Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Massachusetts Community Mediation Center Grant Program: Fiscal Year 2022 Report & Evaluation, Madhawa Palihapitiya

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

The FY2022 evaluation report prepared by MOPC for the tenth year of the Grant Program operations confirms that the state’s FY2022 appropriation of $2.7 million[1]continued to strengthen community mediation center operations statewide, expanded public awareness and utilization of community mediation, and maintained critical public programs focused on housing stability, youth empowerment, reducing recidivism and building capacity for diversity, equity and inclusion for center practices and services, while producing significant social and economic impacts, including a $22.1 million return on the state’s investment in cost-savings and leveraged resources. This impact demonstrates the public value and cost-effectiveness of this local …

Exploring Perceptions Of Control Within Offender Cognition And Recidivism Paradigms, Anistasha H. Lightning, Danielle Polage

Student Published Works

Elements of perceived control are associated with recidivism in offender populations. We investigated the application of locus of control to the frequency of personal involvement with the law and to beliefs surrounding the likelihood of future contact with the legal system. We hypothesized that, as the number of sentencings or legal experiences increased, locus of control would externalize. We also predicted that increased legal involvement would lead to greater belief in the likelihood of future involvement. A statistically significant path model suggests that locus of control appears to be a predictor of increased criminality, as opposed to the other way …

Incarcerated Mothers And Their Children's Caregivers: How Their Relationship Impacts The Mother-Child Relationship, Jodi Simmons Ford

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Mass incarceration has impacted much of the population in the United States over the last several decades. One of the most significantly impacted groups is women. Over half of incarcerated women are mothers. Mothers are typically the primary caregiver of their children at the time of their incarceration, and most want to maintain a relationship and have contact with their children throughout their incarceration. However, the children’s caregiver controls their relationship and contact with their incarcerated mother. The primary purpose of this research was to examine how the incarcerated mother’s relationship with her children’s caregiver impacts her relationship with her …

Faith-Based Addiction Treatment Programs And The Drug Courts, Christopher J. Boosey

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

Addiction treatment programs are a major part of the Drug Courts system as under this system, addiction treatment and rehabilitation are used in an attempt to address the root causes of crime with the intent to reducing recidivism rates. Trends in research are beginning to show that faith-based addiction treatment programs are more effective than comparable secular programs. However, there are constitutional issues that prevent these programs being awarded by the drug courts without a comparable, secular alternative. This essay reviews relevant research on the comparable efficacy of faith-based and secular addiction programs and the constitutional issues related to the …

Rise Up Industries And The Challenge Of Reentry For Formerly Incarcerated Individuals, Andrew Blum

Kroc IPJ Research and Resources

Rise Up Industries provides reentry services and support to formerly incarcerated individuals who were previously in gangs through an intensive job training program, offered alongside a holistic set of support services. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice Executive Director, Andrew Blum, provides a deeper understanding of this approach and the results it has produced to date, while situating it in the context of other initiatives focused on reentry and reducing recidivism.

This case study concludes that RUI’s reentry program is a promising approach and likely makes a small-scale contribution to solving a very hard problem – successfully fostering the reentry …

Mental Illness, Substance Use, And Co-Occurring Disorders Among Jail Inmates: Prevalence, Recidivism, And Gender Differences, Nicky Dalbir, Emily M. Wright, Benjamin Steiner

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Mental illnesses, substance use, and their co-occurrence are significant predictors of maladaptive outcomes such as aggression, criminal behavior, and recidivism. These problems are theorized to be more prevalent and problematic among female inmates than male inmates and may be more relevant in jail settings. However, few studies have examined the relationship between these factors, including gender differences among the jail population. This study seeks to fill these gaps by examining – a) the prevalence of these problems, b) their effects on recidivism, and c) gender differences in these relationships – among jail inmates. Results indicate that mental illness significantly increased …

Beyond The Revolving Door: Reducing The Risks Of Recidivism So African American Male Youth Not Only Survive But Thrive, Kristy O. Yanney

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

This capstone project aims to reduce the recidivism rates for Black male youth. With 20 years of professional experience in law enforcement, and through the research and literature of this project, I have found that environmental influences contribute to the arrest, incarceration, and rearrest of African American juvenile offenders. These youth are often forced to figure out how to survive in environments that provide tremendous challenges. Adverse childhood experiences, the influence of gangs, poverty, rising rates of violence, lack of quality educational or employment opportunities, substance abuse, and negative family influences are some of the environmental factors that will be …

Combating Recidivism, Shaylin Daley

Senior Honors Projects

SHAYLIN DALEY (Psychology) Combating Recidivism Sponsor: Lisa Holley (Political Science) Many people believe that criminals cannot be helped. It is evident that at least some of society shuns people who break laws and have negative views about the amount of money spent on detaining inmates. Thousands of individuals are released from United States prisons a day. Many of these individuals have no plan in place for their return home and are sent into the streets with nothing except for a jail ID. Most of these people will end up returning to prison. A good sum of these people face problems …

The Privatization Of The Prison System In The United States: A Comparative Study Of Rehabilitative Resources, Wendi Witherell

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Facing high rates of mass incarceration and prison overcrowding, the United States of America seems to believe that the privatization of its prison system could be a viable solution to the aforementioned problems. Despite the increased incarceration rates of the past few decades, the gradual privatization of the prison system is an understudied area. It is therefore important to understand the rationale behind the movement away from the public sector toward the private sector. This cross-sectional study adopted three theoretical approaches—Models of Incarceration Theory, Political Explanation Theory, and Overcrowding Theory—in an attempt to determine such rationale. It was hypothesized there …

Impacts Of Post-Incarceration Programming For Women's Lives And Local Communities, Megan Greenslade

Sociology and Criminology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Previous research on reentry programming has focused mostly on male inmates and less attention is given to female inmates. In Arkansas, where female reentry rates have recently increased, research is needed to add to the conversation surrounding effective programming for previously justice-involved women, its impact on their lives and behaviors, and how this can influence the likelihood of recidivism. This qualitative study also aims to discover whether reentry programming can have a positive impact on the local community. Residents and staff at a local Northwest Arkansas transitional housing facility for previously justice-involved women were interviewed to analyze the effects of …

Participant Perceptions Of Project Rebound: A Qualitative Study, Martin Johnson

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Many formerly incarcerated (FI) individuals choose education to increase the chances of success and lower recidivism. Various interventions like mentoring and reentry programs help alleviate challenges and promote the success of FI students. One reentry program that offers educational and case management services to FI students is Project Rebound (PR). An initiative of the California State University system, PR seeks to enhance student success through support and connections with campus and community resources. However, there is a lack of research on PR's effectiveness. This study attempted to fill this literature gap by exploring the question: How do Project Rebound participants …

Youth Empowerment: Case Study And Learning Strategy, Andrew Blum, Nohelia Ramos

Kroc IPJ Research and Resources

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is invested in preventing violence and reducing recidivism. To achieve these objectives, PSN has committed to supporting lived experience mentoring, often called credible messenger mentoring, through grants made to community organizations in San Diego and Imperial Counties.

This document consists of two separate research products that align with these two objectives. The first is a case study of Youth Empowerment. The case study has several goals: first, to document the work of Youth Empowerment and allow others to learn in a detailed way about lived experience programming; second, to place the …

Evaluating The New York State Bail Reform Act: What Impact Does It Have On Law Enforcement?, Nicholas Cole

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

No abstract provided.

Reformation Within The Nation: Adapting The Nordic Rehabilitation And Reintegration Model To Positively Recondition The United States Criminal Justice System, Jessica Cornell

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

An analytical and statistical based comparison of criminal sentencing, incarceration, rehabilitation and reintegration in the United States of America to those of the five countries which follows those of the Nordic Criminal Justice System.

Stigma Towards Offenders Diagnosed With Mental Illness, Christina N. Yocca

Student Theses

Mental health stigma is a key factor to what makes members of the community who are diagnosed with mental illness feel like outcasts to the “normal” population. This study investigated the relationship between right-winged beliefs and offenders diagnosed with mental illness. Sigma as it relates to mental health, offenders, and right-winged beliefs have been studied separately before, but there is a lack of information on the stigma that the public has towards offenders who struggle with their mental health and the possible predictors of stigma towards this group. Overall, this study aimed to further research in the intersectionality of stigmatized …

The Significance Of Trauma In The Relationship Between Co-Occurring Disorders And Recidivism Among Participants Of A Community Mental Health's Jail Diversion Program, Emily A. Schott

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Abstract Individuals with a psychiatric diagnosis have higher levels of criminal justice involvement compared to the general population. Multiple programs have been developed through grant monies utilizing various models to allow these individuals to be linked to mental health services in the community for the treatment of symptoms which may contribute to recidivism. These programs are designed to provide an encounter with mental health professionals who collaborate with law enforcement and other agencies to intercept these individuals at various points of justice involvement and possibly prevent further entanglements with the legal system. This study explores how trauma may impact justice …

The Family Connection: Examining The Transitional Impact On Family Members Of Returning Citizens Reentering Society, Leon Rankins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to define and measure more extensively the personal barriers of family members of returning citizens recently released from incarceration in the United States. Also sought was examining the returning citizen's family members' perspectives of their issues relating to their loved ones in the reintegration process and how their challenges and barriers impacted their desire to provide transitional support to the returning citizen. The theory guiding this study is Bowen's family system theory as it suggests that individuals cannot be understood in isolation from one another, but rather as a part of their …

The Relationship Between Shame Proneness And Guilt Proneness, Counseling, And Recidivism In Incarcerated Individuals, Tristin Corrine Galvez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The growing rate of individuals being incarcerated is an ongoing concern within the United States, and more so with an increase in recidivism rates. Shame and guilt are two forms of emotions that can occur due to multiple factors that could influence recidivism. Each emotion can have a different effect on an individual depending on the incident that occurred. Jails and prisons have been seen as a lucrative business that fails to provide the necessary services to reduce recidivism. Counseling could be utilized as an intervention for individuals who are currently or previously incarcerated. Having counseling in place can help …

Blurring The "Bright Line": Examining Age-Related Differences In Jail Incarceration Outcomes Using A Resources-Challenges Model Of Emerging Adulthood, Olive F. Lu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Jail incarceration represents an early and prevalent point of contact with the criminal legal system. While there is some evidence of age-related differences in jail incarceration outcomes such as rearrest and reconvictions, existing research typically only make comparisons between adults and adolescents. This bifurcation ignores the unique experiences of a third group: emerging adults aged 18 to 25. Evidence from developmental research combined with shifting social and cultural dynamics suggest that 18-25-year-olds, though adults by law, straddle the line between adolescence and adulthood while facing challenges that set them apart.

The current study incorporates a resources-challenges framework of emerging adulthood …

Restorative Justice And Recidivism In Formerly Incarcerated Women, Alfeia B. Devaughn-Goodwin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study explored the experiences of nonviolent women offenders over the age of 50 of all ethnicities who were formerly incarcerated and their involvement with restorative justice and recidivism from a public policy perspective. Although there was prior research on reentry of ex-offenders, the problem was that few studies focused on the barriers and success factors of reentry services for older female ex-offenders 50 years or older. The purpose of the study was to explore restorative justice and recidivism in formerly incarcerated women who were nonviolent offenders in an East Coast state with a focus on the barriers and success …

Positive Psychology - A Cross-Cultural Comparison Of Correctional Systems, Denitsa Kaneva

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This paper analyzes and compares the effectiveness of the correctional systems in the United States of America and Europe, with some emphasis on Scandinavia. To make the comparison, I looked at previous research on the correctional systems in the United States and Europe. I reviewed articles from PsycInfo EBSCO Host and Google Scholar. The main points of comparison used are recidivism rates and rehabilitation services offered by the prisons in different countries. The results of this comparison show that countries that offer better rehabilitation services in the prison system, like Scandinavian countries, have lower recidivism rates than the United States, …

The Need For Belonging For Previously Incarcerated Probationers, Alaina Elam

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research on offender rehabilitation has primarily focused on providing those who are incarcerated with programs and resources to mitigate the circumstances that would lead to recidivism. There is an absence of research on how the need for belonging could reduce recidivism in probationers. Recidivism remains a social problem for many U.S. communities, as those being released are not properly equipped for their transition. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of probationers regarding their transition into their community, recidivism, and their need for belonging. As individual fulfillment and human motivation were examined, Maslow’s self-actualization …

Correctional Education And Response To Prison Reentry Of African American Men, Robert Reddick

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is limited knowledge of how correctional education programs prepare rural African American men for reentry into society after incarceration. The purpose of this study was to learn how young, rural African American men between the ages of 20 to 30 years perceived their experiences of technical correctional education programs and how such programs aided in reducing recidivism during their reentry process from incarceration. This qualitative study was guided by the institutional theory which purported that correctional education should be based on the population served and not on mirroring other institutions. Using a qualitative phenomenological design, data were collected from …

An Evaluation Of The County Of Santa Clara’S Reentry Alcohol And Drug Studies Peer Mentor Program, Sarah Oliveira

Master's Projects

In the United States, incarceration rates have increased dramatically over the last three decades, soaring above any other country. Significant factors contributing to the increase include changes in sentencing laws and policies that target drug-related offenders and prioritize punishment over rehabilitation. Strict sentencing laws have led to mass incarceration, which has caused severe prison overcrowding and led to the infringement of fundamental human rights in prisons (Gottesdiener, 2011).

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, approximately 600,000 individuals are released from federal and state prisons each year (Carson, 2018). In California, an estimated one in three adults has an arrest …

Society’S Perception Of Former Offender’S Impact On Housing Accommodation Options, Fealita Kimbre Prunty

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study was designed to explore United States societal members’ perception of the term offender and crime type concerning post-incarceration housing accommodations in the United States. Housing is an essential need for offenders re-entering society and can contribute to recidivism rates. The purpose of this study was to explore United States adult societal members’ perception of the term offender and crime type concerning post-incarceration housing accommodations in the United States. This study included a parallel mixed-method design inspired by Teddlie and Tashakkori. The theoretical framework incorporated Becker’s labeling theory. This study examined the United States adult societal members’ perception of …

Juvenile Recidivism Risk Factors From The Juvenile Justice Professional Perspective, Fotini Stamidis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Juvenile crime and recidivism have devastated Baltimore City, Maryland, especially in the quality of life and social bond, producing fear in the city’s communities. The current situation is increasing the need to promote a better understanding of juvenile recidivism and delinquency of the risk factors causing juveniles to re-offend. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to add to the knowledge base on juvenile recidivism risk factors from the perspectives of juvenile justice professionals. Hirschi’s social bond theory was used to explore juvenile justice professionals’ experiences and perspectives on recidivism risk factors. Research questions focused on the perceptions of …

Relationships Between Social Bonds And Non-Reoffender Status Among Female Offenders, Tiffinny Beard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe purpose of this quantitative longitudinal correlational study was to examine whether positive social bonds with caring, supportive family, prosocial peers, and spouses/partners were significantly predictive of non-reoffender status using archival data from a sample of female offenders who were under community supervision in the state of Michigan during the years 2011–2014. The study had three interval predictor variables: positive social bonds with family, prosocial peers, and spouse/partner. The dichotomous criterion variable was recidivism (i.e., reoffending within a three-year period). The study sample was 325 female offenders on probation or parole in Michigan during the years of 2011–2014. Most of …

Juvenile Recidivism Risk Factors From The Juvenile Justice Professional Perspective, Fotini Stamidis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Juvenile crime and recidivism have devastated Baltimore City, Maryland, especially in the quality of life and social bond, producing fear in the city’s communities. The current situation is increasing the need to promote a better understanding of juvenile recidivism and delinquency of the risk factors causing juveniles to re-offend. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to add to the knowledge base on juvenile recidivism risk factors from the perspectives of juvenile justice professionals. Hirschi’s social bond theory was used to explore juvenile justice professionals’ experiences and perspectives on recidivism risk factors. Research questions focused on the perceptions of …

The Statistical Significance Of Juvenile Delinquency And Learning Disabilities, Collette Erica Scandrett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Juvenile delinquency and recidivism have been consistent issues that seem to continually produce substantial numbers. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine learning disabilities among juveniles and determine their statistical significance to delinquency and recidivism. Durkheim’s theory of anomie and Merton’s anomie/strain theory were used as the theoretical framework to guide the study. Archived cases for 15,900 juveniles, 2,633 of whom were learning disabled, were collected from the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and the South Carolina Department of Education. To provide additional context, age, race, and sex were also analyzed. Chi-square tests were used to analyze …

Important Aspects To Women’S Re-Integration: Positive Influences On Women’S Reentry Experience After Being Released From Prison, Sarah A. Benson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Researchers can analyze statistics of recidivism rates and decipher that they are at an alarming rate—specifically regarding women convicts. The population of women in prison has drastically increased, and with that, so have their recidivism rates. Analyzing statistical data of incarceration and recidivism can show us the numbers, but what is the reason? Why do some women struggle to stay out of prison? I argued that one reason is because women who are released from prison are severely underprepared to reintegrate back into society and, are therefore, set up for failure. Previous studies suggest that reentry programs, education programs, relationships …