Preventing Suicide in Jails and Prisons: Suggestions from Experience with Psychiatric Inpatients

Abstract:  Both among psychiatric inpatients and inmates of prisons and jails, suicide is highly prevalent with alarming rates. In many countries, there has been a call for action to prevent such deaths and to educate staff in the early recognition of suicide risk. A careful MedLine search was used to identify relevant papers dealing with suicide prevention in psychiatric inpatients. This paper reviews this research and the policy recommendations that have been developed for psychiatric hospitals in order to reduce the incidence of suicide in their patients. Results derived from this search indicated that these policy recommendations can be applied to suicide prevention in correctional settings, and it is argued that suicide prevention programs in correctional settings can benefit from the research conducted and the policy recommendations for suicide prevention in psychiatric facilities. In conclusion, the best practices for preventing suicides in jail and prison settings should include the following elements: training programs, screening procedures, communication between staff, documentation, internal resources, and debriefing after a suicide.     

苏联战俘事务管理机构沿革(1939～1956)

二战期间,苏联俘获大量战俘,战俘的接收、安置、医疗服务、物资供给、劳动、政治教育和遣返等各方面事务均由苏联内务人民委员会战俘和被拘留人员事务管理总局负责。随着战场形势、战俘数量及战俘政策的变化,管理机构的名称、任务、职能、结构和规模均在发生变化。进入上世纪50年代,多数战俘已被遣返,管理局最终于1953年4月20日被撤销,其职能移交给了监狱管理局。在整个关押期间管理局较为重视战俘事务,在苏联国内经济状况好转的同时,战俘的关押条件也在逐渐改善,战俘发病率和死亡率逐年降低,劳动效率不断提高。     

Expanding the Feminist Pathways Perspective beyond the United States: A Profile of Federal Women Prisoners in Argentina

A large body of knowledge within the criminological discipline has demonstrated that women and girls have distinct social and psychological risk factors that contribute to both their initial onset, and continued engagement, in offending behavior. However, most of this research has focused on U.S. samples of women offenders. Using mixed methods, the current research investigated the offense dynamics and possible risk factors for women’s imprisonment with incarcerated women (246 survey respondents; 12 interviewees) in the Argentine federal penitentiary system. We find that there are some similarities in the characteristics of women prisoners in Argentina and the characteristics of women prisoners in the United States, but also some distinctions, primarily in the prevalence of prior victimization. In addition, our results indicate that federal women prisoners in Argentina who reported serious prior abuse were more likely to have committed crimes against persons in comparison to women without abuse histories. Such a distinction supports the ongoing research investigating women offender profiles beyond U.S. samples.     

Judges’ sentencing decisions with older offenders

Older offenders tend to be treated with more leniency in the criminal justice system. A number of studies show that older offenders are less likely to be incarcerated, and when they are incarcerated, are more likely to receive shorter sentences. However, to date, no research has directly examined why such leniency occurs. This study asked U.S. state trial court judges to reflect on their sentencing practices with older offenders and to rate the factors considered most important when sentencing this population. Responses were received from 212 judges. Only 31% of judges acknowledged treating older offenders with greater leniency. These judges also indicated that they predominantly rely on legal factors when making decisions about sentencing with older offenders rather than factors specifically associated with age. Only cognitive impairment was identified by judges as one of the five most important factors to consider when sentencing older offenders. These results are discussed in terms of judges’ awareness of how they weigh information to make legal decisions. The influence of judges’ age and attitudes about aging on sentencing decisions are also explored.     

福建省刑满释放人员重新犯罪问题研究

重新犯罪是世界各国普遍关注的一个社会问题,是影响社会治安的一个重要因素。由于刑满释放人员违法犯罪思想根深蒂固、社会控制力弱化、改造存在缺陷、出狱人员保护措施不力等因素,导致我省重新犯罪率上升,犯罪种类多样化、新型化,犯罪手段职业化、团伙化。预防和控制重新犯罪必须解决社会深层次矛盾,完善刑满释放人员保护制度,积极推进社区矫正,提高罪犯的改造质量。     

Parenting Programs in Women's Prisons

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a national survey of parenting programs in women's prisons. Parenting programs may be defined as those programs that specifically address the woman's role as mother and attempt to facilitate her performance of that role, and/or aid in the development of parental skills. These programs range from parenting classes of a few hours to nurseries where imprisoned women and their infants can live together during the term of imprisonment. The need for such programs is also discussed.     

New Zealand's special treatment units: the development and implementation of intensive treatment for high-risk male prisoners

In the late 1980s, New Zealand developed two highly innovative residential treatment programmes for serious offenders that blended together the strengths of structured cognitive behavioural group programmes and therapeutic community approaches. Since the mid-1990s this hybrid model – recently advocated as a fruitful direction for future offender programme development – was adopted and further refined for use in New Zealand's four high-risk special treatment units (HRSTUs). We outline the HRSTU model, noting the challenges and potential benefits of providing an intervention that integrates therapy, resocialisation and reintegration experiences for high-risk, high need, low responsivity clients: many with significant psychopathic features. On average, the majority of those referred to HRSTUs complete the programme and make small but significant amounts of change on important treatment goals. But most changes remain tentative, suggesting the importance of more supportive aftercare. Although an earlier evaluation of the first unit to open found the programme to be modestly effective in reducing recidivism, an outcome evaluation currently underway will help establish whether improvements since that time are associated with reductions in disciplinary infractions and recidivism.     

Health and social care services for women offenders: current provision and a future model of care

Secure provision for women in both the Criminal Justice System and the Health Service has evolved in the last decade, in line with emerging gender-specific policy. Notable gains have been the approach to self-harm in prison and a reduction in the inappropriately high levels of secure hospital care. Although treatment pilots in UK settings are in progress, much practice remains poorly described and insufficiently evaluated. Recent strategic initiatives by both the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health, as well as the commissioning changes that have followed the Health and Social Care Act 2012, provide a basis for reconsideration and a further paradigm shift. Suggestions for a reinvigorated model of gender-sensitive provision are made, relying on principles of resilience and autonomy.     

The Relationship Between Mental Disorders and Types of Crime in Inmates in a Brazilian Prison

This cross‐sectional study conducted in prisons in the city of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, investigated the association between the presence of psychiatric disorders in 462 prisoners and the types of crimes committed by them. Psychiatric diagnosis was obtained by means of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Mini‐International Neuropsychiatric Interview. A statistically significant association was found between some psychiatric disorders and specific groups of crime: lifelong substance addiction with sex crimes and homicide; antisocial personality disorder with robbery and with kidnapping and extortion; borderline personality disorder with sex crimes; and lifelong alcohol addiction with fraud and conspiracy and with armed robbery and murder. It was concluded that the mental disorders considered more severe (psychosis and bipolar disorder) were not associated with violent crimes, suggesting that the severity of the psychotic disorder may be the factor that has caused psychosis to be associated with violent crimes in previous studies.