Finding brief effective treatments for criminal justice populations is a major public need. The CJ-DATS Targeted Intervention for Corrections (TIC), which consists of six brief interventions (communication, anger, motivation, criminal thinking, social networks, and HIV/sexual health), was tested in separate federally-funded randomized control…

The purpose of this study was to compare two groups of males in Arizona Department of Corrections (ADJC) custody with regard to three factors. The first group consisted of youth sentenced to ADJC who later received criminal charges for which they were transferred to the adult court system, ("Transferred" group), and the second group…

Among various interventions targeting adolescent students who read significantly below grade level, the Scholastic READ 180 is an intensive daily program that makes use of technology and combines research-based reading practices. Since the launch of READ 180, Scholastic Inc. and many schools that have deployed the program have been jointly…

Youth who have low literacy skills generally face significant barriers to economic and social success and are more likely to be involved in the juvenile justice system. In addition, if these youth are incarcerated and their literacy skills are not improved, outcomes tend to be negative. This issue brief illustrates the correlation between low…

This article examined cognitive and behavioral changes among participants in Responsible Adult Culture (RAC), a cognitive-behavioral (especially, cognitive restructuring) treatment program in use at the Franklin County Community-Based Correctional Facility (CBCF). Participants were adult felony offenders (approximately three-fourths male). A…

Severe deprivation in the first few years of life is associated with multiple difficulties in cognition and behavior. However, the brain basis for these difficulties is poorly understood. Structural and functional neuroimaging studies have implicated limbic system structures as dysfunctional, and one functional imaging study in a heterogeneous…

This research examines the effect of therapeutic community (TC) on time to first re-arrest after release from prison. The comparison groups of primary interest in this research are male inmates assessed by corrections personnel as needing TC and who successfully completed the program, and inmates assessed as needing the program but who did not…

This study examined the impact of protective factors, assessed by means of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY), on desistance from violent reoffending in adolescents. Three samples included male adolescents in different stages of the judicial process: pre-trial (n = 111); during residential treatment (n = 66); and after…

This article is based on the negotiated meanings of "teaching" and "learning" in prisons. It is informed by the peripheral experiences of prisoners and the legitimate peripheral participation of their teachers. It was found that teachers and students are interdependent and feel equally marginalized. The positions occupied by teachers make…

Education-Based Incarceration and Recidivism: The Ultimate Social Justice Crime Fighting Tool takes a penetrating look at the needs and challenges of society's disenfranchised jail populations. It is incumbent to encourage public awareness of the causes that underlie the destructive cycles plaguing these populations, including the abuse and…

In this study the authors examine the effect respondent gender, victim age, and offender treatment programs have upon public attitudes towards sex offenders. A community sample of 235 participants were asked to read a hypothetical vignette involving the sexual assault of a 10-, 15-, or 20-year-old female by a 35-year-old male who subsequently…

This article examines the analysis of the psychometric properties, including the validity and reliability, of the Empathy Index (EI), a new instrument designed to measure empathy deficits of sex offenders. The EI was tested with a sample of 158 sex offenders incarcerated in North Carolina prisons. An exploratory factor analysis yielded three…

A functional neuroimaging study examined the long-term neural correlates of early adverse rearing conditions in humans as they relate to socio-emotional development. Previously institutionalized (PI) children and a same-aged comparison group were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing an Emotional Face Go/Nogo…

This research investigated the role of general and specific self-efficacy factors in positive family relationships and perceived social support within an U.S. incarcerated adolescent population. One hundred African American and Hispanic male adolescent participants, randomly selected from a southern California Probation Department, were included…

Adolescent girls incarcerated in a state reformatory (N = 246) were recruited and assigned to an 18-session health education program or a time-equivalent HIV prevention program. Cohorts were assigned to conditions using a randomized block design separated by a washout period to reduce contamination. Post intervention, girls in the HIV risk…