Management Strategies When Working with Female Prisoners

Abstract

Scholars and practitioners have noted the potential for using understanding and language about the unique needs of women offenders to justify special controls over them in the prison setting. Using data from a national study of innovative management and programming strategies among correctional administrators, the present research examines management approaches needed for women, with a focus on the degree to which some administrators use stereotypes and/or perceived needs of women offenders in their rationale for choosing particular management strategies. Approximately 80 percent of the respondents reported that there is a need to use different management techniques for male and female prisoners. About half of these respondents noted that these differing management techniques are related to interpersonal skills and communication followed by programming needs and differences in general needs.     

Toward a Balanced Approach: Defining Police Roles in Responding to Domestic Violence

Responding to domestic violence poses unique challenges to law enforcement officers. Prior research has focused on issues such as officer safety and arrest policies but overlooked a critical component—the officers’ perception of their role in responding to domestic violence incidents. This study explores how police officers define their roles through the use of focus group interviews with detectives assigned to a domestic violence unit. Findings include the identification of three role perspectives. Recommendations for a more balanced approach of these role perspectives in responding to domestic violence crimes through the use of more effective training, supervision, and evaluation are proposed.     

韩国、日本道路交通管理状况的考察、借鉴和启示

在道路交通管理方面，日韩两国由于组织科学，交通设施合理完善，交通执法宽严适度，交通参与者素质较高，交通指挥控制中心系统科学，驾驶员的管理与教育社会化、专业化，道路交通管理水平确实比发展中国家先进。     

Excessive Uniformity in Federal Drug Sentencing

The ideal of fair and proportionate punishment was a major impetus for federal sentencing reform. Observers of the current federal drug sentencing regime contend that the sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimums lead to the problem of “excessive uniformity” in which offenders of widely differing culpability receive similar sentences due to the dominance of drug quantity as a sentencing factor. This study investigates this phenomenon using the 1997 Survey of Inmates in Federal Correctional Facilities. Controlling for relevant offense, offender, and case processing variables, the analysis finds that the quantity-driven sentencing fails to account for important differences in offender culpability—resulting in excessively uniform sentences for offenders with highly dissimilar roles in the offense. The main policy implication of this research is that the central, organizing role of drug quantity in federal drug sentencing needs to be rethought. Indeed, effectively dealing with the problem of excessive uniformity will likely require the wholesale restructuring of how federal sentences for drug offenders are determined.

Prison sentences: last resort or the default sanction?

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the sentencing purposes for penal penalties, judges’ perceptions of sentencing purposes and prison sentences, and the effects of penal sanctions. We examine judges’ positions towards different penalties, with a focus on imprisonment, since their views on the different penalties are related to their sentencing decision-making. Understanding these views is then critical for several practical and political purposes, including bridging the gap between academic discourse and legal practice. We accessed judges’ views on penal sanctions through a questionnaire and an interview. Our sample is compounded by the judges of the criminal courts from the three major cities in Portugal. Despite the most recent criminological empirical knowledge, judges valued imprisonment as the most adequate sentence, both for different crimes and for different judicial purposes. This result is not consistent with viewing imprisonment as a ‘last resort’ solution. Indeed, we did not find this ‘last resort’ position in our data, and it is not apparent in the judicial statistics on imprisonment rates. Our data highlight the importance of increasing judges’ training on criminological and sociological issues as well as the importance of changing the influence of their personal beliefs regarding penal sanctions into research-based positions.     

Psycho-semantic Spheres of the Personality Among Correctional Facility Employees

In this study, we describe the theoretical and methodological bases of research of psycho-semantic spheres of the psyche of correctional facility employees (CFE’S). We define psycho-semantic spheres of the personality of CFE’S represented by the most important components forming a self-image “I,” an image of work/activity, a group of affective components and groups of components concerning destructive motives. We describe specific structures, contents and relations of the psycho-semantic spheres of the personality of CFE’S in the optimized and mismatched states, which could predict behavior of CFE’S in the different correctional emergency situations.     

The effect of institutional educational programming on prisoner misconduct

Relative to studies of recidivism, past research on prison educational programming has largely neglected to examine the relationship, if any, between participation in these programs and institutional misconduct. Using data from the National Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities (N = 6957), we assess the relationship between participation in prison educational programming and instances of prisoner misconduct, considering the types and completion of such programs. Utilizing a recently developed propensity score weighting procedure to adjust for selection into programming, our findings indicate that, contrary to research on educational participation and recidivism, those involved in prison educational programming are more likely to commit misconduct infractions than those who are not involved in these programs. Practical implications and directions for future research are explored.     

香港刑事执行工作概览

香港的刑事执行工作致力于促进罪犯复归社会,强调“以人为本”、“社区为本”的理念。惩教署是香港监狱工作的主管机关。社会福利署负责社区矫正项目的执行。善导会等民间组织在香港罪犯矫正事业中发挥着重要作用。     

看守所“政治攻势”不力的主客观因素及矫正方法

“政治攻势”是看守所配合深挖犯罪、打击严重刑事犯罪的一项重要工作,同时也是当前看守所工作中比较薄弱的环节。主要原因是看守民警素质低,缺乏竞争奖励机制。解决的办法是要制定切实可行的制度,并使之规范化,真正发挥看守所在深挖犯罪中的“材料库”作用,为打击刑事犯罪服务。     

上海的道路交通管理可借鉴东京之模式

在城市道路交通管理方面,日本东京由于科技装备先进,交通文明程度极高,路网结构合理,交通事故的防控工作卓有成效,这些都值得我们上海学习与借鉴。上海要赶超国际先进水平,打造交通管理严格的城市,必须树立科学的发展观和正确的政绩观来强化交通管理工作。