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…

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…

Despite concerns whether supermaximum security prisons violate human rights or prove effective, these facilities have proliferated in America over the past 25 years. This punishment--aimed at the "worst of the worst" inmates and involving 23-hr-per-day single-cell confinement with few privileges or services--has emerged despite little…

This article examines the issue of children with incarcerated parents within the broader topic of criminal justice in multicultural children's literature. The sheer magnitude of culture of children with incarcerated parents makes it necessary for their stories to be included in children's literature. Children with an incarcerated parent need to…

A conversation with a John Howard Society volunteer prompts the author to reflect on how to improve educational opportunities for his incarcerated Aboriginal peers. He relates his personal experience of completing an undergraduate degree while in prison, highlighting the ways in which the prison environment has shaped his learning process. After…

The ability to integrate, adapt and strive in the community has become a focal point in research with individuals who have an intellectual disability. However, research regarding teaching social skills to adults who are preparing to transition into the community is limited. The purpose of this study is to utilize peer tutoring with adults who have…

This article presents a review on "Defining deviance: sex, science, and delinquent girls, 1890-1960," by Michael A. Rembis. This is the first book by Michael A. Rembis, an Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Disability Studies at the University of Buffalo. Drawing on thousands of case files from the Illinois State Training School in…

This paper analyzes the results of the study of prevalence of problem behaviour of students in primary and secondary schools. The starting point is that it is methodologically and logically justified to look for early forms of problem behaviour of students, because it is likely that adult convicted offenders at an early school age manifested forms…

Most evaluations of the effectiveness of correctional education use the distal outcomes of recidivism and post-release employment as the dependent variables (e.g., Aos et al., 2006; Davis et al., 2013). This synthesis sought to determine the effectiveness of correctional education at improving proximal academic outcomes among incarcerated adult…

This brief highlights strategies for strengthening education and employment pathways for youth and adults returning from correctional facilities and notes key questions that new research should answer. It also explores barriers to employment for people with criminal records--whether or not they have been incarcerated--and potential policy…