Thesis (M.S.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2008. / Thesis advisor: Stephen M. Cox. "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Criminal Justice." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-36). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Feb 17, 2010). The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Dissertation advisor: Dr. Robert O. Weagley. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of the proposed study was to examine if differences existed in the riskfactors predictive of recidivism in adolescent male offenders versus adolescent femaleoffenders. Specific independent variables examined included special educationdiagnosis, diagnosis of an emotional disability, diagnosis of a learning disability, age attime of the most serious offense, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, grade point average,high school credits, grade level, standardized achievement scores in reading, writing, and math, adjudication status, offense history, and offense severity. It was hypothesized that these variables would not predict sex membership or recidivism in female delinquents,but would significantly predict recidivism in male juvenile delinquents. It was also hypothesized that no significant differences would exist between factors predictive of recidivism in male versus those for female delinquents.In regard to factors predicting group membership, analysis indicated that offenseseverity could significantly differentiate between male and female delinquents. Forrecidivism in female delinquents, analyses found that 7 of 21 factors were significantlypredictive of recidivism in females, including: total number of parole violations,diagnosis of an emotional disability, total number of status offenses, adjudication status,the total number of personal and property misdemeanor offenses, and grade pointaverage. For males, 9 of 21 variables significantly predicted recidivism, including: totalnumber of parole violations, diagnosis of an emotional disability, standardized readingperformance scores, total number of status offenses, total number of drug offenses,adjudication status, total personal and property misdemeanor offenses, and grade level.Thus, six predictor variables for recidivism were shared by both female and maledelinquents, namely, total parole violations, diagnosis of an emotional disability, totalstatus offenses, adjudication status, total misdemeanor personal offenses, and totalmisdemeanor property offenses. A hierarchical regression was also computed with sex as an independent variable, resulting in 12 variables being predictive of recidivism. Theresults revealed that differences existed between males and females in terms ofrecidivism, and highlight that risk assessment instruments should be individualized based on sex of the juvenile. The implications of these findings, areas for future research, and limitations to the study are discussed.

This dissertation has three main parts. In the first part, the construct of psychopathy is described, its theoretical relevance for predicting recidivism is examined, and the literature on The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 1980, 1991) and recidivism is briefly reviewed. The association between psychopathy and recidivism (general, violent) was examined in five samples (N > 800 inmates) of provincial and federal male inmates who were incarcerated in British Columbia between 1964 and 1995. Results were consistent across samples and across measures and indicated that psychopathy was positively associated with recidivism. These findings indicate that psychopathy is important for identifying inmates who are at risk to be reconvicted. In the second part of the dissertation, a comprehensive and empirically-based set of crime categories was developed. Crimes were sorted into 200 descriptive categories and then collapsed into broader categories using frequency counts and factor analysis. Results indicated that the four most frequently occurring crime categories (break and enter, fraud, theft, possession of illegal property) accounted for more than half of all convictions, whereas the remaining 25 crime categories accountedfor less than half of all convictions. In the third part of the dissertation, PCL-R scores, frequency counts for the crime categories, and basic demographic variables, were entered into a stepwise discriminant function analysis to predict general recidivism (yes, no) and into another discriminant function analysis to predict violent recidivism. The percentage of general recidivists who were correctly classified (81.3%) was similar in magnitude to the base rate of general recidivism (81.1%). In terms of violent recidivism, five variables (PCL-R scores, two age variables, previous convictions for robbery and for assault) emerged as important predictors. Scores on each of these five predictors were assigned weights, and the weights were summed together to form a violence risk score. Higher scores on the violence risk scale identified inmates who were at higher risk to be convicted of violent recidivism. Scores on the risk instrument correctly classified 62.2% of inmates into violent (yes, no) recidivism groups. These results held-up under cross-validation; in an independent sample of 124 inmates, 64.5% of inmates were correctly classified. The findings indicate that the violence risk scale has promise as a measure for identifying inmates who are at risk to be convicted of future violence.

The focus of this research was to provide descriptive research on the social phenomenon of Mental Health Courts (MHC). This thesis begins with a description of how a community in Northwestern Ontario developed a MHC to assist in reducing the involvement of mentally disordered individuals with the criminal justice system. This initiative was done without additional funds and was a unique response to a growing community issue. This research describes the demographic characteristics of the clients with the MHC in Kenora compared with those clients not involved in MHCs to determine if involvement with MHCs reduces mentally disordered individuals’ involvement with the criminal justice system. This comparison study examined the characteristics of individuals involved within the Mental Health Diversion & Court Support (MHD&CS) program at the Canadian Mental Health Association, Kenora Branch in 2005 and compared them with characteristics of individuals who were involved in the program in 2010 who were also involved in the MHC in Kenora. The results from this analysis indicated that the following demographic characteristics yielded statistically significant differences between 2005 and 2010: if participants had residence support and to what level, if participants were presenting with anxiety symptoms, and if participants were presenting with depressive symptoms The results indicated those individuals from 2010 who were involved with the MHC reoffended less than those from 2005 who were in the regular court stream. Therefore, it could be concluded that individuals’ participation in the MHC may have influenced recidivism rates of individuals involved in the MHD&CS program. The results for readmission to hospital indicated a lower percentage of participants in 2010 who were readmitted to hospital compared to participants in 2005. Therefore, it could be concluded that having individuals participate in the MHC may have influenced individuals being readmitted to hospital. When examining which of the significant descriptive variables were statistically significant with either re-offence rates or readmission to hospital rates within their prospective years, there was only one variable that was statistically significant; this was the variable in the 2010 sample of whether participants were experiencing symptoms of depression and if they were readmitted to hospital. The chi-square results indicated that there was an association between participants exhibiting signs of depression in 2010 and being readmitted to hospital. Therefore, it appears that those individuals with symptoms of depression who were part of the MHC were more likely to be readmitted to hospital.

A certain percentage of young offenders are re-incarcerated after their first offence and they land back in jail to serve a further sentence. This implies that they could not find their feet back in society once they have been released and it signifies failure on the part of the correctional authorities to rehabilitate the young offenders successfully. Recidivism is a complicated phenomenon which is not easy to deal with as the correctional institutions often have no control over the circumstances outside the prison walls affecting the young offender. The overall goal of this research was to establish the circumstances leading to the re-arrest of the young offender in the Kroonstad Youth Centre in order to adjust the rehabilitation programmes if necessary. The data was collected by means of a focus group consisting of young offenders who have been re-arrested after the first offence. The young offenders could not accurately identify the circumstances leading to their re-arrests, but they could give an indication of the family and community circumstances under which they must live. This ranged from unstable family life to community conditions not conducive to their adjustment. It was also found that the lack of support in the form of outside NGO's to assist them with their adjustment once they left prison was a serious shortcoming. It was recommended that intervention with the youth offenders should be focused on teaching skills that will help them to adjust in the community after their release. It was also recommended that families be trained on how to deal with the behaviour of the youths who has violated the law. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

This thesis addresses the growing number of inmates with a mental illness in correctional facilities in Canada which continues to attract public attention and concern. Several explanations have been put forward to explain the rise in the number of inmates with a mental illness. These include: the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill that began in the 1970’s, lack of treatment availability for those released into the community, and criminalization of persons with a mental illness by the justice system. The increasing numbers of persons with a mental illness in the correctional system has led to serious concerns about the capacity of this system to manage, treat, and rehabilitate individuals with a mental illness. Lack of proper treatment, management, rehabilitation and monitored discharge means that inmates with serious mental illness are more likely to come into contact with the criminal justice system more frequently. This thesis examines the incidence seriously mentally ill offenders and their propensity to recontact. Three hundred and ninety eight face-to-face assessments were conducted using the Resident Assessment Instrument-Mental Health 2.0 (RAI-MH) and from total scores from the Level of Service Inventory Ontario Revision (LSI-OR). These assessments were conducted in 14 Ontario Provincial Correctional facilities during the years 2005-2008. Bivariate and multivariate regression analysis was conducted to assess recontact rates for serious mentally disordered and non-mentally disordered offenders. With regards to recontact, no differences were revealed between the seriously mentally ill offender and non-mentally ill offender. This null finding on recontact is very surprising given the current literature on the seriously mentally ill. An additional finding revealed that for offenders with or without a serious mental illness, having a higher score on the scale of criminogenic tendencies (LSI-OR) increased rates for recontact. Another surprising finding is that seriously mentally ill offenders were more likely to commit minor crimes upon release, rather than violent crimes as current literature suggests. A more accurate research tool, as well as a larger sample size, will be required to assess the validity of these results. The implications of the negative outcome with respect to recontact and issues of identifiable risk factors for recidivism for both seriously mentally ill and non-mentally ill inmate populations are discussed in relation to outcomes in terms of both improvements to Corrections policy and theories of criminology. It is important to continue research in this area, to determine the true gravity of the incidence and recontact rates of mentally ill offenders.

Thesis (M. P. A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2008. / "Spring 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves [53-57]).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Iowa, 2008. / Thesis supervisor: M. Beth Ingram. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-127).

Thesis (M.A.), Criminal Justice Management and Administration--University of Central Oklahoma, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-56).