Matching Items (10)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Reentry
- All Subjects: Incarceration
- Creators: Wright, Kevin
- Creators: Chamberlain, Alyssa
Description
The effectiveness of community-based reentry programs is dependent on several factors, including financial and human capital resources, a clear organizational mission, the establishment and implementation of evidence-based practices and an effective referral network. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Offender Aid and Restoration (OAR) reentry program in Arlington, Virginia from the client's perspective as well as to identify challenges faced by the organization in meeting the needs of ex-offenders. The study used a mixed methods case study approach using three primary sources of data including a client satisfaction survey, semi-structured staff interviews and the review of client records. Client satisfaction surveys were used to evaluate services received by clients in the reentry program. Staff interviews were conducted to document OAR's service delivery model as well as highlight challenges faced in meeting the needs of ex-offenders. Client case records where reviewed to determine the alignment of needs identified during intake with services provided.The findings of this study show that overall, clients are highly satisfied with services received. Staff interviews indicated a need for additional staff to support program operations, training for program staff, increased funding and community-based resources as a key challenge in meeting the needs of ex-offenders in the program. A review of client case files identified a need for systematic collection and documentation of client goals and outcomes. Implications for theory and practice suggest areas for future research and strategies for implementing effective community-based reentry programs.
ContributorsDean, Sanzanna C (Author) / Svara, James (Thesis advisor) / Spohn, Cassia (Thesis advisor) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
A music therapy informed music group program was created and implemented at the Maricopa Reentry Center in Phoenix. This program \u2014 entitled Building Hope Through Music \u2014 utilized music therapy techniques including lyric analysis, songwriting, singing, musical games, and guided visualization in order to improve self-awareness, provide a medium for self-expression, increase teamwork and collaboration, promote relaxation, facilitate emotional processing and awareness, and improve tolerance of non-preferred activities in participants. This group was conducted for seven months and had participation from over 400 male ex-offenders.
ContributorsQuirbach, Rachel Marie (Author) / Wright, Kevin (Thesis director) / Thompson, Jason (Committee member) / Belgrave, Melita (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / School of Music (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Prison re-entry is a complicated process and is associated with a number of challenges for offenders to overcome. Unfortunately, many are not successful at navigating this process, and consequently, recidivism is a prevalent concern within the criminal justice system. These concerns are problematic with drug offenders, specifically, as this group is a quite pervasive component of the correctional population in America and one that tends to face more difficult experiences with reintegrating into society. In addition, a substantial need for substance abuse treatment in the community is in place for these offenders, yet is not necessarily readily available. This study examines the accessibility and nature of such treatment through the use of interviews with community treatment providers. It also assesses the barriers offenders face accessing help as well as potential solutions to these obstacles. The findings suggest that independence, support networks, resistance to treatment, motivation to change, rule conformity, mental illness, institutionalization, a lack of resources, and restrictions within the agencies that provide treatment are all significant factors in recovery. The results then demonstrate that treatment providers are able to provide incentives to bolster motivation, encourage healthy mindsets, help gain access to the resources that are available, and validate success through celebration in order to overcome these difficulties. The study may be limited by a potentially non-generalizable sample and a lack of specificity could be addressed by more expansive but focused research in the future as well as financial analyses to raise awareness regarding the severity of the situation.
ContributorsJohnson, Nicole Jolene (Author) / Chamberlain, Alyssa (Thesis director) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Many parents are incarcerated, and most are eventually released. Parents that have to return home from prison may encounter difficulties adjusting to being a parent on the outside. Two competing criminological theories – social control and strain – build the framework for two pathways after release from prison – desistance or recidivism. The principal question of this study examines how being a parent to a minor child has an effect on the reentry pathways, and an interaction between being a parent and gender tests the differences between mothers and fathers. Existing studies have produced mixed results with some studies suggesting that minor children are a protective factor, and some suggesting the struggles of returning parents. Research has also shown that incarcerated mothers and fathers experience their incarceration differently, and it is surmised that this would have an impact on their reentry. Data used in this study were obtained through structured interviews with 952 inmates housed in the Arizona Department of Corrections in 2010 (n= 517 males (54%); n= 435 females (46%)). Logistic regression models show that having at least one minor child does not significantly impact the reentry outcomes for parents as compared to nonparents. In addition, the interaction between minor children and gender was also not significant – there were no differences between mothers and fathers. The statistically insignificant findings most likely show the cancelling effects of two distinct pathways for reentry. Implications of the findings are discussed below.
ContributorsGricius, Matthew (Author) / Wright, Kevin (Thesis advisor) / Chamberlain, Alyssa (Committee member) / Wang, Xia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Mentally ill offenders continue to contribute to mass-incarceration within the United States. The cost, both social and economic, of housing a large number of mentally ill inmates in our prison system has reached a breaking point. The need for empirically founded correctional research, with an emphasis on individuals who suffer from a mental illness, is crucial to reducing the number of incarcerated individuals in the United States. The current study analyzes whether mentally ill inmates reported statistically significant differences in levels of perceived reentry social support, when compared to their non-mentally ill counterparts. The current study utilized data from the APVP. The APVP contained a sample of 231 individuals, 121 female and 110 male, from two Arizona Department of Corrections facilities. The majority of respondents were white (44.58%), medium security (40.26%), non-married (77.49%), and had a mean age of 36.04 years (SD=11.74). The current study conducted both bivariate and multivariate analyses to determine whether mentally ill inmates perceived differences in the reentry social support available to them as compared to non-mentally ill inmates. Further multivariate analyses were conducted to determine whether there were any significant differences the key independent variable and the dependent variables across gender. Mentally ill female inmates reported significantly lower rates of perceived reentry social support in a number of emotional support factors. The findings of this study are a crucial first step for future empirical research on inmate perceptions of social support—perceptions that may directly affect successful reentry.
ContributorsOstertag, Nathan L (Author) / Wright, Kevin (Thesis advisor) / Telep, Cody (Committee member) / Young, Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Iron City Magazine is an online and print journal devoted entirely to writing and art from the prison world. It is our hope that through this creative platform, incarcerated artists and writers find value in their stories, fuel for personal growth, and pride in their accomplishments. Inmates are, first and foremost, people. They own stories worthy of telling and sharing. Iron City Magazine aims to highlight these stories in a way more permanent than a private journal. In addition, we serve to remind the general public that inmates can make meaningful contributions to their communities. So often, this potential is forgotten or overshadowed by their crimes. By validating inmates' humanity through writing and art, we encourage a culture of understanding and transformation.
ContributorsVolin, Natalie Esther (Author) / Wells, Cornelia (Thesis director) / Berry, Shavawn (Committee member) / College of Letters and Sciences (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This study examined whether periods of secure confinement in juvenile detention, jails, and prisons are associated with short- and longer-term increases in adolescent males’ internalizing problems during adolescence and young adulthood. Data came from a longitudinal community sample of 506 male adolescents who were assessed every six months for three years and annually for ten subsequent years. At each assessment, participants reported on their confinement experiences and internalizing problems (i.e., anxiety, depression) during the recall period. Fixed-effects models examined within-individual changes in internalizing problems before, during, and after youth reported any overnight stay in a correctional facility, after controlling for the time-varying confounds of externalizing problem behaviors and previous justice system contact. Additionally, this study tested whether changes in the participants’ internalizing problems varied depending on the confinement facility (i.e., juvenile detention, jail, prison). Overall, results indicated that internalizing problems increased during periods where participants had been confined in a facility. In contrast, there were no changes in internalizing problems in the period prior to confinement and internalizing problems returned to baseline levels in the year following confinement. Facility-specific analyses indicated confinement in prison was associated with the largest increase in internalizing problems. Findings from this study indicate confinement does influence internalizing problems and interventions sensitive to internalizing problems should focus on providing services during confinement and immediate reentry period.
ContributorsTom, Kelsey E (Author) / Pardini, Dustin (Thesis advisor) / Sweeten, Gary (Committee member) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
People who participate in correctional treatment programming are viewed as making positive steps towards their reentry into society. However, this is often assessed through a simple “yes” or “no” response to whether they are currently participating without much emphasis on how, why, or to what degree that participation is meaningful for reentry preparedness. The present study aims to a) identify to what extent there is variation in the degree to which women participate in programming and are prepared for reentry, b) identify the characteristics that distinguish highly-involved programmers from less involved programmers, c) identify the characteristics that distinguish women who are highly-prepared for reentry from women who are less prepared, and d) assess whether levels of involvement in programming relates to levels of reentry preparedness. The sample comes from interviewer-proctored surveys of 200 incarcerated women in Arizona. Two indices were created: one for the primary independent variable of program involvement and one for the dependent variable of reentry preparedness. Logistic and multivariate regressions were run to determine the indices’ relatedness to each other and the characteristic variables. The two indices did not have a statistically significant relationship with each other. However, variation across them is found. This indicates that programmers may not be a homogenous group and that they may engage with programming to varying degrees based on a multitude of indicators.
ContributorsRodriguez, Bianca (Author) / Wright, Kevin (Thesis advisor) / Young, Jacob (Committee member) / Telep, Cody (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
The emergence of COVID-19 has ravaged through the United States generally and prison facilities in particular. By reducing prison populations and protecting a facility's most vulnerable members, compassionate release is a means of mitigating the consequences of COVID-19 facing prison facilities across the country. This thesis will examine compassionate release requests for the months of March 2020 through May 2020 from minimum and low-security prison facilities within the Bureau of Prisons. By examining this data, the goal of this thesis will be to determine whether the Bureau’s use of compassionate release was conducted in a manner that would protect the well-being of incarcerated individuals in response to the emergence of COVID-19. Similarly, the data will be examined in order to identify any significant differences between prison facilities in their use of compassionate release and subsequent outcomes from COVID-19 infections and deaths. Lastly, this thesis will examine this data to determine whether the Bureau’s use of compassionate release was consistent with the general objective of reducing prison populations and overcrowding in response to COVID-19.
ContributorsMavrikos, Alex (Author) / Wallace, Danielle (Thesis director) / Chamberlain, Alyssa (Committee member) / Fahmy, Chantal (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Throughout the field of corrections in the United States, the prevalent question in regard to reentry preparation of offenders is, “what works?” With a renewed focus on providing meaningful program opportunities for offenders that enable real and sustained changes for reentry success, which has been partially driven by overcrowded prison systems and soaring corrections budgets, the quest has been energized for program models with results that are empirically based. As part of this quest, the Rand Corporation in 2014 (Davis, et al., 2014) published a comprehensive review of correctional education programs based on a meta-analysis of past studies and reported that offenders involved in education programs were significantly more likely to realize success after release from prison than those that were not involved in these programs.
In their 2014 final report, the Rand Corporation made recommendations for research efforts at the state and federal levels (Davis et al., 2014). One of their recommendations was to determine what types of instruction and curriculum delivery are most effective in a correctional education setting. Another recommendation was to determine what principles from adult learning are applicable in correctional education.
This study was designed to provide data for those two questions. This mixed methods, experimentally-designed study is framed in three research questions that are focused on gaining knowledge of the potential benefit of using trained peer tutors to supplement the instruction in adult basic education classes and General Education Development (GED) classes in a correctional environment. Theoretical applications are grounded in social learning theory and adult learning theories. Quantitative data were collected on academic performance, attendance, and perceived value and interest in education. Qualitative data supplemented and enhanced the quantitative data and provided an excellent insight into the thoughts of the tutors regarding their role in helping others.
Statistical significance was found with the aid of the tutors in the adult basic education classes in terms of academic performance, but not with the GED class. Principles of andragogical instruction were examined, discussed, and supported by all students. Expressions of tutor support and help were repeatedly presented as beneficial during interviews. Further questions about attendance were raised.
In their 2014 final report, the Rand Corporation made recommendations for research efforts at the state and federal levels (Davis et al., 2014). One of their recommendations was to determine what types of instruction and curriculum delivery are most effective in a correctional education setting. Another recommendation was to determine what principles from adult learning are applicable in correctional education.
This study was designed to provide data for those two questions. This mixed methods, experimentally-designed study is framed in three research questions that are focused on gaining knowledge of the potential benefit of using trained peer tutors to supplement the instruction in adult basic education classes and General Education Development (GED) classes in a correctional environment. Theoretical applications are grounded in social learning theory and adult learning theories. Quantitative data were collected on academic performance, attendance, and perceived value and interest in education. Qualitative data supplemented and enhanced the quantitative data and provided an excellent insight into the thoughts of the tutors regarding their role in helping others.
Statistical significance was found with the aid of the tutors in the adult basic education classes in terms of academic performance, but not with the GED class. Principles of andragogical instruction were examined, discussed, and supported by all students. Expressions of tutor support and help were repeatedly presented as beneficial during interviews. Further questions about attendance were raised.
ContributorsFizer, Gregory A. (Author) / Gee, Elisabeth (Thesis advisor) / Metcalf, Laura (Committee member) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019