Services For Offenders Research Articles

Who cares? Where next for women offender services?

Who cares? Where next for women offender services?

Efficacy of a process improvement intervention on delivery of HIV services to offenders: a multisite trial.

We tested a modified Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx) process improvement model to implement improved HIV services (prevention, testing, and linkage to treatment) for offenders under correctional supervision. As part of the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies, Phase 2, the HIV Services and Treatment Implementation in Corrections study conducted 14 cluster-randomized trials in 2011 to 2013 at 9 US sites, where one correctional facility received training in HIV services and coaching in a modified NIATx model and the other received only HIV training. The outcome measure was the odds of successful delivery of an HIV service. The results were significant at the .05 level, and the point estimate for the odds ratio was 2.14. Although overall the results were heterogeneous, the experiments that focused on implementing HIV prevention interventions had a 95% confidence interval that exceeded the no-difference point. Our results demonstrate that a modified NIATx process improvement model can effectively implement improved rates of delivery of some types of HIV services in correctional environments.

An Examination of Criminogenic Needs, Mental Health Concerns, and Recidivism in a Sample of Violent Young Offenders: Implications for Risk, Need, and Responsivity

Young offender populations typically display high rates of substance use pathology and mental health concerns, however, little is known regarding how these factors relate to dynamic risk factors for reoffending (criminogenic needs) among young offenders. The present study investigated a Canadian sample of 186 youth charged with serious/violent offenses on measures of psychopathology, substance abuse, risk, and recidivism. Significant relationships were found between measures of substance abuse with most indices of the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI), a validated risk assessment tool designed to assess criminogenic risk and need. Furthermore, measures of substance abuse predicted general, violent, and nonviolent recidivism for both youth and adult outcomes to varying degrees. Youth with disruptive behavior disorders, comorbid substance use concerns with another disorder (dual diagnosis), or with two or more disorders evidenced more serious criminogenic need profiles, whereas mood, anxiety, and cognitive disorders were unrelated to criminogenic risk. With the exception of conduct disorder and substance use pathology, mental health concerns tended not to be related to recidivism. The implications of these findings in terms of assessing risk and providing treatment services for young offenders is discussed in relation to the risk-need responsivity (RNR) model of effective correctional intervention.

Integration and offender mental health

Integrated care can introduce seamless coordinated pathways that are focused around the individual needs of patients, helping to prevent missed opportunities for intervention. Within offender healthcare, sequential funnelling through designated areas where screening can take place, along with co-location of services, lends itself to integrated working, at least in theory. However, within the offender healthcare pathway, service fragmentation and autonomous, disconnected (often referred to as siloed) working, has historically been the norm. If commissioned and designed to ensure and incentivise connections between services, whilst developing high quality service-focused research activities, pathways could enable clinical and social interventions, and outcomes, on a public health scale for these highly morbid populations. As such, offender healthcare offers a real opportunity to model integration for wider introduction across other health and social care areas. Discussed within is the call for integration, its concept, and its role within offender healthcare.

Understanding the electronic monitoring of offenders in Europe: expansion, regulation and prospects

The electronic monitoring (EM) of offenders, mostly using radio frequency (RF) technology to enforce home confinement, has been practiced in Europe for a quarter century. At least twenty seven countries make use it, at a range of points in the penal process. More seem likely to adopt it in the future. Few countries use it on a very large scale, compared to prisons and other community sanctions. Nowhere has it had a transformative effect on penal practice, although some countries have used it more wisely than others. In Western Europe, Germany has been the most reluctant user of RF EM, while the Scandinavian countries, Denmark especially, have arguably made the most creative use of RF EM in the context of their conditional prison sentences, to augment existing support and rehabilitation services for offenders. Some Eastern European and Balkan countries have sometimes used EM without the constraining effects of “probation values”. Pan–European attempts by the CEP (The European Probation Organisation) and the Council of Europe to shape and constrain the development of EM, given the perception that it could easily become a repressive technology, have been of some value. GPS tracking of high risk offenders now exists on a very small scale in a number of European countries, but government aspirations in England and Wales, which may or may not come to fruition, to develop a large scale GPS-based programme in the near future may signal the beginnings of an attempt to the use EM in more penally transformative ways, although it is probation rather than prison use which may be diminished as a result. The conclusion suggests that EM should be understood as a form of e-governance, that it should be theorized in terms of the “network society” and that its expansion is an expression of neoliberal penality.

Health and social care services for women offenders: current provision and a future model of care

Secure provision for women in both the Criminal Justice System and the Health Service has evolved in the last decade, in line with emerging gender-specific policy. Notable gains have been the approach to self-harm in prison and a reduction in the inappropriately high levels of secure hospital care. Although treatment pilots in UK settings are in progress, much practice remains poorly described and insufficiently evaluated. Recent strategic initiatives by both the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health, as well as the commissioning changes that have followed the Health and Social Care Act 2012, provide a basis for reconsideration and a further paradigm shift. Suggestions for a reinvigorated model of gender-sensitive provision are made, relying on principles of resilience and autonomy.

Personal Goals of Adolescents in a Youth Offending Service in the United Kingdom

Goal pursuit is central to the developmental stage of adolescence. Here, we aimed to study how 14 adolescents in a Youth Offending Service in the United Kingdom think about their personal goal aspirations and future, using semi-structured interviews. Based on a grounded theory approach, an explanatory theoretical framework was developed. Analysis revealed that young people’s perceived personal future and goal aspirations are influenced by their appraisal of past and present life events. Participants also used a range of self-protecting strategies to avoid uncertainty and to reduce the threat of future disappointment. The findings have potentially important clinical and policy implications.

This Could Be the Start of Something Big: Linking Early Managerial Choices with Subsequent Organizational Performance

This Could Be the Start of Something Big: Linking Early Managerial Choices with Subsequent Organizational Performance

Crime and Psychiatric Disorders Among Youth in the US Population: An Analysis of the National Comorbidity Survey–Adolescent Supplement

Current knowledge regarding psychiatric disorders and crime in youth is limited to juvenile justice and community samples. This study examined relationships between psychiatric disorders and self-reported crime involvement in a sample of youth representative of theUS population. The National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement (N=10,123; ages 13-17 years; 2001-2004) was used to examine the relationship between lifetime DSM-IV-based diagnoses, reported crime (property, violent, other), and arrest history. Logistic regression compared the odds of reported crime involvement with specific psychiatric disorders to those without any diagnoses, and examined the odds of crime by psychiatric comorbidity. Prevalence of crime was 18.4%. Youth with lifetime psychiatric disorders, compared to no disorders, had significantly greater odds of crime, including violent crime. For violent crime resulting in arrest, conduct disorder (CD) (odds ratio OR= 57.5; 95%CI=30.4, 108.8), alcohol use disorders (OR= 19.5; 95% CI= 8.8, 43.2), and drug usedisorders (OR=16.1; 95% CI= 9.3, 27.7) had the greatest odds with similar findings for violent crime with no arrest. Psychiatric comorbidity increased the odds of crime. Youth with 3or more diagnoses (16.0% of population) accounted for 54.1% of those reporting arrest for violent crime.Youth with at least 1 diagnosis committed 85.8% of crime, which was reduced to67.9% by removing individuals with CD. Importantly, 88.2% of youth with mental illness reported neverhaving committed any crime. Our findings highlight the importance ofimproving access to mental health services for youthful offenders in community settings, given the substantial associations found between mental illness and crime in this nationally representative epidemiological sample.

Effectiveness of modified therapeutic community treatment within a medium-secure service for personality-disordered offenders

There is debate as to whether secure hospital treatment for offenders with personality disorder can be effective relative to criminal justice interventions. This study examines the evidence for long-term treatment of such offenders in hospital within in a modified therapeutic community model including accredited offending behaviour programmes. A panel sample of 47 patients were followed up on measures of violence risk (HCR-20, VRS) and symptom severity (SCL90-R). Intention-to-treat analysis with reliability thresholds showed significant positive change between assessment and discharge in both violence risk (VRS) and symptoms (SCL90-R) indicating a positive treatment effect. Threshold effects for treatment effectiveness seemed to occur at 1 year of treatment for risk and 3 years for symptom reduction.

Follow the Money: How California Counties Are Spending Their Public Safety Realignment Funds

The California correctional system is undergoing a dramatic transformation under Assembly Bill 109 (“Realignment”), a law that shifted responsibility from the state to the counties for tens of thousands of offenders. To help manage this change, the state will distribute $4.4 billion to the counties by 2016-2017. While the legislation directs counties to use these funds for community-based programs, counties retain a substantial amount of spending discretion. Some are expanding offender treatment capacities, while others are shoring up enforcement and control apparatuses. In this report we examine counties’ AB 109 spending reports and budgets to determine which counties emphasize enforcement and which emphasize treatment. We also identify counties that continue to emphasize prior orientations toward punishment and counties that have shifted their priorities in response to Realignment. We then apply quantitative and comparative methods to county budget data to identify political, economic, and criminal justice-related factors that may explain higher AB 109 spending on enforcement or higher spending on treatment, relative to other counties. In short, our analysis shows that counties that elect to allocate more AB 109 funds to enforcement and control generally appear to be responding to local criminal justice needs, including high crime rates, a shortage of law enforcement personnel, and a historic preference for using prison to punish drug offenders. Counties that favor a greater investment in offender treatment and services, meanwhile, are typified by strong electoral support for the Sheriff and relatively under-funded district attorneys and probation departments.

Mental health and the criminal justice system: The role of interagency training to promote practitioner understanding of the diversion agenda

Historically there has been a significant under-recognition of mental health problems among people in the criminal justice system, and little research exploring the issues encountered by those with mental health problems who come into contact with the criminal justice system. Recent policy has highlighted the importance of early identification of mental health needs in criminal cases, and the role of diversion of offenders into appropriate mental health services. However research suggests that currently the provision of mental health services for offenders is patchy, and it has been suggested that improved interagency communication and training is required to improve the diversion of offenders with mental health problems into more appropriate mental health provision.The aim of this paper is to consider the current position of those with mental health conditions within the criminal justice system in England, and discuss how joint interagency training can improve understanding of the diversion agenda for the range of practitioners that come into contact with offenders with mental health problems. The perspectives of a range of practitioners who attended a joint interagency training day will be discussed, and recommendations for future training will be offered.

The Assault Awareness Course and New Drivers’ Initiative; Groupwork programmes for young people convicted of violent and vehicle offences

At the point that someone commits a crime and causes deliberate harm to others, that person must by definition have behaved irresponsibly and shown little or no empathy for their victims. Following the offence they may continue to avoid taking responsibility, hiding behind excuses to minimise their culpability and shift the blame on others – in order to avoid unpleasant consequences for themselves. Many will not consider the suffering to which their behaviour has led. Offending behaviour and restorative justice interventions will succeed only to the extent that a perpetrator is willing to accept responsibility for their part in their crime and shows some empathy for those they harmed. Oxfordshire Youth Offending Service has developed two innovative groupwork programmes, one for young people who have committed violent offences and the other for car crime. These programmes are designed to challenge participants to be accountable and provide conditions for an empathic response towards their victims.

Complex Health Needs in the Youth Justice System: A Survey of Community-Based and Custodial Offenders

Estimate the prevalence and annual frequency of health risk indicators in young people serving community-based orders (CBOs) and custodial orders in the state of Victoria, Australia. Cross-sectional survey of 242 young people serving CBOs and 273 serving custodial orders in Victoria in 2002-2003. Validated measures included the Composite International Diagnostic Interview for substance dependence, Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire for depression, and Psychosis Screening Questionnaire for psychosis symptoms. Prevalence estimates were adjusted for sampling bias and age- and sex-adjusted for between-group comparisons. Prevalence estimates were applied to 2010-2011 Victorian youth justice data to estimate annual frequencies at the state level. The prevalence of substance dependence, poor mental health, and risky sexual behavior was high in both groups. Age- and sex-adjusted prevalence estimates were generally higher among those serving custodial orders; however, extrapolating prevalence estimates to statewide youth justice data generally resulted in higher estimated annual frequencies among CBOs. For example, the estimated prevalence of any substance dependence was 66% (95% confidence interval [CI], 60-72) in those serving custodial orders and 34% (95% CI, 26-42) in CBOs, but the estimated frequency of substance dependence in CBOs in 2010-2011 was 970 (95% CI, 750-1,180), compared with 490 (95%CI, 450-530) in those serving a custodial order. There is a compelling case for scaling up health services for young offenders in custody and in the community, and for routinely monitoring the health of young offenders serving custodial and community orders.

Sex differences in predictors of violent and non‐violent juvenile offending

In response to concerns regarding the rise in female juvenile violent crime and the dearth of gender-specific research, this study aimed to identify predictors of violent offending in female offenders. Data were extracted from risk assessments of 586 male and female juvenile offenders (aged 11-17 years) conducted between 2005 and 2009 by the Youth Offending Service in Gloucestershire, an English county. Information regarding the young people's living arrangements, family and personal relationships, education, emotional/mental health, thinking and behavior, and attitudes to offending was recorded. Comparisons were made between the violent male offenders (N = 185), the violent female offenders (N = 113), the non-violent male offenders (N = 150), and the non-violent female offenders (N = 138) for these variables. These were followed by a multinomial logistic regression analysis. The findings indicated that engaging in self-harm was the best predictor of being a female violent offender, with the predictors of giving into pressure from others and attempted suicide nearing significance. Furthermore, non-violent females were significantly less likely to lose control of their temper and more likely to give in to pressure from others than their violent counterparts. Non-violent males were significantly less likely to lose control of their temper and more likely to self-harm and give in to pressure from others than violent males. Although many similarities existed between sexes for predictors of violent offending, the findings of this study indicate that more attention needs to be paid to the mental health of female offenders.

Effectiveness of Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion Services for Offenders With Mental Disorders: A Review

The authors reviewed studies of the effectiveness of criminal justice liaison and diversion (CJLD) services in which outcomes of participants in these services were compared with those of offenders with mental illness who received no intervention or a standard intervention. The authors synthesized existing evidence with respect to changes in mental health status or criminal recidivism. A comprehensive search (1980-2012) of more than 30 generic and specialist databases identified 6,571 published and unpublished studies. The studies, which varied considerably in methodological approach and overall quality, were systematically appraised according to Campbell-Cochrane guidelines. Ten studies met inclusion criteria. Key outcomes included a reduction in offending and postintervention changes in mental health. Synthesized findings indicated that CJLD services appeared to be effective in identifying offenders with mental disorders and that participation in CJLD services had a positive impact on criminal justice and mental health outcomes. Although the methodologies of existing studies are only moderately rigorous, the overall findings suggest that CJLD services can be beneficial. Their effectiveness depends on the model of service delivery, the availability of community services, and the engagement of offenders with mental disorders in treatment. The successful implementation of CJLD services requires a clearer recognition of the importance of systems-of-care principles.

Why Do Some People with Intellectual Disability Engage in Offending Behaviour and What Can We Do About It? Editorial

The field of forensic intellectual disabilities has been developing rapidly over the last 15years. Much of the work has been built on research in mainstream criminality but more recently studies have emerged that reveal issues specific to offenders with intellectual disability. Research on pathways into offending is reviewed with reference to its relevance to the field of intellectual disability. We also summarize some findings on pathways into and through services for offenders with intellectual disability. Studies reveal that developmental adversity is an important risk variable. Previous and recent aggression are potent risk factors. New evidence suggests that immediate, proximal risk factors may be more important in this client group. The studies in this issue add to the knowledge on pathways into offending, important areas for assessment and effective treatments as well as advancing knowledge in the academic literature on general criminality.

Young Offenders’ Emotion Recognition Dysfunction Across Emotion Intensities: Explaining Variation Using Psychopathic Traits, Conduct Disorder and Offense Severity

Antisocial individuals have problems recognizing negative emotions (e.g. Marsh & Blair in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 32:454–465, 2009); however, due to issues with sampling and different methods used, previous findings have been varied. Sixty-three male young offenders and 37 age-, IQ- and socio-economic status-matched male controls completed a facial emotion recognition task, which measures recognition of happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, and surprise and neutral expressions across 4 emotional intensities. Conduct disorder (YSR), and psychopathic and callous/unemotional traits (YPI) were measured, and offenders’ offense data were taken from the Youth Offending Service’s case files. Relative to controls, offenders were significantly worse at identifying sadness, low intensity disgust and high intensity fear. A significant interaction for anger was also observed, with offenders showing reduced low- but increased high-intensity anger recognition in comparison with controls. Within the young offenders levels of conduct disorder and psychopathic traits explained variation in sadness and disgust recognition, whereas offense severity explained variation in anger recognition. These results suggest that antisocial youths show specific problems in recognizing negative emotions and support the use of targeted emotion recognition interventions for problematic behavior.

Pathways to Early Violent Death: The Voices of Serious Violent Youth Offenders

Quantitative studies have uncovered factors associated with early violent death among youth offenders detained in the juvenile justice system, but little is known about the contextual factors associated with pathways to early violent death among youths detained in adult jails. We interviewed young Black male serious violent youth offenders detained in an adult jail to understand their experience of violence. Their narratives reveal how the code of the street, informal rules that govern interpersonal violence among poor inner-city Black male youths, increases the likelihood of violent victimization. Youth offenders detained in adult jails have the lowest rate of service provision among all jail populations. We have addressed how services for youth offenders can be improved to reduce the pathways to early violent death.

Conceptualising Risk and Need: The Rise of Actuarialism and the Death of Welfare? Practitioner Assessment and Intervention in the Youth Offending Service

This article is concerned with the assessment and intervention strategies and processes employed by practitioners working within the Youth Offending Service (YOS) in England and Wales. It draws on interview data with YOS practitioners to investigate assessment and intervention rationales and conceptions of both ‘risk’ and ‘need’ against a backdrop of shifting ideologies and modes of governance in youth justice. The article revisits macro theories of risk and the ‘risk society’, explores theories of modern penality and how conceptions of risk have permeated contemporary youth justice policy and practice through actuarial frameworks of assessment. It is argued that competing rationales in YOT practitioners’ assessments and interventions reveal an active struggle where, despite a managerial/actuarial milieu, some practitioners continue to hold the welfare needs of young people as paramount. The article then reflects on current youth justice policy under the Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition Government and the effect that their proposed changes may have on practice.