Reducing the Incarceration of Women: Community-Based Alternatives

Typically nonviolent low-level offenders, women have been hit particularly hard by California's sentencing and correctional policies and practices. In a system that was designed to respond to male offenders, few programs are available to respond to the unique needs of women prisoners. This special report from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency explains the issues surrounding the incarceration of women, and offers recommendations for reform

A Literature Review: Current Trends in Holistic Nursing

There is scarcity of documentation that seeks to define spirituality relating to holistic nursing; consequently, a literature review was formulated to define spirituality and guide nursing practice towards recognizing the importance of and implementation of spiritual care. By researching the current trends in peer-reviewed journals from the past three years and analyzing associated articles, this paper addresses the need for a comprehensive definition of spirituality. Key concepts such as belief, values, interconnectedness with self, others and God, energy, hope and transcendence will be analyzed, and the accumulated data will be complied into a framework that is easy for a nurse to understand and use. This thesis strives to validate the necessity of spiritual care through the mechanism of holistic nursing and equip nurses to assess and implement care for the ever-present spiritual needs of one’s patients

It's About Time: Prevention and Intervention Services for Gang-Affiliated Girls

Although a substantial number of girls are involved with gangs, gang prevention and intervention services are not designed with girls in mind. As Kevin Grant, a service provider working with girls in gangs, notes, "A lot of the [gang prevention and intervention] programs that are available do not fully support the needs of girls in gangs." Girls in gangs require services that respond to their unique experiences and needs. This NCCD Focus highlights the vulnerabilities and consequences of gang involvement for girls, the service needs of girls in gangs and girls at risk of joining gangs, as well as the importance of addressing these service needs as a critical gang violence-prevention strategy. It also provides examples of how various programs are currently addressing the gender-specific needs of girls involved in gangs

Operating and Managing Street Outreach Services

Increasingly, cities have added street outreach to the mix of strategies used in comprehensive gang reduction efforts, drawing upon mounting evidence of impact. Street outreach relies on street workers to support and advocate on behalf of gang members, or those at high risk of joining gang, to change behavior patterns and link them to needed services and institutions. Street outreach workers work day and night to link marginalized and hard-to-serve individuals in communities with high levels of gang activity to social services, and play an important role in diffusing and stopping violence (Decker, Bynum, McDevitt, Farrell, & Varano, 2008; Spergel, 1966; Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention [OJJDP], 2002). These workers reach out to targeted community members at their homes, community events, on street corners, in parks, and in any neighborhood spaces where community members in gangs or at risk of joining gangs spend time (OJJDP, 2002, p. 54). Outreach workers often possess intimate familiarity with the communities in which they work. Their knowledge and skills allow them to work with individuals whom traditional service providers cannot access or support. California Cities Gang Prevention Network cities (the Network or CCGPN) note that street outreach services are an important piece of their cities' primary intervention strategies, with ties to prevention and enforcement. This bulletin identifies ways outreach programs can strategically support, care for, and hire outreach workers

The Development of In-Group Favoritism: Between Social Reality and Group Identity

This study examined how social reality restricts children’s tendency for in-group favoritism in group evaluations. Children were faced with social reality considerations and with group identity concerns. Using short stories, in this experimental study, conducted among 3 age groups (6-, 8-, and 10-year-olds), the authors examined the trait attribution effects of reality constraints on eye-color differences and national group differences. The results show that the trait attributions of all age groups were restricted by the acceptance of socially defined reality. In addition, when the information about reality was not considered accurate, only the youngest children showed positive in-group favoritism. It is argued that these findings are useful in trying to reconcile some of the divergent and contrasting findings in the developmental literature on children’s intergroup perceptions and evaluations.

A Rallying Cry for Change: Charting a New Direction in the State of Florida's Response to Girls in Juvenile Justice (Executive Summary) (Focus)

The National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) was funded by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund to conduct an independent research study of girls in the Florida juvenile justice system in order to inform a comprehensive approach to gender-specific juvenile justice programming. This NCCD FOCUS summarizes the new research findings on the pathways of girls into the Florida juvenile justice system and identifies their treatment needs

A Rallying Cry for Change: Charting a New Direction in the State of Florida's Response to Girls in the Juvenile Justice System (Full Report)

The National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) was funded by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund to conduct an independent research study of girls in the Florida juvenile justice system in order to inform a comprehensive approach to gender-specific juvenile justice programming. This report presents new research findings on the pathways of girls into the Florida juvenile justice system and identifies their treatment needs. Additionally, it furthers the discussion about an essential set of services and a system of care that meets the multiple needs of girls in the juvenile justice system. The research supports change in the response to girls, both in treatment services and in policy/system changes that are needed to increase success with the girls. This research should be of interest to every child advocate, Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) staff from prevention to residential, lawmakers, law enforcement, judges, and concerned Florida citizens.The NCCD research sample includes a total of 319 girls in the Florida system -- 244 girls from 13 different residential DJJ programs (low, moderate, high, and maximum risk) and 75 girls from six non-residential programs (PACE Centers). NCCD used its Juvenile Assessment and Intervention System (JAIS) interview instrument to learn more about girls in the system at the aggregate level, including their intervention needs and risk level of offending, and also to suggest supervision strategies for working with them. NCCD also conducted focus groups with staff to better understand the gaps in services and barriers to implementation. The following is a summary of the major findings and recommendations of the final report

Juvenile Call-ins

Focused deterrence, also known as a "call-in," is a strategy in which community stakeholder groups deliver a nonviolence message to community members who are most likely to commit violence. Call-ins have been associated with substantial reductions in gun violence in Boston and Indianapolis (McGarrell, Chermak, Wilson, & Corsaro, 2006), and have become a widely used strategy for gang violence intervention throughout the country. As call-in strategies are implemented in more cities throughout the country, some cities are interested in applying focused deterrence to a new target population: high risk juveniles.This California Cities Gang Prevention network bulletin draws on academic literature and the experiences of Network cities like Oxnard and Salinas, and other cities including Union City, California; Boston Massachusetts; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina to provide information about juvenile call-ins. Also, to advise effective implementation of juvenile call-ins, this bulletin provides examples from cities that apply call-ins to juveniles, discusses how call-ins may differ for juveniles and adults, and discusses key elements of effective call-ins

Youth Violence Myths and Realities: A Tale of Three Cities

A study of media coverage of youth violence, actual crime data, and interviews with committed youth and the professionals that work with them