Approximately two million men and women are currently incarcerated in the nation's penitentiaries. Ninety percent of these inmates will eventually be released from prison. There is a need for prisons to provide services that will prepare these men and women for successful reentry into society. These services include education and vocational training. To determine the effectiveness of education/training, the perspective of the prisoner student is key to the field of correctional education. The voice of the prisoner student, however, is absent from the literature on prisoner education. This qualitative study examined the thoughts, feelings, experiences, and plans/goals of prisoner students at Southern State Penitentiary (pseudonym used). Oneon- one interviews with prisoner students were used, as well as brief observations of the classroom setting and operation. Surveys were completed by two corrections administrators to gain the perspective of the administrator in relation to the correctional education experience. Three emergent themes indicated a need to further study the prisoner student from this intimate perspective: student perceptions of success, regret of prior decisions, and rethinking the correctional education experience. The findings of this study have implications for the fields of elementary and secondary education, higher education, and correctional education.

No description available.

The classification of adult criminal populations for training, treatment, and security purposes has been time-consuming and expensive. The main purpose of this study was to develop a classification system which considered a wide variety of behavioral, biographical, and psychometric variables and yet was efficient in terms of time and money.

Drawing on themes emerging from semi-structured interviews, this study explores the relationship between the Government of Canada (GOC) and non-profit organizations (NPOs) operating in the punishment sector. The impact of this relationship on NPO advocacy is explored. It is argued that the GOC-NPO relationship creates a number of barriers for NPO advocacy, but NPOs manage to maintain this function through various forms of resistance. However, it was found that the majority of participating NPOs were coopted by the state through their extensive relationship with the GOC, and their service provision function in particular. It is therefore suggested that the majority of participating NPOs support the punishment system, making them a part of the Non-Profit Industrial Complex (NPIC).

No description available.

Paranoia is increasingly considered to be a common phenomenon in the general population and is not just a symptom of diagnosable psychiatric disorders. Recently, Ellett, Allen-Crooks, Stevens, Wildschut & Chadwick (2013) argued that distrust-based competition in the Prisoners Dilemma Game (PDG) is a novel behavioural marker for nonclinical paranoia. The present study sought to replicate the finding of Ellett et al. (2013) and to extend their research by looking to the social psychology literature on human values as additional potential motivations for competition in the PDG. Additionally, the study sought to examine relationships between paranoia in the nonclinical population and human values, and offer support for a recently refined theory of human values (Schwartz et al., 2012). Consistent with prediction, higher trait paranoia was associated with valuing face, that is, holding a commitment to security and power through maintaining one's public image and avoiding humiliation, and lower trait paranoia was associated with valuing universalism-tolerance, that is, showing acceptance and understanding for others. Secondly, and consistent with prediction, the current findings replicated that of Ellett et al. (2013) to show that distrust-based PDG competition is a behavioural marker for nonclinical paranoia. Thirdly, the present research offered a secondary behavioural marker for nonclinical paranoia based on a commitment to valuing power. Lastly, the study offered support for the circular structure of values in Schwartz's (2012) refined theory. Collectively, the current findings provided further evidence for the role of the PDG in the measurement and investigation of nonclinical paranoia, and more specifically provided a foundation for further research into the role that values could play in furthering this understanding.

Background: Paper I [literature review] Anger is reported to be an important factor in suicidality yet there is no review in this area of research. Paper II [research study] Anger and suicidality are found in exaggerated levels in the prisoner population and their association required investigation using a novel and ecologically valid methodology. Aims: Paper I [literature review] To review studies which have investigated the relationship between anger and suicidality. Paper II [research study] To examine the relationship between anger and suicicidality in a sample of male prisoners. Paper III [critical review and appraisal] To critically review and appraise Papers I and II as well as the research processes involved. Methods: Paper I systematically reviewed 48 studies of anger and suicidality over a 20-year period. Paper II conducted an ecological momentary assessment study using multi-level modelling analysis to investigate anger and suicidality in a sample of adult male prisoners. Results: Paper I found preliminary evidence for a relationship between anger and suicidality which identified that the area required more empirically rigorous investigation, particularly using novel, ecologically valid methodology. In a sample of adult male prisoners, Paper II demonstrated that anger was temporally associated with suicidal ideation and related concepts. Anger was concurrently associated with suicidal ideation, when controlling for depression and hopelessness. Conclusions: Paper I indicated the potential relationship between anger and suicidality in clinical and non-clinical populations. Paper II revealed strong evidence of an association between concurrent anger and suicidality in adult male prisoners using ecologically valid assessment methods. Paper III examined the relevance of Papers I and II, in their independent additions to the empirical literature as to the relation between anger and suicidality.

The aim of this qualitative master thesis was to explore how a 30-days spiritual retreat at the prison in Kumla has affected male prisoners coping strategies in everyday life. Non-probability samples of five prisoners were interviewed and they were contacted through snowball sampling. Three of the participants were still serving their sentence in prison at the time of the interview, and two were released. The result showed a positive change within the areas of handling negative emotions, finding a meaning with incarceration, reconciliation with themselves, less infractions and a reevaluation of their lives. The result showed a positive change in all of the prisoner’s lives in various areas. A majority have started to define themselves as spiritual and believing in a God or "a creating power" after attending the retreat. The negative influence of the spiritual retreat could be a new spiritual concept taking over their previous criminal lifestyle. There could also be seen a tendancy towards religious ruminations.

No description available.

This thesis is a comparative examination of prisoners' rights in England and Germany. The thesis has three dimensions: first, it is a description of the legal status of the prisoner in Germany and England; second, it is an examination of the social, political and cultural dynamics which have shaped prisoners' rights in each jurisdiction; and third, it is in itself an exercise which seeks to address the problems of comparative law which are identified in the introduction. England and Germany have been chosen as comparators as their respective approaches to prisoners' rights present illuminating contrasts. In England, despite significant judicial activity in the development of a prisoners' rights jurisprudence, prisoners' rights protection remains partial and equivocal. Many aspects of prison life are left within the realm of executive discretion, and the present Government, much like its predecessors, is unlikely to entrench a bill of prisoners' rights. Proponents of prison reform in England argue that the system of prisoners' rights protection is inadequate, not only in terms of the rights which prisoners can claim, but in terms of the possibilities of enforcement and the independence of enforcement bodies. This equivocal commitment to rights in England is heightened when juxtaposed against Germany's highly articulated rights culture and ambitious system of prisoners' rights protection under the Prison Act 1976. The German Prison Act, which is underpinned by a considerable constitutional jurisprudence on prisoners' rights, sets out foundational principles of prison administration, affords prisoners positive rights, defines the limitations of prisoners' constitutional rights and provides prisoners recourse to a Prison Court. Moreover, the rights and principles under the German Prison Act have been developed and refined in a substantial body of prison law jurisprudence over the last thirty years. Chapters one to three of the thesis make available to an English audience an in-depth account of the conception and protection of prisoners' rights in Germany and the broader context in which this has taken place. Chapters four and five of the thesis examine the method and manner of conceiving of the prisoner's legal status in England in the light of the German conception and explore the deeper political and cultural reasons for the divergence between England and Germany.