In collaboration with Sheriff C. T. Woody, the Deputies and other jail personnel, Kingdom Life Ministries (KLM) operates in the City of Richmond Jail. Aimed at serving individuals who suffer from alcoholism and other drug addictions, KLM’s programs offer peer-to-peer recovery support services; meaning people who are successful in their recovery deliver the recovery message. On any given day, rehabilitation and recovery services are provided to 120 men in what used to be the worst tier of the Richmond City Jail. A large portion of these men battle substance abuse disorders and have exhibited habitual criminal behavior over an extended period of time. Using a mixed methods approach, this study examined the effectiveness of KLM, during two stages — while the men are incarcerated and upon release. Beginning in February 2008, with the initial implementation of the KLM program, the examination spanned three and a half years, concluding in September 2011. The qualitative and quantitative findings of this study revealed the effectiveness of the KLM program. Secondary data examining other programs in and outside of Virginia was also reviewed to in order to develop best practices recommendations for substance abuse treatment organizations. Last, it was also discovered that private organizations provide more efficient services than public programs, and do in a much more cost effective manner.

When assessing the risk of violence, increasing interest has been shown in bringing science and practice closer together. Moving from clinical intuition in the first generation of risk assessment via actuarial scales in the second generation to the structured professional judgments where risk assessments are today produces better, more valid results when assessing the risk of violence. One of the best predictors of violence is gender. Approximately 10% of the violent criminality can be attributed to women; even so, it is increasing, especially among young women. It is therefore important to examine risk assessments from a gender perspective. Another important factor when assessing the risk of violence is psychopathy and there are indications that there might be gender differences in this diagnosis. Thus, a special interest has been focused on psychopathy in this thesis. The purpose with this work is to explore the similarities and differences in assessing risk for violence in male and female mentally disordered offenders, while the overall aim is to validate the violence risk assessment instrument HCR-20 for Swedish offender populations. The risk assessments for all six studies in this thesis were made by trained personnel using the HCR-20 instrument, where psychopathy was diagnosed with the screening version of the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL:SV). The study populations were both male and female mentally disordered offenders in either the correctional or the forensic setting. The findings show that both the validity and the reliability of the HCR-20 and the PCL:SV were good and the clinical and risk management subscales were found to have better predictive validity than the historical scale. Another finding was that there were more similarities than differences between genders in the HCR-20, while the opposite applied to the PCL:SV, where the antisocial behavior was performed in a different manner. Moreover, it was found that the gender of the assessor might be a factor to take into account when assessing the risk of violence in women, where the recommendation was that at least one assessor should be female. The conclusions were that the HCR-20 and the PCL:SV can be used In Swedish offender populations with valid results. For female offenders, there are differences in the antisocial behavior that is assessed in order to diagnose psychopathy and these differences tend to underestimate psychopathy among female offenders. Furthermore, the gender of the assessor might be of greater importance than has previously been realized. The overall conclusion was that this thesis supports the structural professional judgment method of making risk assessments in order to prevent violence in the community.

As APACs têm sido apresentadas por seus gestores e pelos atores que lhe apoiam como um modelo alternativo de prisão que consegue, mediante uma metodologia própria, diminuir até 15% a reincidência das pessoas que cumprem pena nesses locais, enquanto nas demais prisões a reincidência é superior a 70%. O trabalho descreveu as APACs em Minas Gerais, onde elas já representam 17% do total de unidades prisionais, analisando se o baixo índice de reincidência obtido por elas seria, de fato, um produto da sua metodologia ou poderia estar sendo influenciado também pela sua seletividade. Paralelo a essa questão, também se analisa o papel das APACs dentro do sistema prisional de Minas Gerais, uma vez que os seus gestores classificam-nas como uma alternativa às demais prisões. Para embasar nosso trabalho trazemos os debates sobre: as prisões enquanto um mecanismo de punição, assim como debatemos o constante desejo por sua reforma; sobre o conceito de reincidência, que deve ser tratado com cuidado em razão das diferentes maneiras que existem para mensurá-lo; e sobre as políticas públicas e seus atores uma vez que as casas apaqueanas recebem apoio institucional e financeiro do governo de Minas Gerais, de forma que foram alçadas a atores da política prisional daquele Estado. Os resultados foram obtidos a partir da analise dos dados fornecidos pelo INFOPEN no ano de 2014. Os resultados apresentam informações interessantes sobre as prisões apaqueanas quando elas são comparadas com prisões não apaqueanas ao demonstrar que a seletividade pode ser considerada relevante para os índices de reincidência dessas unidades prisionais, assim como apontamos que as APACs possuem um papel dentro do sistema prisional mineiro. / APACs have been presented by their managers and by the actors who support them as an alternative model of imprisonment that, through its own methodology, is able to reduce up to 15% the recidivism of people serving their sentences in these places, while in the other prisons the recidivism is superior to 70%. The study described APACs in Minas Gerais, where they already represent 17% of the total number of prison units, analyzing whether the low rate of recidivism obtained by them would in fact be a product of their methodology or could be influenced by their selectivity. Parallel to this issue, is also the role of APACs within the prison system of Minas Gerais, since their managers classify them as an alternative to other prisons. To support our work we bring the debates about: prisons as a mechanism of punishment, just as we debate the constant desire for its reform; on the concept of recidivism that must be treated with care because of the different ways in which it can be measured; and on public policies and their actors, since the houses of Achaean receive institutional and financial support from the government of Minas Gerais, in a way that has been elevated to actors of the prison policy of that State. The results were obtained from the analysis of the data provided by INFOPEN in the year 2014. The results present interesting information about the Apaquean prisons when they are compared with non-Apaquean prisons when demonstrat that selectivity can be considered relevant for the recidivism indexes of these prison units, as well as pointing out that the APACs have a role within the prison system of Minas Gerais.

Drawing on original research on the effectiveness of a therapeutic community (TC) in reducing recidivism among juvenile male offenders, Correctional Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Communities: Reducing Recidivism Through Behavior Change provides a comprehensive review of the current state of drug treatment for the offending population, especially the link between juvenile offending and substance abuse. The book assesses the factors predicting successful completion of treatment as well as the methodological limitation of previous TC program reviews, and suggests policy implication and routes for future research. Using improvements such as multiple outcome criteria, long-term follow-up, matching groups on risk and needs, and the employment of a standardized instrument to measure program quality, Correctional Rehabilitation assesses the degree to which participation in the TC affects antisocial attitudes and reduces delinquency. Readers will explore how TCs can be designed to influence adolescent drug offenders and ultimately reduce recidivism. This book is essential reading for students, researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders focusing on the development of treatment programs. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1145/thumbnail.jpg

The Virginia Department of Corrections mandates that all offenders without a high school diploma or general equivalency diploma (GED) are required to be enrolled in GED programs offered in the prison system. However, these programs have shown varying rates of success. Supported by the constructivist theory, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify how correctional education staff members perceived the effectiveness of the GED programs. Data from surveys and interviews with 9 educational correctional staff members were collected and analyzed for themes. Findings indicated that (a) participants use computer software for effective instruction, (b) offenders who were enrolled in correctional education programs successfully reenter society after being released from incarceration, and (c) offenders' self-efficacy is related to GED instruction. Findings may be used to improve GED programs to support offenders in obtaining a GED and training to promote social justice by returning to their communities more prepared to obtain jobs and contribute to the global economy.

As a consequence of increased awareness and the current scholarly debate regarding women's differential predictors of recidivism, criminal justice agencies are working with researchers in the field to expand their knowledge in this area. In 2007, Portland State University researchers in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Corrections conducted an investigation of factors emerging in the pathways and gender responsive literature as predictive of women's recidivism in a randomly selected sample of female (n=150) and male (n=150) inmates. This study used information gathered from that investigation for two purposes: (1) to assess the prevalence rates of victimization experiences (childhood, adolescent and adulthood), substance abuse and mental health diagnosis across male and female ODOC inmates, and (2) to assess the predictive nature of victimization experiences, substance abuse and mental health diagnoses on recidivism across gender after a three year period. Findings suggest that females suffered from higher rates of victimization experiences throughout their lifetime than male ODOC inmates and higher rates of DSM-IV-TR mood and anxiety diagnosis. Similar rates were found across gender when assessing substance abuse and diagnosis of co-occurring disorders. When assessing the predictive impact of victimization, substance abuse and mental health diagnosis on recidivism this study found support for both gender neutral and gender responsive perspectives.

Utilizing a validated risk assessment tool to predict future offending is recommended as best practices in corrections by a number of professional organizations (Latessa & Lovins, 2010). Guided by the risk-needs-responsivity model, risk assessment tools have evolved to help inform criminal justice practitioners by identifying offenders most in need of intervention or supervision, guiding the case plan to optimize outcomes (Bonta & Andrews, 2007). The Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) utilizes the Youth Assessment and Screening Instrument (YASI) at all stages of contact with youthful offenders, including intake, probation, commitment, and parole (DJJ, 2016). However, risk assessment instruments do not always generalize across populations (Schwalbe, 2007) and are not always used effectively for case planning decisions (Singh et al., 2014). This study focused on the accuracy, equity, and usage of YASI in the Virginia juvenile justice system. Findings suggested that YASI performed at the expected and adequate levels of predictive validity in comparison to existing research. The predictive validity of the overall and dynamic risk scores and levels was statistically equivalent for males and females, but the Community/Peers and Family domains had stronger predictive validity for males than females. The predictive validity was statistically equivalent for White and Black youth for overall risk levels and dynamic risk scores and levels; however, the predictive validity for the overall risk scores was higher for White youth than Black youth. Each domain had a positive correlation between risk and assignment as a case planning priority area with a wide variation in the strength of correlation. Future research should focus on instrumental validity, protective factors, inter-rater reliability, domain interactions and clusters, reoffense types and timing, additional group and geographical differences, weighting and scoring, service matching, recidivism reduction, and program evaluations. Policy recommendations regarding risk assessment use in juvenile justice systems include a repeated cycle of determining purpose and function, conducting staff and stakeholder training, testing, and calibrating and modifying the tool.

Growing federal attention to addressing collateral damages of the era of mass conviction and mass incarceration has led to millions in funding allocated to support successful reentry for offenders in contact with the justice system. In line with this initiative, federal agencies have recently turned to criminal desistance research to build on earlier recidivism studies and to inform successful reentry programs. In an effort to contribute to opportunities for future research within the desistance paradigm, this study was designed to explore the identity change process of the offender from deviant to prosocial, a continuously emerging concept within the desistance literature that has received little specific attention to date. The identity theory of desistance was used as the theoretical framework for this study in an effort to advance existing theory while exploring the phenomena of interest. The key research questions guiding inquiry related to understanding the lived experience of identity change as a component of the criminal desistance process, identifying determinants that influence this identity change, and identifying behaviors that support the changing identity. Data were secured using a combination of semi-structured interviews with 6 ex-offenders reportedly 10 or more years beyond desistance, observation around interviewing, and document reviews. Data were analyzed using a qualitative descriptive phenomenology approach. Results showed the essence of the experience of identity change through the criminal desistance process involves refining the internal and external world to fit the non-offending working identity. Results of this study advance existing knowledge and theory toward practical, transformative support for offenders on the road to positive reform.

There is a gap in research on the effectiveness of mandatory-€minimum sentences on the recidivism rates of federal child pornography offenders, resulting in policy that may be ineffective and costly. Relevant research can further understanding of criminogenic behavior that results in the exploitation of children and aid future policy making decisions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship between federal sentencing and federal child pornographer recidivism. Central to this study is the research question of whether there exists a statistically significant difference between the likelihood of recidivism in 2 child pornographer cohorts that receive different sentences, probation or mandatory incarceration. The employed frameworks for this study were retributivism and the self-€regulation model. A quantitative analysis was used to examine the recidivism rates of the 2 different cohorts as well as the predictive value of various factors related to recidivism. The sample population consisted of 70 offenders convicted of a federal child pornography offense between 2012 and 2016 from 3 states and 7 federal judicial districts. Purposive sampling was employed via publicly available secondary data. Key findings revealed that the analyzed data does not support the existence of a relationship between recidivism and the given sentence. Second, crime of conviction was the only examined factor that supported predictability for future recidivism. The implications of this study will mean evidence for potential policy modifications, alteration of an existing economically draining strategy, and the positive social change of reduced harm and exploitation of children.

There is a gap in research on the effectiveness of mandatory-minimum sentences on the recidivism rates of federal child pornography offenders, resulting in policy that may be ineffective and costly. Relevant research can further understanding of criminogenic behavior that results in the exploitation of children and aid future policy making decisions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship between federal sentencing and federal child pornographer recidivism. Central to this study is the research question of whether there exists a statistically significant difference between the likelihood of recidivism in 2 child pornographer cohorts that receive different sentences, probation or mandatory incarceration. The employed frameworks for this study were retributivism and the self-regulation model. A quantitative analysis was used to examine the recidivism rates of the 2 different cohorts as well as the predictive value of various factors related to recidivism. The sample population consisted of 70 offenders convicted of a federal child pornography offense between 2012 and 2016 from 3 states and 7 federal judicial districts. Purposive sampling was employed via publicly available secondary data. Key findings revealed that the analyzed data does not support the existence of a relationship between recidivism and the given sentence. Second, crime of conviction was the only examined factor that supported predictability for future recidivism. The implications of this study will mean evidence for potential policy modifications, alteration of an existing economically draining strategy, and the positive social change of reduced harm and exploitation of children.