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Considerable empirical research has shown that work-family conflict has a negative effect on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of United States correctional staff. This study is the first to examine the effect of work-family conflict on job satisfaction and organizational commitment for staff at Chinese prisons. Findings from ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses indicated that strain-based conflict, behavior-based conflict and family-on-work conflict had negative effects on the job satisfaction of Chinese prison staff. Also, strain-based conflict and behavior-based conflict had negative effects on organizational commitment. Overall, the results support the conclusion that work-family conflict was generally perceived as stressful by Chinese prison staff and negatively impacted their job satisfaction and organizational commitment, as has been found among United States staff.

This study is the first to test the efficacy of principle-based correctional counseling (PBCC) for improving the self-control and mental health of people incarcerated for sexual violence (SV). A total of 132 males incarcerated for SV were assigned to a treatment group that received cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) supplemented with intensive PBCC and a waitlist control group that received only CBT. Results using paired t-tests and an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to control for pretest scores showed that compared with the control group, treatment participants showed a significant increase in affective well-being and a significant decrease in low self-control, depression, anxiety, and anger.

This preliminary study investigates the efficacy of the SPARK Mentoring Program, a mental health education intervention grounded the psycho-spiritual Principles of Universal Mind, Consciousness, and Thought for improving the well-being and perceptions for school climate of students at-risk for school failure. Students at-risk for academic failure were assigned to a treatment group (n= 75), and a waitlist comparison group (n= 34). Pre-and post-intervention, participants in both groups completed the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, the Acceptance component of the Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale, and the Social and Emotional Learning, High Expectations, Caring Adults, and Peer Climate components of the Alaska School Climate and Connectedness Survey. Compared to the control group, students receiving this intervention (thirteen 45–60-minute sessions during regular school hours) reported improved mental health evidenced by a significant increase in mental well-being, state of mind, and hope for the future, and improved perceptions of school climate evidenced by a significant increase in conflict resolution, valuing academic success, and relational trust with teachers, peers, and school community.

The authors are encouraged that the field of psychiatry is moving towards including euthymia and its components (e.g., well-being, flourishing and resilience) as well as dysfunction (i.e., psychopathology and its symptoms) in its assessment and treatment. We are concerned, however, that to guide its pursuit of euthymia, psychiatry appears to be adopting the same 'outside-in' paradigm as positive psychology; that the positive must be 'put into' people via assisting them to adopt new positive beliefs and persistently practice psychotherapeutic techniques. We fear that if psychiatry continues to view the positive through this 'outside-in' lens, its pursuit of euthymia will bear small fruit. In this editorial, we posit that mental health and psychopathology can be viewed from the same basis because both are created in the same way; from the 'inside-out' via people's use of three psycho-spiritual Principles-Universal Mind, Consciousness and Thought. We posit that people can use these Principles in a way that either creates distressing symptoms or releases innate euthymia. We further posit that via awareness and sufficient insight-based understanding of how these Principles manifest within everyone, psychiatry can achieve a deeper understanding of the source of all psychological experience that will facilitate its pursuit of euthymia.

Research suggests that some barroom settings create a milieu conducive to the outbreak of violence. Few studies, however, use a large national dataset to investigate the nature and prevalence of vi...

We investigate the efficacy of intensive three principles correctional counseling (3PCC) for improving the mental health of people in an English prison. 175 prison residents receiving inten...

Multiple forms of psychopathology appear to have one common liability typically referred to as general factor p (or p). The possibility of a general factor of psychopathology begs several questions. If something substantive exists that accounts for patterns of co- morbidity across myriad forms of psychopathology, what exactly is it? If higher levels of this factor account for more severe and sustained psychological ill-heath, what explains it and its developmental progression? If this factor exists, does it account for varying levels of mental health and the apparent decline in mental health from childhood to mid-life? Does this factor have a common prevention and remediation? The authors offer a possible answer, a new psycho-spiritual explanation of general factor p grounded in understanding the way people’s psychological life experiences are created via three universal Principles—Mind, Consciousness and Thought. Given this understanding of p, we propose a process from p to psychopathology. Then we offer a prevention and remediation for the ill-effects of our view of p which we call factor U. Factor U describes people’s awareness and sufficient insight-based understanding of the way these three Principles manifest within everyone. Finally, we apply our view of p to clinical practice emphasizing empirically supported mental health education grounded in factor U for preventing and remediating the ill-effects of p, thus reducing psychopathology and its symptoms, and naturally restoring a state of innate mental well-being.

Liposomal bupivacaine (LipoB) provides prolonged local anesthetic effects and has seen usage in several fields of surgery. We review our experience using LipoB intraoperatively for intercostal nerve blocks after video-assisted throacoscopic surgery (VATS). A retrospective, single-center review was conducted for patients undergoing VATS from August 2012 to December 2014. Patients those who received LipoB as an intercostal nerve block were compared with patients who received blocks with standard bupivacaine. Opiate amounts used within the first six hours and then subsequent 18,48, and 72 hours were converted into morphine equivalents for comparison. Forty-seven patients met inclusion criteria: 21 receiving LipoB intercostal nerve block and 26 controls. Groups were similar for age, diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, body mass index and American Society of Anesthesiologists scores. The LipoB group had a larger portion of males (P < 0.02). Postoperatively, morphine equivalent usage was significantly less in the LipoB group compared with the standard bupivacaine within the first six hours after surgery (15.62 vs 52.41, P = 0.001) and in the subsequent 18 hours (28.98 vs 65.17, P = 0.01). After the first 24 hours there was not a significant difference in opiate usage between the two groups. There was no difference in length of stay between the two groups. In our study group of VATS patients, an intercostal nerve block with LipoB significantly reduced the usage of postoperative opioids in the first 24 hours only when compared with standard bupivacaine.

Staff are an obvious and important resource for correctional organizations across the globe. One important area that concerns staff is job involvement (i.e., the psychosocial bonds between staff members and their jobs). The majority of the limited research on how work environment factors affect correctional personnel has examined U.S. staff. To fill this void, the current study used the job demands-resource model to explore how various personal characteristics and work environment variables affected the job involvement of staff at two prisons in southern China. The specific personal characteristics were age, tenure, gender, educational level, and assigned prison. The job demand variables were fear of victimization and role overload, and the job resource variables were instrumental communication, job autonomy, transactional justice, procedural justice, distributive justice, job variety, and supervision. Tenure, fear of victimization, transactional justice, distributive justice, job variety, and supervision had significant effects on job involvement in a multivariate regression analysis, while the other variables did not. Except for fear of victimization, which had a negative association, the other significant variables had positive associations with job involvement.

Past research among U.S. correctional staff has found that work–family conflict has negative outcomes such as decreasing job satisfaction, decreasing organizational commitment, and increasing job stress. Little empirical research has addressed the association of the specific types of work–family conflict with job involvement. The present study contributes to the literature by separately analyzing the relationship of the four specific major types of work–family conflict (time-based conflict, strain-based conflict, behavior-based conflict, and family-on-work conflict) with job involvement among surveyed staff at two Chinese prisons. Job involvement varied by the type of work–family conflict. Specifically, time-based conflict and strain-based conflict had nonsignificant association with job involvement, but behavior-based and family-based conflicts had significant negative associations.

At present, no peer-reviewed intervention has been shown to clearly and consistently prevent intimate partner violence (IPV), or reduce its recurrence. We propose that the limited effects of current IPV interventions reflect the field’s absence of fundamental principles that account for all psychological experience. We further posit that the principles that explain people’s psychological lives have been uncovered. We briefly describe these principles, and delineate the process from exposure to the principles to improved mental health, and improved behavior. Then we use the logic of these principles to offer a formula to measure people’s propensity for IPV, and provide the missing components in IPV prevention.

Three principles correctional counseling (3PCC) posits that people in prison have inner mental health they have obscured to varying degrees with their own thinking. 3PCC further posits that people in prison can rekindle and sustain this inner health via understanding how three psychospiritual principles—Universal Mind, consciousness, and thought—coalesce to form people’s psychological experience. We review the three principles and explain how exposure to these principles can lead to improved mental health and improved behavior. Then, we describe 3PCC and distinguish it from prevailing correctional counseling methods. Finally, we present a preliminary study that examines the efficacy of 3PCC for improving the mental health and behavior of people in an English prison. Our findings show that participants exposed to 3PCC showed a significant improvement in mental well-being and purpose in life, significant reductions in anxiety and anger, and improved behavior in the prison community.

Staff are critical for the proper functioning of a prison; empirical research into the forces that affect salient organizational attitudes of staff, such as organizational commitment, is equally important. A survey instrument measuring affective commitment and personal (i.e. gender, tenure, age, and educational level), job (i.e. perceived dangerousness of the job, job variety, and supervision), and organizational variables (i.e. instrumental communication and input into decision-making) was completed by 322 employees in two prisons in southern China. The results of ordinary least squares regression showed that job and organizational variables of perceived dangerousness of the job, job variety, supervision, instrumental communication, and decentralization explained 54% of the variance in the dependent variable organizational commitment and were much stronger predictors than personal characteristics. Among the significant variables, decentralization had the largest sized effect, followed by perceived job dangerousness, job variety, and instrumental communication. Except for the organizational variable of perceived supervision quality, the job and organizational predictors of affective commitment for these Chinese prison staff appear to mirror those typically found for staff in US prisons.

While organizational citizenship behaviors (i.e., employee’s choosing to perform above and beyond work expectations) are beneficial for the success of any organization, there has been little research on this form of prosocial behavior in private correctional agencies. This study is the first to examine the relationship between two forms of organizational commitment (affective and continuance) and organizational citizenship behaviors for 160 correctional staff at a maximum security private US prison. Results of the Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis supported the predictions that affective commitment would have a positive association with organizational citizenship behaviors and continuance commitment would have a negative association. Possible interventions that private correctional organizations can undertake to encourage affective organizational commitment from their staff are discussed.

Background This study reported on the treatment of Carpentier type IIIa and type IIIb mitral regurgitation (MR) with a large patch anterior mitral valve leaflet augmentation technique using CorMatrix (CorMatrix Cardiovascular Inc, Alpharetta, GA) extracellular matrix (ECM). Methods A single-site chart review was conducted on patients who underwent anterior leaflet augmentation performed with the Da Vinci surgical robot (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA) or through a median sternotomy. Only patients who had anterior leaflet augmentation with porcine intestine ECM or autologous pericardium were included. Follow-up echocardiography was performed on all patients. Histologic specimens were available on ECM patches from a subset of patients who required reoperation. Results Between August 2011 and April 2014, 44 patients (mean age, 62.6 ± 12.2 years) underwent anterior leaflet augmentation with either porcine intestinal ECM or autologous pericardium at the Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. Two (4%) late deaths occurred, one in each group. One patient who underwent ECM augmentation died of non–cardiac-related causes 7 months after discharge as a result of complications of chronic renal failure. The second late death occurred 5 months after discharge because of complications of a stroke in a patient in the pericardial augmentation group. Eight (32%) of the patients with ECM had recurrence of severe MR on echocardiography at an average time of 201 ± 98 days. Seven (28%) patients required reoperation because of failure of the ECM patch including perforation (4%), excessive patch dilation (20%), and suture line dehiscence (4%). In contrast, none of the patients with pericardial augmentation developed severe MR or required operation. Statistical analysis of the patients with ECM augmentation demonstrated no correlation of the following: age; sex; comorbid conditions such as diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hypertension; left ventricular ejection fraction; surgical approach; annuloplasty size; or type of MR with patch failure. A lower body mass index was the only factor associated with recurrent severe regurgitation on univariate analysis ( p = 0.039). Histologic study of the four available explants demonstrated intense inflammation without evidence of host integration. The remaining 15 (60%) patients had normal mitral leaflet structure and function on follow-up echocardiograms out to 12 months. Conclusions For type III MR, a large anterior leaflet patch technique with porcine ECM was associated with a 32% recurrence rate of severe MR related directly to patch failure. Further research and development should be performed on the use of ECM materials with a goal to decrease the failure rate experienced in this study.

In both child and adult psychiatry, empirical evidence has now accrued to suggest that a single dimension is able to measure a person’s liability to mental disorder, comorbidity among disorders, persistence of disorders over time, and severity of symptoms. This single dimension of general psychopathology has been termed "p", because it conceptually parallels a dimension already familiar to behavioral scientists and clinicians: the “g” factor of general intelligence. As the g dimension reflects low-to-high mental ability, the p dimension represents low-to-high psychopathology severity, with thought disorder at the extreme. The dimension of p unites all disorders. It influences present/absent status on hundreds of psychiatric symptoms, which modern nosological systems typically aggregate into dozens of distinct diagnoses, which in turn aggregate into three overarching Externalizing, Internalizing, and Psychotic Experience domains, which finally aggregate into one dimension of psychopathology from low to high: p. Studies show that the higher a person scores on p, the worse that person fares on measures of family history of psychiatric illness, brain function, childhood developmental history, and adult life impairment. A dimension of p may help to account for ubiquitous non-specificity in psychiatry: multiple diagnoses share the same risk factors and biomarkers, and often respond to the same therapies. Here we summarize the history of the uni-dimensional idea, review modern research into p, demystify statistical models, articulate some implications of p for prevention and clinical practice, and outline a transdiagnostic research agenda going forward.

Objective Aortic occlusion with an endoballoon is a well-established technique to facilitate robotic and minimally invasive mitral valve surgery. Use of the endoballoon has several relative contraindications including ascending aortic dilatation greater than 38 mm in size. We sought to review our experience using the endoballoon in cases of totally endoscopic mitral valve surgery with aortic diameters greater than 38 mm. Methods A retrospective review of our single-site database was conducted to identify patients undergoing totally endoscopic mitral valve surgery by a single surgeon using an endoballoon and who had ascending aortic dilation. We defined aortic dilation as greater than 38 mm. Computed tomography was done preoperatively on all patients to evaluate the aortic anatomy as well as iliofemoral access vessels. Femoral artery cannulation was done in a standardized fashion to advance and position the endoballoon, to occlude the ascending aorta, and to deliver cardioplegia. Results From October 2011 through June 2015,196 patients underwent totally endoscopic mitral valve surgery using an endoballoon at our institution. Twenty-two patients (11.2%) had ascending aortic diameters greater than 38 mm (range, 38.1–16.6 mm; mean, 40.5 ± 2.5 mm). In these cases, there were no instances of aortic dissection or other injury due to balloon rupture, balloon migration, device movement leading to loss of occlusion, or inability to complete planned surgery due to occlusion failure. Conclusions Our experience suggests that it is possible to successfully use endoaortic balloon occlusion in patients with ascending aortic dilation with proper preoperative imaging and planning.

A new spiritual understanding commonly known as the Three Principles proposes that mindfulness/flow/mental health is people’s most natural state and can be realized and sustained by everyone via insights gained through understanding three spiritual principles—Universal Mind, Consciousness, and Thought. We test this proposition for people exposed to the intervention grounded in these principles. The results appear to support our prediction that insight regarding “thought recognition” and/or “innate health via a clear mind” gained through understanding these spiritual principles will show a significant positive relationship with mindful attention, mindful acceptance, flow experience, and mental health.

The primary goal of positive psychology is understanding and facilitating optimal mental health. However, absent fundamental causal principles that explain human psychological experience, positive psychology is unlikely to achieve this goal. We posit that fundamental causal principles may already have been uncovered, and we offer a study that tests the process from exposure to these principles to improved mental health. The results appear to support our prediction that insights regarding “thought recognition” and/or “innate mental health via a clear mind” gained through understanding these principles will show a significant positive relationship with hedonic well-being, eudaimonic well-being, social well-being, and optimal mental health. Of participants exposed to the understanding grounded in these spiritual principles, 88% were diagnosed as “flourishing.”

Liposomal bupivacaine (LipoB) provides prolonged local anesthetic effects and has seen usage in several fields of surgery. We review our experience using LipoB intraoperatively for intercostal nerve blocks after video-assisted throacoscopic surgery (VATS). A retrospective, single-center review was conducted for patients undergoing VATS from August 2012 to December 2014. Patients those who received LipoB as an intercostal nerve block were compared with patients who received blocks with standard bupivacaine. Opiate amounts used within the first six hours and then subsequent 18, 48, and 72 hours were converted into morphine equivalents for comparison. Forty-seven patients met inclusion criteria: 21 receiving LipoB intercostal nerve block and 26 controls. Groups were similar for age, diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, body mass index and American Society of Anesthesiologists scores. The LipoB group had a larger portion of males (

Background: The effect of high transfusion ratios of fresh frozen plasma (FFP): packed red blood cell (RBC) on mortality is still controversial. Observational evidence contradicts a recent randomized controlled trial regarding mortality benefit. This is an updated meta-analysis, including a non-trauma cohort. Methods: Patients were grouped into high vs. low based on FFP:RBC ratio. Primary outcomes were 24-h and 30-day/in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes were acute respiratory distress syndrome and acute lung injury rates. Random model and leave-one-out-analyses were used. Results: In 36 studies, lower ratio showed poorer 24-h and 30-day survival (p < 0.001). In trauma and non-trauma settings, a lower ratio was associated with worse 24-h and 30-day mortality (P < 0.001). A ratio of 1:1.5 provided the largest 24-h and 30-day survival benefit (p < 0.001). The ratio was not associated with ARDS or ALI. Conclusions: High FFP:RBC ratio confers survival benefits in trauma and non-trauma settings, with the highest survival benefit at 1:1.5.

Gender is arguably the most prominent correlate of criminal victimization. Few studies, however, examine gender-specific dynamics that might help advance criminology’s understanding of the persistent gender gap in criminal victimization. We attempt to help fill this research void by examining data from the 2012 National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) through the lens of routine activity theory to investigate the relationship between “gendered spaces” and criminal victimization. We propose that gendered spaces constructed by people’s routine activities may increase their exposure to motivated offenders, which in turn may increase their risk of victimization. Our findings appear to support our proposition and to shed new light on the nature of the victimization gender gap. The results showed that females were significantly more likely than males to be victimized at each of the three “feminine gendered spaces” (i.e., bank, shopping center, and grocery store). However, the relationship between gendered space and criminal victimization varied by crime type. Females were significantly more likely than males to be robbed at each of the three feminine gendered spaces. For sexual assault and aggravated assault, females were significantly more likely than males to be victimized at a “masculine gendered space” (i.e., bar/nightclub). For simple assault, females were significantly less likely than males to be victimized at two of the three feminine gendered spaces (i.e., bank and shopping center). Our findings appear to highlight the importance of gendered spaces in helping explain the gender gap in criminal victimization and suggest that future researchers should investigate how other gendered spaces formed by people’s routine activities affect their risk of victimization.

In a moment of spiritual enlightenment, Sydney Banks claimed to “see” how three psycho-spiritual principles—Universal Mind, Consciousness and Thought—coalesce to create all psychological experience. While considerable literature exists that describes these principles, their spiritual basis, and the intervention grounded in them, little scientific evidence has been offered that might corroborate what Banks professed to understand through his realization. To help fill this gap, the authors propose a process by which formless energy comes into physical form within human beings via Universal Mind powering Consciousness and Thought to create people’s psychological lives. Further, the authors offer a scientific basis for what appear to be the steps or phases in this process. This view distinguishes three levels of thought and posits that thought at each of these levels precedes people’s every psychological experience—their sensations, perceptions, emotions—and their behavior. Ways that people can intervene in or affect this process in their best interests are proposed.

Correctional staff job burnout is costly to all involved. As such, it has generated a growing body of research. This study reviewed 53 empirical studies of correctional staff burnout and two review articles published between 1981 and 2014. The majority of studies focused on staff working in a variety of institutional positions, fewer studies focused exclusively on the subgroup of correctional officers, and even fewer focused on a different subgroup. The majority of studies also involved staff at US government-run adult prisons. Most but not all studies utilized Maslach’s Burnout Inventory. Research on the antecedents of job burnout among correctional staff is more common than research on the possible consequences or outcomes of job burnout. Interestingly, despite the empirical emphasis on antecedents of burnout, there has been almost no research on effective interventions designed to deal with correctional staff burnout. Based on this narrative review, significant gaps remain in the research on correction...

We examine the relationship between understanding the psycho-spiritual principles of Universal Mind, Consciousness, and Thought, and perceived dependence on mindfulness techniques to realize improved mindfulness/mental health. Participants exposed to the intervention grounded in these principles also reported practicing meditation and/or mindfulness-based intervention techniques. The results from this preliminary study appear to support our prediction that as participant’s understanding of these principles increases, their perceived dependence on mindfulness techniques to realize improved mindfulness/mental health will decrease, and as participant’s perceived dependence on mindfulness techniques decreases, their ability to maintain well-being during unpleasant mood states will increase.

Recent literature has found that organizational commitment of correctional staff is highly influenced by the workplace and can either result in positive or negative behaviors. Most research, though, has examined predictors of only one type of commitment. This study looked at three types of commitment (continuance, moral, and affective) and their influence on the outcomes of correctional orientation, views of absenteeism, and turnover intent. The results indicate that the three dimensions of commitment varied in their impact on the organization outcomes and provide insight into the complex nature of the bonds that tie employees to this unique organization.

This preliminary study examines the effects on the resilience and behavior of children and high-risk adolescents via exposing them to three psycho-spiritual principles—Universal Mind, consciousness, and thought. Forty-five children and twenty-six high-risk adolescents were randomly assigned to experimental groups. Treatment participants received ten 60-90 minute lessons designed to help them understand how the principles of Universal Mind, consciousness, and thought interact from within to construct their psychological lives, how to use the power of thought in their best interest, and how to access and sustain inner resilience. Control participants received other interventions. The results show that compared to their control groups, children and adolescents exposed to the three principles reported a significant improvement in resilience with high-risk participants reporting a significantly larger improvement in overall resilience than moderate and low-risk participants. Also, high-risk adolescents exposed to the principles reported a significant reduction in risky behavior. The qualitative findings show that children and highrisk adolescents exposed to the three principles related these positive effects to new insights regarding the power of thought and/or inner resilience via a clear mind gained through understanding these principles.

Finding strategies to prevent burnout is imperative for correctional administrators. Ordinary least squares regression analyses of survey results from 160 employees at a private prison for offenders aged 14 to 19 who were tried as adults were used to examine the effects of affective and continuance commitments on the three dimensions of staff burnout. The results indicate that affective commitment had a negative association with emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of reduced accomplishment, while continuance commitment had a positive relationship with these dimensions of burnout. Of the control variables, tenure had a positive association with emotional exhaustion, age had a negative relationship with depersonalization, and average daily contact with inmates had a positive association with feelings of reduced accomplishment. One strategy that administrators could employ to reduce staff burnout is to strengthen staffs’ emotional ties and feelings of loyalty to the organization, while attempting to decrease perceptions that the employee is trapped in the job.

Considerable evidence suggests that untreated childhood trauma is a contributing factor to delinquency and juvenile justice system involvement. This paper describes a promising new intervention for at-risk youth and juvenile offenders with traumatic histories grounded in a model commonly referred to as the three principles. This intervention attempts to draw out the inner mental health and resilience in trauma exposed young offenders and provide them with a new perspective on their past traumas that can prevent them from infecting the present. First, the origin, nature, and logic of the three principles are described. Next, the three principles intervention is described and compared to cognitive and other trauma interventions. Then, several guideposts followed by effective three principles practitioners are described. Finally, empirical evidence is presented in support of the efficacy of this intervention with at-risk youth, juvenile offenders and adults with traumatic histories.

We offer a new psychospiritual understanding of mental health grounded in the three principles of Universal Mind, Consciousness, and Thought. This understanding proposes that all people have innate mental health they can access and sustain regardless of past or present circumstances. We first describe the three principles, explain how they appear to work within people to create their psychological lives, and present evidence in support of their spiritual basis. We then distinguish the intervention based on these principles from cognitive and other psychotherapies and describe several guideposts followed by practitioners grounded in this understanding. Finally, we offer empirical evidence of the effectiveness of the three-principles intervention.

While recent studies have demonstrated several negative effects of work-family conflict for correctional employees, none have examined the impact of work-family conflict on the organizational citizenship behaviors of correctional personnel. To help fill this gap in the research, this study examined the relationship between four types of work-family conflict and organizational citizenship behaviors for 160 correctional staff of a private Midwestern maximum security prison for juveniles adjudicated as adults. Based on the job demands model of person-environment fit theory, strain-based conflict, time-based conflict, behavior-based conflict, and family-on-work conflict were predicted to relate negatively with employee organizational citizenship behaviors. Results supported only two of the four predictions. While both strain-based conflict and family-on-work conflict were negatively associated with organizational citizenship behaviors, time-based conflict and behavior-based conflict had non-significant relati...

Life is filled with the demands of work and family. When conflict exists in one domain, research indicates it can spill over and affect the other. In corrections, many workplace factors have been shown to affect the organizational commitment of staff. As staff are the most valuable resource in this labor intensive field, this study focused on the effects of two types of organizational commitment (affective and continuance) on three work–family conflict variables (time based, strain based, and behavior based). Using ordinary least squares regression analysis of survey data from 160 correctional staff at a Midwest private prison, the results indicated that as affective commitment rises, all three work-on-family conflict variables decreased. Conversely, when continuance commitment rose, all three work-on-family conflict variables increased as well. Surprisingly, both forms of commitment had nonsignificant associations with family-on-work conflict. The only significant control variable was age, which revealed that older staff had less conflict between work and family.

Despite the recent burgeoning of the private prison industry, little research has focused on private prison personnel. This study attempts to help fill this research gap by examining the relationship between two distinct forms of organizational commitment, continuance and affective, and the withdrawal outcomes of absenteeism and turnover intent for personnel at a Midwestern U.S. private prison. Results of an ordinary least squares (OLS) multivariate regression analysis supported our prediction of an inverse relationship between affective organizational commitment and the withdrawal outcomes of absenteeism and turnover intent; however, contrary to our hypotheses, the analysis indicated no statistically significant relationship between continuance organizational commitment and these withdrawal outcomes, after controlling for custody position, gender, age, tenure, education, race, and supervisory status. Our results suggest that enhancing employees’ affective organizational bonds should be a priority for pri...

Committed staff are arguably an absolute necessity for the success of correctional facilities. A growing body of literature has examined how different aspects of the work environment relate to organizational commitment; however, organizational commitment can be operationalized as continuance, moral, or affective. Work environment variables may impact the various forms of commitment differently. Using survey data from 272 staff who worked at a Midwestern maximum-security state prison, this study examined the association between the occupational stressors of perceived dangerousness of the job, role conflict, role ambiguity, repetitiveness, and work-on-family conflict with the three forms of organizational commitment. The effects of the occupational stressors varied for each form of organizational commitment. Specifically, work-on-family conflict had a significant positive association with continuance commitment. Role conflict and repetitiveness had negative associations with moral commitment. Finally, all five stressors had significant negative associations with affective commitment.

This study is the first to examine the potential role of mindfulness for attenuating anger and aggression in prospective criminal justice professionals. The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, Aggression Questionnaire, Hostile Attribution Bias Scale, and Thought Recognition Inventory were administered to 272 undergraduate criminal justice majors. The results of a multivariate analysis of variance model indicated that dispositional mindfulness related negatively with self-reported aggression and hostile attribution bias and positively with thought recognition. A possible relationship between mindfulness and thought recognition may operate to influence other mechanisms to heighten mental health, as well as reduce anger and aggression. The potential benefits of mindfulness and thought recognition training for criminal justice professionals and prospective criminal justice professionals are discussed.

Aims: To determine the relationship between thought recognition, a major construct of principle-based correctional counselling, and psychological wellbeing. Method: Following several weekly group sessions of Principle-Based Correctional Counselling, 54 adult prisoners on probation completed two measures of thought recognition and the Well-Being Inventory. In a follow-up study, 30 participants completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Results: Significant positive relationships were found between both measures of thought recognition and psychological wellbeing and, in the follow-up study, both measures of thought recognition and mindfulness. Discussion: Possible explanations for the relationship between thought recognition and psychological wellbeing, and thought recognition and mindfulness are discussed. Implications for practice: Teaching correctional clients the principles behind generic human psychological functioning, and the innate design behind human thinking, appears to improve thei...

We incorporate chiral symmetry breaking in a soft-wall version of the AdS/QCD model by using a modified dilaton profile and a quartic term in the bulk scalar potential. This allows one to separate the dependence on spontaneous and explicit chiral symmetry breaking. The resulting mass spectra in the scalar, vector and axial-vector sectors compares favorably with the respective QCD resonances., Proceedings of "Crossing the Boundaries: Gauge Dynamics at Strong Coupling", Minneapolis, 2009. 12 pages, 7 figures

This article presents two studies that are the first to examine relational aggression and relational victimization in gay male peer relationships. A qualitative pilot study provides a strong rationale for a subsequent empirical investigation of 100 young adult, self-identified gay males. Results of both studies demonstrate that relational aggression and relational victimization are common experiences in gay male relationships. They also reveal forms of relational aggression and victimization that appear to be unique to gay males (e.g., outing). Results of the empirical study found significant relations between engaging in relational aggression against gay males and experiencing relational victimization and between experiencing relational victimization and internalized homophobia. However, there was no significant correlation between internalized homophobia and engaging in relational aggression. A multiple regression analysis found that experiencing relational victimization was correlated more strongly with the combination of engaging in relational aggression and internalized homophobia together than with relational aggression alone. Results are discussed within the framework of Allport's "traits due to victimization" theory and Meyer's theory of "minority stress." Implications for the prevention of relational aggression/victimization in gay male relationships are offered.

This paper proposes that school violence is primarily a function of the typically poor mental health of at-risk students. It asserts therefore, that the most leveraged solution to this vexing problem is for school personnel to teach these students how to re-kindle and experience their birthright of optimal psychological functioning. It suggests that this goal can best be achieved by helping both teachers and students understand a unique principle-based psychology that purports to account for all youthful perception, feelings and behavior. The three principles of this psychology (i.e., Mind, Consciousness, and Thought) are defined, classroom conditions conducive to teaching youth these principles delineated, contemporary research supporting the major assumptions of this paradigm summarized, and the results of school violence prevention programs based on this psychology presented.

PurposeTo assess the mental health of members of the police force and expose any gaps existing at what should be its ideal level, with reference to aspiring policemen of the future. Aims to explain the health realization model and give a definition of optimal mental health with specific reference to the police force.Design/methodology/approachEmploys the well‐being inventory, a survey investment designed specifically to measure five dimensions of optimal mental health, to assess the mental condition of 179 prospective police professionals.FindingsThe results of the survey appear to suggest that future job satisfaction for many prospective police professionals in the study could be less than optimal, with the implication that high notes of mental dysfunction in its various forms could be experienced.Practical implicationsIt is imperative that sound mental health instruction be incorporated into all future police training programs. However, further research needs to be done in order to advance a process which is at present only experimental.Originality/valueEmphasizes the value of teaching future police officers the nature and source of optimal psychological functioning.

While criminal justice undergraduate enrollments continue to burgeon, rarely do criminal justice departments conduct comprehensive surveys of their majors as part of the baccalaureate curriculum review process. This paper describes one such survey completed by 238 criminal justice majors at Wayne State University in Detroit. Major survey findings are presented along with their implications for student and faculty diversity, curriculum design, teaching and grading methods, student advising, and department administration.

This article proposes that youth violence is primarily a function of the generally poor mental health of American youth. It asserts, therefore, that the optimal solution to this vexing problem is to teach young people how to live in the experience of psychological health that is their birthright. It then suggests that this can be best accomplished by helping youth understand the principles behind Health Realization—a psychospiritual model that purports to account for all youthful behavior. The three principles behind Health Realization (i.e., Mind, Consciousness, and Thought) are delineated, contemporary research in support of its major assumptions cited, and the results of applied Health Realization programs with at-risk youth in clinical, educational, and community empowerment settings described.

While we have numerous research-based programs for youth aimed at curbing drug use, violence, suicide, teen pregnancy, and delinquency, we lack a rigorous principle-based psychology of positive youth development. Instead of focusing on fixing what is assumed to be missing or broken in at-risk youth, we need a psychology grounded in fundamental causal principles that reveal clearly how such children and adolescents can become self-motivated, socially competent, compassionate, and psychologically vigorous adults. While the emerging field of positive psychology has attempted to shift the field's emphasis from understanding and treating youthful dysfunction to facilitating well-being and resiliency in young people, it lacks a principle-based foundation and continues to mistakenly endorse external causes of positive affect and prosocial behavior. This paper offers a unique, principle-based psychology of positive youth development commonly known as health realization (HR). The underlying principles of HR are delineated, contemporary research that supports its major assumptions cited, and the results of applied HR research with at-risk youth in clinical, educational, and community empowerment settings described.

Research on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) as a predictor of graduate student performance has been marked by much debate. Thornell and McCoy (1985) have found that the relationship between student performance and the GRE may be sensitive to the discipline being studied. While unexplained to date, this disciplinary variation may be related to the differences in means and/or relative dispersions of GRE scores among disciplines. Further, there has been only one study (McKee, Mallory, and Campbell, in press) for criminal justice, the field with the lowest mean GRE score. This paper focuses on this neglected field. Data were collected from the files of 70 criminal justice majors in a master's program at a large midwestern urban university. The results indicate that GRE scores are largely unrelated to indicators of graduate student performance (GPA, grades in specific classes, and the completion of the M.A. degree). The one exception is a strong relationship between verbal GRE and graduate GPA. This rela...

This study examines the impact of perceived community alienation on levels of self‐reported mastery and motivation for proactive law enforcement for 272 police officers from 11 law enforcement agencies in a large Southeast Michigan County. Also, it investigates the impact of three highly publicized “anti‐police” judicial verdicts (i.e. Rodney King, Malice Green, and O.J. Simpson) on the predicted alienation‐mastery‐proactive enforcement relationship. Results support the study’s major hypothesis that, as officers’ perceived level of alienation increases, they will report less mastery, and express less willingness for proactive enforcement efforts. One regression model confirms the study’s second hypothesis that the inverse relationship between alienation and motivation for proactive enforcement increases significantly following the “anti‐police” judicial verdicts.