An effort to investigate the quality of services at community correction facilities from the perspective of both inmates and staff led to the proposition of four hypotheses. These hypotheses were formulated to show the relationship between key independent variables, such a facility type, time at facility, age, ethnicity, educational level, and dependent (outcome) variables, which included inmate's and staff's views of privacy, safety, rules and regulations, and crowding at these respective facilities.

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Nielsen, E & Olander, S. Children visiting their incarcerated parent. Degree project in Social work 15 högskolepoäng. Malmö University: Faculty of Health and Society, Department of Social Work, 2019.The purpose of the study was to see how a children perspective looks like in the correctional institution and how it is applied when a child visit their incarcerated parent. The study was also aimed to investigate which possibilities and difficulties staff in correctional services experience in connection with visits. The purpose of the study was to get different perspectives by taking part of the staff's experiences. To answer the questions, a qualitative method was used with semi-structured interviews. The selection in the study was nine people working in the correctional institution in Sweden, with different positions of employment. The authors had personal meetings with three of the people and the remaining interviews were made by phone. As an analysis method, coding and thematization were used. The empirical data was analyzed using the Knowledge Situation and Theory. The theoretical starting points were Goffman's concept Front- and Backstage, Antonovsky’s KASAM and risk and protection factors. The results of the study showed that a children perspective exist in the correctional services, both in how the staff meets the children, but also in how the environment is adapted to children. The result also shows that the most central difficulties when children are visiting their incarcerated parent is the resignation between children and parent and that children are affected by the rules and limitations that exist in the correctional service. The opportunities that are mainly highlighted in the study are that children and incarcerated parents can have contact and that there is an opportunity to end a visit when it’s no longer for the best of the children. One conclusion is that children’s involvement is of great importance when visiting their incarcerated parent and that staff are asking for more education about meeting children in different situations. The study also highlights the benefits of sharing experiences with each other and learning from other institutions in order to reduce the difficulties that exist in the work within the correctional institution and to make children more involved.Keywords: children perspective, correctional services, difficulties, incarcerated parent, possibilities

The Department of Correctional Services is the South African Government Department that is responsible for the smooth running of the South African correctional system. Correctional facilities have to be staffed twenty four hours a day and therefore correctional officials have to work fixed or rotating shifts to ensure that the needs of offenders are taken care of. The number of staff members in many South African correctional centres is not sufficient to ensure proper care and management of offenders, but staff shortages during the night is even more chronic compared to staff shortages experienced during the day. It is vital that correctional officials be alert and vigilant at all times and therefore these staff shortages contribute to high levels of stress, lack of motivation and feelings of being overwhelmed by the work load. Shift work is a phenomenon that is increasing worldwide. It is important to understand the impact of work schedules as more people seem to be working shifts that do not conform to the standard work week. Shift workers seem very healthy when their illnesses are compared to that of the general public. Many health problems have been detected in shift workers, including stress related conditions, as any work schedule can act as a stressor if the needs of the individual worker are not taken into consideration. Sleeping patterns during the day differ from sleeping patterns at night. Shift work disrupts a person’s circadian rhythms and therefore contributes to poorer physical and psychological health. It further causes poorer productivity and increases the possibility of becoming involved in accidents. Working night duty is very stressful to the night shift worker who has to cope with challenges at work and at home. There is a variety of common stressors at work that affect shift workers physiologically (cardiovascular, stroke, digestive problems, back pain and arthritis, headaches, increased blood pressure and hormonal), psychologically (burnout, depression, anxiety, family problems, sleep problems and job dissatisfaction) and behaviouraly (absence, tardiness, substance abuse, accidents, sabotage / violence, poor decision making, poor job performance and a high personnel turnover). This study focused on understanding the positive and negative impact of working permanent night duty on correctional officials. The findings of this study will be helpful to correctional officials who work permanent night duty in addressing employee workplace support. / Dissertation (MSW (Health Care))--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Social Work and Criminology / MSW (Health Care) / Unrestricted

This master's thesis aims to identify the issues that prisons' caretakers face in their workplace. Furthermore, the thesis analyzes approaches and methods used to resolve the issues. Following the findings, this thesis aims to summarize the prison caretakers' needs to make their work more comfortable and the caretakers more competent when facing described issues. The theoretical part summarizes the findings on prison caretakers' work with convicted persons during the execution of custodial sentences in a perspective of social pedagogy. The empirical part presents the results of qualitative research aiming to answer the main research question "What kind of issues the prisons' caretakers face and how do they resolve these issues?". To answer this question, the qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews with nine prisons' caretakers from different prisons was selected. The open-ended interview answers were coded and analyzed. The main finding of this research is that prisons' caretakers are facing two different kinds of issues. Firstly, there are issues closely connected to contact with convicted persons such as conflicts, aggression, and drug abuse, and drug dealing. Secondly, unrelated to the contact with convicted persons, the prisons' caretakers are facing excessive administration,...

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Long-standing health and social inequalities associated with minorities have increased their risk for infection, hospitalization, and death related to COVID-19. This disparity is further exacerbated with incarcerated individuals, yet little attention, both prepandemic and presently, has been devoted to collecting up-to-date data. This study uses the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities (SISCF), the most recent data, to explore the general offender population and self-reported chronic and medical health conditions to highlight how COVID-19 will impact marginalized populations. Results from the four binary regression models found that minority males are more likely to have chronic illnesses which increase in probability with longer sentences, number of incarcerations, and advancement in age. Our findings advocate for the development of recent data sets on inmate health, particularly minority individuals, as well as the construction of more precise health measures to address these health disparities, including COVID-19.

Research and testimonial evidence indicate the importance of postsecondary education in the rehabilitating inmates and in decreasing reoffending. However, limited research exists on improving critical thinking skills and cognitive processing among inmates. The purpose of this quantitative study was to (a) examine the influence of a psychology course on the critical thinking scores for individuals who took an online psychology course and to (b) analyze how the scores of inmates and other students in the course differed. Using a social cognitive theoretical framework, pretest and posttest scores were compared using a paired t test of statistical analysis of secondary, archival data (n = 25).Secondary data analysis using ANOVA was used to examine the effect of the course on inmates' test scores after course completion. Results indicated that critical thinking skills improved for all students; there was no significant difference based on incarceration status. The outcomes of this study, as well as future data on graduation and recidivism rates, need to be integrated into policy and programs developed for correctional facilities, collegiate classrooms, and for other professionals. It is recommended that correctional facilities, colleges, legislators, and other organizations with direct impact on inmates should collect and analyze these specific variables in a longitudinal study. The results can be used to improve the delivery of online courses offered to inmates, thereby improving opportunities for inmates, easing reentry into society at large, and resulting in positive social change.

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 of the correlation results indicated positive relationships at the .05 level between the motivators and hygiene predictors with job satisfaction. Regression results indicated a statistically significant relationship between the motivators and hygiene predictors with job satisfaction (p = 0.00). The implications for social change include recommendations to jail administrators to provide channels through which their employees can inform them of prevalent issues to aid in increasing job satisfaction. Implementation of this recommendation may improve job satisfaction among jail correctional officers, thereby improving perceptions that the jail correctional officers are appreciated and trusted, increase their sense of self-sufficiency, improve morale problems, and help jail administrators invest in the well-being of current and future jail correctional officers that are needed to maintain the safety and security of correctional facilities.

Since 1999, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) outbreaks have occurred in many correctional facilities. Even after the Federal Bureau of Prisons developed clinical practice guidelines on the management of MRSA within correctional facilities, the prevalence of MRSA decreased only insignificantly. Other researchers suggested infection control compliance was equally as important as developing clinical practice guidelines in reducing the incidence of MRSA. Several studies identified the healthcare professionals' nonadherence and inconsistencies to clinical practice guidelines as contributors to MRSA transmission. Accordingly, this project was designed to develop evidence-based recommendations for improving nurse professionals' adherence to MRSA practice guidelines in correctional settings. Using the health belief model as the theoretical framework, this project examined the nurse professionals' perceptions as well as their level of knowledge regarding MRSA by using an original instrument, Knowledge and Health Beliefs Regarding MRSA Questionnaire. The study employed a quantitative design with a purposeful sample of 36 participants using social media. Through descriptive statistical analysis, it was determined that MRSA training and education were the greatest barriers among the nurse professionals in taking MRSA preventive action (64%, n = 23). Based on the findings, assessing the educational needs of the nurse professionals must become the priority when designing infection control programs. This study contributes to social change by recognizing the potential health impact of MRSA and cautions that if public health officials do not control MRSA within correctional settings, such behavior can affect the transmission of MRSA both nationally and globally.