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Offender readiness is important to the success of substance abuse and therapeutic programs. Prisons provide a variety of programs, including reentry, vocational, and creative programs that have been shown to improve reentry success. And yet, the concept of program readiness has not been examined in these contexts. We explore the development of a broader measure of program readiness. Toward this goal, we developed a preliminary generalized program readiness measure for correctional programming more broadly. Results supported a two-factor measure, desire for help and recognition of program needs. These findings support continued research and development of a generalized program readiness measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guided by the premise that an individual's safety may be more at risk when their routines, personal attributes, or lack of guardianship influence their opportunity for exposure to violence, we examined the factors that influenced victimization risks and safety perceptions among a representative sample of respondents incarcerated at a large Midwestern jail. Results showed that vulnerable individuals such as those who were victimized prior to their incarceration, and those who antagonized others such as those who perpetrated assault, were threatened more often, were more at risk of assault victimization, and perceived more dangerous conditions. Conversely, females and individuals with greater self-control were less likely to have experienced victimization and generally felt safer in jail. Our results illustrate the importance of identifying and protecting individuals who might experience greater safety risks during jail incarceration and should be interpreted alongside research and policy aimed at improving safety and welfare within correctional institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much is unknown about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the carceral experience. Firsthand accounts, however, can illuminate how the virus traveled through correctional institutions and how operational changes intended to mitigate virus transmission altered daily life for incarcerated people. Analyzing semi-structured interviews with 53 individuals released from state prisons, county jails, and halfway houses in a northeastern U.S. state between October 2020 and June 2021, this study explores the shifting conditions of confinement in the early months of the pandemic, as well as how incarcerated individuals experienced the pandemic in terms of their mental and physical health, safety, and trust in correctional institutions. Interviewees described the spread of COVID-19 in correctional environments and how it led to several pandemic-related changes, such as stoppages or adjustments to programs, visits, recreation time, and movement around the facility. The data ultimately suggest that pandemic lockdown measures, instituted to prevent virus transmission, led to environments akin to solitary confinement and compromised the ability of incarcerated individuals to connect with loved ones, exacerbated their fears about contracting the virus, and further eroded their trust in correctional institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial examines how the COVID-19 pandemic influences public trust in authorities, including government, police, and corrections, considering factors such as fear, perceptions of fairness, and prior interactions.

Purpose: The majority of incarcerated individuals have experienced traumatic events in their lifetime, contributing to related behavioral health issues, including post-traumatic stress, mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders. The purpose of this article is to understand the existing state of the literature through a scoping review on correctional-based programs that address both trauma and behavioral health. Methods: Proquest and EBSCO databases were searched to identify studies focused on trauma and behavioral health that focused on incarcerated adults in the United States. Results: A total of 25 studies evaluating correctional-based programming on trauma and behavioral health problems. Most included studies reported improvement of behavioral health symptoms as a result of the intervention. Discussion: The findings indicated a need for additional research on behavioral health interventions for incarcerated adults with a history of trauma. Specifically, future research should focus on increasing the methodological rigor of intervention studies and expanding the diversity of included samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with disability represent a significant proportion of Australia's prison population; however, little is known about their experiences or the institutional barriers they may face. Drawing from 24 in-depth interviews with 28 participants and one written submission, this article explores the impacts, challenges and consequences of imprisonment for people with disability in Australia. By bringing together disability and criminological research, we highlight the impacts of subjecting people with disability to a 'thoughtless' and ableist prison environment, regime, and culture that simultaneously overlooks, compounds and further punishes their disability. Identifying three key areas of 'institutional thoughtlessness', we offer substantive insight into a group of people in prison often forgotten by researchers and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community supervision increased dramatically since the early 2000s. Similar to trends in prison admissions, the increase has not been equal across racial and ethnic groups. In addition to disparities in placement onto supervision, experiences under supervision and outcomes may also be shaped by intersecting identities. Accordingly, this study examined probation outcomes among 4,433 probation cases in 2018 in Kansas. We assess how race and ethnicity impact outcomes among women and men while controlling for criminogenic risk and need, offense, financial stability, and other factors using multilevel modeling. Results indicate that race and ethnicity were unrelated to probation outcomes for women; however, Black men were subject to the worst odds of probation outcomes. Policy and future research implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), or behavior that goes above and beyond the call of duty, is believed to lead to a better functioning organization. The goal of this article was to examine workplace factors that may be associated with OCB among correctional officers using existing scholarship and the job demands-resources theory as a framework. Understanding how to foster OCB in correctional officers, in an era of high levels of dissatisfaction and turnover, is critical for creating a well-functioning prison agency. A sample of correctional officers from Texas and Massachusetts were surveyed for the current study (n = 442). Initial findings indicate some support for the applicability of job demands-resources theory to OCB. Specifically, both leadership support (β =.28, p <.001) and coworker support (β =.12, p <.01) were significantly and positively associated with OCB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) has been legal in Canada since 2016 and some incarcerated patients who are at the end of their lives are eligible for the procedure. Interviews with nine incarcerated men at a federal penitentiary in Canada provide insight into some of the ways that people who are navigating aging and end-of-life in prison think about MAiD. Interview themes are organized around: experience with death and dying; possibilities and barriers related to applications for release from prison at end-of-life; experiences of peer-caregiving in a prison palliative care program; support for MAiD and the expansion of eligibility criteria; what a good death looks like. Themes are contextualized alongside federal guidelines related to end-of-life care (EOLC) and MAiD for prisoners, highlighting that sound policy requires both generalizable principles and attention to nuance. MAiD rests on patient voluntariness, and thus autonomy over EOLC decisions is paramount for prisoners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HIV disproportionately affects populations experiencing incarceration. Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective approach to preventing HIV acquisition among populations at increased risk of acquiring HIV. Yet few, if any, efforts have been made to offer PrEP in correctional settings. Beginning in November 2019, the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (RIDOC) implemented a systemwide PrEP initiation program with linkage to PrEP care in the community upon reentry. Incarcerated individuals identified as being potentially at increased risk of HIV acquisition during standard clinical screenings and medical care were referred to a PrEP care provider for potential PrEP initiation. Of the 309 people who met with a PrEP care provider, 35% (n = 109; 88 men, 21 women) agreed to initiate PrEP while incarcerated. Clinical testing and evaluation were completed for 82% (n = 89; 69 men, 20 women) of those who agreed to initiate PrEP. Of those, 54% (n = 48; 29 men, 19 women) completed the necessary clinical evaluation to initiate PrEP, were determined to be appropriate candidates for PrEP use, and had the medication delivered to a RIDOC facility for initiation. Only 8 people (4 men, 4 women) were successfully linked to a PrEP care provider in the community after release. The RIDOC experience demonstrates notable levels of PrEP interest and moderate levels of PrEP uptake among this population. However, PrEP engagement in care after release and persistence in taking PrEP when in the community were relatively poor, indicating a need to better understand approaches to overcoming barriers to PrEP care in this unique setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study tests the relative timing of inmate infractions in the weeks before and after a visit. Method: Our sample is a cohort of 823 male inmates who participated in the Dutch Prison Visitation Study (DPVS) (2017) and had visitation and misconduct data. Using two-level random effects logistic regression models, we examined week-to-week associations between infractions and prison visits, including visits from partners, family, friends, and official visitors. Results: The probability of an infraction is comparable to average levels in anticipation of visits, increases up to 18 percent in the weeks immediately following visits, and then returns to baseline levels. This pattern is found for contraband infractions, but no effects were found for aggressive infractions. Strongest effects were found for family and official visits. When inmates are visited frequently, the risk of infractions postvisit is similar to average levels. Conclusions: The findings show that visits can have harmful effects on inmate infractions. These effects seem to stem from increases in contraband infractions. More research is needed to further understand the mechanism behind visits' effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how misinformation-susceptible individuals from historically excluded and marginalized communities engage with science topics (e.g., climate change, vaccines, and health/wellness) and interpret misinformation and corrective intervention strategies. Two focus groups reveal that most participants are highly distrustful of authority figures, celebrity endorsements, and fact-checking strategies to combat misinformation. As one of the first studies to explore underrepresented community members' experiences with science misinformation, findings reveal structural and institutional power dynamics that impede access to accurate information and indicate how missing voices must be included in the efforts at media and information literacy initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suicide ideation (SI) represent a major public health concern, especially within incarcerated settings. Although prior research acknowledges the influence of individual characteristics, less research has examined how perceptions of procedural justice relate to individuals' maladaptive behavior while incarcerated. Recently, scholarship has included self-injurious thoughts and behaviors as an outcome of perceived procedural justice for incarcerated individuals. This study expands on prior work, by exploring perceptions of procedural justice related to SI using a jail sample from the United States (n = 397). We found strong support that higher perceptions of procedural justice are related to reduced frequency of suicidal ideation in jail. We discuss these implications in relation to the critical impact on public health and safety of this vulnerable population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

California has fundamentally reformed its criminal justice system. Since 2011, the state passed several reforms which reduced its massive prison population. Importantly, this decarceration has not harmed public safety as research finds these measures had no impact on violent crime and only marginal impacts on property crime statewide. The COVID-19 pandemic furthered the state's trend in decarceration, as California reduced prison and jail populations to slow the spread of the virus. In fact, in terms of month-to-month proportionate changes in the state correctional population, California's efforts to reduce overcrowding as a means to limit the spread of COVID-19 reduced the correctional population more severely and abruptly than any of the state's decarceration reforms. Although research suggests the criminal justice reforms did not threaten public safety, there is reason to suspect COVID-mitigation releases did. How are COVID-19 jail downsizing measures and crime trends related in California, if at all? We address this question in the current study. We employ a synthetic control group design to estimate the impact of jail decarceration intended to mitigate COVID-19 spread on crime in California's 58 counties. Adapting the traditional method to account for the "fuzzy-ness" of the intervention, we utilize natural variation among counties to isolate decarceration's impact on crime from various other shocks affecting California as a whole. Findings do not suggest a consistent relationship between COVID-19 jail decarceration and violent or property crime at the county level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high percentage of people who are incarcerated suffer from health problems that affect them both in prison and after they are released. Environmental hazards and pollutants can exacerbate these problems as well as contribute to the development of new health conditions. One specific type of pollutant that is associated with a wide array of health problems including decreased lung function, cancer, and asthma is particulate matter smaller than 2.5 µm (PM2.5). While prior research indicates that PM2.5 is not equally distributed throughout space, it remains unknown if levels of PM2.5 differ in areas with and without correctional facilities. The current study aims to address this gap by examining if counties with state-run correctional facilities have higher concentrations of PM2.5 relative to counties without state-run correctional facilities in Texas. Results of OLS regression models indicate that counties with one or more state-run correctional facilities have higher concentrations of PM2.5 relative to counties without these facilities. These findings highlight the importance of improving prison healthcare and addressing issues of environmental injustice in correctional facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Propensity score matching and regression analyses of the National Inmate Survey are used to examine individuals' experiences and perceptions of environmental quality in public versus private prisons across key domains of prison life, with an emphasis on needs, behaviors, victimization, and attitudes. No differences are identified for women. Males in private prisons are more likely than men in public prisons to perceive there to be inadequate staffing and are less likely to report maintaining ties with people outside of prison. Men in private prisons are also less likely to report crowding to be an issue. We discuss implications for evaluating a central tenet of privatization: that the quality of private prisons be comparable to, or better than, that of public prisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) uses the Custody Rating Scale (CRS) for initial security classification; it is gender-neutral. Gender-informed scholars contend that gender-neutral assessments are problematic for use with justice-impacted women, as they exclude factors (e.g., victimization) deemed more relevant for women. Using an archival database with 1,555 federally sentenced women in Canada, we examined the extent that gender-informed indicators could yield incremental predictive validity (predicting institutional misconduct) beyond the CRS. Specifically, gender-informed variables from these domains were tested: mental health, substance misuse, relationship dysfunction, personal/emotional difficulties, parental/family issues, and victimization. Results revealed at least one gender-informed variable from each domain significantly predicted institutional misconducts. Composite gender-informed scales were created from the set of significant gender-informed predictors. Area under the curve (AUC) and hierarchical Cox regression analyses revealed the composite gender-informed scales contributed incremental predictive validity above and beyond the CRS. Although the CRS was predictive, it can be improved by including gender-informed variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The publicized deaths of individuals such as Sandra Bland raise questions about whether, and how, the American criminal justice system should handle individuals who display symptoms of mental illnesses. The current study seeks to establish whether there is a stage in the criminal justice process at which the presence of an indicator of a mental illness represents a particularly high risk of death in custody. Using multilevel logistic regression and data on 10,667 civilian deaths that occurred in the custody of criminal justice agencies across the state of Texas, from January 1st, 2005, through October 30th, 2020, results suggest that indicators of mental illness represent the highest risk of death when an individual is in the custody of police. At later stages in the criminal justice system process, particularly jail and prison, indicators of a mental illness reduce the chances that someone will die in custody. Policy implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have investigated the social sources of power that correctional officers embrace as their means of control over people who are incarcerated. However, this work has been conducted with community correctional officers and those working in state prisons, with almost no attention to officers who work in local jails. Jails are distinctive in ways that may be important for the bases of power on which officers may draw, and the current study analyzed data from officers employed by a large urban jail. Jail officers favored coercive power more so and referent power less so than has been reported in prior studies of prison officers. Further, we employed latent class analysis to identify groups of officers and analyzed covariates of the resultant classes. We discuss implications for understanding the exercise of power in local jails. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to concerns about the harmful effects of restrictive housing, the Minnesota Department of Corrections reduced the maximum disciplinary segregation sentence length from 720 days (about 2 years) to 90 days in September 2016. Then, in response to a perceived increase in violence within the facilities, the policy was changed again in July 2019 to allow for maximum segregation sentences of nearly a year for the most serious offenses. This study employs a quasi-experimental design to empirically test whether and how these changes affected total misconduct, violent misconduct, and incarcerated-person-on-staff assault within Minnesota prisons. The results of interrupted time series analyses showed a moderate, statistically significant initial increase in violent misconduct after the reduction in segregation sentence length in September 2016. There were also statistically significant and larger initial increases in both violent and total misconduct after the July 2019 increase in segregation sentence length for serious infractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Core components of the Intake Assessment (IA) process in the Canadian federal corrections system were examined to determine whether a simplified algorithmic equation for individuals sentenced for sex crimes could be tailored and differentiated from other violent offence types. Two major offence type categories, namely sexual and other violent were constructed for 2,896 adult male first releases for 2016 to 2017 and 2017 to 2018. A restricted set of static risk indicators, dynamic need ratings, and other actuarial measures as well as whether or not there were any returns to federal custody were extracted for each case. A combined risk index yielded robust predictions of custodial return for sexual and other violent offence types with significant and robust AUCs of 0.77 and 0.71, respectively. Analyses showed that five-level risk groupings could be derived independently for the two offence type categorizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various tools were designed to guide practitioners in the risk assessment of offenders, including the Level of Service and Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI). This instrument is based on risk assessment principles prioritizing the actuarial approach to clinical judgment. However, the tool's architects allowed subjective judgment from the practitioners—referred to as clinical override—to modify an offender's risk category under certain circumstances. Few studies, however, have examined these circumstances. Therefore, the current study used decision tree analyses among a quasi-population of Quebec offenders (n = 15,744) to identify whether there are offenders more likely to be subjected to this discretion based on their characteristics. The results suggest that, although the override is rare, it occurred under few specific combinations of circumstances. More precisely, these findings propose that the utilization of the clinical override stems from a perceived discrepancy between risk prediction and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research in community settings indicates that Black persons are less likely to receive mental health treatment than White persons. Research on whether these disparities persist in prisons is limited and fails to include other racial and ethnic groups, such as Latino persons. This study examines racial and ethnic differences in the use of mental health services among incarcerated persons. Using the 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates, logistic regression assessed the effects of race/ethnicity among those receiving mental health treatment while incarcerated. Results suggest Black and Multiracial/Other incarcerated persons were 15.8% and 15.0% more likely to participate in treatment than White incarcerated persons, respectively. No significant difference between Latino incarcerated persons and White incarcerated persons was found. The differences between racial/ethnic groups and participation in mental health treatment found in this study suggest that more attention needs to be paid to diversity in the accessibility of treatment in prisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although prisons provide on-site primary care, the corrections system relies on external hospitals to provide a variety of healthcare services. Compared to the general population, incarcerated patients experience higher rates of chronic medical conditions, mental illness, substance abuse, cancer, traumatic brain injury, assault, and communicable disease. Certain specialties of clinicians are likely to encounter patients who are incarcerated, which makes it important for clinicians to understand how medical decision-making may differ when the patient is a prisoner. The corrections system retains custody of inmates and is responsible for their welfare, including facilitating necessary medical care. However, this does not permit corrections personnel or a warden to automatically assume the role of the patient's medical decision-maker. Except for narrow exceptions, prisoners do not lose their rights to medical decision-making. In some instances, corrections staff or the prison warden have improperly asserted authority to act as the patient's medical decision-maker, such as when the patient lacks decision-making capacity. This violates ethical principles of bodily integrity, respect, and fairness. This paper provides an overview of medical decision-making for incarcerated patients, how surrogate decision-maker hierarchies apply to incarcerated patients without decision-making capacity, and special considerations for this subset of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies of crime reporting examine decisions to report to the police in community settings. While informative, this focus leaves a gap in identifying the correlates of official reporting behaviors among incarcerated individuals. This is noteworthy considering the passage of the Prison Rape Elimination Act mandating states collect and report data on sexual assaults in confinement facilities. To address these concerns, this study provides one of the first multivariable examinations of decisions to officially report sexual assaults to correctional staff. This study also examines the correlates of official reporting across perpetrator type (another incarcerated individual or correctional staff member) and the correlates for not reporting a sexual assault (embarrassment, fear of reprisal, and belief no investigation will take place). The findings indicate most sexual assaults are not reported, and few in-prison experiences or incident characteristics explain the decision to officially report or the reasons for not reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A considerable amount of previous research has examined the iatrogenic effects of mass imprisonment. This work has often considered the fact that the sentencing of people for low-level supervision violations is a contributing factor to the prison population. Relatively little work, however, has examined the factors which specifically influence the sentencing of probation and parole violators for technical and other low-level infractions. The present study analyzed over 44,000 cases of individuals who appeared in federal courts between 2013 and 2017 for relatively minor violations of federal community-based supervision. Using multilevel analysis to account for the nested quality of federal sentencing data, the study examined assorted individual-level legal and extra-legal effects on various sentencing outcomes. Effects were found for gender, having admitted to supervision violations, and predicate offense of conviction. Implications are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prison officers' behavior is one of the most consequential features of the modern prison. In this article, we introduce an organizational culture conceptual framework and build on previous prison scholarship to develop a model of prison officer workplace culture. We then apply the proposed model to original research in a US prison to investigate the relational aspects of prison officer culture during early 21st-century penal reforms. We find a set of collective norms and beliefs among officers consistent with the "traditional" prison officer culture historically documented by penologists, including high levels of distrust of prisoners, avoidance of relationships, and distancing from rehabilitation goals. We name this culture the "security mindset" because officers use multiple conceptions of "security" to rationalize their behavior. Our findings suggest that prison officer culture in late mass incarceration may work against the positive and supportive relationships necessary for rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed results from semi-structured interviews and participant observation with educators, clinical staff, and administrators who worked at nearly 100 different correctional facilities centrally managed by eight separate state prison systems to understand how the beliefs they hold about the life experiences and future trajectories of incarcerated people influence prison social climate. We found that staff who regard incarcerated people as past and/or future neighbors are more likely to foster a safe, mutually respectful prison social climate conducive to positive personal transformation. Envisioning prison social climate as a product of the relationship between staff and incarcerated people demonstrates how prisons and communities interact with each other to shape the past and future possibilities for people who are incarcerated. Our results offer six policy implications, to (1) mandate administrative-institutional commitment to creating a positive prison social climate in which correctional staff and incarcerated people are partners in rehabilitation; (2) expand existing program opportunities in prison to ensure widespread availability of educational, vocational, and therapeutic treatment programs; (3) increase representation of staff who share experiential and demographic characteristics with incarcerated people to reduce or eliminate unconscious bias; (4) generate public awareness of, and support for, rehabilitative measures proven to better prepare incarcerated people for release from prison; (5) increase community engagement by publicizing graduation and other positive events; and (6) foster a mutually supportive work environment among educational, clinical, and administrative staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Norwegian Correctional Service ascribes to both a humane and rehabilitative approach to incarceration which includes the use of dynamic security practices, emphasizing relationship-building and communication between officers and incarcerated individuals. In addition, officers are expected to actively participate in the rehabilitative process. Despite Norway's low rates of prison-based violence, there remain questions about officers' ability to implement dynamic security and contribute to therapeutic goals. The current study explores perspectives about dynamic security and officer relationships using a questionnaire (n = 81) and semi-structured interview (n = 47) data from individuals incarcerated at Halden Prison in Norway. Findings indicate that officers have generally attained authoritative legitimacy through dynamic security, but their participation in the rehabilitative process is met with resistance stemming from prison culture expectations of officers' role in enacting State punishment. Results from this study provide meaningful insights into the role of dynamic security implementation and the contributions of correctional officers to the rehabilitative process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is conflicting evidence on whether people, particularly those with preexisting mental health problems, have worse mental health during and after extended solitary confinement (SC) stays. Using administrative data on 843 men, we examined within-person changes in mental health functioning and service use surrounding long-term stays in SC in Florida correctional facilities. During these stays, service use increased, psychological functioning improved, and mental health crises declined. The former two associations persisted during step-down placements in lower levels of restrictive housing and during the month following restrictive housing stays. The same associations were observed among men with and without serious mental illnesses, though they were more muted among the former group. The increased provision of treatment might prevent mental health problems from developing or worsening among those held in long-term SC and might even improve psychological functioning relative to when the same people are in general population housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research documents race and ethnicity as central to how individuals navigate the social and physical space of prisons. Racial segregation persists as a feature of prison life, and in navigating this racialized structure, racial groups construct and enforce a set of racialized norms to govern behavior (i.e., the "racial code") that reinforce and reify prison racial politics. These processes, however, have remained largely descriptive in nature. Using data from a sample of incarcerated men in Arizona prisons (N = 251), this article extends prior work by operationalizing the concept of the racial code, assessing its dimensionality, distinguishing it from the prison code, and differentiating how features of prison social organization influence racial code adherence and mobilization. Results suggest that the racial code is distinct from the prison code and that racial differences exist in the extent of adhering to versus mobilizing the racial code, net of gang status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Explore racial-ethnic disparities in drug charging trajectories from arrest to conviction. Methods: We analyze racial-ethnic disparities in charging severity across arrest, filing, and conviction for felony drug offense cases in Miami-Dade County between 2010-2015 (N=25,559) using a "distance traveled" approach by estimating the severity of charges based on the probability of incarceration at conviction. We use these estimates to predict the severity of charges at arrest and filing, and examine differences in the severity of charges between stages. Results: Compared to White non-Latinx people, police charge Black Latinx people with drug crimes that are 1.8 times more severe and Black non-Latinx people with drug crimes that are 1.6 times more severe at arrest. These inequalities are maintained throughout the charging trajectory. Greater charge reductions occur between arrest and filing than between filing and conviction, highlighting the importance of police in charging trajectories. We find small increases in charging trajectory, where racial-ethnic disparities persist at conviction. Conclusions: Examining charging at arrest is critical to understanding racial-ethnic disparities in charging trajectories, where unequal arrest charges become institutionalized throughout the charging process. Organizational dynamics between police and prosecutors may lead to drug charging practices that systematically disadvantage Black people in Miami-Dade County. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Body-worn cameras (BWCs) among police officers have garnered mixed support among community members. On the one hand, proponents of BWCs contend that there are benefits of BWCs such as reduction of complaints, increase legitimacy, decrease unlawful shootings, and increase transparency. On the other, certain community members maintain less support for BWCs, citing that while police officers wear BWCs, it violates police–citizen interaction privacy. Although there is mixed support for BWCs among community members, little is known as to whether race plays a role in support for BWCs and whether confidence in the police relates to reporting crime/procedural justice, leading to support for BWCs. The current study used two mediation moderation analyses to examine whether race moderated the relationship between confidence in the police and reporting crime/procedural justice, leading to support for BWCs while controlling for police legitimacy and effectiveness. The first model suggests that race moderated the relationship between confidence in the police and reporting crime but not the relationship between reporting crime and support for BWCs. The second model revealed that race did not moderate the relationship between confidence in the police and procedural justice. Also, race did not moderate the relationship between procedural justice and support for BWCs. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although research on e-mental health in criminal justice settings continues to accumulate, the evidence base on this topic remains limited. In recent years, technological innovations have increasingly entered forensic and correctional mental health care, and the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated their diffusion. The present special issue aims to promote evidence-based best practices and inform clinical decision-making in criminal justice settings by presenting recent developments and findings relevant to the use of e-mental health. In this introduction, we summarize the eight articles in the special issue and discuss directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly people in prison are sharing cells but little is known about how cell-sharing may influence wellbeing. This research explores this issue using a random stratified survey of 569 imprisoned adult men in Northern Ireland. The findings reveal a relationship between cell-sharing and wellbeing but indicate that cellmate relationships may be more important than cell type in influencing wellbeing. Depending on the nature of cellmate relationships, the findings suggest that cell-sharing can enhance or diminish wellbeing beyond that experienced in single cells. In explaining these findings, it is proposed that cellmate relationships may influence the extent to which individuals feel strain from concealing their emotions and vulnerabilities, receive social support from a cellmate and/or feel safe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedagogy can be a humanistic way of engaging social realities in the current era of persistent social marginalization, racial injustice, and political polarization. This article explores one particular community-based pedagogy known as Inside-Out, which brings incarcerated students together with students from a college campus to study together at a local prison or jail. From the student and instructor perspective, the article looks at the ways that Inside-Out catalyzes humanistic thought and action—from within the social-historical context of prisons and universities. It explores how, if processes of racism or criminalization position social groups against each other, a humanistic pedagogy has the potential to meaningfully bring people together across social divides to reckon with dehumanizing social realities. Conclusions are offered on some key elements of an Inside-Out pedagogy that embody a humanistic approach and are relevant to other pedagogical contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internal surveillance systems have long been used by prisons to combat misbehavior. Yet, limited research has focused on cameras' preventive potential, failing to examine their utility in investigations. Using comparative interrupted time-series analyses and synthetic control methods, this study evaluates the impact of upgrading a surveillance system in a prison's housing unit on total infractions and infractions resulting in guilty dispositions. Upgrades were two-phased, allowing us to examine the differential effects of replacing outdated cameras versus installing new cameras. One comparison unit came from the same facility as the treatment unit, while the other was synthetically generated from units in other prisons. We found limited evidence that the interventions reduced infractions, though there was a stronger link between the interventions and an increase in guilty dispositions, particularly from the installation of new cameras to reduce blind spots. We discuss the implications of these findings for policy and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The punitive era in the United States and other countries has included reliance on long-term restrictive housing (LTRH)—consisting of solitary confinement with few privileges—as a means of managing violent and disruptive individuals in prison. We examine how work in such housing may influence how personnel, including officers and staff, view individuals in prison and assess two hypotheses. First, those who work in LTRH will be more likely to hold a dehumanized view of these individuals. Second, the theoretical mechanisms through which such a view may arise involve brutalization, organizational context and culture, role conflict and distancing, and empathy fatigue. We assess these hypotheses using a mixed-methods study, analyzing data from a large-scale prison personnel survey (n = 9,656) and qualitative focus group and interview data (n = 144). Implications of the study's findings for theory and research on restrictive housing, corrections, and the punitive era are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental disorder is widespread in correctional settings, as is the potential for suicide and self-harm among detained individuals. The ability of the Personality Assessment Screener (PAS) to identify potential mental health problems has been the focus of recent research in corrections, but few studies have examined the prediction of crisis events related to self-injuring thoughts and behaviors. We explored the utility of repeated PAS administrations among men incarcerated in prison (N = 270) to identify those at risk for a subsequent crisis event involving potential self-harm. Baseline PAS total scores predicted the odds of experiencing a crisis event (odds ratio = 3.76–4.46) and, importantly, changes in PAS total scores over time incrementally predicted such events beyond scores assessed at a single time-point, t (49) = –2.14, p =.037. These preliminary findings demonstrate promise for the PAS as an indicator of potential self-injuring crisis events when administered at intake and regular intervals throughout incarceration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined whether inclusion of a neighborhood domain improved prediction and classification in an existing risk assessment tool. Logistic regression and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with random effects were conducted using a sample of individuals under community supervision (N = 10,548) to determine whether a neighborhood domain improved the predictive validity of the Ohio Risk Assessment System-Community Supervision Tool (ORAS-CST). In five of our six models, inclusion of the neighborhood domain did not significantly improve the predictive validity of the ORAS-CST regardless of whether it was considered as an additive variable or moderator. One model found that the addition of a neighborhood domain improved prediction; however, the relationship was opposite from what was theoretically expected. The findings suggest that individual-level factors remain the most meaningful predictors in correctional risk assessment tools for those under community supervision. Future research is needed on whether neighborhood indicators improve assessment tools for individuals under other forms of supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An online experiment among a nationally representative YouGov sample of unvaccinated U.S. adults (N = 540) leverages inoculation theory as a preliminary step in uniting the prebunking and debunking literature. By testing how prior attitudes toward Covid-19 vaccines interact with varying message interventions, the study finds that specific inoculation messages protect against misinformation, but only among those with preexisting healthy attitudes. Generic inoculation messages have wider application, offering both prophylactic and therapeutic benefits. However, the therapeutic benefits of generic inoculations disappear when debunking messages are present. Nonetheless, generic inoculations do not appear to have detrimental effects on those infected with unhealthy attitudes, unlike specific inoculation messages. Whether the messages are truly a form of inoculation by generating threat merits further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parole boards often incorporate numerous factors when making release decisions. These factors are typically related to the inmates' case files. However, in some instances, parole boards' decisions are influenced by factors outside of the case files, sometimes referred to as extra-legal factors. According to the emotion as social information model, emotion can communicate specific messages to others, and in this case, parole board members might unknowingly incorporate their own emotions and inmates' emotional displays into their decisions. The current study examines the role of parole board member and inmate emotional expressions as predictors of parole release decisions. Parole hearings were coded for emotion, parole board and inmate gender, supporter presence, and risk scores. Overall, risk scores and parole board members' emotions predicted release decisions. Higher risk scores were associated with a lower likelihood of release, and inmates' negative emotion was related to a lower likelihood of release. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Criminal justice reforms and corrections cost forecasts require appropriate estimates of the marginal costs of incarceration to adequately assess cost savings and projections. Average costs are simple to calculate while marginal cost calculations require much more detailed data and advanced methods. We undertook a scoping review to identify, report, and summarize the existing academic and gray literature covering the different estimation methods of calculating the marginal costs of incarceration, following the Arksey and O'Malley framework. Eighteen publications met criteria for inclusion in this review, with only one from the peer-reviewed literature. The three main approaches in the literature and their use are reviewed and illustrated. We conclude that there is a lack of, and need for, peer-reviewed literature on methods for calculating the marginal cost of incarceration, and marginal cost estimates of incarceration, to assist program evaluation, policy, and cost forecasting in the field of corrections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several state prisons have provided tablets to imprisoned people which appears to be indicative of a larger trend to increase access to technology for imprisoned people. However, access to and the use of technology in prison has not been evaluated by social scientists. This study surveyed 70 prison officials from six states to report their attitudes toward access to and the use of tablets in prison for imprisoned people and for the prisons themselves. Survey results show that prison officials who work in prisons with more access to technology are more likely to believe technology to be a positive contribution for imprisoned people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[12] find violent, property, and dispute case crimes declined during the lockdown, while public order, domestic violence, and "other" crimes increased, and traffic-related crimes nearly disappeared. Using multivariate latent growth curve modeling, Reid and colleagues found significant increases in aggressive behaviors, poor frustration tolerance, school conduct problems, and drug use from pre-COVID-19 conditions to post-COVID-19 lockdown conditions. Keywords: COVID-19; crime counts; corrections EN COVID-19 crime counts corrections 1127 1136 10 07/11/22 20220701 NES 220701 The economies and social systems of communities and nations have been altered by COVID-19 ([6]; [30]). While violent crime trends were increases in the period after the stay-at-home order and before the phase I re-opening in Dallas, TX, the actual daily violent crime counts after the stay-at-home order leading up to the initial phase I re-opening remained lower than pre-pandemic levels. [Extracted from the article]

Across much of Latin America, prison systems are characterized as having significantly high incarceration and overcrowding rates. In recent years, some of these systems have sought to address such problems by implementing rehabilitation and early release programs. However, the extent to which rehabilitation has been embraced and the nature of said efforts is not known. Using content analysis methods, this exploratory study examines the existence of language supporting rehabilitative practices and goals on official prison system websites across the region. While our findings suggest that prison systems have largely embraced rehabilitative goals, there is limited evidence to indicate that evidence-based practices are emphasized when it comes to assessment and correctional programs. As countries embrace rehabilitative efforts, it is important that they use empirically supported practices, as a perceived failure of the rehabilitative approach could shift the pendulum away from treatment and toward punishment. Implications for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid rising rates of prison violence, corrective service agencies worldwide are increasingly championing body-worn cameras as a tool with the potential of making the prison environment safer. Little is known, however, whether this technology makes correctional officers feel safer while carrying out their duties in an environment with higher rates of violence than most other occupations. Using survey data and interviews with correctional officers in Queensland, Australia, this study shows that for many correctional officers, body-worn cameras do not improve feelings of safety or have a civilizing effect on prisoner behavior. Most correctional officers do believe, however, that the presence of body-worn cameras reduces the threat of false allegations and thereby improves their "professional" safety. This study also considers whether officers' perceptions of physical or professional safety vary by officer characteristics, body-worn camera usage, and prison type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Back-end sentencing is the discretionary, administrative process through which individuals on parole are returned to prison for violating the requirements of their supervised release. Parole officers play a crucial role in this process as they are the witnesses to the rule-breaking behaviors of people on parole supervision and ultimately must initiate the back-end sentencing process. This study explores predictors of parole officer decision-making when determining whether to consider a person for revocation or to gear programmatic community-based resources toward them in an attempt to decrease the likelihood of their eventual revocation. Our results indicate that if people released to parole are front-loaded programmatic resources as a part of their release conditions from prison, the odds that parole officers subsequently gear community-based programs toward them decreases by approximately 60%. Other factors such as demographics, actuarial risk levels, and criminal history were not significantly predictive of officer decision-making in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant in the management of a safe and secure custodial environment is the compliance of incarcerated persons with the prison rules and the directives of prison officers. In recent years, there has been increased research focus on the role of normative compliance in the prison environment, which is postulated to derive from the perceptions of legitimacy and procedural justice of those who are incarcerated. This article presents the findings of a scoping review of the empirical literature as it relates to procedural justice and legitimacy in prison settings. This literature is charted and then analyzed across two primary themes, namely "Shaping Perceptions of Procedural Justice and Legitimacy" and "Procedural Justice, Legitimacy, and Compliance." The presence of normative compliance in prisons and the contribution of procedurally just treatment to perceptions of legitimacy held by persons who are incarcerated are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correctional workers have a high likelihood of exposure to violence in the workplace. However, empirical literature has largely neglected the mental health consequences of prison work, as well as the institutional factors that might mitigate or exacerbate these effects. To fill this gap, we employ original survey data on thousands of correctional officers to explore the effects of exposure to violence on the job. We find strong associations between violence and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide risk, as well as symptoms of depression, alcohol abuse, anxiety, and sleep disorder. Importantly, we also find a potentially protective role of institutional factors, such as the quality of perceived management and supervision. In line with the perceived organizational support (POS) model, our findings make clear that organizational support can moderate the deleterious effects of prison work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]