Considerable attention has focussed on identifying individual factors associated with, or predictive of, sexual offending (e.g., Efta-Breitbach & Freeman, 2004). In light of these individual factors, clinicians and researchers have developed standardized instruments for assessing the risk posed by sexually offending youth. Two such instruments are the Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-II (J-SOAP-II; Prentky & Righthand, 2003) and the Estimate of Risk of Adolescent Sexual Offence Recidivism Version 2.0 (ERASOR-II; Worling & Curwen, 2001). In addition to individual factors, research on crime has demonstrated that structural factors within the community may be important determinants of sexual and non-sexual offending (e.g., McCarthy, 1991; Ouimet, 1999; Shaw & McKay, 1942; Wirth, 1938). Therefore, the purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to compare the psychometric properties of two newly developed risk assessment instruments (i.e., J-SOAP-II and ERASOR-II) and (b) to use the better instrument to compare the levels of risk posed by sexually offending youth in 3 neighbouring, but diverse communities. Using file information, the J-SOAP-II and ERASOR-II were scored on 84 adolescent males between the ages of 11 and 20 years who had committed a sexual offence and received treatment at Youth Forensic Psychiatric Services (YFPS) in the Greater Vancouver Area (GVA; n = 30), Central Okanagan (CO; n = 26), and Thompson Nicola region (TN; n = 28). Calculations of interrater reliability and item-total correlations indicated that the J-SOAP-II was a better assessment instrument for this sample of offenders. Consequently, further regional analysis of risk was conducted using the J-SOAP-II data. Results indicated that although there were no regional differences among the severity and history of sexual offending, TN youth generally had a greater number of risk factors than did youth in CO and GVA. Specifically, youth in TN were found to be higher risk in the areas of intervention, general problem behaviour, iii and family/environment dynamics. These results suggest that to better understand youth who commit sexual offences and to provide appropriate prevention and intervention strategies for individual offenders and their communities, youth should not be evaluated in isolation from their social and community context. Recommendations for practice are discussed. / Graduate Studies, College of (Okanagan) / Graduate

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the implementation of the "Key Components" as identified by the Department of Justice (1998) into the Riverside County Dependency Recovery Drug Court Program.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Air Force Family Advocacy Program and examine the effects that situational dynamics have on recidivism. Although, the high volume of program participants and low recidivism rate demonstrated that the Family Advocacy Program is a valuable resource for treating families referred for spousal domestic violence.

This study examined the effects of the spiritual component of rehabilitation on female inmates who were in custody during 2002 at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility (LDSCF) and how church attendance relates to recidivism.

No description available.

Research reveals that disciplinary alternative education programs (DAEPs) are growing at an alarming rate. What are schools doing to ensure success for those students who are placed in a DAEP? In this descriptive qualitative research study, I examined how DAEPs can operate at a more effective level in order to provide a restorative environment, resulting in a decreased recidivism rate for troubled youth. In order to achieve this overall objective, the following research questions framed this study RQ1: What are the qualities in a disciplinary alternative education program setting that lead to either success or failure of a DAEP program? RQ2: Why do students continue to commit offenses which lead to multiple assignments in a disciplinary alternative education program? RQ3: How does a disciplinary alternative education program provide a restorative environment for troubled youth in order to decrease recidivism? RQ4: What resources are available to reduce the amount of repeat student assignments to DAEP? Participants were 12 North Texas secondary school students with multiple assignments to DAEPs and 12 North Texas secondary counselors who provide emotional and behavioral supports to these students. The findings indicate there is a high need for the implementation of transitional supports, a high need for consistent and targeted counselor support and resources, a high need to change student behavior, a high need to build positive relationships, and a high need to address the environmental (social) factors that influence behavior.

La récidive en communauté est associée à de lourdes conséquences financières et une atteinte à la santé publique. L’isolement cellulaire (IC) est une pratique adoptée pour répondre aux comportements perturbateurs en milieu carcéral, sans indications quant à l’impact sur la récidive. Environ 7% des détenus nord-américains sont logés en IC et plusieurs vivront une détérioration psychologique. De plus, la littérature ne démontre pas une réduction de l’inconduite suite à l’IC, mettant en doute la possibilité d’un changement comportemental. Clarifier l’effet de l’IC sur la récidive permettrait d’informer les débats récents autour de son rendement coût-efficacité et d’évaluer les risques de victimisation associés. Une revue systématique et une méta-analyse ont donc été menées afin d’élucider l’impact de l’IC sur la récidive. Des modèles à effets mixtes ont été employés pour quantifier l’association entre l’IC et la réarrestation, réincarcération ou récidive violente. Des sous-analyses ont permis d’évaluer le risque de récidive associé à différentes formes d’IC, la durée d’exposition et le temps écoulé entre la sortie d’IC et la libération. Notre article a démontré une association modérée entre l’IC et l’augmentation de la récidive, laquelle résistait au contrôle de facteurs confondants. L’IC était associé à l’augmentation des trois formes de récidive. De surcroît, une plus longue et récente exposition augmentait davantage ce risque. Ainsi, ce mémoire contribue à démontrer que l’IC ne présente pas de retombées comportementales pouvant contrebalancer ses coûts opérationnels ou sur la santé mentale des détenus. Plusieurs initiatives sont proposées pour faciliter la réintégration des détenus exposés à l’IC. / Recidivism amongst releasees bears heavy consequences for society in terms of financial costs and public health strain. Placing inmates in solitary confinement (SC) was adopted as a solution for disordered behaviors in prison, without indication as to its impacts on recidivism. Approximately 7% of North American inmates are housed in SC, many of whom will suffer psychological deterioration. Moreover, studies dispute that SC can reduce institutional misconduct, casting doubt on its potential for inspiring behavioral change. To clarify the effects of SC on recidivism would inform recent debates around its cost effectiveness and the evaluation of associated victimization risks. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to clarify the impact of SC on recidivism. Random-effects meta-analyses were carried out to quantify the association between SC and rearrest, reincarceration, and violent reoffense. Additional sub-analyses allowed to characterize recidivism risk following different forms of SC, lengthier periods of exposure, and shorter transition time between release from SC and to the community. Our article showed a moderate association between SC and increased recidivism, which remained robust to confounders. SC was associated with an increase in all forms of recidivism. Finally, longer and more recent exposure to SC upon release both further increased recidivism risk. This memoir thus provides further evidence that SC does not present significant benefits that could outweigh its associated mental health and financial costs. Finally, multiple initiatives are discussed in the context that they could facilitate community reentry for inmates exposed to SC.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to describe and explain the main features of implementation practice of house arresting in the Czech Republic and consequently propose possible ways out in relation to subsequent (and successful) continuing of implementation procedure. In terms of theory there are reflected approaches of criminal law, criminology, penology, sociology and public policy. Within the research work, the space had been given to those participants immediately concerned and affected with house arresting agenda - judges, prosecutors, probators, ministry officers (Ministry of Justice), attorneys, watchdog organizations and experts on criminal law from academic sphere. House arresting had entered valid legal regulations in connection with new criminal law effectual since 1.1.2010. This new regulation substituted the pristine penal code. In new criminal law is significant shift of accent from tangible to formal conception of culpability. By the analysis of key participants of objective policy, identification of possible goals, adumbration of solution options is finally formulated optimal version. In terms of this version are reflected possibilities of evaluation and monitoring. Special attention is payed to identification of crucial risks and problems related to implementation practice, which...

Victim-offender mediation, a component of restorative justice, has been a valuable tool for rehabilitating juvenile offenders since the late 1970s. Victim offender mediation brings crime victims and offenders together to reach agreements for restitution and community healing. Resolutions Northwest, a non-profit organization in Multnomah County, offers a victim-offender mediation program to juvenile offenders and their victims. The purpose of this study was to analyze the recidivism rates for juvenile offenders who went through Resolutions Northwest's victim-offender mediation program as opposed to offenders who went through the traditional justice system. It was hypothesized that the participants in this program would have lower recidivism rates than the juvenile offenders who were not given this restorative justice option. Records on juvenile offenders who successfully completed the victim-offender mediation program were collected from Resolutions Northwest. These records were then compared to a secondary data set. This secondary data was from the Tri-County Juvenile Information System database, supplied by the Multnomah County Department of Adult and Community Justice to Professor William Feyerherm as part of the Casey Foundation supported Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative. It was found that 41.6% of the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative group reoffended within one year of their original arrest. In comparison, only 20.3% of the Resolutions Northwest group reoffended within a year of their victim-offender mediation program completion. It was also investigated as to whether the juveniles in both groups reoffended a second, third or even fourth time within a one year period. The explorations into second, third and fourth reoffenses yielded similar results in that the juveniles from Resolutions Northwest had significantly lower recidivism rates than those from the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative group.

Le crime d’action indécente a longtemps été défini par la communauté scientifique et administré par la justice davantage comme une nuisance qu’un crime sexuel. Cette situation peut s’expliquer du fait que ce type de délit n’implique pas de contacts sexuels physiques avec la victime et que les conséquences négatives associées à l’agression sur la victime sont souvent minimisées. Ainsi, cette étude s’inscrit dans le cadre d’un stage à la Division des crimes contre la personne de la Sûreté du Québec. Cette recherche a comme application concrète de soutenir le processus de ciblage des récidivistes potentiels en matière d’actions indécentes dans le cadre de dossiers d’enquêtes. Le but est donc de décrire un portrait rétrospectif de la carrière criminelle des 3 572 auteurs présumés ou avérés d’actions indécentes dénoncés au Québec entre 2011 et 2018 Des analyses univariées, bivariées et multivariées ainsi qu’une courbe ROC ont été effectuées sur la population à l’étude. Les résultats de l’étude suggèrent que près de 22% des infracteurs sont récidivistes en matière d’action indécente et que 18% de la population à l’étude ont commis un crime sexuel avec contacts sur une victime. Les deux groupes se sont également avérés être en grande majorité des hommes, plus jeunes en termes d’âge, plus prolifiques et plus diversifiés en termes de variété de catégories de crimes que ceux qui n’ont jamais récidivé ou commis de crime sexuel avec contact. Finalement, les meilleurs prédicteurs se sont avérés être le sexe des infracteurs, la présence d’antécédents de crimes sexuels, de crimes violents et de crimes de la catégorie « Autres infractions criminelles » pouvant être associés à des bris d’ordonnances ou des omissions de se conformer à des engagements de la Cour. Ces individus demeurent toutefois marginaux puisque la grande majorité de la population d’auteurs d’actions indécentes n’a pas commis de récidive ou encore de crime sexuel avec contact sur une victime. / The crime of indecent act has long been defined by the scientific community and administered by justice more as a nuisance than a sexual crime. This can be explained by the fact that this type of crime does not involve physical sexual contact with the victim and that the negative consequences associated with the assault on the victim are often minimized. Thus, this study is part of an internship at the Crimes Against the Person Division of the Sûreté du Québec. The concrete application of this research is to support the process of targeting potential recidivists for indecent acts in investigation files. The goal is therefore to describe a retrospective portrait of the criminal careers of the 3,572 alleged or proven perpetrators of indecent acts reported in Quebec between 2011 and 2018. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses and a ROC analysis were performed on the study population. The results of the study suggest that nearly 22% of the offenders are repeat offenders in indecent acts and that 18% of the study population have committed a sexual crime with contact with a victim. Both groups were also found to be overwhelmingly male, younger in terms of age, more prolific, and more diverse in terms of the variety of crime categories than those who had never re-offended or committed a contact sexual crime. Finally, the best predictors were found to be the gender of the offenders, the presence of a history of sexual crimes, violent crimes, and crimes in the "Other Criminal Offences" category that may be associated with breaches of orders or failures to comply with court undertakings. However, these individuals remain marginal since the vast majority of the indecent act offender population has not committed a recidivism or a sexual crime involving contact with a victim.