Leave it at the gate: job stress and satisfaction in correctional staff

Though academic literature firmly establishes an inverse relationship between job stress and job satisfaction, global correctional studies fail to examine the extent of that affiliation on overall correctional job satisfaction. As such, this study uses a faceted approach to explore underlying relationships between organizational, job, and personal characteristics of correctional staff and causes of job stress and satisfaction. Using the Job Satisfaction Survey, nine aspects of job satisfaction are considered. The Work Stress Scale for Correctional Officers’ analyses of five areas of stress directly related to correctional environments. This study examines both uniform and nonuniform staff assigned to a minimum security prison. On average, staff scored well below the average American worker on the Job Satisfaction Survey. Job satisfaction was predicted exclusively by job characteristics or stressors, including the job itself, role conflict, and ambiguity, and the physical condition of the prison, while employee demographic variables and variables that measure healthy lifestyles (such as sleep and exercise) were not significant predictors. While job stress does predict a substantively significant portion of job satisfaction (21%), there is still room to improve prediction.     

The impact of bullying and coping strategies on the psychological distress of young offenders

Abstract

This study investigated the involvement in bullying, the psychological distress, and the coping strategies of 99 males in an English young offenders institution. The Direct and Indirect Prisoner Behaviour Checklist (DIPC; Ireland, 1998 Ireland, J. L. 1998. Direct and Indirect Prisoner Behaviour Checklist (DIPC), Lancashire, , UK: University of Central Lancashire.  [Google Scholar]), the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995 Lovibond, P. F. and Lovibond, S. H. 1995. The structure of negative emotional states: Comparison of the depression anxiety stress scales (DASS) with the Beck depression and anxiety inventories. Behaviour Research Therapy, 33: 335–343. [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and the 48-item Coping Styles Questionnaire (CSQ; Roger et al., 1993 Roger, D., Jarvis, G. and Najarian, B. 1993. Detachment and coping: The construction and validation of a new scale for measuring coping strategies. Personality and Individual Differences, 15: 619–626. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) were administered. Over 60% of prisoners were involved in bullying (as a victim or bully), as indicated by responses on the DIPC. Emotional and avoidance coping were significantly related to psychological distress. Bully/victims were significantly more depressed than prisoners not involved in bullying, and being a bully/victim was a significant predictor of higher stress scores. Significant correlations were observed between all psychological distress measures and the number of bullying behaviours experienced by prisoners. These findings are discussed in relation to their implications for prisoner care and avenues for future research are proposed.     

Prisoners,pups, and PTSD: the grass roots response to veterans with PTSD

As the human–animal bond is increasingly recognized as therapeutic, the role of animals, most frequently canines, grows. A contemporary pairing of animals and humans can be found inside prisons. While the dogs trained by inmates are most frequently adopted out to the community, today dogs are being trained to assist veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as part of a grass roots effort to fulfill the mental health needs of veterans. The growing number of veterans with PTSD and concomitant issues including addiction, unemployment, homelessness, and crime, makes the mental healthcare issues of veterans a social problem. The civilian-led effort to provide veterans with dogs is a continuation of the public’s involvement with the proliferation of prison-based animal programs. While this next generation of animal programs has overwhelming community support, it also suffers from similar limitations as its predecessors. With no universal agreement as to the training methods or level of skills needed by the dogs, their efficacy at lessening the symptoms of veterans’ PTSD remains largely unknown.     

An open trial of an anger management treatment in a correctional facility: preliminary effectiveness and predictors of response

Despite the prevalence of anger management programs in correctional settings, there is mixed support for their effectiveness, and little is known about who benefits most. This preliminary study aimed to (1) evaluate the effectiveness of anger management for inmates, and (2) examine baseline psychopathology and midtreatment variables as response predictors. Participants were 30 incarcerated men undergoing 12-session anger management groups. Post-intervention, inmate-reported anger, and disciplinary actions decreased. Increased reported emotion regulation strategies predicted anger reduction.     

The limits and benefits of international mobility: an empirical examination of the biographies of Australian legal academics

ABSTRACT

Academics are becoming increasingly internationally mobile, and yet there is still limited research into the nature, outcomes and limits of academic mobility. This paper examines the biographies of over 700 academics employed within Australian law schools. It identifies legal academics who hold academics qualifications have been employed outside of Australia. Almost a quarter of legal academics in our sample hold a first degree outside of Australia, over a third hold a non-Australian post-graduate degree. While it could be expected that possessing international experience would broaden an academic’s cultural experiences, we also found that the internationally mobile academics have typically studied and worked previously within an elite international law school, and are now employed within an elite Australian law school. In addition, experiences of international mobility are not equally distributed, and male legal academics are significantly more likely to have international experience than female legal academics.     

Assumptions of gain preference and choice of action by states in international legislation: From the perspective of international relations

Upon entry into the vision of scholars in international relations, game theory has quickly become an effective approach to analyzing international conflicts and cooperation, and has been broadly adopted by neo-realism and neo-liberalism, which are two dominating aspects in the current theories of international relations. The former argues that the states participating in the game always follow relative gains, hence achieving a pessimistic conclusion on international cooperation, while the latter argues that the states participating in the game always follow absolute gains and deduce an optimistic prospect for international cooperation, which provides a useful way to analyze the confrontation and cooperation of states in international legislative game. Of course, it is aware that gain preference and choice of action by states in international legislative game are also conditioned by other factors.     

Moving prison health promotion along: towards an integrative framework for action to develop health promotion and tackle the social determinants of health

The majority of prisoners are drawn from deprived circumstances with a range of health and social needs. The current focus within ‘prison health’ does not, and cannot, given its predominant medical model, adequately address the current health and well-being needs of offenders. Adopting a social model of health is more likely to address the wide range of health issues faced by offenders and thus lead to better rehabilitation outcomes. At the same time, broader action at governmental level is required to address the social determinants of health (poverty, unemployment and educational attainment) that marginalise populations and increase the likelihood of criminal activities. Within prison, there is more that can be done to promote prisoners’ health if a move away from a solely curative, medical model is facilitated, towards a preventive perspective designed to promote positive health. Here, we use the Ottawa Charter for health promotion to frame public health and health promotion within prisons and to set out a challenging agenda that would make health a priority for everyone, not just ‘health’ staff, within the prison setting. A series of outcomes under each of the five action areas of the Charter offers a plan of action, showing how each can improve health. We also go further than the Ottawa Charter, to comment on how the values of emancipatory health promotion need to permeate prison health discourse, along with the concept of salutogenesis.     

Prosecutorial discretion for domestic violence cases: an examination of the effects of offender race,ethnicity, gender,and age

Much of the existing literature on courts and sentencing has focused on judicial decision-making. Prior research on prosecutorial decision-making is more limited, with even less attention paid to the prosecution of domestic violence cases. The research that has been conducted has produced inconsistent results regarding the effects of legal and extralegal variables. The current study focuses on the effects of extralegal suspect characteristics on the decision to dismiss domestic violence cases in a large Midwestern county from June 2009 to December 2009. The findings demonstrate that gender and race have a strong influence on prosecutors’ decisions to dismiss charges in domestic violence cases. Contrary to the focal concerns perspective, however, the results indicate that males and Black and Hispanic offenders are more likely to have their cases dismissed. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Forensic anthropology and the most probable cause of death in cases of violations against international humanitarian law: an example from Bosnia and Herzegovina

This study presents the results of the analysis of at least 298 predominantly male individuals, between 15 and 75 years, who were recovered from an open cast mine in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Particular attention is paid to identifying the mechanisms of injury and determination of the most probable cause of death based on the assessment of lethal or lethal-if-untreated injuries recorded in the skeleton. It was calculated that at least 38.9% (155/398) of individuals sustained gunshot wounds (GSWs) (plus one shrapnel wound) and may have died as consequence of these injuries. Among individuals who died from GSWs, there were 142 males (91.60%), eight females (5.1%) and five cases that were (3.2%) undetermined. One male individual sustained shrapnel injuries. This study presents an example of the multidisciplinary approach to the effective forensic investigation of violation against International Humanitarian Law, as well as an example of how it is possible to obtain meaningful results to assist the needs of the prosecution in these kind of cases despite the large number of cases and technological constraints.     

Arbitrary decision making in the absence of evidence: an examination of factors related to treatment selection and recidivism for female sexual offenders

ABSTRACT

As criminal justice professionals are asked to assign risk levels and treat females who sexually offend, identifying risk factors for recidivism prediction and treatment targets is important. Although the majority of risk and treatment studies have focused on males, general female offender research and developing research with female sex offenders both provide some evidence for possible factors related to sexual offending behaviour in women. The purpose of this study was to explore what possible factors were related to treatment selection in a sample of 506 females serving prison sentences for a sexual offense, and, in turn, to examine which factors predicted non-sexual and sexual recidivism. Results demonstrated that exploratory variables were significantly related to treatment selection, as opposed to variables previously supported in research. Furthermore, living with a significant other for more than two years, and prior sexual offending arrests predicted sexual recidivism, while decreased age and treatment participation predicted non-sexual recidivism. These findings indicate that while similarities between male and female sexual offenders exist, females still demonstrate gender-specific risk factors.     

Predicting multiple victim versus single victim sexual abuse: an examination of distal factors and proximal factors associated with the first abuse incident

Abstract

Official and confidential self-report data on 83 convicted adult male sexual abusers were analysed to examine whether sexual offending progression can be better predicted from distal antecedents, or from proximal antecedents and outcomes associated with the first sexual abuse incident. Fifty-six offenders who sexually abused more than one victim (multiple victim offenders; MVOs) were compared to 27 offenders who sexually abused a single victim only (single victim offenders; SVOs). MVOs were younger at the time of their first sexual abuse incident, and were more likely to first abuse male and non-familial children. With the exception of sexual attraction to male children, no differences were found between the two groups on distal antecedents. Proximal antecedents and outcomes associated with the first sexual abuse incident were significantly related to multiple victim offending. Logistic regression analysis identified the presence of sexual difficulties in the month prior to the first abuse incident, and sexual excitement immediately preceding the first incident, as significant unique predictors. Implications for risk assessment and risk management are discussed, and future research directions proposed.     

The role of technology transfer offices in building the South African biotechnology sector: an assessment of policies,practices and impact

While South Africa appears to have many of the building blocks in place to support a vibrant biotechnology sector, the potential which exists has not yet been realised. Several policies and programmes have therefore been introduced by government in recent years in order to address some of the barriers. The poor flow of technologies from research laboratories to industry has been identified as an area of particular concern, with the role of institutional technology transfer offices (TTOs) as facilitators of improved technology transfer being highlighted. This paper describes the status quo of biotechnology in South Africa, discusses relevant policy developments and against this background, examines the status of TTOs, the constraints which are faced and how these might be overcome.