This report highlights the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's 2015-2016 achievements and continuing efforts made toward maintaining a record of meeting requirements under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), reorganizing their system of student and family supports, and improving outcomes for students…

This brief article discusses a yoga program offered to mothers and babies who were participating in a prison nursery. The author describes the goals and the sometimes unexpected effects of the program.

The purpose of this study was to determine which of the three reading fluency subskills were most strongly correlated with reading comprehension in adolescent at-risk readers. The participants were 82 adolescent males (ages 13-19) who had been committed to a juvenile detention facility. Archival data from a two-year period was collected from a…

This study compares the characteristics of two groups of probationers ordered to jail-based substance-abuse treatment as an intermediate sanction. It further reviews rearrest and probation failure outcomes of the two groups, along with the demographic, clinical, and criminal factors associated with those outcomes. Probationers jailed for probation…

The number of mentally ill inmates in the criminal justice system has increased dramatically. This article evaluates the prevalence and causes of mental illness in the criminal justice system and describes the inadequate care that is provided, the effects of imprisonment, and the problem of rehabilitation. (Contains 4 notes.)

The following study is an evaluation of the Moderate Intensity Family Violence Prevention Program (MIFVPP). The sample consisted of 298 male federal offenders who participated in the MIFVPP while incarcerated or on release within the community. Participants were assessed pre-, mid-, and postprogram using an assessment battery consisting of…

In order to examine the effect of correctional education on post-release employment and recidivism, the Education Division of the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) has established a study group of 1,077 offenders and a comparison group of 1,078 offenders to evaluate the outcome measures (e.g, post-release recidivism). All offenders in the…

Objective: To summarize the advantages and limitations of general population, high-risk and "natural experiment" longitudinal studies for studying psychological change. The English and Romanian Adoptees study is used as an example of a "natural experiment," and detailed findings are provided. Method: What is new is a focus on the young people who…

The present study examines how perceptions of social prominence and attitudes toward antisocial behavior among peers moderate the association between anxiety and antisocial behavior among incarcerated females. Latent profile analysis identified two classes of females distinguished by their perceptions and attitudes. Individuals in both classes…

The school-to-prison pipeline is a national concern, from the federal to local governments, and a leading topic in conversations in the field of urban education and juvenile justice. "From Education to Incarceration: Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline" is a ground-breaking book that exposes the school system's direct relationship…

This guide is a revised and updated edition of "Making It Count." This version contains much of the information from the earlier publication but also includes strategies for using project-based learning and Web-based instructional programs to support the development of mathematics proficiency for youth in short-term juvenile correctional…

Incarcerated adolescent girls can benefit from an English classroom where personal identities, roles, and relationships can be challenged, resisted, and confronted. Education in English can be a transformative experience allowing adolescent girls to reshape and rethink not only their literacy identities but also their lives. An analysis of the…

Cognitive-behavioral therapy and relapse prevention represent the correctional gold standard in treatment, while the principles of risk, need, and responsivity are widely recognized as essential for reducing recidivism. Addressing responsivity has become difficult as the number of inmates with mental health diagnoses continues to rise,…

The impact of a parent's incarceration and adolescents' emotional health on their substance abuse and delinquency is described for a group of at-risk 10- to 14-year-old adolescents. Data were drawn from a two-wave longitudinal study from the federally funded Children at Risk program, ongoing in five states from 1993 to 1997. Results point to a…

Therapeutic communities (TCs) have a strong record of maintaining high quality social climates in prison units. One possible reason for this is the system of mutual monitoring among TC residents, based on the assumption that peer affirmation of behavior in accord with TC norms, and peer correction of behavior contrary to TC norms, will lead to…