Magister Legum - LLM / In recent years the issue of medical parole has become a controversial issue in South Africa. Prior to 2012, at which juncture the law governing the release of inmates on grounds of terminal illness was amended, there were cases where the public deemed the law inadequate and susceptible to political interference.1 There can therefore be little doubt that an amendment to the law was opportune to ensure that the release of inmates was based on legitimate medical reasons.

Role Conflict and Nonsexual Boundary Violations Among Correctional Officers by Ronald Ruggiero Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Human Service--Criminal Justice Walden University May 2014 Abstract Despite the growing presence of prisons in American society, little is known about challenges experienced in the job performed by correctional officers (COs); specifically, no research has investigated how their intermediary status between inmates and prison management can result in role conflict. This descriptive case study explored role conflict among 10 retired CO's and the presence of inmates who enter prison with a high public profile. It also examined and if nonsexual boundary violations are prompted by COs' role conflict. Role conflict theory provided the framework for the study. Open-ended interview questions were generated to address the study's research questions, which concerned the effects of role conflict on COs' perceptions of prison operations, safety, and employee morale. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed, then analyzed for recurring themes using open and axial coding. Three themes emerged from the analysis: high-profile inmates were described as more popular, more intelligent, and more manipulative than regular prisoners. These differences heightened the possibility for affinity between inmates and CO's, which contributed to perceptions of role conflict among the COs assigned to guard high-profile inmates. This study contributes to social change by providing insight into the challenges of COs' job roles that may influence the training and development for prison staff and management of high profile inmates.

Background: Correctional nurses make up a large part of the corrections workforce and have increasing responsibility for making decisions about patient care in the opioid dependent incarcerated patients. The National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) has intoxication and withdrawal standards that advocate individuals entering a correctional facility under the influence or undergoing withdrawal from opioids have their therapy continued, or a plan for appropriate referral for treatment. The NCCHC standard that incarcerated opioid dependent inmates have their therapy continued or a plan for appropriate referral for treatment is not adhered to consistently, as the current process lacks organization. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to develop an adult opioid dependence referral for treatment tool for opioid use dependent patients to be utilized by correctional nurses and providers working in the corrections intake medical facility with posttest evaluation. Theoretical Framework: Peplau’s nurse-patient relationship theory was used. Methods: A descriptive, exploratory design was utilized. Results: A majority of the nurses acknowledged the usefulness of the Nursing Opioid Referral for Treatment Algorithm (NORTA) in facilitating the adult opioid dependence referral process. In addition, of the 20 nurses surveyed, 18 nurses agreed that the NORTA tool was relevant to the adult opioid dependence referral process. Most claimed that the NORTA facilitated the opioid dependence referral process. Conclusion: The pain management algorithm is an effective referral method for opioid users as it contributes to patient safety through safe prescription and careful assessment of patient risk regarding opioid use. The findings from this project may impact nursing practice by identification of a new organized approach to enhance the current opioid dependence referral process.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The United States of America incarcerates more of its citizens than any other industrialized nation. Moreover, African American males are disproportionately targeted for incarceration in a system reminiscent of the system of slavery abolished after the civil war. As the cycle of recidivism plays itself out in this nation, this research examines the experiences of Black males who have broken the cycle to reestablish themselves within society through educating themselves in our nation's colleges and universities. This work is a phenomenological multiple case study that examines the experiences of five men who were incarcerated for a felony offense and successfully obtained bachelor's degree upon release. This research asks the questions: what motivated the pursuit of a degree, how did they pay for it, what resources were utilized, what challenges were overcome, and what impact this achievement had on their lives? Additionally, this research examines current correctional and educational policies and their impact on the Black community and concludes by making recommendations grounded in the research on how the nation can reduce recidivism rates and better serve African American communities.

No description available.

No description available.

Swedish correctional facilities are under heavy pressure; overcrowding and its difficulties are threatening security. The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of correctional officers' reflections on risk, concerns, consequences of overcrowding and risk minimizing measures existing in custody. Three research questions are asked: How do employees reflect their concerns in relation to work-related risk, and how can ontological security be disturbed? What risks and concerns do employees reflect on in relation to prevailing overcrowding? And how do correctional officers reflect on which risk management the authorities taken to minimize risks for the employees? Little previous research has focused on custody. Nevertheless, research in custody service showed, influencing factors on staff regarding psychosocial factors, exposure to violence and the consequences of overcrowding. This study is based on qualitative interviews where correctional officers reflected over the before mentioned research questions. The result showed a sociologically interesting and social problem that several risks and concerns in relation to how employee’s workplace effects private life. For example, education was found to be a risk prevention measure in order to minimize risks and increase risk awareness among correctional officers. Furthermore, it showed how the phenomena of overcrowding has an impact on and increases solitary work. / Kriminalvården i Sverige är under hård belastning och överbeläggningens placeringssvårigheter hotar säkerheten. Syftet med denna studie är att erhålla empirisk kunskap om häktesanställdas erfarenheter av risk, orosmoment, synliggöra konsekvenser av överbeläggning samt hanteringsåtgärder myndigheten vidtagit i syfte att minimera risker. Vidare ställs tre frågeställningar: Vilka orosmoment reflekterar häktesanställda över i relation till arbetets risker samt hur kan den ontologiska skyddshinnan rubbas? Vilka risker och orosmoment reflekterar häktesanställda över i relation till rådande överbeläggning? Vilka säkerhets- och riskhanteringsåtgärder reflekterar häktesanställda över att myndigheten vidtagit i syfte att minimera risker för de anställda? Tidigare forskning relaterat till häkten är relativt outforskad. Forskning inom kriminalvård belyser bland annat, psykosociala faktorer, våldsutsatthet och överbeläggningens konsekvenser. Denna studie är baserad på kvalitativa intervjuer där häktesanställda reflekterade över tidigare nämnda frågeställningar. Resultatet visar ett sociologiskt- och ett socialt intressant problem, då flertalet risker och orosmoment påträffades i relation till häktesanställdas arbetsplats och hur arbetssituationen påverkar privatlivet. Grundutbildning påträffades vara en säkerhetsåtgärd, vilken syftar till att minimera risker och öka riskmedvetenheten bland häktesanställda. Slutligen påvisade resultatet att utförandet av ensamarbete ökar och påverkas av fenomenet överbeläggning.

No description available.

No description available.

This research offers a critical and comprehensive understanding of the current state of prison programming for federally sentenced women in Canada. Its purpose is to map how women prisoners are assessed and processed in terms of their mental health needs and risks and the correctional programs they are required to participate in as part of their correctional rehabilitation plan. By mobilizing a feminist governmentality theoretical lens, the research examines the gendered, neoliberal, and psy management of women prisoners as it occurs through correctional programming interventions and the discourses that underpin the programs in which the women are required to participate. Methodologically, this research draws on over 11,000 pages of documents from the Correctional Service of Canada, which were obtained through a federal Access to Information and Privacy request, as well as eight in-depth, semi-structured interviews with formerly incarcerated, federally sentenced women. I argue that women's experiences of marginalization and criminalization flow from structural factors that are variously impacted by their intersecting identities and which are subsumed beneath discourses of responsibilization and risk management within the programming documents and largely ignored as a result of the security-focused and risk-centred carceral logics that govern prison life and management. The analysis revealed that programming documents - including facilitator manuals, staff training guides, participant workbooks, policy guidelines, and administrative documents - discursively constitute women as emotionally out of control, motivated primarily by their relationships, and as cognitively flawed. Through discourses of empowerment and care, and by way of self-monitoring strategies and improved self-esteem, women prisoners are tasked with managing their own mental health needs and risks and choosing a path of prescribed rehabilitation. Placing the onus of change squarely on the individual prisoner effectively sets aside the structural factors and contexts that lie at the root of women's criminalization, which women cannot simply "choose" to change. Despite the Correctional Service of Canada's appearance of women-centredness and gender responsivity, women are subject to control, coercion, and intense responsibilization efforts in and through correctional programming initiatives.