Thinking About Corrections : Research

2008 National Criminal Victimization Survey

CC Pro — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:54:00 GMT

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) reports violent and property crime rates in 2008 were at or near their lowest levels in over three decades. Violent crimes are categorized as rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault. "Property crimes include household burglary, motor vehicle theft, and theft." Personal theft, including pocket picking and purse snatching are also included. The data is in concurrence with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) which also notes the continual downward trend in criminal activities over the same time period.

New Research Reports on Reentry

Eileen Conway — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:07:00 GMT

Followers of the literature on reentry may be interested in a new post on the Correctional Research Roundtable forum regarding three new reports from the Urban Institute's Returning Home study.

Study Finds Majority of Arrestees in Major Metropoolitan Areas Test Positive for Illegal Drugs

CC Pro — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:52:00 GMT

Providing further verification of the linkage between drugs and crime, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy released data from the 2008 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program (ADAM II) revealing up to 87 percent of arrestees tested positive for illegal drugs within 48 hours of being booked into jail. The study data were compiled from a federal survey of 10 major metropolitan areas that combined drug testing and arrestee interviews. A significant number of arrestees tested positive for more than one illegal substance. Marijuana was the most commonly detected substance with broad regional variances in the use of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. The report emphasizes the need to provide drug treatment as an alternative to incarceration for non-violent offenders.

CSG Justice Center Releases Guide to Manage Mentally Ill in Community Corrections

llinke — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:20:00 GMT

The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center announced today the release of a policy and practice guide for managing mentally ill offenders in the community (see attached press release). The publication, Improving Outcomes for People with Mental Illnesses under Community Supervision, was developed with support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the National Institute of Corrections. The guide reviews the body of recent research on community corrections supervision for people with mental illness and translates findings to help officials develop effective interventions. Link on the PDF of the guide above, or limited printed copies of the document are available from the NIC Information Center. More information regarding the mentally ill in corrections is available on the NIC Projects pages and Justice Center's Consensus Project website.

Examining the Parole Experience

Eileen Conway — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:43:00 GMT

New in the Urban Institute's Returning Home series of reports examining the challenges of prisoner reentry is a research brief focusing on the impact of parole supervision. Returning Home on Parole: Former Prisoners' Experiences in Illinois, Ohio, and Texas includes findings regarding the usefulness of parole officers in the transition process, the relationships between parole supervision and employment and substance use, the effect of supervision on reincarceration, and who benefits more from supervision.

What Works/Does Not Work in Reentry

Eileen Conway — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:39:00 GMT

As Federal, state, and local governments look toward reentry programming as a means to improve outcomes for prisoners returning to the community, researchers are beginning to produce results regarding the effectiveness of these efforts. The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency has just posted an extensive review of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections' Community Orientation and Reintegration (COR) program, research done by Linda G. Smith and Denise R. Suttle of the International Association of Reentry. Of note, the outcome evaluation report found "failures of COR Completers compared to the Control Group for almost every recidivism, employment, and substance abuse measure used in the outcome evaluation."

10 Steps for Corrections Directors, Plus Assessing Consistency and Fairness in Sentencing

Eileen Conway — Thu, 22 May 2008 20:44:00 GMT

As a result of "hundreds of hours of interviews with a wide cross section of officials from 45 state corrections departments in an effort to spotlight the most effective management practices," the Pew Center on the States brings us Ten Steps Corrections Directors Can Take to Strengthen Performance, which "showcases innovative strategies to improve correctional systems’ performance, transparency and accountability." Also new on the Pew site is Assessing Consistency and Fairness in Sentencing: A Comparative Study in Three States," which it calls a "first-ever comprehensive, comparative evaluation of states that use sentencing guidelines," looking at Minnesota, Michigan, and Virginia.

What Contributes to Recidivism?

Eileen Conway — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:10:00 GMT

The Urban Institute has released a double whammy examining factors contributing to recidivism. Working in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Corrections, the Massachusetts Recidivism Study contains three interrelated study components addressed in two new reports. Massachusetts Recidivism Study: A Closer Look at Releases and Returns to Prison analyzes DOC administrative data and recidivism on a variety of statistical and demographic fronts. Its companion report, Reincarcerated: The Experiences of Men Returning to Massachusetts Prisons examines the results of parole office focus groups, as well as interviews of returning recidivists.

Saving Money by Expanding Drug Treatment

Eileen Conway — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:51:00 GMT

As states look to balance burgeoning costs with public safety needs, the Urban Institute has released a timely report on the cost-benefits of expanding the availability of drug treatment among arrestees. In To Treat or Not to Treat: Evidence on the Prospects of Expanding Treatment to Drug-Involved Offenders, the authors find that strict eligibility rules are limiting access to treatment, and they simulate several policy changes to provide guidance to policymakers on the cost-benefits of treatment expansion. In their striking findings, "every policy change simulated in this study yields a cost-effective expansion of drug treatment. ... In particular, removing all eligibility restrictions and allowing access to treatment for all 1.47 million at risk arrestees would be most cost effective--producing more than $46 billion in benefits at a cost of $13.7 billion."

In the Mind's Eye

CC Pro — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:05:00 GMT

It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but, can a picture prompt a thousand urges? Through the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a team of researchers have found that drug-related images flashed for just 33 milliseconds to cocaine patients activated the limbic system, a brain network associated with reward and emotion. Dr, Nora Volkow, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) said, "This is the first evidence that cues outside one's awareness can trigger rapid activation of the circuits driving drug-seeking behavior." For additional information on this study and its implications, click here.

Is the Substance Abuse Treatment Programming Provided by Correctional Agencies Effective?

CC Pro — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:50:00 GMT

The first national survey to examine the type and quality of substance abuse treatment programming used by correctional agencies yields some stark findings and recommendations. This survey systematically looked at substance abuse treatment programming provided for adult and juvenile offenders in prisons, jails, probation and parole, and other local community correctional agencies. The primary finding was the most frequently used substance abuse treatment programs are "unlikely to facilitate behavior change." Among the other findings:

Substance abuse treatment services are not readily available to all offenders
Fewer than 10% of adult offenders and approximately 20% of juvenile offenders receive the targeted treatment they require
Staff numbers and training for delivery of treatment services are inadequate
The length of treatment provided is less than recommended by research literature

For the brief on the survey conducted by the National Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS), click here.

What Are the Most Dangerous Everyday Objects in Your Facility?

Eileen Conway — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:41:00 GMT

Correctional officers in prisons and jails face an environment in which they are surrounded by potentially dangerous inmates with access to ordinary items that can be converted into weapons. In a new NIJ-funded report, Improving Correctional Officer Safety: Reducing Inmate Weapons, a panel of practitioners from the correctional community, along with researchers from Johns Hopkins University, looks at which everyday objects pose the greatest threat to correctional officers in the real world environment.

Does Faith Play a Role in Reducing Criminality?

CC Pro — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:10:00 GMT

What, if any, is the impact of religion in promoting pro-social behaviors? This is the question Baylor University, Institute for Studies of Religion sought to answer by using standards of scholarship to examine issues of faith. Their studies indicate that religious commitment, particularly among youth, promotes self-control and enhances protective factors regarding drug use, academic performance and in altering the behaviors of high-risk youth.

What Constitutes A "Good" Study, Part Deux

Eileen Conway — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:59:00 GMT

The guidelines are posted! I previously wrote about Public Safety Canada's work in defining guidelines for evaluating research study quality, and the detailed guidelines are now online. While specifically addressing sexual offender treatment outcome research, parameters such as administrative control of independent variables, experimenter expectancies, sample size, attrition, and equivalence of groups should provide guidance to those assessing a much broader range of correctional research in this evidence-based age.

What Factors Drive Disproportionate Minority Contact in the Juvenile Justice System?

CC Pro — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 20:48:00 GMT

A report funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention highlights a delinquency study from three (3) metropolitan areas that examines disproportionate minority contact and the impact it may have on decision making by police and courts. The Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency produced this report in its ongoing mission to "improve the understanding of serious delinquency, violence, and drug use by examining how youth develop within the context of family, school, peers, and community."