Criminology Commons^™

Idle Hands Are The Devil's Workshop? Exploring The Connections Between Prison-Work Release Programming, Post-Release Employment And Recidivism, Ryan Maranville

Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development—Student Research

This paper focuses on evaluations of employment-based reentry programs. It begins with an overview of recidivism, touching on the both theory and empirical research framing employment as a pivotal factor in the reentry process. Next, it reviews the limited assessments of work-release programming and their findings. The final sections examine the structural factors which complicate reentry, specifically low wages and community disorganization. And identifies the benefits of incorporating qualitative methods in criminological research as it relates to evaluating programs, their impact, and tying findings to program adaptations and future implementation.

Measuring Perceptions Of Safety Among Staff And Women Clients In A Prison Substance Abuse Program, Jaclyn Parker Keen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Women who are involved in the criminal justice system have unique pathways to criminality. Prevailing themes of dysfunctional and traumatic relationships, addiction, mental illness, poverty, and having limited human and social capital dominate the women’s pathways perspective. A large body of existing research focuses on how these unique risk factors require unique treatment options for women while they are incarcerated in jail or prison settings. Entering prison can be an overwhelming experience and prison is an environment that has a high potential for conflict and violence. In order to be safe in prison it requires that women both feel protected …

Predictors Of Violent And Non-Violent Institutional Infractions Of Death Row Prisoners, Tereza Trejbalová

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Institutional misconduct has been widely researched in the criminological literature for more than 50 years, leading to an extensive knowledge about how and why different prisoners misbehave while incarcerated. Nevertheless, one correctional population has been mostly left out of these research pursuits – death row prisoners (DRPs). Although DRPs form a small fraction of the overall number of incarcerated individuals in the US, they tend to spend more than 20 years in maximum security facilities and require a considerable amount of resources. As such, it is imperative for the safety of the facility, the staff, and the prisoners themselves to …

Circling The Wagons: A Re-Entry Program For Substance Use In Nh, Angela Leigh Walter

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation aimed to adapt Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) to a substance-involved population in New Hampshire (NH). CoSA is a volunteer-based community program that provides accountability and various forms of support to previously incarcerated individuals rejoining the community. Program recommendations were created through qualitative realist thematic analysis of a literature review and interviews. Recommendations were integrated with existing CoSA manuals to create the proposed program. NH CoSA, through the principles of narrative reconstruction, risk-need-responsivity, and the Good Lives Model, aims to help individuals successfully re-integrate into their community over a period of about a year. The program will …

Reflective Writing In Prisons: Rehabilitation And The Power Of Stories And Connections, Sandeep Kumar

VA Engage Journal

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Even though the rate of crime is dropping, incarceration rates remain fairly steady. What’s more, recidivism (i.e., re-offending after conviction for other crimes) is also very high in the US. If offenders continue to offend, even after completing their sentences in a correctional system designed to address their underlying criminal activity, what is the point of having such a system? Can the system be made more accountable and better? Have we considered all the options for criminal reform? This article explores these questions using effective rehabilitation principles to …

Belief In Redeemability And Punitive Public Opinion: “Once A Criminal, Always A Criminal” Revisited, Alexander L. Burton, Francis T. Cullen, Velmer S. Burton Jr., Amanda Graham, Leah C. Butler, Angela J. Thielo

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

In 2009, Maruna and King presented results from a British survey showing that the public’s belief in the redeemability of people who committed offenses curbed their level of punitiveness. Based on a 2017 national survey in the United States (n = 1,000), the current study confirms that redeemability is negatively related to punitive attitudes. In addition, the analyses reveal that this belief predicts support for rehabilitation and specific inclusionary policies (i.e., ban-the-box in employment, expungement of criminal records, and voting rights for people with a felony conviction). Findings regarding measures for punishment and rehabilitation were confirmed by a 2019 …

Breaking The Prison-Jihadism Pipeline: Prison And Religious Extremism In The War On Terror, Gabriel Rubin

Gabriel Rubin

No abstract provided.

A Leak In The Pipeline: College In Jail From The Participants’ Perspective, Kathy Mora

Student Theses

Offering college-level coursework to people in correctional facilities has proven to be a good investment in reducing recidivism and violence, however, how incarcerated students evaluate ‘prison to college pipeline’ programs, and how they access education after release is less understood. This study is a participant-observation approach with semi-structured surveys of a college class in Rikers Island that aims to answer the question: How do incarcerate students describe their experience with college in jail and their post-release plans to continue their education? This study uses 25 surveys of persons who participated in a college program in Rikers Island. A significant theme …

Assessing The Outcomes Of A Jail-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Program: A Quasi-Experimental Approach, Laura Lutgen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Jails and the needs of their populations are often overlooked despite their nearly 11 million annual admissions. More than 700,000 inmates are housed in jail on any given day in the United States, most of whom are non-violent and not yet convicted of a crime. This large population also reflects a high-need, heavily drug-involved population with nearly 70% of all jail inmates having a diagnosable substance use disorder. These high-need individuals are likely to continue cycling in and out of jail without treatment especially as they often return to the people, places, and things that are conducive to their use. …

A Structural Equation Analysis Of The Relationships Between Ptsd, Depressive Symptoms And Suicidal Ideation : Is General Strain Theory A Viable Framework For Explaining Suicide Risk Among Correctional Staff?, Wm. Clay Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is a large body of evidence, which suggests PTSD is strongly related to increased suicide risk, however, some studies suggest the true nature of their relationship is better explained through the development of depression due to the effects of PTSD. While a majority of the studies examining this relationship focus only on general populations, a growing body research suggests that high-risk occupations such as police, firefighters and correctional staff are developing PTSD at rates as high as 8 to 10 times that of the rate of these general samples. This study, then, aims to fill a small gap in …

Life Course Outcomes For Juveniles: Contact With The Criminal Justice System As A Turning Point, Dominique Tauffner

Honors Projects

This research investigated the life course outcomes of respondents who have been arrested during adolescence. Although the creation of the juvenile justice system is relatively recent, only existing for 119 years, there is a need for data on the impact this system has on society. The pre-existing knowledge and literature on juvenile delinquency and the criminal justice system often fails to capture longitudinal data. Most scholars on this issue will discuss the immediate effects of things like incarceration and placement or what influences delinquency, ignoring the long-term consequences or life outcomes of those that have been arrested prior to 18. …

Patriarchy And The Structure Of Employment In Criminal Justice: Differences In The Experiences Of Men And Women Working In The Legal Profession, Corrections, And Law Enforcement, Candice Batton, Emily M. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Feminist scholars have long argued that patriarchy affects the structure and organization of society as well as the lived experiences of men and women. Although often referenced in discussions of gender differences in crime and justice, few have articulated more specifically the link between patriarchy and gender differences in the experiences of men and women as victims, offenders, or workers. We take up the challenge to theorize patriarchy and examine the extent to which it operates as an organizing principle with regard to employment in the criminal justice system. We consider differences in the representation of men and women working …

Breaking The Prison-Jihadism Pipeline: Prison And Religious Extremism In The War On Terror, Gabriel Rubin

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Attending To The Needs Of Inuit Inmates In Canada: Exploring The Perceptions Of Correctional Officers And Nunavut Officials, Kosta H. Barka

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

On March 10, 2015, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada released a performance audit concluding that the Nunavut Department of Justice did not adequately plan for and operate facilities to house inmates and did not adequately manage inmates in compliance with key rehabilitation and reintegration requirements. Given the room for improvement and my prior experience working with Nunavut Corrections, I embarked on a qualitative research project that sought to interview inmates in Nunavut Corrections about their perceptions of rehabilitation programs offered in Makigiarvik Healing Facility. Although university ethics approval was received for the research, I encountered resistance when …

A Case Study Of Overcrowding In A County Jail In The Southeast United States, Marquice Robinson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For the past several decades, the county jail in a large metropolitan city in the southeast United States has been overcrowded, which has resulted in violence within the jail, excessive costs to the Sheriff's Office, and a requirement of Federal oversight of the jail from 2005 to 2015. In spite of these events, little is understood about why jail overcrowding is prevalent in the county and what impacts overcrowding may have on the communities around the jail. Using Shaw and McKay's social disorganization theory as the foundation, the purpose of this case study was to understand the unique circumstances around …

Incarceration Of Nonviolent Offenders At The High Court In Oyo State, Nigeria, Olugbenga Rotimi Akanji

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The nonuse of community correction in the Nigeria criminal justice system has led to increased recidivism, contributed to prison congestion, introduced the risk of prison victimization, and lacked the provision of a rehabilitative structure for nonviolent offenders. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to explore Nigerian judges' use of alternatives to incarcerations for nonviolent offenders. Dolinko retributive punishment theory provided the theoretical framework for this study. Ten participant judges comprised the study sample from a purposeful and criterion random sampling method. Data were collected from participants through structured interviews and were coded manually, sorted, and analyzed using the …

How American-Based Television Commercials Portray Convicts, Correctional Officials, Carceral Institutions, And The Prison Experience, Jeffrey Ian Ross Ph.D.

Jeffrey Ian Ross Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

The Challenges Of Conducting Research On Supermax Prisons: Results From A Survey Of Scholars Who Conduct Research On This Type Of Correctional Facility, Jeffrey Ian Ross Ph.D., Richard Tewksbury

Jeffrey Ian Ross Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Interpreting The Development And Growth Of Convict Criminology In South America, Jeffrey Ian Ross Ph.D., Sacha Darke

Jeffrey Ian Ross Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Criminal Justice Majors: Are They Tougher On Crime?, Anthony Javornik

Honors College Theses

The United States of America incarcerates more individuals than any other nation in the world. Therefore, the United States has one of the most active correctional systems and it is imperative to examine the system thoroughly. Generally speaking, there have been 3 accepted models of the correctional system since the 1940’s: custodial, rehabilitation, and reintegration. Although it is possible to find institutions that subscribe to each of these models respectively, the custodial model is the most common in the United States. Therefore, this study seeks to examine college students’ perception of crime, in order to help explain why the general …

A Risky Business : Examining The Prevalence And Correlates Of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptomology And Social Support In Kentucky's Adult Correctional Staff., Ashley Terrell French

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and correlates of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomology among correctional staff, using a sample of staff who work in an adult facility for the Kentucky Department of Corrections (KY DOC). Participants (N=775) were asked to complete a written survey to indicate not only demographic variables (age, race, education, and gender) but also the amount of violent and traumatic events experienced, the duration of employment within the KY DOC, whether they were assigned to a custodial/security role, and whether they worked in a maximum security facility. Furthermore, their perceived level …

Predictors Of Job Satisfaction Among County Jail Correctional Officers, Richara Simmons

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Job satisfaction among jail correctional officers is important because it ensures the continuity of officers who can promote and maintain a safe environment inside the jail for all staff and inmates. Most job satisfaction studies on correctional officers, however, are focused on prison officers and not county jail officers. The purpose of this correlational study was to test and extend Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene theory by exploring job satisfaction and motivation among jail correctional officers in Miami-Dade Florida. Survey data were collected from 149 correctional officers using Specter's (1994) Job Satisfaction Survey. Data were analyzed through correlational and multiple regression analyses. Findings …

Best Practices For Controlling Tuberculosis - Training In Correctional Facilities: A Mixed Methods Evaluation, Ellen Reynolds Murray

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to the literature, identifying and treating tuberculosis (TB) in correctional facilities have been problematic for the inmates and also for the communities into which inmates are released. The importance of training those who can identify this disease early into incarceration is vital to halt the transmission. Although some training has been done by public health authorities for corrections, there is little to no evaluation of such training. The aim of this mixed methods retrospective study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a training to control TB in correctional facilities. The Southeastern National Tuberculosis Center (SNTC) conducted 12 trainings between …

Prisons And Power : Carceral Coloniality In Hybrid Post-Neoliberal Venezuela, Cory Fischer-Hoffman

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation examines contemporary Venezuela’s dual prison system--in which half of the prison population is incarcerated in internally controlled prisons run by armed inmates, and the other half are locked up in the Bolivarian Government’s restricted “New Regime” prisons. The Venezuelan state formation is conceptualized as ‘hybrid post-neoliberal,’ demonstrating how rationalities of a liberal rentier state and neoliberalism, combined with anti-neoliberal logics all act together in competing yet co-existing ways in the post-neoliberal era, which was initiated by the 1999 Bolivarian Revolution. The central question examines the “work” of the prison in the (re)production of power relations and how policies, …

Exploring Racial Differences In System Treatment And Criminal Justice Involvement : A Criminal Career Perspective, Jaeok Kim Kim

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The overrepresentation of racial minorities is one of the key issues of the contemporary U.S. criminal justice system, and has motivated many studies to explore the cause and extent of the resulting disparities in the system. My dissertation consists of three separate papers, which contribute to the understanding of such disparities through unique approaches. Additionally, using both self-reported and official administrative datasets, I identify the strengths and limitations inherent to each type of data source, and discuss ways to increase the accuracy of the estimates of interest.

Convict Criminology And Struggle For Inclusion, Jeffrey Ian Ross Ph.D., Richard S. Jones, Mike Lenza, Stephen C. Richards

Jeffrey Ian Ross Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

They Tried To Make Me Go To Rehab: A Study Of Rehabilitation In United States Corrections, Kayla J. Toole

Senior Honors Projects

Rehabilitation has been a staple of the prison system in the United States since the 1700s. The idea that a criminal could be resocialized into a functioning individual in society has been the basis of the prison systems since they first began. Rehabilitation is always evolving in the criminal justice system and being improved to have more impact on recidivism rates. In this project, I examine the cultural and structural explanations for different forms of rehabilitation over time. I found that rehabilitation at various points has been influenced by religious, medical, psychiatric, and sociological understandings of crime.

Currently, rehabilitation combines …

The Deterrent Effect Of Disciplinary Segregation On Prison Inmate Misconduct, Joseph William Lucas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although a widely used practice, it was previously unknown whether disciplinary segregation is actually effective at modifying prison behavior. This quantitative, retrospective observational study tested deterrence theory and explored the effectiveness of disciplinary segregation in deterring subsequent prison inmate misconduct among those subjected to it (N = 228). It compared a cohort of male inmates incarcerated by the Oregon Department of Corrections who had spent time in disciplinary segregation in 2011 and/or 2012 with a comparison cohort who had not spent any time in disciplinary segregation. Three models were tested, each with the outcome variable operationalized in a different way: …

Citizen Volunteers In Prison: Bringing The Outside In, Taking The Inside Out, Lisa Kort-Butler, Sarah E. Malone

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The United States correctional system relies heavily on citizen volunteers, but there is little contemporary research on prison volunteers, which is further limited by sample and geographic region. The purpose of this project was to explore the role of citizen volunteers, including investigating why they volunteer and what their experiences with inmates and prison staff are like. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with citizen volunteers in the penal system of a Midwestern state. Volunteers had altruistic or faith-based motivations, viewing themselves as ‘seed planters’ but not saviors, and placing priority on building relationships. They described how volunteering transformed their views on …

Predicting Job Performance In Correctional Officers With Pre-Employment Psychological Screening, Shelley S. Hyland

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

There is substantial cost in the hiring and training of a correctional officer, with a high rate of turnover compounding these costs. While pre-employment psychological screening is suggested as one method to prevent these losses, mandates to screen are not as common in corrections as they are in law enforcement. Further, minimal research has examined the validity of psychological testing in correctional officers. This dissertation examined pre-employment psychological screening for 421 correctional officers hired by one of three upstate New York sheriff's departments. Assessments were conducted by Public Safety Psychology, PLLC from March, 1997 to June, 2012. T scores and …