Offender Program Research Articles

Attitudes towards terrorist rehabilitation programs: psychological mediating and moderating mechanisms

ABSTRACT Rehabilitation programs for terrorists have gained notoriety. Some issues still require thorough investigation, such as the social support they receive. The present research aims to examine the attitudes towards rehabilitation programs for terrorist offenders and the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying these attitudes. To this end, two studies were conducted: the first study evaluated the mediating mechanisms (negative feelings and threats; N = 407) and the second study analyzed the moderating mechanisms (social dominance orientation, system justification, and political orientation; N = 444). In both cases, the type of offender was manipulated (criminal vs. nationalist terrorist vs. Islamist terrorist offenders) and different attitudes were assessed (general support, incapacitation, treatment effectiveness, and mandated treatment). The results showed less support for rehabilitation programs for Islamist terrorists than for other offenders. Moreover, Islamist terrorists pose a more significant terrorist threat while criminals pose a greater realistic threat, which led to less favorable attitudes towards rehabilitation programs. Finally, individuals with more conservative ideologies had stronger negative attitudes towards programs for Islamist terrorists. We discuss these findings within the framework of integrated threat and system justification theories.

Examination of a community-based, multifaceted program for juvenile offenders and their families

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the results of a community-based program addressing the mental health needs of at-risk youth (n = 196) and their families.Design/methodology/approachThe program served as an alternative to secure detention for youth residing in several rural counties in the southeastern part of the country. Several measures were used to evaluate the program’s effectiveness over a four-year timeframe.FindingsThe multifaceted program produced favorable results in reducing delinquent behaviors and improving relationships within their family.Practical implicationsThis study demonstrated that using a multifaceted intervention can be beneficial to juveniles in the juvenile justice system and their families. This study set out to provide services and interventions aimed at reducing re-offending, exploring career development and improving overall family functioning.Originality/valueThis study is original work and is not being submitted elsewhere.

Treatment program for ex-jailed sex offenders in Uruguay: from knowledge to policy.

In this article, we discuss the process of implementing a pilot program of the treatment of sex offenders in Uruguay. We implemented an intervention-research based on the case study method delimited in terms of institutional and thematic scenarios; a national public institution whose main objective is the socio-labor and community inclusion of formerly incarcerated people. The data collection took place between February and October 2018, through group interviews with the technical team of the program and semi-structured interviews with the directorate. We present the analyzed theoretical and technical dimensions involved in the implementation of a community-based program for sexual offenders, according to two analytical lines: the specificity of the approach towards sexual offenders and the conceptions of the key institutional actors surrounding sexual violence.

Criminal consequences of intentional non-compliance with restrictive measures

Domestic criminal law is being in constant dynamics, so it means that the norms of the current legislation are being improved, new, previously unknown, criminal-legal categories are being introduced, recommendations of international institutions are taken into account, etc. Not an exception in this process is chapter XIII-1 of the General part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which regulates restrictive measures, as well as Article 390-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, where the legislator provided criminal liability for intentional non-compliance of the measures.
 This scientific article does not analyze the composition of the criminal offense under Article 390-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, but considers this article in terms of its criminalization.
 It is proved that the existence within one article of several alternative socially dangerous acts in the form of intentional non-compliance with restrictive measures) provided for in Article 91-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, or intentional non-compliance with restrictive orders, or intentional evasion of the program for offenders, if correct interpretation provided do not contain contradictions.
 The rules of continued application of criminal law restrictive measures in case of their intentional non-compliance and simultaneous bringing a person to criminal justice under Article 390-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine are also derived.
 Explained the need to single out a socially dangerous act in the form of intentional non-compliance with restrictive measures provided in Article 91-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in a separate part of Article 390-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine as a qualified component of this criminal offense, for which the person will bear more serious criminal consequences, which are provided by the sanction of the article. This will not only promote prevention, but also meet the requirements of international regulations.
 Therefore, in conclusion it is important to emphasize that the regulation of restrictive measures and the establishment of criminal liability for their intentional non-compliance in the Criminal Code of Ukraine is a positive step, but due to the novelty of this legal category there is a need for their partial editing and changes.

Pilot Mental Health Offender Program Improves Participant Outcomes and Lowers Costs in a Large Urban County.

Mass incarceration, particularly of the mentally ill, continues to pervade our criminal justice system. Jails in many areas have become the largest mental health facilities, especially in large urban communities, despite increasing societal recognition that those with mental illness are not best served behind bars. Misdemeanors are an often-overlooked contributor to mass incarceration, and may be preventable for those with chronic severe mental illness. This Northeast Florida pilot program, the Mental Health Offenders Program (MHOP), is based on the successful Miami Eleventh Circuit Court Criminal Mental Health Project. MHOP provided pretrial release from custody, through diversion with a customized plan of care to stabilize defendants, using court supervision to ensure compliance. With community partners, the MHOP pilot enrolled 20 individuals with chronic severe mental illness and recurrent misdemeanor charges; 15 were able to continue in the program with stabilization of their mental health and reduction of county costs both documented. The MHOP pilot demonstrates that community resources can be successfully shifted to benefit mentally ill, non-violent offenders and the larger community by helping severely mentally ill clients achieve stability by providing healthcare, housing, and income, while decreasing costs for the community in a humane way.

The efficacy of offence-specific interventions in reducing risk and recidivism in women: a systematic review

ABSTRACT Almost a quarter of women released from prisons in England and Wales reoffend; this figure is three times higher for women serving less than 12-month sentences. Offender programmes used within prison, probation, and forensic inpatient services aim to reduce an individual’s risk of reoffending. Whilst offence-specific interventions are widely offered to men who offend, comparatively few are offered to women. The current systematic review aimed to evaluate the efficacy of offence-specific interventions in reducing women’s recidivism. Overall, recidivism in programme completers was low (m = 14.05%). However, the quality of studies included (n = 7) was low, limiting the conclusions drawn. Several studies yielded met the inclusion criteria, with the exception of reporting recidivism outcomes. A second review was conducted incorporating these studies, broadening the outcomes of interest to include incidents of violence in hospital or prison and self-report outcomes related to offending (n = 10). Incidents reduced following programme completion; however, self-reported outcomes were mixed. The review highlighted a lack of evidence for the efficacy of offence-specific interventions facilitated with women and limited use of recidivism as an outcome measure within the literature, despite often being a key aim of the interventions.

Randomized trial of a diversion program for property offenders with drug use

PurposeThis paper reports findings from a randomized controlled trial of a front-end diversion program for prison-bound individuals with property crime convictions, concurrent substance use problems, and no prior violent crime convictions. MethodsTwo counties in Oregon participated in the trial, labeled “County A" and “County B.” Across counties, 272 individuals (mean age = 32.7 years; 67.6% male) were recruited and randomized to receive either the diversion program (Senate Bill 416 [SB416]) or probation as usual (PAU). The primary outcome was recidivism, defined as any arrest, conviction, or incarceration for a new crime within three years of diversion from prison. ResultsIn County A, SB416 did not outperform PAU on any recidivism outcome. However, in County B, SB416 yielded significantly greater improvements across various configurations of the arrest, conviction, and incarceration outcomes, relative to PAU. ConclusionsSB416 can yield reduced recidivism when implemented in a setting like County B, which when compared to County A, had fewer justice system resources and a limited history of cross-system collaboration. More research on SB416 is needed, including an examination of its mechanisms of change and its cost-effectiveness relative to standard criminal justice system processing.

Diversion and Restorative Justice: Salt Lake Peer Court Disrupting Disproportionate Minority Contact?

There is an increased acceptance of youth courts grounded in restorative justice principles to divert first-time nonviolent offenders away from formal juvenile court entry. Research assessing the effectiveness of various teen/peer courts is mixed, and focuses mainly on recidivism. This study analyzes 2010 to 2016 Salt Lake Peer Court data to examine the relationship legal and extralegal variables have on the participation in and completion of this diversionary program for first-time youth offenders. Overall, legal factors affected outcomes more than extralegal factors. Gender proved insignificant in both models with race, age, and school socioeconomic status (SES) producing varied significant effects in outcome models. Offense severity produced consistent strong significant effects across model outcomes. Implications of the study point to the possibilities of peer courts for reducing disproportionate minority contact.

Differences Between Sexual and Nonsexual Homicides of Women in the United States: Findings From the National Violent Death Reporting System.

Sexual homicide (SH) is the most severe outcome of sexual violence and disproportionately affects women. While SH is rare (<1% in the U.S.) and gravely understudied, it is among the most violent, feared, and well publicized forms of murder. Thus, examining predictors is pertinent to identifying targets for prevention and response efforts. Secondary analysis of 2015-2018 National Violent Death Reporting System data on 6461 female homicide victims age 20-64 was conducted to determine if SH represents a unique killing characterized by specific offender, victim, and incident profiles. Law enforcement and coroner/medical examiner narratives were reviewed to identify cases with sexual elements (N=324). Logistic regression estimated odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Findings highlight important differences between SH and non-SH. SH victims were more likely to be single (AOR=1.7,p=.006), have a substance abuse problem (AOR=1.4,p=.04), or engaged in prostitution (AOR=10.4,p<.001). SH suspects were more likely to be male (AOR=2.5,p=.04), use an illicit substance in the preceding hours (AOR=1.6,p=.03), or had recent contact with police (AOR=1.6,p=.01). SH was more likely to occur in a hotel/motel (AOR=3.0,p=.002), by asphyxiation (AOR =13.38,p<.001), be perpetrated against an acquaintance (AOR=1.64,p=.007), or be precipitated by another serious crime (AOR=2.1,p<.001). Findings advance our understanding of SH victim, suspect, and incident profiles, which can help to better inform police/investigative practices and crime prevention strategies/interventions as well as to improve how SH cases are managed in correctional programs for offenders who have the opportunity for release back into society.

Crimes and sentences in individuals with intellectual disability in a forensic psychiatric context: a register-based study

AbstractAimsTo study associations between intellectual disability (ID) and sexual and violent offending among individuals subject to pre-trial forensic psychiatric assessment. To investigate sentences following pre-trial forensic psychiatric assessment in offenders with and without ID.MethodsA population-based observational study using data from pre-trial forensic psychiatric assessments in Sweden (1997–2013), the Swedish National Crime Register and several other Swedish national registers. The study population consisted of 7450 offenders (87% men, 13% women) who were subject to forensic psychiatric assessment in 1997–2013, of whom 481 (6.5%) were clinically assessed as having ID.ResultsID offenders were more likely than non-ID offenders to have a sexual crime as an index crime [26.2v. 11.5%, adjusted odds ratio (OR) 2.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.02–3.58] as well as previous convictions regarding sexual offending (10.4v. 5.6%, adj OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.70–3.12). These associations were restricted to male offenders; sexual offending was uncommon among women. Comorbid attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder reduced the association between ID and sexual offending (adj OR 2.7v. 3.1,p= 0.017), while comorbid autism spectrum disorder had no significant influence on the association (adj OR 2.7v. 3.0,p= 0.059). Violent crime was equally common among ID and non-ID offenders. Offenders with ID were more likely than non-ID offenders to be sentenced to forensic psychiatric care or community sanctions and measures (such as probation, conditional sentences or fines) than to prison; however, 15% of individuals who received an ID diagnosis during the forensic psychiatric assessment were sentenced to prison. Previous criminal convictions, concurrent antisocial personality disorders and substance use disorders were associated with a higher probability of a prison sentence among offenders with ID.ConclusionsSexual crime is overrepresented among offenders with ID compared to offenders with other mental disorders than ID in forensic psychiatric contexts. ID offenders become subject to forensic psychiatric care and forensic psychiatric services need evidence-based treatment programmes for offenders with ID. In addition, there is a need for early intervention strategies suitable for disability services and special education schools, in order to address the complex needs of individuals with ID and prevent sexual and violent offending.

“Is Restorative Justice Greek to Me?”: Exploring Its Applicability in Greek Youth Detention Centres

Abstract Justice systems around the world are constantly working to balance reform/rehabilitation/re-entry and punishment in response to juvenile delinquency. In recent years, there has been a strong emphasis on the notion of restorative justice as an alternative approach to criminal justice, yet there continues to be a dearth of information on the interrelation between restorative justice, religion and imprisonment, especially among youth. The present research seeks to explore the applicability and possible future implementation of restorative justice programmes for late adolescent and young adult male offenders (18–21 years old) held in the Special Detention Institutions of Greece. It also aims to identify any links between restorative justice and religion in youth custodial settings among the large migrant population hosted in these institutions. A self-administered quantitative study was distributed to achieve this aim. The data analysis provided no statistically significant relationships between the inmates’ willingness to meet with their actual/surrogate victims and ask for forgiveness/restore relationships with them. Equally insignificant was found the inmates’ eagerness to get involved in restorative mediation with their capacity to acknowledge the harm that their illegal actions inflicted on others, and to make amends.

Restrictive measures of a criminal law nature in the system of legal regulation of prevention and to combat domestic violence

The article is devoted to the study of the system of state measures applied to persons, who are suspected, accused of committing or having committed domestic violence, as well as determining the place of restrictive measures of a criminal law nature in the proposed system. For this purpose, it is necessary to conduct an analysis of the legislative regulation of state measures applicable to persons suspected of committing or having committed domestic violence at all levels of №rmative legal regulation; to delimitate the terms “restrictive measure”, “precautionary measure”, “restrictive prescription” and “temporary prohibition injunction” and to analyse the expediency of the new term “security measures” proposed by the draft of the new Criminal Code of Ukraine. The result of the conducted study is an analysis of the existing state measures to combat domestic violence in order to form a system of special measures to combat domestic violence, as well as examination of the issue concerning the place of restrictive measures of a criminal law nature applicable to persons having committed domestic violence. So, today, the system of special measures to combat domestic violence consists of types of measures to temporarily restrict the rights and obligations of the perpetrator who committed domestic violence, as well as to a person suspected, accused or committed a criminal offense related to domestic violence. The types of such measures are taking the offender into preventive registration and carrying out preventive work with him; referral of the offender to the offender program; a temporary injunction; a restrictive prescription of a civil nature a restrictive measure of a criminal procedure nature applicable to persons suspected or accused of committing domestic violence; and a restrictive measure of a criminal nature nature applicable to persons who have committed domestic violence having different preconditions, grounds , subjects and the term of appointment, but have the sole intention of protecting persons suffering from domestic violence.

Police‐driven diversion program in Wisconsin lowers rearrest rate

Completion of a six‐month diversion program for drug offenders in Madison, Wisconsin, led to a substantial reduction in the odds of rearrest compared with individuals not participating in the program, reports a newly published study. The results point to the importance of ongoing engagement of participants, in that mere assignment to the program without successful completion was not associated with reduced recidivism.

Current status and improvement plan of cognitive behavioral therapy programs for sexual offenders

Current status and improvement plan of cognitive behavioral therapy programs for sexual offenders

Juveniles arrested for murder: A latent class analysis of male offenders.

Researchers and practitioners have a need for valid and generalizable typologies of juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) to better understand the heterogeneous nature of JHOs, and use this knowledge to inform prevention efforts. Prior studies of JHOs have typically utilized a clinical approach, which is rich in data but based on small nonrepresentative samples, or relied on larger aggregate datasets which are more reliable but have few measures available. This study aimed to address these limitations by examining the latent heterogeneity (i.e. unapparent differences) in JHOs, their victims, and incident characteristics among more than 40,000 male JHOs arrested in the United States between 1976 and 2016 using latent class analysis, to allow for the objective identification of latent taxonomies. Six distinct subtypes of male JHOs are found in the analysis, which contributes to the theoretical and substantive knowledge base regarding JHOs, and may be used to develop and implement more effective interventions and violence prevention programs for these young offenders.

A cost–benefit analysis of a treatment program for adult males who have offended sexually

ABSTRACT In this paper, we estimate the financial benefits that can result from effective sexual offender treatment. We base our estimates on both an earlier outcome evaluation of a prison-based sexual offender programme and a report of the costs to the judicial system of reoffending. The outcome study reported significant reductions in re-offence rates compared to a matched group of untreated sexual offenders. We show that these reductions in reoffending not only saved a significant number of people from subsequently being abused by the offenders, it also resulted in very significant savings to the taxpayers to the tune of over $14 million Canadian. While these results are encouraging, additional studies are needed to extend the examination of these potential benefits.

Focused deterrence: effective crime reduction strategy for chronic offenders?

This paper assessed a chronic offender program in Cambridge, MA, that utilized focused deterrence elements to reduce the social harm and crime. In contrast to other studies of focused deterrence programs, chronic offenders who do not specialize in any type of crime and participate in both violent and nonviolent offending behavior were selected to participate in this program based on their social harm index score. The paper details the features on the program. We then examined the social harm committed by the offenders as well as individual level time to arraignment as outcome measures. The results show that the focused deterrence program did not significantly reduce the social harm index nor the time to arraignment for these offenders. The use of focused deterrence for gangs and groups as opposed to chronic offender is discussed.

Societal preferences for the treatment of impulsive-violent offenders: a discrete choice experiment

ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to quantify societal preferences for, and assess trade-offs between characteristics of treatment programmes for impulsive-violent offenders.SettingThe study was conducted in New South Wales, Australia’s...

Criminal or Terrorist?: Fear, Bias, and Public Support for Prisoner Reentry Programs

ABSTRACT The potential threat posed by returning and repatriated foreign fighters and the upcoming release of homegrown violent extremists from prisons in developed democracies has raised interest in terrorist rehabilitation programs. Few studies, however, systematically examine how the public views such programs. Drawing on research on public attitudes toward prisoner reentry in criminology and social psychological theory, this study offers a series of hypotheses about support for rehabilitation programming for terrorist offenders. These hypotheses are then tested through a survey experiment on a nationally representative sample of 1,021 adult citizens in the United States. The results show that the public is less supportive of postrelease rehabilitation programming for terrorists than other criminal offenders. Support is also lower when an Islamist, rather than a white nationalist, offender is referenced. Support increases when a referenced Islamist is described as a juvenile convicted of a less serious offense. Men, younger individuals, those with some college education, and self-identified liberals are more likely to support terrorist rehabilitation programming. Finally, irrespective of treatment, respondents are most likely to cite evidence of effectiveness as the factor that would increase their support for rehabilitation programming.

Effects of closed versus open groups on attrition and recidivism outcomes for sex offenders in custody-based treatment programmes

ABSTRACT There is growing recognition for the importance of group processes in treatment for sexual and other offenders. However, there is little evidence about the influence of programmming factors that affect the composition of groups, including use of closed or open groups. The current study examined how group format was associated with programme attrition and reoffending outcomes for sex offenders attending custody-based treatment programmes. Cohorts of offenders who attended a programme as it transitioned from a closed group format to an open group format were compared to cohorts of offenders in a second programme that remained in closed group format over the study period (n = 490). We found that post-intervention cohorts in both programmes showed reductions in rates of programme non-completion which were not significantly associated with group format. Group format was not a significant predictor of reoffending outcomes. The results suggest that both open and closed groups may be viable alternatives for achieving treatment outcomes in intensive sex offender programmes.