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Background: Study of emotional responses of antisocial individuals has produced inconsistent findings. Some studies report emotional deficits, while others find no differences between people with and without antisocial behaviours.Aims: Our aim was to apply signal detection theory methods to compare the sensitivity of antisocial and control participants to emotional stimuli. We hypothesised that offenders would show lower ability to discriminate changes in the level of arousal and valence of emotional stimuli relative to the controls.Methods: Signal detection theory was applied to study the sensitivity of recidivist offenders in prison to emotional arousal and valence induced by pictures. This approach, novel in this context, provides a departure from the usual reliance on self-report.Results: Offenders reported higher arousal than controls but showed lower sensitivity to changes between different levels of arousal (whereas no differences were found for valence). Also, offenders showed increased response bias for changes in the levels of arousal, as well as in the higher levels of valence.Conclusions: Our findings show that direct observations of emotional arousal, but not valence, discriminate between recidivist offenders with antisocial personality disorder and non-offending controls. Use of such approaches is likely to provide more valid data than self-reports and may prove particularly useful in studies of intervention for recidivists or in assessment of their readiness for release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigated criminal recidivism 1 year postexit from a mental health court (MHC), which has, unlike prior MHCs studied, relatively short periods of court supervision. It benefits from a federal pretrial services agency that screens all arrestees for mental illness and dedicates a specialized supervision unit (SSU) to provide supervision and services while on pretrial release to all screened positive, including MHC participants. We compared criminal activity prior to key arrest with criminal activity post court disposition in MHC participants (N = 408) and MHC-eligible mentally ill arrestees in SSU (N = 687) receiving the same supervision and services while controlling for possible confounders. The proportion of MHC participants arrested was significantly lower in the year after MHC exit and significantly lower than that of the comparison group. They also averaged fewer rearrests and had a longer time to rearrest. MHC graduates made the greatest gains and accounted for the recidivism differences between MHC participants and the comparison group. This study adds to the accumulating evidence of the effectiveness of MHCs in reducing recidivism among offenders with severe mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research reveals that most incarcerated adults are optimistic about their chances of success after release and believe they will be less likely to reoffend than other prisoners. Moreover, studies suggest that optimism shapes desistance. This raises the interesting question of how and why female inmates maintain an optimistic outlook about their postrelease. The current study uses in-depth interviews with 26 incarcerated women to assess inductively their perceptions of life after prison and the self-enhancing schemas they draw from in this process. Results highlight the utility of examining incarcerated women's outlook about their future and have import for policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Existing studies of reentry programs in the United States focus on the successes and failures of reentering offenders when compared to matched reentering offenders who did not receive structured reentry services. Little attention has been focused solely on the reentry participants themselves, and on how the level of program exposure may be related to recidivism outcomes. This study reports the recidivism outcomes of 357 reentry participants released to the community during a multiyear study period. All of the 357 participants studied were released for at least one full year, making it possible to examine recidivism behaviors by levels of reentry program exposure, at similar points in time. Thus, a range of descriptive and program attributes and an analysis of these attributes vis-à-vis defined recidivism measures is presented to answer the question: “Who goes back to prison?” [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

High reoffending rates after release from custody suggest that custodial regimes are not working effectively. An extensive rolling out of rehabilitation programmes across the prison estate has not had a great impact on addressing this problem with respect to repeat or habitual offenders. Drawing from script theory, cognitive deficits and offending patterns, I propose that the general thinking style of such offenders is reinforced by the basic arrangement of custodial regimes and, therefore, time being served, unwittingly reinforces the very cognitive processes that lead to an offending cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study the authors report on an investigation comparing the recidivism and other variables of two similar offender populations in a western Pennsylvania county. The two groups were comparable in offense type, size (N = 63 for each) and other variables such as sex, race and age range. One group represented offenders who received a sentence that included incarceration, whereas the treatment group offenders were sentenced to some form of day reporting and other intermediate punishment measures. In addition, the authors investigated recidivism within 36 months of the sentence, with recidivism qualified as probationary violations as well as rearrests. Results indicate that day reporting sentencing not only saved the county incarceration costs, but also yielded a lower recidivism rate to a statistically significant degree. Additional research is needed to further clarify and test the efficacy of day reporting as an intermediate sentencing option. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article provides the results of a multi-year evaluation of one state's prison reentry program and its impact on the success of offender participants as measured by certain recidivism outcomes, defined here as yielding a positive urinalysis, returning to prison, and having a new conviction. Using propensity score matching, the recidivism outcomes of an equivalent comparison group are also presented. A discussion of the plausible reasons why reentry program participants returned to prison earlier and in greater numbers is provided, and recommendations for additional evaluation strategies are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug treatment courts (DTCs) are widely viewed as effective diversion programs for drug-involved offenders; however, previous studies frequently used flawed comparison groups. In the current study, the author compared rates of recidivism for drug court participants to rates for a traditionally adjudicated comparison group matched on potentially important characteristics. The Wisconsin Circuit Court database was searched for individuals with drug-related charges during the period from 2004-2006. Of the resulting data set, 137 DTC participants were identified. These DTC participants were then matched on age, gender, ethnicity, and criminal history to traditionally adjudicated individuals (non-DTC, n = 274). Kaplan-Meier curves of time to new crime were compared for the two main study groups and for potentially important subgroups. The DTC group demonstrated longer time to new crime (p = 0.028). Reductions in recidivism for DTC versus non-DTC were enhanced for women, older individuals, minorities, and those with more serious criminal histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Criminal record checks are being used increasingly by decision makers to predict future unwanted behaviors. A central question these decision makers face is how much time it takes before offenders can be considered 'redeemed' and resemble nonoffenders in terms of the probability of offending. Building on a small literature addressing this topic for youthful, first-time offenders, the current article asks whether this period differs across the age of last conviction and the total number of prior convictions. Using long-term longitudinal data on a Dutch conviction cohort, we find that young novice offenders are redeemed after approximately 10 years of remaining crime free. For older offenders, the redemption period is considerably shorter. Offenders with extensive criminal histories, however, either never resemble their nonconvicted counterparts or only do so after a crime-free period of more than 20 years. Practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the extent to which the positive association between past and future offending can be explained by either (un)observed population heterogeneity, or by state dependence. We use criminal career data derived from (1) a self-report survey administered to 2,900 Dutch individuals aged 15 years or older, and (2) the Criminal Career and Life-course Study (CCLS) that has official data on a 4% ( N = 4,684) sample of Dutch offenders convicted in 1977. Using hierarchical linear modelling we find both heterogeneity and state dependence partially explaining continuity in crime in both samples. In addition, we find that the impact of prior offending decreases over time and that that impact depends on the total number of previously committed offences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domiciliary prison is an alternative for those inmates that having paid a fraction of their effective time term in prison are considered eligible to finish it off at their own homes. In the Federal District, Brazil, this process of social insertion is hindered by highly vulnerable conditions —social, spatial, individual and institutional— of this population. In order to reach a more in-depth knowledge of these questions, we interviewed, through a semi-structured format, 175 former inmates enjoying the aforementioned legal condition. We established that poor mental health, fueled by the consumption of alcohol and other drugs, aggravates the expected inequality of opportunities in education, health and decent employment suffered by this population, and hinder their social rehabilitation, increasing all along the probability of returning to a life of crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offenders sentenced to terms of life imprisonment pose special challenges for correctional systems. The Correctional Service of Canada collaborated with nongovernmental agencies to develop programmatic interventions to better prepare this population to survive their prison sentences and transition to the community. This study describes the characteristics of the Canadian lifer population and illustrates how the LifeLine program, first introduced in 1991, has contributed to low rates of recidivism using National Parole Board statistics from 1994 to 2009. The fact that so many life-imprisoned offenders make a successful transition to the community suggests that not only is this program effective, but that the risk to public safety has been carefully managed. Implications for the management of this growing population of offenders are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: This research explores the issue of old prior records and their ability to predict future offending. In particular, we are interested in the question of whether, after a given period of time, the risk of recidivism for a person who has been arrested in the distant past is ever indistinguishable from that of a population of persons with no prior arrests. Two well-documented empirical facts guide our investigation: (1) Individuals who have offended in the past are relatively more likely to offend in the future, and (2) the risk of recidivism declines as the time since the last criminal act increases. We find that immediately after an arrest, the knowledge of this prior record does significantly differentiate this population from a population of nonoffenders. However, these differences weaken dramatically and quickly over time so that the risk of new offenses among those who last offended six or seven years ago begins to approximate (but not match) the risk of new offenses among persons with no criminal record. Policy Implications: Individuals with official records of past offending behavior encounter a barrier when they try to obtain employment, even if a person's most recent offense occurred in the distant past. There are many reasons for such obstacles, but they are at least partially premised on the concern that individuals with arrest records—even from the distant past—are more likely to offend in the future than persons with no criminal history. Our analysis questions the logic of such practices and suggests that after a given period of remaining crime free, it may be prudent to wash away the brand of “offender” and open up more legitimate opportunities to this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Several studies have been undertaken on suicide in custody, but few on suicide after the release from prison. We undertook a population-based cohort study to investigate suicide rates in recently released prisoners in England and Wales. Methods We used the database of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness for England and Wales to identify all individuals who died by suicide or who received an open verdict at the coroner's inquest between 2000 and 2002. These records were linked to a Home Office register to identify all such deaths in people within 1 year of release from prison in England and Wales. We compared suicide rates per 100,000 person-years in these released prisoners with rates in the general population by using the indirectly age-standardised mortality ratio. Findings We identified 382 suicides occurring in 244,988 individuals within 1 year of release from prison; a suicide rate of 156 per 100,000 person-years. 79 (21%) suicides occurred within the first 28 days after release. In all age groups, suicide rates were higher in recently released prisoners than in the general population. The overall age-standardised mortality ratio for recently released prisoners was 8-3 (95% CI 7-5-9-3) for men and 35-8 (25-4-50-2) for women. Interpretation Recently released prisoners are at a much greater risk of suicide than the general population, especially in the first few weeks after release. The risk of suicide in recently released prisoners is approaching that seen in discharged psychiatric patients. A shared responsibility lies with the prison, probation, health, and social services to develop more collaborative practices in providing services for this high-risk group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than two thirds of the female inmates of prisons in the United States are recidivists. This article presents recommendations for reintegrating female inmates into the community on the basis of the findings of a 1993 study of female offenders in the Oklahoma correctional system. The implementation of these recommendations is discussed in the context of five dimensions of an empowerment social work practice model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the use of intensive correction orders (ICO) in Victoria. Suitability of ICO on recidivist offenders; Relationship between ICO and offender characteristic; Effectivity of ICO on offenders receiving short term imprisonment.

Florida's Community Control Program is the nation's largest intermediate sanction (home confinement) program for felons. The question addressed in this research is the effectiveness of this sanction compared to imprisonment, as measured by recidivism. The rearrest, reconviction, imprisonment, and recidivism survival of the first cohort of convicted felons sentenced to Community Control were tracked for nearly five years and compared to the recidivism of a partially matched group of convicted felons released from prison. The findings from the research show that the recidivism rates and survival curves of the two groups are essentially the same. Approximately 4 out of 5 felony offenders sentenced to Community Control or prison recidivated during the five-year study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on an evaluation of eleven California diversion projects and presents answers to the following three questions: (1) How many clients did the program actually divert? (2) How much money did the program save? and (3) Did the program reduce recidivism? In answer to these questions, the research findings indicate that only half of the clients were diverted from the justice system. The other half would not have been processed further if the projects had not been available. Since so few of the clients would have been processed further, there were no net savings. Program costs were greater than savings. With regard to recidivism, most of the diversion project clients were rearrested within six months at about the same rate as the matched comparison cases which were processed traditionally However, three individual projects did reduce recidivism during the six-month follow-up period. The researchers recommend that diversion projects concentrate services on clients who otherwise would be processed beyond probation intake This concentration should accomplish the following. (1) increase the number of clients actually diverted from justice system processing, (2) increase savings to the justice system (which savings could be used to fund diversion services), and (3) increase the probability of reducing recidivism. The researchers also suggest that diversion projects provide services similar to those offered by the projects which reduced recidivism--long-term individual contact and counseling or specialized family crisis counseling, depending upon the characteristics of the client, his or her family, and the staff person assigned. These services should be supplemented with recreation, tutoring, and other school-related support as needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the factors related to jail recidivism among clients receiving case management services who were seriously mentally ill, homeless, and former inmates in a large urban jail. The authors interviewed six case managers about 51 clients and examined the use of treatment stipulations as a condition of probation, clients' major diagnosis and behavioral problems, and case management strategies. Clients whose case managers actively sought legal stipulations to case management as a condition of probation and parole were more likely to return to jail. Implications for service planning and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study related to juvenile recidivism. In the current study it was hypothesized that recidivists would illustrate an essentially lower threshold for arduous and stressful stimuli. The results of the present study underline the significance of poor verbal or rational mediation as a predictor of male juvenile delinquency and recidivism. The more the capacity for delay of spontaneous behavior through cognitive mediation, the more likely the chances for positive response to rehabilitative endeavors after agreement and, consequently, the less likely final recidivism. The second dominant finding of the study recommends that the lower the threshold for emotionally threatening stimuli, the higher the chances of behaviors that will result in recidivism. Moreover, the higher the threshold for emotional conflict, the less the chances of the types of behavior that will lead to recidivism. It appears that recidivists have a higher likelihood of an approaching or counterphobic cognitive defense style than non-recidivists.

This article comments on a proposed model for the re-conviction rates of released prisoners. The model assumes the released population to be composed of two groups. It is a feature of the model that all released prisoners will eventually be re-convicted. Since the re-conviction rate was very high in the population studied, this prediction may not have been far from the truth. One possible modification consists of assuming the released population is comprised of three groups, a group that is committed to abstention and is thus permanently law-abiding, a group of non-violators that lacks commitment to abstention from crime, and a group of violators, some of whom are apprehended and officially classified as recidivists. Through chance contingencies, some members of the uncommitted group are randomly converted to committed conformists or to violators at constant rates. Violators are assumed to persist in crime until they are apprehended and removed from the population at risk at constant rate. These assumptions can be expressed as a system of first-order linear differential equations for the numbers of individuals in each group. In this model, the expression for the time dependence of the non-recidivist population is the sum of a constant and two exponentials.

The article focuses on the effectiveness of Otis Quick-Scoring Mental Ability Test among inmates. The Otis Quick-Scoring Mental Ability Test has been used in several studies of delinquents and inmates. Another study revealed that two groups of delinquents tested with the Otis differed markedly according to race and that African Americans scored much lower than Caucasians. Evidence also exists to indicate that Otis scores are reliable when administered to such populations. The present study investigates the effectiveness of the Otis to differentiate an inmate sample according to race, offense type, and first offender or recidivist classification.