Describes series of therapeutic and educational workshops conducted with women nursing home residents with twin goals of improving self-esteem and self-reliance and facilitating community building and networking. Also notes that nursing home staff trainings were conducted whereby staff were encouraged to articulate their needs and those of…

Explored sociotropy and autonomy among 70 Turkish psychiatric inpatients and 189 university students, who were administered Beck Depression Inventory, Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale, Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, and Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale. Results seem to support relationship of sociotropy with other depression measures in both samples.…

Discusses the benefits of outdoor nature-oriented activities for very old, frail elderly, and institutionalized elderly persons with regard to exercising to increase mobility, spiritual development, sensory stimulation, and social interaction. A study of elderly participants in a "back to nature" experience suggests that modified camping…

Describes the use of poetry, music, and creative writing with forensic patients at a state mental health institute. Demonstrates that expressive interventions were helpful in group treatment by promoting verbalization, decision making, and the recognition of personal responsibility for incarceration. (SR)

Investigates the impact of an individual's life condition on the relationship between moral judgment and behavior, specifically delinquent behavior. Samples two groups: homeless youth and institutionalized youth. Concludes that delinquent behavior is caused by different factors in each of these groups, but both stem from the nature of their social…

Two studies evaluated the 10-question Nylander questionnaire as a screening test for autism among adults in British psychiatric hospitals. Both studies found high inter-rater reliability and no false negatives, but the studies resulted in an unacceptably high rate of false positives. (Contains 3 references.) (DB)

How and when children acquire the ability to read and write are questions of considerable interest. This essay uses a simple marker that has been closely examined in the historical literature, the ability to sign one's name, to study circumstances of literacy learning in a sample of 782 children that dates from about two centuries ago. Few…

In this article, the author reflects on her teaching experience at the Onondaga County Justice Center, a maximum-security facility where she taught in the women's pod. She says that every day she encountered students who were eager to learn and glad for the simple materials she brought. She rediscovered pure, joyous teaching. In that stark…

Representations of attachment relationships were assessed in 54 children ages 2.5 to 7.5 years whose mothers were currently incarcerated. Consistent with their high-risk status, most (63%) children were classified as having insecure relationships with mothers and caregivers. Secure relationships were more likely when children lived in a stable…

This study examined attachment in institutionalized and community children 12-31 months of age in Bucharest, Romania. Attachment was assessed using ratings of attachment behaviors and ratings of caregiver descriptions in a structured interview. As predicted, children raised in institutions exhibited serious disturbances of attachment as assessed…

Reviews of research on deinstitutionalization show that investigators have focused primarily on adaptive behavior changes of "movers," while paying minimal attention to "stayers." Analysis of their research also revealed some methodological problems. We assessed 150 movers and 150 stayers in 1994, before deinstitutionalization began in 1997. We…

In this update, Linton reports on Congressional filing of a number of bills that involve the topic of prisoner reentry. In addition, he presents a key section of Attorney General John Ashcroft's address (Cleveland, Ohio, September 2004) on prisoner reentry. In this speech, Ashcroft called for a concerted effort to managing a balanced approach:…

Throughout Europe, prison and correctional educators are attempting to address issues of common concern by engaging in cooperative projects designed to further the development of their pedagogical programs. The use of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies), especially access to the internet for prison educators and prisoner-students, is…

Delinquent youths' proclivity to return to school after release from placement in a juvenile residential institution has been significantly discouraged before their 18th birthday. Often, years of poor education performance and failure, discipline issues, neighborhood and family debilitation, older age, adjudication stigmatization, and other…

An investigation and extension of the Risk Assessment Scale for Prison (RASP-Potosi), an actuarially derived scale for the assessment of prison violence, was undertaken through a retrospective review of the disciplinary records of the first 12 months of confinement of a cohort of inmates entering the Florida Department of Corrections in 2002 and…