Perceived quality of care and burnout affects psychiatric care workers profession-ally and physically. Psychiatric caregivers working in forensic facilities encounter negative changes with perceived quality of care and burnout when working with offender patients. Recognizing the variables that lead to burnout and perceived quality of care may assist professionals and organizations with the information needed to prevent burnout and poor perceived quality of care among psychiatric caregivers. Using self-efficacy theory as a framework, this correlational design examined whether years of experience, self-efficacy, and caseload complexity predict burnout and perceived quality of care. A total of 148 psychiatric caregiver participants completed questionnaires comprised of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-HSS, General Self-efficacy Scale, and Quality of Care Measures (staff-form), along with demographic questions. Multiple regression determined that self-efficacy and years of experience significantly predicted personal accomplishment, which is a subscale of burnout. However, self-efficacy did not predict of depersonalization or emotional exhaustion the other 2 subscales of burnout. Self-efficacy was also found to be a positive predictor of perceived quality of care. The research findings have the potential to influence social change by providing professionals and organizations a better under-standing of the factors that influence burnout and perceived quality of care when work-ing with offender patients. In relation, improvements in trainings, interventions, and strat-egies for positive employee well-being and increased patient care could possibly reduce burnout and increase perceived quality of care.

Heroin addiction is a growing epidemic in the United States. The need for proper treatment programs accessible by heroin users who wish to or are mandated to participate in recovery programs is a growing need, and pathways to sobriety for ex-offenders have presented in literature as understudied. The purpose of this study was to examine heroin-addicted offenders' experiences prior to and after release on their paths to sobriety. This study followed a qualitative phenomenological approach based on the theory of personal causation, which posits that individuals see events in life as either driven by themselves or caused by others, both of which affect internal motivation. An empirical phenomenological approach was used to explore how this group of individuals perceived or experienced heroin addiction and their subsequent attempts at sobriety A purposeful sample of 15 heroin-addicted offenders were interviewed in a jail in a rural county of Wisconsin. Upon re-entry, 4 participants completed follow- up interviews. The results showed that external motivators such as social and treatment factors were separate from internal factors, although external motivators could influence the way a person makes internal choices. Results were obtained by performing coding on the semi-structured interviews both by hand and within the Atlas-ti analysis program. The theory of personal causation supports and is supported by the findings of this study. Implications for positive social change include a better understanding of the needs of heroin-addicted offenders moving from incarceration to release in treatment program development, thereby reducing harm to the heroin user, family members, and communities by decreasing relapse, recidivism, and chances of overdose and death.

Dual-diagnosed female offenders (DDFOs) present direct care providers with complex psychosocial needs and challenges that result in a serious lack of motivation to attain, sustain, and continue treatment after release from prison. Unsuccessful treatment of DDFOs represents a significant public health and safety risk including continuing criminal acts, increased health care costs, accidents related to substance abuse, and poor reintegration. Through in-depth semistructured interviews with direct care providers, this phenomenological study's focus was on examining the motivational facilitators associated with treatment adherence, barriers to treatment adherence, and approaches for enhancing treatment motivation. Nine major themes emerged from this research, including the importance of an empathetic approach and a strong therapeutic alliance as motivational facilitators; lack of insight and acceptance of the need for treatment, lack of resiliency, and the role of external system factors in barriers to treatment adherence; and using an empathetic approach, building rapport, instilling hope, and avoiding confrontation as approaches for enhancing treatment motivation. These findings may inform theory and practice related to the treatment of DDFOs in U.S. prisons. These findings contribute to social change by identifying outcomes related to treatment attendance, continuity of care, and completion and may help reduce recidivism associated with DDFOs, decrease costs of care, and lower public risks such as accidents related to substance use. The study provides reference points that may inform recommendations to state correctional departments regarding effective programming strategies for DDFOs.

A women's prison in the midwestern region of the United States experienced an increase of female inmates. Incarcerated women have reported higher rates of substance abuse problems, prior victimization, and mental illness than their male counterparts. Clinical social workers are often the primary service providers in criminal justice settings. The purpose of this action research project was to explore the challenges faced by social workers in a midwestern state when providing clinical treatment services to female offenders. Postmodern feminist theory and pathways theory provided a framework for understanding the factors related to female offending. The practice-focused research question explored the responses of licensed clinical social workers in a midwestern state regarding identifying the issues and challenges of providing clinical treatment services to female offenders. Data were collected from interviews with 7 local clinical social workers who had experience working with female offenders. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis to explore and organize the data. The study revealed 5 primary themes that included the unique background of female offenders, factors contributing to the incarceration of women, barriers to effective clinical treatment, the nature of prison, and postincarceration needs of female offenders. A possible implication of this study for social change is that specialized and/or population-specific training for clinical social workers may benefit clients in achieving their treatment goals and improve their capacity to successfully readjust upon release from jail or prison.

Thesis (LLM) -- University of Limpopo, 2008 / The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 108 of 1996 has brought about an inspiration for the development of our legal system. Youthful offenders like any other person in South Africa have fundamental rights. Section 28 provides for the rights of children in general and section 28(2) makes provisions for the supremacy of children’s rights in every field of the law. With regard to child offenders charged with serious crimes, courts and all those dealing with them need to take their basic rights into account. Courts should observe the rules and procedures of fair trial in order to protect and promote the individual or group of child offender’s rights. Courts are enjoined to act dynamically to obtain full particulars of the child offender’s personality and personal circumstances, and to engage the services of the probation officers or correctional service officials. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 108 of 1996, the Child Care Act 74 of 1983 and 38 of 2005, Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997, Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977, etc regulate and guide courts in dealing with children who fall foul of the law. Firstly, I am indebted to Mrs. A.T Thoka, and Prof. Scheepers my supervisors who unselfishly assisted and encouraged me through the maze I had to go through this dissertation. I would also like to express my gratitude to the late Mrs Motimele Mapula Rebecca, my wife Ramadimetja Teresiah, my daughter Isabel Madithotsana Mokonyama and my two sons Mokitlelo and Matsimela to whom this short dissertation is dedicated for their kindness in allowing me to use their quality time for my personal advancement. Last, but not least, my thanks are extended to Ms Makgatho Jerminah for having typed and compiled this dissertation.

Thesis (M.A. (Philosophy)) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / Refer to document

Juvenile sexual offenders and a matched sample of nonoffending youth were compared on the Family Environment Scale (FES), the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES ill), the Adult Adolescent Parent Inventory (AAPI), and a biographical inventory. The purpose was to determine whether or not juvenile sexual offenders and nonoffenders would prove to have different perceptions of family characteristics and whether the biographical inventory could distinguish between the two groups. "The sample consisted of 95 participants (46 offenders, 49 nonoffenders) in the northern Utah area. The offending population were in outpatient treatment for their sexual offending. When the participants were categorized as offender/ nonoffender and 12-15 year olds/ 16-19 year olds, only an age effect was found to be significant on the variables cohesiveness, cohesion, and conflict. Offender group membership did not have any effect. Younger adolescents viewed their family environment as more cohesive and felt more freedom to express anger and dissent. Significant differences were found between offenders with multiple victims and all other groups on two AAPI variables: inappropriate developmental expectations of children and lack of empathic awareness of children. The discriminant function analysis of the biographical inventory items yielded a 90% correct classification rate on participants cooed as either offender or nonoffender. Only eight biographical items were used in this procedure. It is clear that, of the four instruments used in this study, the biographical inventory provided the best descriptive profile of the juvenile sexual offenders. Offenders reported more instability in their home-life and lack of positive emotional relationships with their caretakers. The perception of diminished humanness in relationships went hand in hand with victimizing others. One can conclude that family environment remains an important factor to consider in the development and treatment of sexually abusive behavior.

During the past decade, significant public concern has focused on the use of the Internet to access child pornography and other legally objectionable material. Media reference to individuals involved in such activity typically portrays them as socially isolated ‘paedophiles’, ‘perverts’ and ‘sexual predators’ whose offence behaviour is encouraged by on-line associations with others who share their interest in this material. Although academic literature does not tend to adhere to the sensationalism of these views, it too suggests that on-line networks may be important in understanding the behaviour of individuals who seek to gratify an interest in legally objectionable material.A major aim of this thesis was to examine the relationship between involvement in Internet based social activity and involvement in accessing legally objectionable material via the Internet. As such, data collected during the investigation of a sample of 145 individuals identified as using the Internet to access legally objectionable material was subjected to a series of explorative analyses. These analyses revealed significant associations between individuals’ use of Internet applications facilitating directed, two way communication (eg. Email and ICQ) during the process of accessing legally objectionable material and indicators of increased personal investment in offence related activities.A second goal of this thesis was to identify variables associated with offenders’ decisions to engage in on-line social interaction during the process of accessing legally objectionable material. In turn, criminological and communications theory and research pertaining to the interpersonal behaviours that individuals engage in during criminal actions, and the characteristics of individuals who make use of socially facilitative Internet applications, was reviewed. Based on the findings of this review, it was hypothesised that offenders who engage in regular interaction with others outside of the Internet environment would be more likely than those who did not to seek out opportunities for interaction in the Internet environment. In line with this hypothesis, further systematic and detailed analysis of the data revealed an association between opportunities for interpersonal interaction in an offender’s home or work environment and the likelihood that offenders would make use of Internet applications facilitating online social interaction.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Psychology. / "August 2005." Title from PDF title page (viewed on April 16, 2007). Thesis adviser: Darwin Dorr. Includes bibliographic references (leaves 56-63).