Research indicates that meditation-based programs can be rehabilitative for incarcerated populations. Specifically, these programs can help promote positive well-being, reduce recidivism, and help with relapse. This article reviews the effectiveness of existing research on meditation-based programs in correctional populations. The results of…

Too many young people cycle in and out of prison, jails, and detention centers and face probation and parole conditions that keep them locked out of opportunity. These interactions with the criminal justice system demand the need for both equitable practices and programs that support second chances and large-scale investments in decarceration.…

College-in-prison programs are run by accredited universities and colleges, and allow participants to earn college degrees intended to facilitate positive real-world outcomes outside of the criminal justice system. Reduced rates of recidivism and increased employment opportunities are among the most cited benefits of providing higher education to…

The Career Preparation Capstone (CPC) provides technical college students with the opportunity to experience the culture inside of a correctional facility to gain professional development and exposure to one of the core components of the criminal justice system, the field of corrections. Criminal Justice students will be required to attend…

Given high recidivism rates and the vulnerability of detained youth, the authors posit that juvenile detention centers may be most efficacious by serving as both place and process to create career opportunity through vocational training. The authors review the psychosocial factors contributing to delinquency and the primary theories of…

A large percentage of inmates in the U.S. federal prison system have serious drug problems and are in need of treatment before they return to society. Accordingly, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has revamped substance abuse programming consistent with the latest research and expanded treatment services throughout its institutions. This article…

Many youth in detention facilities come from vulnerable home environments where factors such as economic pressures, abuse, neglect, and parental incarceration are constantly operating within the family system. A vast majority of these youth have not had positive school experiences and many of them experience special needs and mental health issues.…

Lack of money has long kept promising preventive programs from expanding. Existing government-funded programs are furthermore subject to budgetary cutbacks or complete loss of funding. Moreover, preventive programs traditionally offer no accountability for success or failure. This leaves government entities in a bind where if they invest their…

The therapeutic community (TC) is an increasingly utilized intervention model in corrections settings. Rarely do these TCs include faith-based curriculum other than that included in Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous programs as does the faith-based TC that serves as the basis for this article. Borrowing from the successful TC model, the…

Effective aftercare interventions are the key to preventing recidivism among juvenile offenders. In 1987, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention established a research and demonstration program to develop, assess, and disseminate an intensive aftercare program targeted at these offenders. This program, the Intensive Aftercare…

The Neglected and Delinquent/High School Institutionalized Facilities Program, funded by the New York State Education Department under Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA) of 1981, provided diagnostic and prescriptive approaches to teaching prevocational, vocational/occupational, and life skills to 1,076 high school…

This report presents the results of a process evaluation of the first year of the Lancaster Visiting Cottage Program, a program developed by the Massachusetts Department of Corrections to provide overnight visits between children and their incarcerated mothers. Chapter I provides an introduction to the report. Chapter II reviews the literature on…

Spurred by large increases in prison populations and other recent sentencing and correctional trends, the federal government has supported the development and implementation of Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiatives (SVORI) nationwide. While existing research demonstrates the effectiveness of the separate components of these programs…

While an increased awareness of the dehumanizing and organizationally self-defeating qualities of residential institutions has fostered a movement toward community-based care, little research has been done to measure the "institutionality" of the alternate settings. As a part of a larger study aimed at describing alternative settings for…

This model of a deinstitutionalization program begins with a definition of juvenile delinquency and historical antecedents of current juvenile justice approaches. The extent of juvenile delinquency is noted, and the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act is reviewed. The deinstitutionalization model is presented as a residential program…