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President Joe Biden announced last week that WNBA star Brittney Griner had been released from detention in Russia, celebrating her one-to-one swap for a notorious arms dealer who had been [...]

Since the beginning of recorded history, people who are accused or found guilty of wrongdoing have been incarcerated. And during their incarceration, they search for ways to escape, fool the [...]

Mentally ill inmates now comprise a substantial portion of the prison population and pose administrative and therapeutic challenges to prison administrators and mental health professionals. Some evidence suggests that both the size of the population and the seriousness of their illnesses are increasing. Given this context, several issues are highlighted and discussed in terms of contemporary efforts to deal with mentally ill inmates. Specifically, discussion centers on the use of actuarial devices for prediction and classification, the conflict between treatment and control and the relation between treatment and management, the distinction between risks and stakes and use of the environment as therapy, use of medication and isolation, and the role of correction officers in mental health treatment. The authors make an argument for more sophisticated approaches in dealing with mentally ill inmates that rely on expanded therapeutic options, broader role definitions for prison staff, and an evidence-based approach for individualizing treatment. Keywords: mentally ill inmates; treatment; management

The careers of chronically disruptive prisoners are unquestionably problematic for prison staff members but are equivalently inauspicious for the prisoners themselves, who acquire off-putting reputations and must spend increasing portions of time in punitive or administrative segregation. When we review long-term disruptive careers, we are apt to encounter recurrent ineffective interventions and deteriorating sequences of behavior. This is the case even in relatively humane prison systems, though in such settings we also come across junctures at which positive impact has been achieved with ameliorative moves. Over time, a trend involving personal maturation and amelioration of misbehavior will be observed in many disruptive careers. It is important, as this occurs for prison staff not to react based on extrapolations from past behavior trends. It is also important for members of the prison staff who are assigned to work directly with the inmate to counter or modulate custodial risk-based assessments that the inmate otherwise invites. Keywords: disruptive offenders; prison careers; isolation; Scottish Prison Service

HERE are two kinds of Soldiers at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.--the ones with no rank or pay, and those with keys. Handcuffs and steel doors keep […]

Dynamic risk/need assessment instruments are useful tools in the effective treatment and management of offenders. The Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) is a dynamic risk/need assessment instrument that has been used extensively among a variety of offender samples. Although considerable research has shown that the instrument is valid and reliable, there is a lack of information on the predictive validity of the instrument among longer term offenders. In the current study the LSI-R was completed on a sample of 129 Canadian federally incarcerated offenders serving a mean sentence length of 5 years. Scores on the LSI-R were compared to various recidivism criteria during a 15-month follow-up period. Results indicated the instrument had acceptable reliability and predictive validity and distinguished recidivists from nonrecidivists. Results are discussed within the context of the assessment and treatment of longer term offenders. Keywords: risk assessment; criminality; prediction; recidivism

This article examines transcarceration, an ongoing process that involves sending mentally ill prisoners back and forth between the prison system and mental health institutions. This management strategy defines these prisoners as deviants and perpetuates their oppression and marginalization within the criminal justice system.

Prison Governors have received little attention from researchers. This article begins to correct that balance by exploring the characteristics of prison Governors as a group and by identifying the competencies which Governors require to govern effectively. The response to a questionnaire sent to all Governors reveals that the typical Governor is a white male, aged 50, who has been a Governor for the last six years of his 24 years Prison Service career and joined the Prison Service as a second career without a degree. The article goes on to argue that, to be effective, Governors need to be competent in four areas: general management, incident management, public sector management and prison management. In addition, they must demonstrate certain behaviours which are identified in the Prison Service Core Competency Framework.

Penal policy takes a new direction by confronting offenders with the consequences of their acts and giving them a chance to make amends Over the past few decades, more attention [...]

The application of non-custodial sentences should be encouraged wherever possible Despite efforts to improve the quality of inmates' lives, in most countries prison is still by and large a place [...]

The Times-Tribune of Scranton, Pa., claims officials there are wrongly denying access to prison records the paper has sought as part of its reporting on an inmate who gave birth [...]

Issues surrounding crime and punishment are as complex as the famous Russian novel by that name. State officials face an increasingly difficult task to balance public safety with the cost [...]

Prison officials in York County, S.C., have given an odd thumbs-up to the calming capabilities of cable programming. The local sheriff became alarmed when he noticed how fired up inmates [...]

MATSQUI, BRITISH COLUMBIA - One member of Canada's parliament apparently believes there is a time and a place for parties, and it's not in prison. Myron Thompson registered his displeasure [...]