Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Jumpstart: A Biblically Based Program That Helps Reduce Recidivism, Michael Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The following project was developed to enhance the materials used in the Jumpstart program by implementing a daily journal that incorporates spiritual disciplines, S.M.A.R.T Goals, and relational accountability while augmenting spiritual growth that will help reduce recidivism. This professional dissertation provides a compelling theological and theoretical justification for implementing the daily journal, along with the project's details, processes, and outcomes.

Addressing Barriers To Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Massachusetts Community Mediation, Madhawa Palihapitiya, Jarling Ho, Shino Yokotsuka, Karina Zeferino

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

This report presents over three years of systematically engaging, documenting and analyzing the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) needs/gaps and assets of state funded community mediation centers in Massachusetts. The report was compiled by researchers and an in-house DEI expert at the statutory state office of dispute resolution, the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The office has been serving as a neutral forum and state-level resource for over 30 years.

The report is based on qualitative research that falls into the category of community based participatory research conducted through a series of community …

Jailhouse Religion: A Study On The Perceived Effects Of Religious Prison Rehabilitation That Affects Recidivism, William George Bumphus Iii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study focused on the relationship between Christian programming to prisoners and their lives when released into society. During this study, several men from The Jesus House ministry location were observed and interviewed on the lives they now lead after getting saved or finding Christ while in prison and being released to a faith-based aftercare facility. This study examined the mission and vision leaders of this ministry believed while interviewing participants and staff about their personal stories, and why they chose to help ex-offenders reintegrate into society. Furthermore, this study investigated the current rehabilitation programming to see where Christian programming …

Purloined Significance: How Recidivism Algorithms Capture, Transform, And Automate Our Intersubjective Unconscious As Data, Macy Mcdonald

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Ever since ProPublica published their groundbreaking analysis of Northpointe’s Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions Core Risk and Needs Assessment software (COMPAS) in 2016, this web-based decision support system (DSS) has spawned a wide range of critiques and charges of racial bias. COMPAS provides a full suite of decision support applications to the US prison-industrial complex, including algorithmically derived recidivism predictions that increasingly guide parole decisions. The larger conversation surrounding COMPAS raises the question of how we analyze powerful, and yet opaque, data assemblages. In this article, I model an allegorical analysis of data assemblages. I argue the skills …

The Experiences Of Successful Formerly Incarcerated African American Males, Bernice Gordon-Young

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American men are incarcerated at alarming rates and often recidivate at high rates within 3 years. Researchers have demonstrated that recidivism rates last through years 4 and beyond. There is limited qualitative data to provide strategies from formerly incarcerated African American males who have been successful at not recidivating for 10 or more years after their release. The purpose of this Afrocentric-hermeneutic phenomenological study was to bridge the gap in the literature and explore the lived experiences of African American males who were formerly incarcerated and have positively changed their lives to avoid further criminality. A purposeful and snowball …

The Experiences Of Successful Formerly Incarcerated African American Males, Bernice Gordon-Young

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American men are incarcerated at alarming rates and often recidivate at high rates within 3 years. Researchers have demonstrated that recidivism rates last through years 4 and beyond. There is limited qualitative data to provide strategies from formerly incarcerated African American males who have been successful at not recidivating for 10 or more years after their release. The purpose of this Afrocentric-hermeneutic phenomenological study was to bridge the gap in the literature and explore the lived experiences of African American males who were formerly incarcerated and have positively changed their lives to avoid further criminality. A purposeful and snowball …

Breaking | Grounding | Growing: Expanding The Rhode Island Gardening Reentry Programs As A Pathway Towards Stability, Juliana Soltys

Masters Theses

What happens to the over two million people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails?

Changing in sentencing laws and policies have created a cycle of imprisonment, racially isolating and oppressing BIPOC communities. Reintegration and reentry programs are an avenue to break the cycle of recidivism. Through my work, I have developed hands-on, structured opportunities for justice-involved adults to rebuild a life for themselves by increasing the accessibility of gardening reentry programs. This project creates a space for mentorship and support for Rhode Island’s formerly incarcerated people with the goal of helping them to develop vital life skills through growing and …

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 …

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 …

Indigenous Reintegrative Shaming: A Comparison Of Indigenous Legal Traditions Of Canada And Braithwaite's Theory Of Reintegrative Shaming, Emily Sinclair

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

Upon the arrival of European settlers in Canada, Indigenous legal traditions have continuously been undermined as customary law with an insignificant role in crime prevention and sanctioning. This paper will argue that Indigenous legal traditions deserve a larger role in Indigenous self-governance as their customs demonstrate aspects of crucial crime prevention theories such as Braithwaite’s theory of reintegrative shaming. The interconnection between reintegrative shaming and Indigenous legal traditions pre-contact and post-contact demonstrate concepts of community socialization, informal sanctions and restorative practices that foster the wellbeing of the community, victims and offenders. As such, Braithwaite’s theory demonstrates the importance of each …

Using Creative Writing And Literacy To Dismantle The School To Prison Pipeline, Tyler N. Gross

Honors Theses

The primary purpose of this research was to elevate the voices of minoritized girls of color (those with intersecting identities such as being Black, Brown and/or gender nonconforming, and/or having a disability) through creative writing and literacy, by engaging them in a process of inquiry that allowed them to creatively express themselves and to share their experiences within the school-to-prison pipeline. Using creative writing and a curriculum that the researcher created, the young women participating in various activities that helped them share their experiences and allowed them to think about countering the narrative about young girls of color and with …

U.S. Prisons And System Reform, Darian Reimels

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Prison systems, specifically in the U.S., are a wicked problem. For years prisoners have been treated inhumanely inside and outside of prison, with everyone looking at them with a judgmental eye. This essay aims to point out and bring light to these issues within the prison system. Specifically, it focuses on how inmates are treated during and after serving their sentence, and solitary confinement. To better understand and explain the problems to you, extensive research was done. Articles were read, organizations were researched, and a documentary was watched to gather the information needed to write this essay. The results showed …

Criminal Thinking, Age, Psychological Well-Being, And Recidivism Among Recently Released Female Violent Offenders, Nyasia Monae Belfrom

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High rates of incarceration among female inmates as well as high rates of recidivism characterize the U.S. justice system. Though some research has been conducted on gendered differences between prisoners, a gap existed in the application of criminal thinking theory for female offenders following their release. The purpose of this quantitative research study was to analyze the relationship between criminal thinking, age, psychological well-being, and recidivism among recently released female violent offenders in the region of Central Texas through the use of Yochelsen and Samenow’s criminal thinking theory. The sample for this study consisted of N = 98 female participants …

Texas Risk Assessment System (Tras) - An Analysis Of Post Incarcerated Females, Rebecca Pastrana

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Prediction of recidivism and risk has become one of the most important elements of an effective assessment in the U.S. prison system. Assessments conducted in the state of Texas prior to 2014 were not gender specific to female offenders. In 2015, Texas introduced a new risk/assessment tool known as Texas Risk Assessment System (TRAS) to identify and address differences in male and female offenders. The importance of the TRAS is that it helps identify female offenders’ needs, motivations, and factors that contribute to their reoffending. TRAS helps determine who requires higher levels of supervision, treatment, and/or other services. This quantitative …

Mental Health Disparities In Social Work Practice Of Minority Youth Offenders, Beverly Ann Rivera

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractA large number of minority youths placed in the juvenile justice system across the United States have mental health disorders. Most of these youths do not receive mental health services or support within the system, which increases risk factors such as undiagnosed and untreated mental illness and adverse outcomes such as recidivism. This action research sought to uncover whether mental health disparities in social work practice in the juvenile justice system were due to race and ethnicity and asked social workers to recommend strategies to improve mental health availability, access, and provision. Participants in the study were social workers who …

Correctional Education As Therapeutic Change: Exploring The Use Of Animal-Assisted Therapy Programs With Incarcerated Women, Terrie Ciez

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Throughout history and in every culture and country, animals and humans have formed special bonds often as pets. Well trained pets have often been used in Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) programs in hospitals and nursing homes to help patients cope with illnesses and recovery while away from home. Pet visits to these facilities have documented reductions in medications, stress, and loneliness when a simple wet nose reaches on to a patient’s bed for attention. A variety of animals have been incorporated into various facilities ranging from birds, fish tanks, and puppies and kittens to relieve the stress of residents. A …

Reimagining Reentry: A Vision For Transformative Justice Beyond The Carceral State, Kemiya Nutter

Ethnic Studies Senior Capstone Papers

Throughout the past decade, mass incarceration has emerged as a buzzword within academic scholarship and public policy discourse that seeks to examine the unparalleled expansion of the contemporary carceral state. With 2.2 million Americans imprisoned and over 7 million under various forms of penal control, the United States maintains the highest rate of incarceration in the world. The unprecedented inflation in the nation’s incarceration rate is a direct manifestation of the 1970’s War on Drugs, which enabled the legislative transformations that permeate modern sentencing policy and procedure. Institutions of policing, surveillance, and incarceration are constitutive features of the carceral system’s …

An Exploration Of Recidivism Based On Education And Race, Michael Thomas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with over 2,200,000 individuals in jails and prisons. From 1970 to 2000, the U.S. prison population increased by 500%. African American men are rearrested 72.7% of the time within 3 years of their release from prison. African Americans have a higher incarceration rate than any other racial group in the United States; nearly 1,000,000 African Americans are in jail or prison. Moreover, 60% of African American men who drop out of school are incarcerated by the age of 30 years old. Researchers have demonstrated that education can reduce …

Effects Of Laws, Policies, And Rehabilitation Programs On African American Male Juvenile Recidivism In Southwest Georgia, Kizzie Donaldson-Richard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The laws, policies, and rehabilitation programs of Georgia’s juvenile justice system need to be revisited, especially given the documented rates of recidivism of African American male juveniles in southwest Georgia. The primary purpose of the juvenile justice system is to rehabilitate youthful offenders and to ensure that recidivism, defined as 3 or more arrests within 3 years after release, does not occur. Data have suggested that corrective behavior sanctions, rehabilitation programs, and lenient sentencing have escalated African American male juvenile recidivism rates, particularly in Dougherty and Tift Counties, Georgia. The purpose of this qualitative methodological study was to explore the …

Perceptions Of The Reentry Process Among African American Male Ex-Offenders With Multiple Incarcerations, Chanae Latrice Lumpkin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Within 3 years of their release from the criminal justice system, almost 7 out of 10 released African American males go back to. There is limited social science research into how these ex-offenders perceive their lived experiences after release. The research questions that guided this inquiry related to understanding the post-prison experiences of African American males with a history of multiple incarcerations. The conceptual framework was guided by Tajfel’s social identity theory and Becker’s social reaction theory. Interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 6 African American males with a history of multiple incarcerations who had been released from …

Exploring Juvenile Delinquency Recidivism In Fulton County, Georgia, Adekoya Olateru-Olagbegi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The high juvenile delinquency recidivism rate is a problem in Fulton County Georgia, that continues to be of significant concern. The juvenile justice system has gained acceptance as a means of addressing and reducing the high recidivism rates of juvenile offenders. However, there is a lack of research regarding African American male adults and juvenile justice probationers’ perceptions of the factors affecting recidivism. This qualitative study explored and examined the phenomenon and factors that contribute to juvenile recidivism through the perceptions of African American male adults who were previously juvenile delinquents, and current juvenile probation officers. Ecological systems theory was …

Transforming Trauma: Performing The Works Of William Shakespeare As Rehabilitation For Incarcerated Individuals, Elyssa Mersdorf

Theses and Dissertations

This paper is the summation of my research and exploration into the history, social ramifications, and individual psychological impact of incarceration and the use of theatre as a vehicle of rehabilitation. Throughout my studies, I encountered evidence in the forms of personal accounts from theatre practitioners, scholarly articles, inmate testimonials, and historical journals regarding the success of such carceral theatre programs in the reformation of the prisoners they serve. How have past prison procedures and strategies hindered or helped inmates in their preparation for their transition from life in a penitentiary to reintroduction into larger society? What are the financial …

Eradicating Recidivism: Evangelism For African American Men Impacted By Mass Incarceration, Anthony Mark Berry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Prison Industrial Complex impacts 2.3 million people, affects the poor, and the nation's minority family's ability to retain a sense of unity. These data impact community health with the absence of the father figures, lack of power to gain viable income, and in some cases, the right to vote. The issue decimates African American young men. This topic is needed because the research suggests a cyclic nature of excavation of human capital by incarceration and is depleting communities of capital by jailing wage earners from the Black community. Voting capital is dwindling in some states where felony crimes remove …

Social Cohesion Among Individuals Participating In Re-Entry Groups, Todd Reiser

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

When prisoners are released from incarceration they enter a social landscape that holds unique challenges. One of the ways humans living within social systems understand their place and role is through the mechanism of religion. This study investigates how group religious practice establishes a shared worldview among those recently released from prison; a worldview that promotes the creation of positive social cohesion which contribute to life improvements, social mobility, and social status changes. "Social networks may include friendship circles in local congregations, scripture study groups and relationships with religious leaders who serve as role models for individuals" (Kerley et al …

Redemptive Penology Vs. Exclusive Retributive Justice, Samuel Chuks Japhets

Masters Theses

Grounded on long-standing penal notions of exclusive retributivism inherited from classical theorists, Ancient Near East lex talionis, and theonomist penology, the United States federal sentencing and corrections system aims to administer just desert sentences on offenders, to curtail crimes. This exclusively retributive model of criminal sanction is, presumably transformative and innately capable of dispensing holistic justice to society, victims, and criminals. However, the preponderance of high rates of recidivism raises the question of whether this exclusively retributive doctrinal framework that drives the federal penology empirically results in a redemptive administration of penal justice, especially to the offender. Given the traditional …

Algorithmic Accountability And Individual Rights: A Case Study Analysis, Karina Jaimes

All ETDs from UAB

ABSTRACT Algorithms are becoming widespread and their use is set to expand, but it must be emphasized that, although constructive and transformative, they can also be destructive and counterproductive. Various types of organizations utilize algorithms, including government. The consequences of poorly constructed algorithms could lead to the infringement of citi-zens’ individual rights. Exploring two algorithms as case studies allows us to understand government use of algorithms and the ethics associated with them, especially in relation to the potential for the violation of rights. The application of privacy and anti-discrimination as lenses through which algorithms can be analyzed allows government officials …

Pretrial Detention And Bail, Megan Stevenson, Sandra G. Mayson

All Faculty Scholarship

Our current pretrial system imposes high costs on both the people who are detained pretrial and the taxpayers who foot the bill. These costs have prompted a surge of bail reform around the country. Reformers seek to reduce pretrial detention rates, as well as racial and socioeconomic disparities in the pretrial system, while simultaneously improving appearance rates and reducing pretrial crime. The current state of pretrial practice suggests that there is ample room for improvement. Bail hearings are often cursory, with no defense counsel present. Money-bail practices lead to high rates of detention even among misdemeanor defendants and those who …

Hopelessness Depression As A Predictive Risk Factor For Recidivism And Survival Time Among Juvenile Offenders, Todd Milton Mcginnis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, there is a high incidence of recidivism among juvenile offenders with mental health disorders. This is a critical social issue facing the public and the Department of Juvenile Justice Administration today. However, research is not clear on the role of psychological factors in recidivism frequency and survival time. The purpose of this study was to examine whether hopelessness depression, as measured by suicidal-ideation, depression-anxiety, anger-irritation, and alcohol-drug use, and offense type, were predictors of recidivism frequency and survival time when controlling for age, gender, and race. The total sample consisted of archival data from 404 juvenile …

Women's Imprisonment And Recidivism: An Illustrative Analysis Of Boronia Women's Pre-Release Centre (Western Australia) And Progressive/Open Prison Systems In Norway And Sweden, Cheryl M. Botello

Theses

Boronia Women’s Pre-release Centre (Boronia) is a minimum-security level correctional facility located in Perth, Western Australia. Boronia has adopted a progressive/open imprisonment approach to incarceration that is fairly unique within the Southern Hemisphere. This thesis examines Boronia as a progressive/open prison via an illustrative case study analysis and investigates if it does produce a recidivism rate that is comparative to the international progressive/open prison sector. Boronia’s facilities, policies, programs and recidivism rates, are reviewed against two international progressive/open women’s prisons - “Ravneberget” in Norway, and “Ystad” in Sweden. Scandinavian prisons were chosen, as they are known for producing some of …

A Control Theory Examination Of Reentry Programming, Seth Undrea Lewis

All ETDs from UAB

The United States has a considerable prison population. More than 90 percent of prisoners will be released back into society. Faced with an increasing number of prisoners being released each year, reentry programs have become a popular tool to ensure successful reentry back into society. Research has indicated that successful completion of a reentry program reduces the likelihood that a former prisoner will return to prison. Travis Hirschi argued that when individuals have strong bonds to society they are less likely to exhibit criminal behavior. This study uses Hirschi’s social bond theory as a basis to identify factors that influence …