Book Review: Boot camps: An intermediate sanction

Book Review: Boot camps: An intermediate sanctio

BookReview: Price, B. E. (2006). Merchandizing Prisoners: Who Really Pays for Prison Privatization? Westport, CT: Praeger. 187 pp

Review of Price’s Merchandizing Prisoners: Who Really Pays for Prison Privatization

Factors to Consider for Optimal Span of Control in Community Supervision Evidence-Based Practice Environments

In the face of budgetary constraints, legislative discussions in Iowa have focused on fiscal savings through an increased probation/parole supervisor to officer ratio, resulting in a reduced number of supervisory staff. Ramifications of this change, given the concurrent implementation of evidence-based practices (EBP), are unknown, given the lack of existing research on rubric for span of control decisions within community corrections agencies. Interviews with stakeholders in both Iowa and a national convenience sample led to a development of factors that should be considered in the future, including an agency’s level of task complexity, the workforce skill level, and the work environment, such as the dynamic nature of assigned tasks. Participants perceived high span of control ratios in a typical community corrections environment would challenge the initial implementation of an effective EBP approach. Policy and practical implications are discussed

Book Review: Forms of Constraint: A History of Prison Architecture

Book Review: Forms of Constraint: A History of Prison Architectur

The Organizational, Community and Programmatic Characteristics that Predict the Effective Implementation of After-School Programs

To identify characteristics predicting the effective implementation of after-school programs, in-depth interviews were conducted at five sites randomly selected from a subset of 16 ACE after-school sites serving high risk youth in a southwestern city. Qualitative data from structured in-depth interviews, follow-up telephone conversations with personnel as well as researcher observations during site visits were synthesized. Data identified three constellations of characteristics associated with effective implementation: staffing, community and programmatic. Staffing characteristics included limited staff turnover and sufficient training. Community characteristics included cultural sensitivity and community integration. Programmatic characteristics included clearly defined program goals and specific program content. Researcher observations found outcomes assessment would also facilitate program implementation

A Multivariate Analysis of the Sociodemographic Predictors of Methamphetamine Production and Use

To date, research testing the community characteristics associated with methamphetamine production and use has found that the community-level sociodemographic predictors of methamphetamine production and use vary from those of drug use in general. In this study, the authors furthered the research in this area using data from all 102 counties in Illinois. These data included measures of sociodemographic characteristics taken from the U.S. census, measures of methamphetamine production and use, and a measure of arrests for controlled-substance violations. Negative binomial regression models showed that poverty and the racial and ethnic compositions of communities were the strongest and most consistent predictors of the authors’ methamphetamine measures. The results also showed that the sociodemographic characteristics associated with methamphetamine measures were different in important ways from those associated with arrests for controlled-substance violations

Juvenile Penalties for “Lawyering Up”: The Role of Counsel and Extralegal Case Characteristics

The presence of counsel for juveniles in the courtroom seems advantageous from a due process perspective, yet some studies suggest that juveniles receive harsher dispositions when represented by an attorney. This study tested whether a “counsel penalty” existed regardless of attorney type and, guided by prior sentencing literature, used a more comprehensive model to determine the influence of extralegal and contextual factors that may amplify the counsel penalty. Utilizing official data from a Northeastern state in a multilevel modeling strategy, this study found that regardless of the type of counsel retained, harsher sentences were received as compared with cases in which a juvenile was not represented by counsel even after controlling for offense type. Moreover, minority youth with public defenders and males with private counsel received harsher sentences while community characteristics did not appear to have a significant influence on sentencing decisions

Effects of Individual and Contextual Characteristics on Preadjudication Detention of Juvenile Delinquents

This study examined individual and contextual factors affecting preadjudication detention of juvenile delinquents in 65 counties of a northeastern state. Results demonstrated that while individual characteristics of the juvenile delinquents were important predictors, much of the variation in decisions was explained when contextual factors of the counties were included in a two‐level hierarchical linear model. In addition to the statistically significant legal and extralegal juvenile characteristics, our study found that counties with a higher percentage of non‐White population were more likely to detain juvenile delinquents prior to adjudication. These findings demonstrate the importance of considering both individual and contextual factors of jurisdictions when examining the adjudication process

Perception of Family and Community Support among Released Felons in the State of Texas

risons. Of the currently incarcerated prisoners, more than 700,000 individuals are annually released. The probability that they will subsequently return to prison is around 50 percent. For the State of Texas, the figures are 154,656 inmates in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), 42,069 were released during Fiscal Year 2008, and about 50 percent will be re-incarcerated (TDCJ, 2009a, 2009b). We examine one of the factors that reduce the probability that released inmates recidivate: the level of support they expect to receive from family and their community upon their release. Numerous studies have been conducted on the issue of reentry into society. In a comprehensive study of recidivism among released prisoners, Beck and Shipley (1989: 1) found that “recidivism rates were higher among men, blacks, Hispanics, and persons who had not completed high school than among women, whites, non-Hispanics, and high school graduates.” Furthermore, prisoners who were young when they were released and had extensive criminal records were more likely to recidivate. However, relatively little research exists on the topic of family support. We plan to conduct several studies on this general topic. In this first stage, we limited ourselves to male felons. Research has shown that male and female inmates face different obstacles to successful reintegration into society and the same holds true for long term inmates (i.e., felons) and jail or state jail inmates. For instance, the lack of family relationships poses a greater problem for females, while the longer duration of incarceration leads to greater difficulties for felons to maintain supportive family relationship