenders should focus on further research on psychopathology and how to think about it, as well as the possibility of using reliable relapse prevention tools to protect society as a whole.

Differences between Female and Male Inmates in Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) in Austria: Do We Need Treatment Programs Specific to the Needs of Females in AAT?

Simple SummarySo far, many studies in the field of animal assisted therapies (AAT) show promising results in several areas for male and female participants. A newer study has found auspicious results for the target group of female inmates in 2013, which prompted our literature research and an additional gender and sex related evaluation of especially selected intervention data collected over a time period of ten years in specialized institutions with criminal offenders suffering from substance dependence syndrome. We found in our analysis that although male and female participants benefit both from the dog assisted group therapy (MTI), female drug dependent criminal offenders benefit less, especially regarding skills connected with emotions. Although practice and research in the area of AAT is booming and most studies promise positive results for a large variety of people, research has to focus on who benefits from which kind of intervention, what intensities and numbers of sessions are needed, and what prerequisites need to be met to allow benefits for all beings involved.With the growth of female inmates worldwide, research regarding specific treatment of these has become more important. Although new programs have been started, the lack of scientific results is startling. The goal of the current study was to identify differences between participants from the men’s and women’s section in a specialized prison for criminal offenders suffering from substance dependence syndrome regarding the effects of dog-assisted group therapy. Therefore, 81 incarcerated participants (50 male, 31 female) took part in a dog-assisted group therapy targeting socio-emotional competencies. Self-report questionnaires to measure self-concept (SDQ-III), emotional status (EMI-B) and emotional competencies (SEE) were employed. Statistical analysis included General Linear Model (GLM) procedures and η2 as concurrent effect size measure. Results demonstrate that participants from the women’s ward tend to benefit significantly less from the dog-assisted group therapy in most measured areas than men, especially in terms of their emotional status (e.g., aggressiveness) and emotional competencies (e.g., emotion regulation). Treatment programs specific to the needs of women might be a future challenge for practitioners and researchers in AAT.

The Strengthening of the Institutional Corrections For Effective Rehabilitation in Kenya

Strengthening the Institutional Corrections for Effective Rehabilitation in Kenya
 Jeniffer Birech
 Department of Sociology and Social Work 
 Abstract
 Globally, Institutional Corrections continue to play a critical role in the rehabilitation of the offenders. It is estimated that there are more than 10.2 million offenders in prison including sentenced and pretrial prisoners. Statistics also show that 144 out of every 100,000 people are in prison. Similarly, in the last fifteen years the estimated world prison has increased by 25-35% hence the need to strengthen institutional corrections for better rehabilitation. In Kenya, the total prison population is about 53,841. This includes the pretrial detainees and remand prisoners. Additionally, there are 92 institutional corrections in Kenya. However, the prison system struggles with overcrowding, poor governance, insufficient coordination with other criminal justice systems and inadequate resources. As a result, the institutions have become breeding grounds for recidivism. This paper examines the development of the prison system, the evolution of the challenges and abuse of human rights. It will also examine how institutions can be strengthened. The paper recommends the need for more research to unearth more innovative ways of dealing with the challenges. There is need for inbuilt mechanisms to ensure good governance and accountability, re-integration and allocation of resources. In essence, a multisectoral approach need to be adopted for sustainable solutions.
 Key Words; Strengthening, Institutional Corrections, Rehabilitation, Prison, Kenya.