87 research outputs found
Imprisonment and internment: Comparing penal facilities North and South
Recent references to the ‘warehouse prison’ in the United States and the prisión-depósito in Latin America seem to indicate that penal confinement in the western hemisphere
has converged on a similar model. However, this article suggests otherwise. It contrasts penal facilities in North America and Latin America in terms of six interrelated aspects: regimentation; surveillance; isolation; supervision; accountability; and formalization. Quantitatively, control in North American penal facilities is assiduous (unceasing, persistent and intrusive), while in Latin America it is perfunctory (sporadic, indifferent and cursory). Qualitatively, North American penal facilities produce imprisonment (which enacts penal intervention through confinement), while in Latin America they produce internment (which enacts penal intervention through release). Closely entwined with this qualitative difference are distinct practices of judicial involvement in sentencing and penal supervision. Those practices, and the cultural and political factors that underpin them, represent an interesting starting point for the explanation of the contrasting nature of imprisonment and internment
Nowhere to go: How stigma limits the options of female drug users after release from jail
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Drug and alcohol using women leaving prison or jail face many challenges to successful re-integration in the community and are severely hampered in their efforts by the stigma of drug or alcohol use compounded by the stigma of incarceration.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This qualitative study is based on individual semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 17 women who had recently left jail about the challenges they faced on reentry.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our analysis identified three major themes, which are related by the overarching influence of stigma: survival (jobs and housing), access to treatment services, and family and community reintegration.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Stigma based on drug use and incarceration works to increase the needs of women for health and social services and at the same time, restricts their access to these services. These specific forms of stigma may amplify gender and race-based stigma. Punitive drug and social policies related to employment, housing, education, welfare, and mental health and substance abuse treatment make it extremely difficult for women to succeed.</p
The effects of custodial vs. non-custodial sentences on re-offending: A systematic review of the state of knowledge
As part of a broad initiative of systematic reviews of experimental or quasiexperimental
evaluations of interventions in the field of crime prevention and the
treatment of offenders, our work consisted in searching through all available databases
for evidence concerning the effects of custodial and non-custodial sanctions on reoffending.
For this purpose, we examined more than 3,000 abstracts, and finally 23
studies that met the minimal conditions of the Campbell Review, with only 5 studies
based on a controlled or a natural experimental design. These studies allowed, all in all,
27 comparisons. Relatively few studies compare recidivism rates for offenders
sentenced to jail or prison with those of offenders given some alternative to
incarceration (typically probation).
According to the findings, the rate of re-offending after a non-custodial sanction is
lower than after a custodial sanction in 11 out of 13 significant comparisons. However,
in 14 out of 27 comparisons, no significant difference on re-offending between both
sanctions is noted. Two out of 27 comparisons are in favour of custodial sanctions.
Finally, experimental evaluations and natural experiments yield results that are less
favourable to non-custodial sanctions, than are quasi-experimental studies using softer
designs. This is confirmed by the meta-analysis including four controlled and one
natural experiment. According to the results, non-custodial sanctions are not beneficial
in terms of lower rates of re-offending beyond random effects. Contradictory results
reported in the literature are likely due to insufficient control of pre-intervention
differences between prisoners and those serving “alternative” sanctions
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