Kriminalvården i Sverige ansvarar för att verkställa fängelsestraff. På svenska anstalter kan personer gå behandlingsprogram och arbetsträna. Tanken är att individen ska vara anpassad att klara livet i samhället efteråt. Samtidigt visar forskning att anpassningen till samhället för en person som suttit i fängelse är problematisk. Personer som avverkat fängelsestraff har ofta svårt att finna bostad, arbete och en trygg gemenskap. Det är också vanligt att de blir diskriminerade och utsatta. Syftet med studien var att undersöka tidigare kriminellas erfarenheter av att anpassa sig till ett samhällsliv utan kriminalitet efter att ha avverkat ett fängelsestraff. Frågeställningarna berörde myndigheters insatser, skyddsfaktorer och stigmatisering. Det var en kvalitativ studie som byggde på intervjuer med fyra personer som suttit på svensk anstalt. Ett snöbollsurval gjordes, och via intresseorganisationerna KRIS och LP togs kontakt med  intervjupersoner. Den insamlade empirin bearbetades med en konventionell innehållsanalys. Resultatet visade att kriminalvårdens insatser var främst övervakare, kontaktpersoner, behandlingsprogram och kurser på anstalten. Behandlingsprogrammen och kurserna byggde på frivillighet. Arbetsförmedlingen fanns representerad på anstalterna i form av information, men ingen intervjuperson upplevde att det gett dem mycket hjälp.  Socialtjänstens insatser berörde främst boende, men hade i intervjupersonernas fall inte fungerat. En hade fått ekonomiskt bistånd som var nästintill obefintligt. Skyddsfaktorerna som lyftes fram var bland annat familj, arbete, bostad och en trygg gemenskap. Samtliga tillfrågade hade upplevt olika former av diskriminering, bland annat vid jobbsökandet, men även att de känt sig annorlunda behandlade och utstötta. Det tema och som formades blev att insatser och skyddsfaktorer är viktiga för att anpassa sig till samhället, men att ingendera betyder mycket om personen saknar en egen inre drivkraft. Motivationen är nyckeln till förändring. Diskussionsdelen tar bland annat upp frivilligheten kring kriminalvårdens insatser, och diskuterar frihet kontra tvång.

The principle objective of this dissertation is to study the living conditions of prison inmates from a resource perspective. The empirical section builds on a level-of-living survey of prison inmates in Sweden. A representative sample of inmates (n=411) were interviewed about their living conditions, with the focus placed primarily on their situation prior to imprisonment. Most of the questions are taken from the national level-of-living surveys of the general population, thus allowing for comparisons with the living conditions of the population at large. The findings are organised into three main areas: childhood, living conditions and recidivism. They reveal large differences by comparison with the rest of the population regarding the areas examined in the level-of-living surveys, i.e. childhood conditions, education, employment, financial situation, housing, health, social relations, political resources and criminal victimisation. These differences are particularly marked when different resource deficiencies/welfare problems are viewed in combination. Low levels of participation in and poor links to the labour market, as well as various welfare problems, mean that as a group the inmates can be described as marginalised and/or socially excluded. Their situation is further affected by aspects of their living conditions not included in the level-of-living surveys of the general population, such as the abuse of alcohol and/or drugs, being sentenced to prison and recidivism. When particular groups of prison inmates are examined separately, the situation of female inmates appears to be particularly problematic. They are more likely to be substance abusers, and have accumulated a larger number of resource deficiencies. Between an individual’s debut in crime and recidivism leading to a new prison or probationary sentence, a selection process takes place on several levels. As a group, inmates differ from the general population inter alia in their experience of worse childhood and living conditions. Further, those inmates who re-offend tend to live under worse conditions than those who desist from crime. This process is interpreted from a perspective which regards an individual’s access to resources as having a vital impact on their chances in life. The conditioning influence of society at large has a profound effect on the level of opportunities available to an individual. The final section of the dissertation therefore focuses on the link between structural factors and a lack of resources at the individual level. Economic trends in Sweden during the 1990s have made this a factor of highly topical interest; already vulnerable groups were hit much harder than others by the economic crisis and rising unemployment. Against the background of this trend and an increasing individualisation in the way social problems are viewed, the distance between prison inmates and the remainder of the population is deemed likely to have increased. This conjecture is given support by the few indicators available.

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / The aim of this study was to explore and describe the factors that contribute to recidivism with incarcerated sexual offenders. A qualitative research approach was used and ten incarcerated recidivist sexual offenders in the prisons were selected through purposive sampling. The researcher used semi-structured interview guides and a voice recorder to conduct as data collection tools during the interviews with the participants. The information gathered was transcribed, translated and analyzed using interpretive analysis.

A number of literature have analyzed the effect of harsh punitive laws on crime rates in the United States. This study aims to investigate the effect of specific U.S. federal drug policies on the rates of recidivism for nonviolent drug crimes during the years 1997 through 2009. I use data from a probation survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that is specifically comprised of America’s youth criminal population. I measure recidivism of nonviolent drug crime through re-arrest due to selling drugs using a few different metrics including a multivariate regression model using economic and social indicators as the explanatory variables and a discrete time hazard model. I find that U.S. federal drug policy increases the probability of recidivism during these years due to an upward trend of recidivism rates.

Assessing risk had always been the key focus when it comes to recidivism. Using risk assessment instruments, it is possible to predict the outcome of recidivism dichotomously. These measures, however, can only predict between 70-80 percent of validity, and they specify only levels of risk (low-medium-high), but not time. Therefore, the aim of this study is to define time of recidivism to supplement risk assessment with a possible new actuarial approach and fill out gaps in the existing literature. To do so a systematic literature review was conducted with a controlled search on exact time points. All the fourteen studies resulted in the final model were: published in the past 20 years, had some connection to time and were quantitative. The results highlighted the importance of the first year, especially the first half of the year as the most critical period regarding recidivism. Three different time periods were identified: (1) the end of the first month; (2) between the second and the third; (3) at the end of the 6th. Consequently, it might be beneficial to target these critical periods with more intense supervision/intervention in order to decrease the likelihood of recidivism.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・論文博士 / 博士(医学) / 乙第13385号 / 論医博第2217号 / 新制||医||1048(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 古川 壽亮, 教授 松村 由美, 教授 中山 健夫 / 学位規則第4条第2項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

This research project investigates the effectiveness of mentors on rates of self-reported criminal offending for released offenders. I use data from the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) study (2004-2007), which sought to evaluate factors relating to high-risk offenders outcomes post release in an effort to reduce the societal problem of mass incarceration. Previous research has examined the use of mentors to improve the delinquent and criminogenic behavior of youth, but little is known about the effectiveness of mentors used to aid imprisoned adult males. I utilize negative binomial analysis to compare the number of self-reported criminal activities among released offenders with mentors versus those without mentors, and assess if the values varied between different reported levels of need for mentoring. Results indicate that mentoring did not reduce the rate of post-release offending at a statistically significant level. Reasons for the lack of significant results and policy implications are discussed.

No description available.

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between a juvenile's serious or violent offenses and the time to recidivism among the determinate-sentenced offenders. Concentrating on this group of juvenile offenders is beneficial because they are considered to be the most serious group of offenders among juveniles. Since these serious offenders will become a part of their community again, it is important to understand or determine if there is a discernable pattern to inform intervention and target rehabilitation practices. Crime severity makes a considerable impact on the commitment and punishment for a juvenile and an important question rests on how offense severity influences recidivism-related outcomes.

This work is about the problem of high recidivism rate in the Czech Republic, which highlights the inefficiency Czech prisons in their resocialization function, ie. the effort to reintegrate people into society after imprisonment, who are at risk of social exclusion and criminal recidivism,which is called tertiary crime prevention as a process. The phenomenon of recidivism is very complex - includes the issue of social exclusion, racial discrimination, addictology and the crisis of social mobility in society. It must be patiently addressed on many levels, using long-term strategies. The effective functioning of the penitentiary care focused on prevention in the objective of any society. Reducing recidivism means reduced costs from the state budget, ensuring the safety and protection of the entire society from criminal acts provides a suitable environment for the development of the whole society, and providing care for those who clashed with the law, it is important in terms of social justice. Social stigma of criminal history is often worse than the actual time behind bars.