US Prisoners Research Articles

LATER-ADULTHOOD TRAUMA RE-ENGAGEMENT AMONG VIETNAM VETERANS: A COORDINATED ANALYSIS

Abstract Later-Adulthood Trauma Reengagement (LATR) is a framework for understanding the later-life emergence of trauma-related memories among aging veterans. LATR unfolds within the context of aging-related challenges such as retirement, physical decline, and bereavement. We developed a scale to assess LATR, the late-onset stress symptomatology short form (LOSS-SF). In this study, we compare the LOSS-SF scale across multiple samples of Vietnam veterans. Samples were surveyed between 2001 and 2020; all completed the LOSS-SF scale as well as measures of combat exposure and PTSD. We studied three male samples (256 repatriated US prisoners of war [RPW], 260 combat veterans [CV], and 507 deployed American Legion [AL] members) and one sample of 1956 women deployed to Vietnam, mostly nurses [WV]. Across samples, we examined three questions: 1) How prevalent is LATR? 2) Is LATR correlated with combat exposure and PTSD? 3) Using a regression framework, what factors (military characteristics, combat, PTSD) are related to LATR? Prevalence of LATR ranged from 5% to 38%. Mean LATR scores were higher among AL and CV samples than among the RPW and WV. LATR was modestly related to combat exposure (rs = .08 - .36) and moderately related to current PTSD symptoms (rs = .56 - .79). Regressions demonstrated the importance of PTSD to LATR across samples, and combat exposure was related to LATR only for WV. This study indicates that LATR varies across samples differing in gender and warzone experience and suggest further exploration of the overlap between PTSD and LATR among aging Vietnam veterans.

‘He Offered a Prayer for the Flier He Had Just Killed’

Abstract The US Army war crimes trials held in Manila from 1945 to 1947 prosecuted around 200 Japanese military personnel for war crimes committed against US prisoners of war and Filipino non-combatants. Japanese defendants attempted to argue, with little success, that the defence of superior orders justified their actions. General Douglas MacArthur (Supreme Commander for the Allies in the Pacific or SCAP) was adamant that superior orders would not serve to excuse alleged Japanese war criminals from war crimes. What is clear from the trial documents and other archival material from Manila is that not all sections of the prosecution agreed with MacArthur’s interpretation of the law. However, it seems as though MacArthur’s pronouncement in relation to the application of superior orders may have had a profound impact on not only the Manila trials, but also with subsequent trials in World War II and beyond. This article explores the various arguments in relation to superior orders emanating from the US Army trials in Manila. The trials in Manila show that the rejection of superior orders as a defence in war crimes offered a reasonable foundation and precedent for how subsequent courts and tribunals evaluated the defence of superior orders within the context of war crimes jurisprudence.

Predictors of Religiosity among US Prisoners

Criminological research on religiosity among prisoners has focused on the effects of or outcomes associated with religiosity. Studies have discovered that faith-based programs can reduce recidivism and that religiosity facilitates adaptation to imprisonment and is associated with reductions in serious misconducts. Criminologists have yet to examine the predictors of religiosity among prisoners. In this study, I examine individual- and facility-level predictors of inmate religiosity to uncover the relationship between individual demographic and criminal justice characteristics and religiosity among prisoners. I use national data sets, the Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities and the Census of State Correctional Facilities, and multilevel modeling techniques to examine these relationships. Findings at the individual level indicate that the same factors that are important influences on religiosity in the general population are also significant predictor of religiosity among prisoners, and that the criminal justice/criminal history characteristics of prisoners are also important influences on religiosity. At the facility level, prisons in the Southern region of the US had the highest rates of religiosity among prisoners.

Mengapa Negosiasi Internasional Gagal? Menjelaskan Kegagalan Perundingan Denuklirisasi Amerika Serikat- Korea Utara 2019

This article aims to explain the failure of US-North Korea’s denuclearization negotiation in 2019. There has not been research on this topic. In general, existing literature proposes four factors that explain the failure of international negotiation, namely, actor, structure, strategy, and process. This article contributes to existing literature by adding another variable in explaining diplomatic failure. Using Charles Kupchan’s concept of unilateral accommodation, this article argues that the failure of US-North Korea’s denuclearization negotiation in 2019 is caused by the failure at the unilateral accommodation stage due to US distrust over North Korean’s commitment in dismantling its nuclear program. Despite the fact that North Korea has sent a positive signal to the US – for example by destroying its nuclear facilities and returning US prisoners of war and soldiers’ body – the US remains unfazed. This article demonstrates that the negotiation process is largely determined by the first stage in which each party gives concessions in order to create mutual trust.

Race matters: cardiovascular disease risk in male US prisoners

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): NIH/National Institute of Nursing Research, 1RC2NR011948 Introduction Approximately 10% of the 2.2 million prisoners in the US have a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and in 2016, 28% of all deaths in custody were attributable to CVD. Black race, inadequate health literacy, and poor perceived control are predictors of increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, which are prevalent in prisoners. However, little is known about the relationships among race, health literacy, and perceived control in CVD risk for male prisoners. Objective The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among race, health literacy, perceived control, and CVD risk while controlling for well-known risk factors (education, partner status, and body mass index) in male prisoners. Methods We used baseline data from 349 male prisoners in a biobehavioral CVD risk reduction intervention. Health literacy was measured using the Newest Vital Sign and perceived control by the Control Attitudes Scale- Revised. CVD risk was quantified with the Framingham Risk Score (FRS). Three indirect effects of race on CVD risk were examined using serial mediation model with two sequential mediators (i.e., health literacy and perceived control) and 95% confidence intervals from 5000 bootstrap samples. Results Of the participants (mean age = 36 + 10 years), 64.2% were white and 35.8% were black. Mean education level was 12 years and most (85.8%) were not married or partnered. Mean BMI was 28.3 + 5.0. Mean FRS was 6.63 + 4.90, indicating risk percentages of 2.3 to 13.3% over the next ten years. Black prisoners were younger (35 + 9 versus 37 + 10, p = .047) and had lower levels of health literacy (3.84 + 1.90 versus 4.69 + 1.63, p < .001) than white prisoners. No statistically significant differences in perceived control, education, partner status, or body mass index were noted between races. All three indirect effects of race on CVD were significant while the direct effect of race was not. Compared to white prisoners, black prisoners had higher levels of CVD risk through health literacy (a1b1 = .3571, 95% CI [.0948, .7162]) and lower levels of CVD risk through perceived control (a2b2 = -.1855, 95% CI [-.4388, -.0077]). Black prisoners had higher levels of CVD risk through health literacy influenced by perceived control (a1b2d21 = .0627, 95% CI [.0028, .1409]) indicating that despite the protective effect of higher levels of perceived control in black prisoners, CVD risk remained higher compared to their white counterparts. Conclusion Future CVD risk reduction interventions in prisoners of all races, but specifically black male prisoners, should include goals of improving health literacy and perceived control in addition to the traditional modifiable risk factors often included in biobehavioral interventions.

Cold Blood

AbstractThis article historicizes viral transmissions through the global supply chain of blood plasma between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Since the 1941 initiation of plasma donation to serve US armed forces, privately exported US blood products have contributed significantly to a globalized industry, valuing $21 billion in sales by 2017. Although maintaining a blood surplus has been crucial for treating illnesses and traumatic injuries, blood banking has been a source for massive viral transmissions, including HIV and hepatitis C. Examining the news, activism, and state responses to blood-borne outbreaks across the United States and PRC, this essay outlines a constellation of viral infections derived from plasma coerced from US prisoners and PRC rural villagers. Viruses archive the structural violences of the global pharmaceutical and blood biotechnology industries. They point to the cyclical relations between persistent class-based racial and ethnic disparities, technoscientific experimentation, and viral epidemics across polities.

US Prisoners of War in Hiroshima: A 40-Year Investigative Journey of a Japanese Atomic-Bomb Survivor

ABSTRACTShigeaki Mori was an eight-year-old child living in Hiroshima when the United States attacked the city with an atomic bomb on 6 August 1945. In this interview, Mori recalls his experience of the bombing. One of the most memorable scenes for him is the cremation of victims in the playground of an elementary school. Thirty years after the bombing, he decided to begin research on the number of cremated corpses in the school. Later, he also conducted an investigation of US prisoners of war who happened to be detained in Hiroshima and experienced the atomic bombing. So far, he has identified 12 US soldiers who were killed by the bomb. In this interview, Mori looks back on how difficult his investigation was. But his efforts bore fruit. President Barack Obama invited him to the speech that the US leader delivered in the Hiroshima Peace Park in May 2016. In the final part of the interview, Mori shares with readers his encounter with the president, his visit to the United States in 2018, and his views on recent developments in nuclear issues.

Sex differences in traumatic events and psychiatric morbidity associated to probable posttraumatic stress disorder among Latino prisoners

Latinos comprised 17.1% of the U.S. population and 33.1% of US prisoners, yet they are underrepresented in the psychopathology literature. Despite higher rates of trauma among incarcerated individuals than in the general population, most of the previous research in this area focused primarily on women samples, and very few studies examined sex differences in PTSD and traumatic experiences. In addition, there is a need for research assessing traumatic experiences and probable PTSD in men and women Latino inmates to inform culturally competent care and sex sensitive care for this vulnerable and underserved population. Our study examined whether men and women Latino inmates with probable Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), based on the cut off 40 or more symptoms on the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS), differed significantly by the number of event types experienced, the type of potentially traumatizing event, and in co-occurring psychiatric conditions. A multi-stage sample design was used to select a probabilistic sample of 1,331 inmates from 26 penal institutions in PR of which 1179 participated in the study. Bivariate associations were calculated for each type of traumatic event and probable PTSD. Mean number of types of potentially traumatizing event experienced was comparable for both sexes (F = 3.83, M = 3.74) yet sex differences were found in the nature of the event. Women with probable PTSD had higher rates of experiencing rape and sexual abuse. Men had higher rates of experiencing combat in war, a life-threatening accident, of witnessing violence, and being threatened with a weapon. Men with significant ADHD symptoms in childhood and with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) during adulthood were almost 5 and 7 times as likely to score above threshold on the DTS whereas women were >3 times as likely in the presence of ADHD symptoms in childhood or depression during adulthood. This study underscores the need to improve understanding of the clinical manifestations of trauma and co-occurring psychiatric conditions for appropriate sex sensitive interventions targeting Latinos living in prisons.

Determinants and measurement of smart growth: evidence from Poland

This article aims to explain the failure of US-North Korea’s denuclearization negotiation in 2019. There has not been research on this topic. In general, existing literature proposes four factors that explain the failure of international negotiation, namely, actor, structure, strategy, and process. This article contributes to existing literature by adding another variable in explaining diplomatic failure. Using Charles Kupchan’s concept of unilateral accommodation, this article argues that the failure of US-North Korea’s denuclearization negotiation in 2019 is caused by the failure at the unilateral accommodation stage due to US distrust over North Korean’s commitment in dismantling its nuclear program. Despite the fact that North Korea has sent a positive signal to the US – for example by destroying its nuclear facilities and returning US prisoners of war and soldiers’ body – the US remains unfazed. This article demonstrates that the negotiation process is largely determined by the first stage in which each party gives concessions in order to create mutual trust.

DDAs unavailable to many US prisoners with HCV

DDAs unavailable to many US prisoners with HCV

The Rationales for the First Joint Accounting Efforts for US Prisoners of War/Missing in Action in Laos: A Lao Perspective

This article outlines the reasons behind the Lao People's Democratic Republic's (LPDR) decision to reach agreement with the United States in 1985 for the purposes of initiating joint efforts to account for US Prisoners of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) lost in Laos during the Vietnam War. The article attempts to explain why LPDR's domestic security concerns, as well as the government's desire to demonstrate autonomous decision-making in the conduct of the country's foreign policy, were the two main drivers of the 1985 agreement. Domestic concerns arose from the perceived threat of violence from American-supported Thai-based anti-LPDR resistance groups and private groups entering Laos illegally in search of alleged live POWs. (1) Moreover, the LPDR required from the United States mutual respect for its independent foreign policy-making: in other words, the LPDR wanted to be seen as acting as an independent sovereign entity in handling the POW/MIA issue. For the purposes of this article, sovereignty is broadly defined as state's ability to control actors and activities within and across its border (2) and to project authoritative decision-making. (3) As regards the LPDR's sovereignty concerns, the operationalization of this concept is relatively unexplored in studies pertaining to the POW/MIA issue. Examining the LPDR's sovereignty concerns enables one to better understand Lao's role in POW/MIA negotiations; a role that is clearly marginalized, given that it is the concerns and viewpoints of American scholars and policymakers that dominate the discourse. The Secret in Laos and the POW/MIA Issue Before examining the 1985 US-LPDR agreement, it is useful to briefly recount the activities of the United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV or North Vietnam) in Laos during the Vietnam War. (4) Although prohibited by the 1962 Geneva Accords --which supposedly legalized the neutrality and independence of the Kingdom of Laos--both the United States and North Vietnam secretly conducted military activities against each other inside Laotian territory. On one side, the United States conducted covert military operations, including an extensive air campaign, to disrupt and destroy North Vietnam's logistical supply lines--known colloquially as the Ho Chi Minh Trail--which ran through parts of Laos. On the other side, North Vietnam supported the communist Pathet Lao forces which aimed to overthrow the US-supported Royal Lao Government (RLG). (5) This secret war in Laos ended in December 1975 when the Pathet Lao took control of the country and renamed it the LPDR. Although US military personnel were supposed to have been active in Laos during the Vietnam War, the US Department of Defense (DoD) recorded 575 men as Missing in Action (MIA) in Laos as revealed in Table 1 below. Table 1 shows the number of American MIAs from the Vietnam in four countries--Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and China--and the record of repatriation and identification which is conducted by DoD's Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. Data for those lost in Laos is recorded under Americans Lost in the Vietnam War rather than the secret war in Laos. Since the 1985 agreement, the US government has tried to resolve the 575 MIA cases in the LPDR. Between 1985 and 2015, 135 joint field activities were conducted in Laos. According to the DPAA, only 270 cases, or less than half, including 23 no further pursuit category, (6) have been repatriated and identified. Presently, approximately 50 US personnel, together with their Lao counterparts, conduct four joint field activities each year in the LPDR. The origins of the joint US-LPDR accounting efforts are still little understood. This is surprising given the continued importance to Washington of the on-going field excavations, and counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism cooperation between the United States and LPDR, (7) as well as the need to better understand the background of the current bilateral relationship. …

PENGHORMATAN PRINSIP-PRINSIP KEMANUSIAAN TERHADAP TAWANAN PERANG DALAM KONFLIK BERSENJATA MENURUT KONVENSI JENEWA III TAHUN 1949 (Studi Kasus Penyiksaan Tawanan Perang AS Di Penjara Guantanamo)

Humanitarian principle aims to protect and ensure respect for the human. This research uses a normative, and the research also applies a descriptive-analytical approach to examine and analyse the research questions of the thesis. In doing so, this research uses a secondary data, These legal materials are subsequently analysed using a qualitative juridical approach.The results showed that the First, the concept of legal protection of prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention III 1949 indicates that the combatants who have the status of 'hors de combat' must be protected and respected in all circumstances. Tribute in the form of an obligation not to commit acts harmful, do not aggravate the situation, and do not kill people who are protected. Penahanpun state obligation to prevent harm and damage; Second, implementation of the Geneva Convention III 1949 against US prisoners of war in Guantanamo is not optimal. This happens because of differences in the interpretation of the Articles in International Humanitarian Law so as to cause the indication practices inhumane treatment, no legal protection, not considered welfare and not related to the outside world at Guantanamo will be undertaken by the US military guards. Keywords: Respect, Humanity, Prisoner of War, Armed Conflict, Guantanamo

Mental Health of Prisoners: Identifying Barriers to Mental Health Treatment and Medication Continuity

We assessed mental health screening and medication continuity in a nationally representative sample of US prisoners. We obtained data from 18 185 prisoners interviewed in the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities. We conducted survey logistic regressions with Stata version 13. About 26% of the inmates were diagnosed with a mental health condition at some point during their lifetime, and a very small proportion (18%) were taking medication for their condition(s) on admission to prison. In prison, more than 50% of those who were medicated for mental health conditions at admission did not receive pharmacotherapy in prison. Inmates with schizophrenia were most likely to receive pharmacotherapy compared with those presenting with less overt conditions (e.g., depression). This lack of treatment continuity is partially attributable to screening procedures that do not result in treatment by a medical professional in prison. A substantial portion of the prison population is not receiving treatment for mental health conditions. This treatment discontinuity has the potential to affect both recidivism and health care costs on release from prison.

Risk of Incarceration and Other Characteristics of Iraq and Afghanistan Era Veterans in State and Federal Prisons

The Health Care for Reentry Veterans (HCRV) program provides Veterans Health Administration outreach services to veterans incarcerated in state and federal prisons. This study used HCRV data to compare risk of incarceration of veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom (OEF), Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and New Dawn (OND) and other veterans and to identify sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of incarcerated veterans of OEF/OIF/OND. Administrative national data were analyzed for 30,968 incarcerated veterans, including 1,201 OEF/OIF/OND veterans, contacted from October 2007 to April 2011. Odds ratios were calculated comparing the risk of incarceration among OEF/OIF/OND and other veterans in the HCRV sample and in a weighted sample of nonincarcerated veterans from the 2010 National Survey of Veterans. Stepwise logistic regressions of HCRV data examined characteristics of incarcerated veterans independently associated with OEF/OIF/OND service. Regardless of ethnicity or age, OEF/OIF/OND veterans were less than half as likely as other veterans to be incarcerated and constituted only 3.9% of the incarcerated veterans. Compared with other incarcerated veterans, OEF/OIF/OND veterans were younger, were more likely to be married, were more likely to report combat exposure, expected a shorter incarceration, were 26% less likely to have a diagnosis of drug abuse or dependence, and were three times more likely to have combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). OEF/OIF/OND veterans appeared to be at lower risk of incarceration than veterans of other service eras, but those who were incarcerated had higher rates of PTSD. Efforts to link these veterans to mental health services upon their release are warranted.

Putting a price on prisoner release: The history of bail and a possible future of parole

In this article, we argue that the history of bail foretells the future of parole. Under a plan called the Conditional Post-Conviction Release Bond Act (recently passed into law in three states), US prisoners can secure early release only after posting ‘post-conviction bail’. As with pre-trial bail, the fledgling model would require prisoners to pay a percentage of the bail amount to secure their release under the contractual responsibility of a commercial bail agency. If release conditions are breached, bounty hunters are legally empowered to seize and return the parolee to prison. Our inquiry outlines the origins of this post-conviction bond plan and the research upon which it is based. Drawing on the ‘new penology’ framework, we identify several underlying factors that make for a ripe advocacy environment and set the stage for widespread state-level adoption of this plan in the near future. Post-conviction bail fits squarely within the growing policy trends toward privatization, managerialism, and actuarial justice. Most importantly, though, advocates have the benefit of precedent on their side, as most US states have long relied on a system of commercial bail bonding and private bounty hunting to manage conditional pretrial release.

Teaching & Learning Guide for: ‘Basic Challenges to Prisoner Reentry’

Teaching & Learning Guide for: ‘Basic Challenges to Prisoner Reentry’

PRIOR REPORTS OF MEDICAL PROBLEMS AMONG INMATES

In the article “The Health and Health Care of US Prisoners: Results of a Nationwide Survey,” Wilper et al. state, “We are not aware of any study analyzing the prevalence of common chronic conditions or of access to medical and psychiatric care among the incarcerated population as a whole.”1(p666) We believe that readers should be aware of L. M. Maruschak's 2006 study, “Medical Problems of Jail Inmates,”2 and her 2008 report, “Medical Problems of Prisoners.”3 Also, D. J. James and L. E. Glaze coauthored a study, “Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates,” in 2006.4 These 3 publications presented analyses of data from 2 Bureau of Justice Statistics surveys, “Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2004” and “Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, 2002” (available at http://www.icpr.umich.edu/NACJD/ncrpc), which were the 2 data sources used by Wilper et al. Also, it would be helpful for the authors to clarify whether they believe that the figure they cite of twelve million annual releasees from jails and prisons represents unique persons or reflects some persons passing through institutions more than once in a one-year period.

The Health and Health Care of US Prisoners: Results of a Nationwide Survey

We analyzed the prevalence of chronic illnesses, including mental illness, and access to health care among US inmates. We used the 2002 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails and the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities to analyze disease prevalence and clinical measures of access to health care for inmates. Among inmates in federal prisons, state prisons, and local jails, 38.5% (SE = 2.2%), 42.8% (SE = 1.1%), and 38.7% (SE = 0.7%), respectively, suffered a chronic medical condition. Among inmates with a mental condition ever treated with a psychiatric medication, only 25.5% (SE = 7.5%) of federal, 29.6% (SE = 2.8%) of state, and 38.5% (SE = 1.5%) of local jail inmates were taking a psychiatric medication at the time of arrest, whereas 69.1% (SE = 4.8%), 68.6% (SE = 1.9%), and 45.5% (SE = 1.6%) were on a psychiatric medication after admission. Many inmates with a serious chronic physical illness fail to receive care while incarcerated. Among inmates with mental illness, most were off their treatments at the time of arrest. Improvements are needed both in correctional health care and in community mental health services that might prevent crime and incarceration.

Prisoners signify: a political discourse analysis of mental illness in a prison control unit

Increasingly, US prisoners diagnosed with mental illness are housed in control units, the most restrictive form of confinement in the US prison system. This situation has led to intense debate over the legal, ethical and clinical status of mental illness. This is a semiotic struggle with profound effects, yet most related work treats mental illness as a neutral, individual variable. Few analyses locate mental illness within a larger sociopolitical context. Fewer still focus on discursive practice. None critically analyze the accounts of control unit prisoners, who talk about extreme marginality and risk for victimization. This paper has two aims: (i) to develop a systematic method of analysis that accounts for signification as discourse-in-action; and (ii) to show how prisoners' signification of mental illness articulates agency through and against marginalizing discourse. Political discourse analysis demonstrates how control unit prisoners with psychiatric diagnoses signify mental illness, and articulate safer identifications in the process.

Prisoners' Positive Illusions of Their Post-Release Success.

Prisoners' forecasts of post-release success may have implications for how they respond to imprisonment, release, and parole decisions. We examined sentenced US and UK prisoners' forecasts of recidivism, and how well UK prisoners believed they would fare compared to the average other prisoner. In both samples, forecasts of recidivism were unrealistically optimistic when compared to official statistics on recidivism. UK prisoners also demonstrated a self-enhancement bias by forecasting that they were less likely to re-offend than other prisoners. Prisoners' forecasts of recidivism were predicted by only a few of the pre-prison, in-prison, and post-prison factors that have been shown to be associated with actual recidivism. We discuss the implications of these findings and propose avenues for future research.