This article examines the workings of the music class at the Santa Ana Jail in Santa Ana, California. It gives us insight into a jail system and a music class focused on helping inmates position themselves to become productive members of society. In this article I examine how the facility encourages inmates' good behaviour and why the music class…

Incarcerated men, most of whom are recidivists, are disproportionately black. Much literature about prison ex-inmates reports on this disparity, yet little is known about racial disparity in recidivism rates among jail ex-inmates. This study examined recidivism rates and survival time (period from release date to rearrest) among male ex-inmates…

Many teenagers get involved in criminal activity. This tendency is so pervasive that psychologist Terrie Moffitt, one of the world's leading experts on the development of antisocial behavior, has described delinquent behavior as a normal part of teenager life (Scott & Steinberg, 2008). Adults, even those in the justice system, are often at a loss…

This article reports on the legislation proposed by Senator Jim Webb which authorizes a blue-ribbon commission of experts who would undertake an 18-month review of the nation's criminal justice system, including issues such as the disproportionate share of minorities--particularly African-Americans--in the U.S. prisons. Webb said that the U.S. has…

Sentencing juveniles to life-without-parole (JLWOP) is a practice fraught with ethical dilemmas. Through in-depth interviews with 11 men living sentences of JLWOP, their narratives of their backgrounds and experiences as juveniles were studied. Common themes were identified, and 3 general categories of cases emerged from the narratives. Ethical…

This original account is based on the author's experiences with incarcerated girls participating in "Girl Time", a program created by a theatre company that conducts playwriting and performance workshops in youth detention centers. In addition to examining the lives of these and other formerly incarcerated girls, "Girl Time" shares the stories of…

Research in correctional education has focused on examining outcomes for participants and identifying principles and guidelines that reflect best practice. Relatively few studies have focused on postsecondary education programs and fewer still have sought to relate program implementation to student outcomes to inform program design and improve…

The purpose of this study was to explore the risk factors and the impact of a prostitution diversion program on prostitution recidivism. Risk factors and recidivism were explored using chi-square, t tests, and survival analysis. Participants were 448 individuals who were arrested for prostitution and attended a prostitution-focused diversion…

The authors conducted a content analysis of appellate court foster care cases in which fathers appealed the termination of their parental rights. Applying the Responsible Fathering framework to organize the contextual issues that impede men from responsibly fathering, the authors sought to learn what factors affect decisions regarding the…

On a typical day in 2008, 776,573 individuals were behind bars in nearly 3,500 U.S. jails. Yet the potential benefits of social services in achieving lower recidivism rates and successful reintegration are understudied in jail populations. This three-year study investigated the effects of collaboration-based in-jail services and postrelease…

Literacy and parenting programmes in US prisons tend to be generic and skills-oriented, insensitive to pressing personal needs of parents and their distant children. This study reports on a prison-based family/art/literacy programme that attended to the local needs and interests of participants through a mural project. The article describes some…

Although research has examined the effectiveness of juvenile transfer on recidivism, there has been a lack of research done in assessing how well juvenile waiver to adult court meets the criteria necessary for deterrence to occur (i.e., certainty, severity, and swiftness of punishment). The purpose of this study is to assess how well juvenile…

This study provides the first systematic examination of the status of reading performance among incarcerated youth since the 1978 Project READ report. The purpose of this study was to provide a contemporary depiction of reading skills of a large sample of incarcerated youth, and to provide leaders and administrators with some tangible…

The relationship between substance use, mental health disorders, and delinquency among youth is well documented. What has received far less attention from researchers is the relationship between these issues among truant youth, in spite of studies that document truants are a population at risk for negative outcomes. This study bridges this gap by…

The purpose of this study was to explore the beliefs and perceptions of some of the stakeholders directly involved in a GED® program located in a county jail. The researchers investigated the perspectives of the jail's Chief of Programming, GED® supervisor, teachers, and inmates participating in the program. Although gathering data from the…