‘Social Services will not touch us with a barge pole’: social care provision for older prisoners

Older prisoners are the fastest growing subgroup in the English and Welsh prison estate. Older prisoners have high levels of health and social care needs. This mixed-method study involved the distribution of a questionnaire examining the availability of health and social care services for older prisoners to all prisons housing adult males in England and Wales, followed by qualitative telephone interviews with representatives from eight prisons. Over half of establishments had some contact with external social care services, but reported significant difficulties in arranging the care for individuals. A professional lead for older prisoners had been identified in 81% of establishments; however, the value of this role to positively affect practice appeared questionable. Statutory social care was often non-existent in prison due to the lack of understanding of what it constituted and who was responsible for its provision.     

“首要标准”下刑释人员归正保护对策之探究

深入落实“首要标准”，建设社会治安综合治理工程，关注刑释人员回归保护、救助，并提供相应的解决对策，使其顺利回归主流社会已成为一个非常现实而紧迫的课题。刑释人员归正保护需要探究回归心理机制，内化刑释人员的主流意识；构建回归过渡机制，启动重返社会工程；设计人格恢复制度。展现回归社会的自然法原则；探索前瞻保护救助机制，寻求安置帮教的长效对策。     

TURNING OFFENDERS INTO RESPONSIBLE PARENTS AND CHILD SUPPORT PAYERS*

This article describes four demonstration projects that strive to promote responsible behavior with respect to parenting, child support payment, and employment among incarcerated and paroled parents with child support obligations. These projects, conducted in Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Texas, with support from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement and evaluated by the Center for Policy Research, led to a number of common outcomes and lessons. The projects revealed that inmates want help with child support, parenting, and employment and that prisons can be effective settings in which to conduct such interventions. Family reintegration programs were popular with inmates and may have helped to avoid the rupture of parent–child relationships commonly associated with incarceration. Although employment is the key to child support payment following release, rates of postrelease employment and earnings at all project sites were low and the employment programs were of limited utility in helping released offenders find jobs. Agencies dealing with child support, employment, and criminal justice need to adopt more effective policies with incarcerated parents including transitional job programs that guarantee immediate, subsidized employment upon release, child support guidelines that adjust for low earnings, and better training and education opportunities during incarceration.     

外国监狱的囚犯娱乐计划

在外国,尤其是在西方国家,监狱普遍设置有囚犯娱乐计划,开展娱乐活动。监狱犯人娱乐活动包括体育和文化艺术活动两大类,具有功能的重要性、内容的多样性、开展的普遍性特点。监狱犯人娱乐活动,可减轻监狱生活的单调性,有利于维护监狱安全,减少监狱暴力行为和违纪行为,有助于预防犯人重新犯罪和培养犯人有益的业余爱好。当然,娱乐活动,尤其是力量型的体育锻炼活动,应进行适当限制。     

Women Coming Home: Long‐Term Patterns of Recidivism

Drawing on recent scholarship on prisoner reentry and gendered pathways to crime, this research explores how social relationships, incarceration experiences, and community context, and the intersection of these factors with race, influence the occurrence and timing of recidivism. Using a large, modern sample of women released from prison, we find that women who are drug dependent, have less education, or have more extensive criminal histories are more likely to fail on parole and to recidivate more quickly during the eight year follow‐up period. We also observe racial variation in the effect of education, drug use, and neighborhood concentrated disadvantage on recidivism. This study highlights the importance of an intra‐gender, theoretical understanding of recidivism, and has import for policy aimed at female parolees.     

REENTRY COURTS: PROVIDING A SECOND CHANCE FOR INCARCERATED MOTHERS AND THEIR CHILDREN

Each year many incarcerated mothers are released from prison and must endure the difficult process of prisoner reentry. The rate of recidivism remains significantly high among this transitioning population, which negatively affects many children. The traditional parole system has not adequately addressed the complexities of a mother‐prisoner's reentry and reunification with her child. This Note proposes that states should expand or adopt the use of problem solving parole courts, or “Reentry Courts” to support a mother and her child through the transition from prison to home. Reentry Courts provide a multi‐agency coordinated solution, which utilizes judicial authority for women seeking to transform their lives and reunify with their children upon their release from prison.     

刑罚执行中的人身危险性研究

在刑罚执行领域,人身危险性是指再犯可能性。人身危险性的构成应该是以罪犯的犯罪人格为核心,以社会和自然环境为外部条件,以罪犯的行为表现为外在表征的系统。人身危险性标准的提出,可以为罪犯的分类矫治、减刑假释、再犯预测提供一定的借鉴作用。     

战俘的遣返问题探究

战俘有关待遇的规定正在得到进一步的完善,大量的公约对战俘的遣返问题更是加以强调。至1929年《有关战俘待遇问题的公约》,处理战俘遣返问题的规则已逐步发展起来。但二战的爆发以及20世纪40年代人权概念的传播也带来了新的问题。国际红十字会1949年制定的日内瓦第三公约虽与1929年公约极为相近,但其新规定更能适应新的需求。     

How to overcome the cost of a criminal record for getting hired

Many theories emphasize how employment is protective against criminal recidivism, yet a criminal record is a major barrier for getting hired. We asked 591 managers to make hypothetical hiring decisions between two applicants whose key difference was the presence or absence of a criminal conviction. In addition, we randomly manipulated the education, references, wage, or experience of the applicant with the criminal record to identify which manipulations can offset the cost of the record on an applicant's probability of being selected. We found that, when credentials were the same, the applicant with a criminal record was unlikely to be hired. That applicant, however, could become likely to be hired (i.e., the likelihood crossed 50 percent) by having at least 1 year of relevant experience, a GED or a college degree, or references from a former employer or a professor. Incomplete degrees, references from criminal justice professionals, or wage discounts did not make the applicant with the record likely to be hired. Findings confirm that a criminal record carries a high employability cost but also indicate that this cost can be superseded by specific credentials that signal an applicant's reliability, which can be provided by existing programs and institutions.