Recidivism Among Young Males Sentenced to Prison and Youth Custody

In 1999, Sweden introduced a new Act focused on young persons aged 15–17 who commit serious offences. The object of the Act was to replace prison sentences with a new sanction in the form of youth custody, which would involve a placement in a special approved home. This study constitutes a follow-up comparison of criminal recidivism among young males sentenced to prison prior to the introduction of the Youth Custody Act (1991–1998) and young males sentenced to youth custody following the introduction of the Act (1999–2003). The study shows that the sanction has not only been used as a replacement for prison sentences, but has also led to an expansion in custodial sentencing in the form of ‘net-widening’. There has also been a substantial increase in the length of custodial sentences awarded in connection with the new sanction. A comparison with the youth sanction in Denmark raises questions about the consequences of having expanded the group of youths sentenced to a custodial sanction in Sweden, and of the increased length of the custodial sentences to which this group is subjected.     

Factors associated with desistance from violence in prison: an exploratory study

Desistance from crime has been of increasing interest within criminal justice literature, but desistance from offending behaviour whilst in custodial environments has not yet been investigated. Violence within prison establishments continues to be a significant problem; therefore, this study investigated the factors that are associated with desistance from custodial violence in 63 UK Category C adult male prisoners with a record of violence in prison. Participants completed measures of eight social and subjective factors associated with desistance in community samples. Those who had desisted from prison violence for 12 months or more showed greater levels of pro-social attitudes, agency and resilience than those who persisted in violence. Agency independently predicted desistance and this was particularly the case for younger offenders. Internal shifts appeared to be supported by a positive work environment. It is concluded that in custody an internal shift in perspective is especially important for desistance, and that this can be supported by the social environment. Opportunities to intervene may be greater in younger prisoners. It is recommended that current initiatives in developing agency and positive social interaction, such as Psychologically Informed Planned Environments, are further developed.     

Women Prisoners and the Drive for Desistance: Capital and Responsibilization as a Barrier to Change

There is a significant and growing volume of research into the way in which offenders desist from crime and their resettlement and reentry into society following a custodial sentence. As is too often the case in criminological research, women are underrepresented in these areas of investigation. This research aimed to investigate how women in the last 3 months of a prison sentence plan and prepare for their release. Using data generated from qualitative interviews with women prisoners and prison staff over a 13-month period in a closed women’s prison in England, this paper will argue that women prisoners have motivation and desire to desist from crime post-release, but their attempts to plan for release are hindered by a responsibilization discourse that runs throughout the institution and by a severe lack in all forms of capital (social, cultural, economic, and symbolic). This not only results in many women being released with little support in place to help them achieve their aims of a crime-free life in the future but also highlights the problems with a prison system based on male-centered knowledge.     

Remanding Women in Custody: Concerns for Human Rights

Concern about the increasing population of women in prison has tended to focus on the sentencing of female offenders. It is often overlooked that about one in five women held in custody is there on remand, awaiting trial or sentence, and that most of them will not receive a prison sentence at the end of the process. This article examines the legal grounds for a custodial remand and explores the extent to which individual rights guaranteed under the European Convention are adequately protected. It is argued that women are particularly disadvantaged by the laws governing bail and by their practical application in the criminal justice system; and that the pre-trial detention of so many women routinely violates the spirit of the Convention by allowing questionable claims to social utility to prevail over the right to liberty and to a fair trial.     

A Multilevel Analysis of Community Effects on Criminal Sentencing

This research examines the influence of several important community characteristics on the sentencing of convicted felony defendants, net of other predictors associated with sentencing decisions. Using an appropriate multilevel technique, I find that several community characteristics affect the likelihood that defendants are sentenced to prison versus jail. However, none of the community characteristics influence the odds of prison versus non‐custodial sanctions or jail versus non‐custodial sanctions for these defendants. This underscores the importance of using sentencing measures beyond the basic “in/out” dichotomy. Even more importantly, the results suggest that there remains a statistically significant and substantial amount of sentencing variation across counties after controlling for relevant individual‐ and community‐level factors. The implications of these findings for research, theory, and policy‐making are discussed.     

Split sentencing in georgia: A test of two empirical assumptions

Recent research on felony sentencing in the nation's trial courts has highlighted a type of sentence in which a prison term is coupled with a probation period. Under these so-called “split sentences,” convicted felons serve a term of incarceration, are released (possibly) on parole, and eventually come under the concurrent jurisdiction of both parole and probation authorities. Although such a sentence may serve a variety of purposes, it is at least conceivable that judges use the prison/probation combination as a way to respond to prison overcrowding and public pressure for punitiveness.

This article reports a study of split sentencing in Georgia from 1976 to May 1985. Drawing on more general research on felony sentencing in the state's Superior Courts, the authors test two empirical assumptions about split sentencing: (1) the perception that split sentencing has increased over time and (2) the importance of the total term (i.e., the prison/probation combination) over the actual severity (i.e., the time specified for incarceration). These assumptions surfaced in extended interviews with court and community authorities in selected judicial circuits across the state.

The empirical tests of these two assumptions consist of an examination of aggregate sentencing patterns and multivariate analyses of two conceptions of the split sentence. The data provide limited support for the two empirical assumptions. There was no evidence that felony courts in Georgia had increased their reliance on split-sentence terms. Aggregate evidence, however, suggested that judges might use split sentencing as a way to balance the competing pressures of prison overcrowding and the demand for punitiveness. Multivariate analyses offer mixed support for propositions on the importance of the total term. The study concludes with a consideration of the implications for public policy and for research on racial discrimination, sentencing, and trial court processes in general.     

PATHWAYS TO SEX-BASED DIFFERENTIATION IN CRIMINAL COURT SENTENCING

Using a matched sampling method, this research examined the process of sex-based differentiation in sentencing outcomes for 194 men and 194 women, sentenced over a seven-year period in Christchurch, New Zealand. Consistent with past research, our results showed that judicial processing treated women more leniently than men. Path analyses revealed that judges were less likely to sentence women than men to imprisonment terms because of gendered information and decisions made earlier in the judicial process, such as criminal history, length of custodial remands, and pre-sentence recommendations by probation officers. In contrast, judges exercised considerable leniency towards women (compared with men) in setting the length of prison terms, even after statistically controlling for all sex-differentiated factors such as criminal history. Explanations and implications are discussed.     

Evaluation of the ADViSOR project: Cross‐situational behaviour monitoring of high‐risk offenders in prison and the community

Purpose. The release on licence of prisoners who have committed serious violent and/or sexual offences requires rigorous risk assessment and risk management. This study evaluates the ADViSOR project, designed to examine the contribution of prison behaviour monitoring to community supervision of a sample of the highest risk offenders released in England and Wales under Multi‐Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Method. The offence‐related behaviour of a total group (n= 25) of MAPPA prisoners in one prison, due for release in the following year to two adjacent probation trust areas, was monitored. Their behaviours in the community were followed up for 1 year. A comparison group (n= 36) was formed of the total number of MAPPA prisoners released from prisons nationally to the same two probation trusts. Results. The frequencies of ADViSOR negative behaviours in prison and the community were strongly correlated, r_s (25) = .55, p= .004, as were positive behaviours, r_s (25) = .56, p= .004. No statistically significant correlations were found either under usual MAPPA processes in the ADViSOR prison or comparison group prisons. The frequency of ADViSOR negative behaviours statistically significantly predicted, with 92% accuracy, the offenders who would reoffend or be recalled to prison (n= 8). Statistically significant similarities in types of behaviour were also identified. Conclusion. Results are discussed in terms of the contribution of behavioural monitoring to risk prediction with high‐risk offenders, consistency of cross‐situational behaviours, and implications for policy and practice.     

ROLE STRESS, CUSTODY ORIENTATION, AND DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS

Shifting correctional philosophies and institutional policies concerning the handling and control of inmates have contributed to experiences of role stress among prison guards. The present study, based on questionnaire responses of 144 prison guards from a maximum security prison, suggests that role stress is resolved by an intensified commitment to the custodial role. A major consequence of this is a higher rate of disciplinary reports filed by the guards. Apparently, an increased custody orientation disposes guards to a pattern of closer surveillance and control of the inmate population. This study concludes with a discussion of the implications of our findings for guardinmate relationships and for the administration of justice in the prison setting.     

The parole performance of offenders released from shock incarceration (boot camp prisons): A survival time analysis

The parole performance of offenders who were released after successfully completing a shock incarceration program was examined and compared to the performance of offenders who were serving time on probation or parole after a period of incarceration. Separate survival analyses were performed for recidivism as measured by (1) arrests and (2) failures (jailed, absconded, or revoked). Prior incarceration, age, age at first arrest, and risk assessment score were related to recidivism but type of sentence was not. Intensity of supervision was significantly related to recidivism but this relationship was eliminated when risk level was controlled. There was no evidence that shock incarceration reduces recidivism. Future research should focus on methods of reducing failures during community supervision for these young, nonviolent offenders within the framework of either a shock incarceration program or some other sentence.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the American Probation and Parole Association 14th Annual Training Institute, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 1989.     

Mothers Offending Against Their Role

ABSTRACT

Inmate mothers are not only seen to offend against society, but also against their role as mothers. They bear often public and private scorn for the dislocation their incarceration brings to their children and families. This paper reports on the Australian component of an international comparative policy study, Incarcerated mothers and children: Impact of prison environments(IM-CIPE). This study investigated the impact of the prison environment or institutional ecology on incarcerated mothers and their young children, aged birth to eight years (that is, mothers whose children live with them in custody and mothers who are separated from their children), in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and England. This paper draws on data from policy analyses; interviews with policy-makers, with inmate mothers, and with custodial and noncustodial staff; and observations within six women's prisons and their respective correctional authorities in the three Australian states. This paper argues for policies which support the inmate as mother and which support her children and their caregivers on the outside.     

Predicting dropout of court-mandated treatment in a British sample of domestic violence offenders

Abstract

Prior to starting a pro-feminist domestic violence rehabilitation programme, 120 British male domestic violence offenders completed psychometric and attitudinal measures that assessed pro-domestic violence attitudes, anger, locus of control, self-reported emotional and psychological abuse of a partner, interpersonal dependency and social desirability. Offenders who completed the programme were compared to those who dropped out on these measures and demographic variables. Just under one-third (32.5%) of offenders failed to complete the programme. Of those variables that discriminated between completers and dropouts (age, previous custodial sentences, age at first conviction, marital status, self-reported abuse, and diagnosis of depression), only age (being young), having previously received a custodial sentence and self-reported low levels of physical abuse of a partner predicted attrition. These results are discussed with reference to probation supervision.     

The impact of ethnicity on probation recommendations and dispositions in Israel

The criminal justice system in Israel provides probation services to Arab and Jewish offenders. In adult probation, the administrative structure is integrated, but the probation officers are of the same ethnicity as the offenders. Previous research in the juvenile courts has uncovered a tendency toward harsher recommendations for Arab delinquents in presentence reports. The present study examines both recommendations and dispositions for a sample of 208 young adult offenders. With severity of instant offense and prior record controlled the findings indicate that Arab defendants are less likely to be recommended for probation, less likely to be granted probation, and more likely to be sent to prison when not granted probation. The Arab probation officers' more conservative recommendations may reflect their identification with the Arab community at the expense of traditional casework values. This inequality is amplified by the sentencing practices of the courts.     

The Paradox of Probation: Community Supervision in the Age of Mass Incarceration

After four decades of steady growth, U.S. states' prison populations finally appear to be declining, driven by a range of sentencing and policy reforms. One of the most popular reform suggestions is to expand probation supervision in lieu of incarceration. However, the classic socio‐legal literature suggests that expansions of probation instead widen the net of penal control and lead to higher incarceration rates. This article reconsiders probation in the era of mass incarceration, providing the first comprehensive evaluation of the role of probation in the build‐up of the criminal justice system. The results suggest that probation was not the primary driver of mass incarceration in most states, nor is it likely to be a simple panacea to mass incarceration. Rather, probation serves both capacities, acting as an alternative and as a net‐widener, to varying degrees across time and place. Moving beyond the question of diversion versus net widening, this article presents a new theoretical model of the probation‐prison link that examines the mechanisms underlying this dynamic. Using regression models and case studies, I analyze how states can modify the relationship between probation and imprisonment by changing sentencing outcomes and the practices of probation supervision. When combined with other key efforts, reforms to probation can be part of the movement to reverse mass incarceration.     

How damaging is imprisonment in the long-term? A controlled experiment comparing long-term effects of community service and short custodial sentences on re-offending and social integration

Since the 19th century, short custodial sentences were said to foster re-offending through alienating inmates from families and work. The present study is one of the few randomized controlled trials comparing short custodial sentences with community service orders. Between 1993 and 1995, 123 subjects were randomly assigned to community service or immediate custody (of a maximum of 14 days) in the Lake of Geneva area (Switzerland). The present study updates results published earlier on a follow-up period of 2 years by considering re-convictions and social integration over 11 years. Although statistically not significant, re-offending was tentatively more common among ex-prisoners in the long run. Eleven years later, ex-prisoners were better off, complied better with tax regulations, and did not fare worse regarding employment history or marital status. In line with recent systematic reviews, the results do not confirm the wide-spread assumption that short custodial sanctions are harmful when compared to community service.     

Pathways to sexual offense recidivism following treatment: an examination of the Ward and Hudson self-regulation model of relapse

Ward and Hudson (1998, 2000) proposed a self-regulation model of relapse in sexual offenders, which classifies offenders into one of four pathways. This study examined the validity of the model, whether sexual recidivists are characterized by one predominant pathway and offense type, and whether participants would change pathway pre- to posttreatment intervention. Twenty-five sexual offenders who had participated in a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral treatment program during a prison sentence, but committed a further sexual offense on their release from custody, participated in the study. Results supported the content validity of the model. The predominant pathway pre- and posttreatment was approach explicit. The hypothesis that participants would change pathway posttreatment was not supported. These results may have implications for the efficacy of treatment of approach-explicit sexual offenders.     

The effect of imprisonment on recommitment: an analysis using exact,coarsened exact,and radius matching with the propensity score

Objectives

This study examines the effect of prison versus community sanctions on recommitment to prison and compares two levels of community supervision, community control (house arrest) and probation, evaluating whether the findings are contingent on the type of matching methods used in the analysis.

Methods

Logistic regression was conducted on unmatched and matched samples. Exact, coarsened exact, and radius-matching procedures were used to create a selection on observables design. Matching variables included current offense, demographics, criminal history, supervision violations, and a rich set of Florida Sentencing Guidelines information culled from an official scoring sheet. Florida judges use this instrument to sentence offenders within the framework of the state determinate sentencing system.

Results

The results show that with exact matching, there is no effect of imprisonment on recommitment, while the other procedures suggest a specific deterrent effect of imprisonment. All four analysis methods showed that offenders under community control are more likely to reoffend than those under normal probation. Analyses between the matched and unmatched prison observations demonstrate that the matched set of prisoners is composed of offenders who have less extensive criminal records and less serious conviction offenses than unmatched offenders regardless of the matching algorithm.

Conclusions

Contrary to a prior analysis of these data, which found a criminogenic effect of prison, a null effect was found using exact matching. Comparing the matching procedures, the more precise the match the less likely there was an effect of prison. However, community control was criminogenic regardless of the matching procedure.

     

The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 – Secure Colleges and the Legitimation of State Sponsored Violence

The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 empowers staff in secure colleges to subject young people in custody to dangerous force for the purpose of ensuring ‘good order and discipline’. The use of force to restrain young people in custody can cause serious physical injury, profound psychological damage and has contributed to the custodial deaths of two young people in 2004. Despite these dangers, in most youth custodial establishments the use of force remains high and has been increasing. The 2015 Act will further legitimise the use of coercive violence against vulnerable children, consequently sustaining the power imbalance between children and adults, diminishing the special status of childhood and violating the child's human rights. This comment considers the effectiveness of using force and argues that the deliberate infliction of pain should only be used as a last resort and exclusively to prevent harm to the child or others.     

Chapter 4: Psychiatric Expert Examination of Convicts,Witnesses, and Victims

For persons who have been convicted of a crime and are serving a prison sentence, the need for a psychiatric examination arises when the court must decide on early release because of mental disease or when a court judgment must be reviewed because of newly discovered circumstances relative to the mental soundness of the prisoner at the time the crime was committed.