Hung-En Sung

Objectives Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has shown promise as a tool for rehabilitating offenders in the USA and other developed nations. However, little is known about the effectiveness of CBT outside the developed world. In Central America, a region wracked by rampant violence and disorder, CBT has the potential to change the behavior of persistent offenders and improve public safety. The present study examines the results of a CBT among supervised offenders in Honduras. Methods Randomized control trial, where one hundred parolees were randomly assigned to either a treatment (n = 50) or control conditions (n = 50) group and tracked for 14 months. Results Subjects who participated in the CBT program were 69% less likely to reoffend at any compared with those assigned to the control group. Conclusion Despite social, economic obstacles, CBT proved to be effective in reducing recidivism among parolees in Honduras-a testament to its robustness and wide applicability.

Cientos de miles de migrantes de México y Centroamérica cruzaron a los Estados Unidos en busca de empleo. Las investigaciones anteriores sugieren que estas migraciones son a menudo violentas. Las mujeres son particularmente vulnerables debido a su posición de marginación en relación con los traficantes de personas, los empleadores, los compañeros, los extraños y las parejas sentimentales. Sin embargo, se sabe poco sobre la medida en que las mujeres migrantes indocumentadas están expuestas a la violencia, las circunstancias en que se producen esas victimizaciones y las consecuencias en la salud mental de esos traumas. Se reunieron y analizaron datos cuantitativos y cualitativos de 239 mujeres latinas migrantes indocumentadas. Los resultados analíticos revelaron que el 23.4 % y el 29.3 % de la muestra estaban expuestas a la violencia durante y después del cruce de la frontera, respectivamente. Un asombroso 38.1 % de las mujeres dieron positivo al desorden de estrés postraumático. Varias formas de exposición a la violencia durante y después de la entrada a los Estados Unidos se asociaron sustancialmente con varios riesgos de TEPT. La violencia sexual tuvo la mayor conexión con el TEPT. Los hallazgos se discuten en el contexto de las actuales tendencias nacionales de inmigración y las políticas universales de salud.

The confluence of the deinstitutionalization of people with mental illness and the massive incarceration of drug offenders has dramatically raised the number of substance abusers with mental illness in American jails. This study sought to identify correlates of comorbidity and service gaps among jail inmates using data from the 2002 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails. Results suggest that offenders

Background: Gender is often related to different life stressors and mental health disorders, but a limited amount of research examines risks of suicidal ideation of probationers by gender. Aims: The aim of this study was to examine gender differences in suicidal ideation of probationers. Method: Using a national sample of 3,014 male and 1,306 female probationers with data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2009–2011), multivariate regression analysis was conducted. Results: Male and female probationers display similar demographic
characteristics although their life circumstances and experiences seem different. Female probationers in the study were more likely to experience financial, psychological, and residential stressors than male probationers were. Female probationers were also more likely to have received medical
and/or psychiatric treatments. Female probationers were exposed to more suicidal ideation risks than male probationers were. Additionally, no protective factors to suicidal ideation were found for female probationers. Conclusion: The findings suggest that a gender-specific approach to suicidal ideation of probationers may lessen the prevalence of suicidal ideation of this largely neglected population.

This chapter begins with a concise overview of the long history of the use of mail survey in the Western civilization. Then it examines the three main stages in the administration of mail survey: pre-notification, the survey packet, and the follow-up correspondence. The design of the basic components such as the outer envelope, the cover letter, the questionnaire, the return of the survey, and the assembly of the survey packet is discussed at length. A review of the methodological literature provides the basis for an empirical review of the strengths and weaknesses of this data collection method and related issues of validity and reliability. The entire presentation is aimed at providing a set of practical and tested guidelines for the planning and implementation of effective mail survey.

Policing anonymous and fearful undocumented migrant workers (UMWs) with equity, integrity and accountability is one of the toughest law enforcement challenges in the United States. The importance of the issue notwithstanding, police–UMW interactions remain a ‘black box’ in police research. We examined the political economy of Palisades Park, New Jersey, and interviewed 160 UMWs from the same town. Findings indicate that UMWs suffered from a high level of crime victimization but were extremely unlikely to report their victimizations. Yet they were eager to contact the police to seek information and assistance in non-legal contexts. Police closely monitored UMWs through frequent encounters without provoking widespread resentment. Contradictions in both national immigration control and local politics are offered to interpret police–migrant relations.

This study tests Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) low self-control theory using secondary-data from parolees who participated in an experimental intervention called the Step’n Out study (Friedmann et al., 2008). This study hypothesizes that parolees with low self-control will have increased odds of engaging in post-treatment substance use and recidivism outcomes at the 3- and 9-month follow-up periods. The relationship between self-control and the post-treatment outcomes will be analyzed using Independent Samples t-tests, logistic regression models, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Bivariate results indicate that parolees who had self-reported physically or verbally threatening someone at the follow-up periods had statistically significantly lower self-control means compared to parolees who did not self-report physically or verbally threatening behaviors (p < 0.05). The results from the logistic regression analysis reveal that parolees with low levels of self-control have statistically significant increased odds of engaging in physically or verbally threatening behavior compared to parolees who did not report those behaviors at the 3-month follow-up period (p < 0.05). Generally, using the exploratory multivariate analytical approach, low self-control theory was not found to be a strong theoretical predictor of substance use and recidivism outcomes for parolees in the study. We did find that parolees randomly assigned to the experimental intervention had decreased odds of engaging in threatening behaviors. However, we did not observe that the treatment intervention moderated the relationship between low self-control and post-treatment outcomes. The results from the Confirmatory Factor Analysis reveal that low self-control theory is a weak predictor of total deviance.

Despite the extensive resources expended on providing medical care to inmates, inmates&#39; health perception is an understudied topic. The current study investigates inmates&#39; perception of health status while incarcerated using a sample of 136 soon-to-be released prisoners. Prisoners with poor health perception prior to their current incarceration were most likely to perceive health improvement. Sociodemographic characteristics were generally not associated with the perceived health improvement during incarceration. Analysis results suggest correctional institutions may play a vital role in delivering much-needed medical care to a segment of the prisoner population, including determining how they feel about their health. It is important to explore the policies and practices to increase continuity of health care following release to maintain perceived health improvement.

This analysis describes the planning and implementation of a development project to build infrastructure and capacity for correctional and community health research in a college of criminal justice. Partnering with a research-intensive university, the 3-year project recruited 112 faculty and student trainees for mentored research, extramural and intramural training, subsidized conference travels, and new course offerings. A network of 34 “nuclear” investigators emerged as a cohesive infrastructure from the experience producing 21 refereed publications, 18 conference presentations, and nine grant applications in correctional and community health. A sustainability plan has been executed to consolidate the gains achieved. Lessons are discussed.

Data from all 50 states were examined to assess the effect of changes in prison deinstitutionalization on the demand for mental health and substance abuse treatment in the community. It was hypothesized that prison deinstitutionalization or decrease prison population, is inversely related to an increase demand for community treatment services. While our findings partially support these hypotheses, they revealed that such hypotheses are in the right direction, and that more longitudinal data is needed to enable a rigorous time-sensitive analysis that enjoys better statistical power, and thus higher validity. These results imply that the sustainability of current criminal justice deinstitutionalization hinges on the strengthening of community-based treatment services to combat mental health, substance abuse and other communicable diseases with high occurrence among ex-offenders. Future research should expand the inquiry to explore whether and how a reduction in prison population can affect law enforcement practices within communities.

In the United States, juvenile rehabilitation programs have moved towards ‘risk-needs’ models, which not only assess risks of recidivism, but also address young peoples’ needs. While laudable for their responsiveness, we argue ‘risk-needs’ models are based on a series of beliefs concerning time and/or temporality that are inconsistent with the social locations and life experiences of young offenders. Based on observations and interview data collected from young male prisoners participating in a cognitive-treatment program, we argue that the temporal lessons that imprisoned youth learn, which are often inapplicable to their post-release lives, may limit the effectiveness of efforts to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. Study implications are discussed.