No description available.

This study examined characteristics of 100 intensive probationers and 100 regular probationers to have a better understanding of why some probationers recidivate and others do not. Logistic analysis was used to analyze the following variables: age, race, gender, employment status, level of education, convicted offense, prior misdemeanor arrests, prior felony arrests, history of drug abuse, and type of probation. It was discovered that age, prior misdemeanor arrests, and offender category were significant variables correlated to recidivism. These findings are consistent with prior research and provide information that can be helpful to probation and parole officers in their supervision of offenders as well as to the criminal justice system when placing offenders on probation or parole.

This study was an observation of the public's knowledge and perceptions on sex offenders, sex offenses, and sex offender management policies. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 282 students at East Tennessee State University. Along with the basic demographic variables, respondent's field of study was measured as a main independent variable. For example, it was hypothesized that students studying within the criminal justice field would hold more accurate beliefs concerning the sex offender population. Overall, the study proved to be statistically insignificant. Multivariate analysis did show, however, that certain demographic variables were more predictive in determining an individual's support towards sex offender management policies.

Hosting 22 percent of the world’s prison population, the United States is the number one country in the world regarding incarceration rates where 1 in 109 adults are locked up behinds bars and about two-thirds of offenders will recidivate within three years of their release (Durose, Coope, & Snyder, 2014; Kaeble, Glaze, Tsoutis, & Minton, 2016; U.S. Census Bureau, 2015; Walmsley, 2013). Sweden has one of the lowest recidivism and incarceration rates in the world where only 29 percent reoffend and 1 in 2,278 of their total population is behind bars (Kriminalvården, 2017; The World Bank, 2016). The purpose of this study is to understand the underlying reasons to these differences by comparing the U.S. and Swedish criminal justice systems and to find possible solutions of improvement to diminish the incarceration, recidivism, and crime rates in the U.S. Specifically, the policing, court, and correctional systems will be further compared.

With the rapid growth of juvenile offender diversion programs, which use many nontraditional sanctions, the effectiveness of sanction combinations in juvenile diversion programs and in each individual program needs to be evaluated. Those making sanctioning decisions currently do so based on intuition rather than using an evidence- or theory-based approach. Considerable research has examined the relationship between offender risk factors and recidivism (who is more likely to reoffend?) and between offender risk factors and sanctions (who is more likely to receive what sanctions?), but little is known about the relationship between sanctions and recidivism (which sanctions best reduce recidivism and for whom?). Furthermore, recidivism studies vary drastically in how they measure or quantify recidivism. This variability of approach makes comparing studies difficult and provides a less-than-complete picture of recidivism in general. The present study used data from one specific youth diversion program to test certain hypotheses of sanctioning by developing and testing a model for assigning sanction combinations to certain offenders on the basis of their individual characteristics. The study first developed measurement models for Offender Risk Propensity, Multiplicity of Sanctions, and Recidivism using structural equation modeling (SEM). Then predictive models were developed to test specific relationships. Understanding the effectiveness of certain sanction packages on certain offenders can form the basis for effective sanctioning in youth diversion programs. This study sought to answer three research questions: What is the best way to measure recidivism? Does completion of a restorative justice program reduce recidivism? Which sanctions, if any, reduce recidivism for specific offender types? To answer the first question: a iv multi-indicator latent construct of recidivism did a very good job of measuring variation in recidivism. Multiple indicators analyzed simultaneously produced a robust tool that can be used in other recidivism studies and help to reduce comparability issues between studies. The recidivism construct, when tested as a function of completion of the restorative justice program, was seen to produce a significant model having an overall good fit with the data. Thus to answer the second research question: offenders’ completion status for the restorative justice program was shown to be a significant predictor of the latent construct of recidivism at the 0.05 level (two-tailed), with those who failed to complete (or chose not to participate) having higher recidivism than did those who completed the program. To answer the third research question: the assignment of specific sanctions (both those suggested by research and theory and those traditionally assigned by this and similar programs) on the entire data set (and on various subsets) of this study have no statistically significant impact on recidivism at the 0.05 level (two-tailed). The findings suggest many policy implications. Consistency is all but nonexistent in recidivism measurements in the academic literature and in program review studies. A multiindicator latent construct of recidivism, such as the one proposed and proven effective in this study, provides a more complete picture than simply conceptualizing recidivism by one dummy variable. This recidivism model can be used as the endogenous variable to evaluate programs and their practices and could reduce the problem of study comparability. This could lead to a better understanding of program characteristics and their impact on offender success. This study also found that completion of the Neighborhood Restorative Justice Program was a significant predictor of recidivism, yet none of the eleven most commonly assigned v sanctions were seen to have a significant impact on recidivism for any subgroup. Proponents of restorative justice argue that it is the programs’ characteristics and not their specific activities that make the programs successful. Reintegrative Shaming Theory and Labeling Theory support this claim and suggest the best approach to address youth criminal behavior is to admonish the act and not the actor, have the offender and community agree on a plan to make the community whole after that criminal act, and prevent repeated interaction with the formal criminal justice system which encourages the youth to see themself as a deviant and engage in further deviant behavior. These characteristics should be further examined and widely employed if confirmed.

Recidivism among formerly convicted clients is a topic which has many facets during the present days. As a result, many individuals harbour attitudes towards clients which can result in difficulties returning to a crime-free life. This thesis was conducted to better understand people’s attitudes within the subject of recidivism and followed a quantitative format. A survey was sent out via social media and email. There were 55 respondents (women n = 20, men n = 35). Answers were analysed using descriptive statistics and differences by gender and older/younger age groups were analysed using Mann-Whitney tests and Pearson's chi-squared tests (χ2). The results indicate how the respondents deemed a necessity of improving the Swedish prison and probation service’s work to help clients before and after release. However, overall, no significant differences between either response type or groups were found on any of the questions analysed, apart from a question related to the beliefs of change after a prison sentence where older individuals rated lower in their views on rehabilitation. / Återfall i brott bland tidigare dömda klienter är ett ämne som har många viktiga infallsvinklar i vårt moderna samhälle. Som ett resultat har många individer attityder gentemot klienter som kan leda till svårigheter att återgå till ett brottsfritt liv. Detta examensarbete genomfördes för att bättre förstå människors attityder inom ämnet återfall i brott och följde ett kvantitativt format. En enkät skickades ut via sociala medier och mejl. Det var 55 svarande (kvinnor n = 20, män n = 35). Svaren analyserades med deskriptiv statistik och skillnader efter kön och äldre/yngre åldersgrupper analyserades med Mann-Whitney-tester och Pearsons chi-kvadrattest (χ2). Resultaten visar hur de tillfrågade ansåg att det var nödvändigt att förbättra Kriminalvårdens arbete med att hjälpa klienter före och efter frigivningen. Sammantaget fann man dock inga signifikanta skillnader mellan vare sig svarstyp eller grupper på någon av de analyserade frågorna, förutom en fråga relaterad till föreställningen om förändring efter ett fängelsestraff där äldre individer rankade lägre i sin syn på rehabilitering.

Denna studie syftar till att analysera och sammanställa tidigare forskning till vilka metoder, insatser och effekter som tillämpas i dagsläget, detta är för individer som tidigare har befunnit sig inom kriminalitet eller har begått olagliga handlingar. Forskningen har sammanställt via en litteraturstudie där sökningsmetoder har genomförts inom begränsade utformningar, detta är för att öka sökningens koppling till forskningens relevans. Dessa begränsningar dokumenteras både i säkringstabeller och en kvalitetsgranskad tabell. Studiens undersökningsmetod grundas genom en tematisk analys där forskningen har delats in i tre subjektiva teman. Dessa teman inkluderar fokus på individen, fokus på omgivningen samt fokus på båda. Vidare analyseras även effektiviteten av insatserna inom subteman, dessa teman inkluderar återfallsfrekvens, kriminella tankemönster och sociala faktorer. Resultatet har visat att de förekommande insatser tillkommer oftast inom anstalt, frivård eller program inom individuella respektive gruppbehandlingar. Dessa behandlingar tillämpas främst inom terapiprogram, kognitiva- och frivilliga öppenvårdsbehandlingar. Effekterna utav dessa insatser har visat att de individfokuserade insatserna resulterade främst inom signifikanta minskningar av kriminella och brottsliga återfall, men även de studier som undersöker både individen och omgivningen. Här inkluderas insatser som både fokuserar på högriskindivider, förändringar inom kriminella tankemönster samt psykiska eller antisociala beteenden. Slutligen har resultatet har även påvisat att ytterligare forskningskunskap, utveckling och tillfrågan av insatser krävs för att skapa ett förbättrat och effektivt resultat.

This study uses data from HopeWorks, a Christian, faith-based vocational program inside the Shelby County Division of Corrections in Memphis, Tennessee, to examine factors affecting reentry success. Specifically, this research examines how spirituality - using measures that assess both spirituality (measured at the end of the program) and change in spirituality (measured as the difference between pre- and post-program measures of spirituality) - affects released offenders' reengagement with the program, ability to obtain employment, and ability to refrain from reoffending.

No description available.

No description available.