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Prison and University: A Tale of Two Institutions?   Rod Earle, The Open University; Papers from the British Criminology Conference © 2011 the authors and the British Society of Criminology www.britsoccrim.org ISSN 1759-0043; Vol. 11: 20-37 Panel Paper   Abstract: For many years prisons have had a reputation as universities of crime providing novice criminals with opportunities to learn from more experienced criminals. Over the last 20 years, as prison populations have grown there has been a simultaneous expansion of university places and of courses specialising in studying crime. Academic criminology has experienced rapid growth with some suggesting that there are more students studying criminology now than sociology. There have never been more criminology courses on offer, or institutions offering them. Amidst this growth, there are indications that there are significant numbers of criminologists with more personal experiences of both crime and prison, combining experience of the Academy and its poorer relation at the opposite end of the social structure. What accompanies the transition from crime and prison to criminology and university? The instrumental relationships between prisons and criminology are notorious, long-standing and controversial, but rarely examined at the personal level. In this paper the author reflects on such an experience of prison, conducting research, studying and teaching criminology. The intention is to foster a reflexive exploration of relations, both institutional and structural as well as personal, between prison and university.   --Get Document:   Too early is too soon: Lessons from the Montana Department of Corrections Early Release Program  Kevin A. Wright and Jeffrey W. Rosky; 2011 American Society of Criminology Criminology & Public Policy, Volume 10, Issue 4 p.881   Abstract: In their seminalwork, Reaffirming Rehabilitation,Cullen andGilbert (1982: 176) issued a warning that “in the face of teeming penitentiaries, alternative release procedures could and undoubtedly will be evolved. Yet these adaptations are likely to be hastily instituted and to create new inefficiencies and inequalities in the administration of justice.” Nearly three decades later, their premonition has proved to be correct as state correctional administrators have struggled in efforts to combat the “incompatible and powerful forces” (Cullen, Wright, and Applegate, 1996: 70) of underfunding and overcrowding (see, e.g., Lane, 1986). Indeed, by year-end 2009, 19 states and the federal government had prison systems operating at more than 100% of their highest inmate capacity with 27 operating at more than 100% of their lowest capacity (West, Sabol, andGreenman, 2010).1 Additionally, the current economic crisis has led to significant, across-the-board cuts in the seemingly untouchable sphere of state correctional budgets (Engel, Larivee, and Luedeman, 2009). The task, then, is for researchers, policy makers, and practitioners to find ways to alleviate these strains without compromising the goals of corrections or the safety of the general public.   --Get Document:   Book Review: Jeffrey Ian Ross and Stephen C. Richards Beyond Bars: Rejoining Society After Prison New York: Penguin Group, Inc., 2009. 224 pp. ISBN 978-1-59257-851-1  Lisa Marie Carter Criminal Justice Review 2010 35: 539 DOI: 10.1177/0734016810362357   Abstract: Offenders leaving prison may see rejoining society as a source of incredible liberation, full of freedoms only dreamt about behind bars. However, their fantasies are rarely experienced once outside and in recognition of this, ex-cons face harsh realities as they rejoin society. Ross and Richards (2009) suggest that every ex-con would benefit from a ‘‘reality check’’ where reality and fantasy are aligned so that ex-cons, if properly sensitized to the barriers of reentry, might avoid recidivism. This book is that ‘‘reality check’’—a no-nonsense ‘‘practical handbook’’ for those reentering society and learning to ‘‘make good.’’ Ross and Richards write as advocates in a book that speaks directly to ex-cons, warning them of the temptations and pitfalls of returning to the environments that contributed to their incarceration. This balanced book provides readers with two equally important lessons: the first half (Chapters 1–4, 6) is about preparing to exit the prison system and how to deal with correctional gatekeepers. The second half (Chapters 5, 7–11) is about how to gain human capital and establishing social capital.   --Get Document:   The Use of Incarceration in the United States: A Policy Paper Presented by the National Policy Committee to the American Society of Criminology.  Nation Policy Committee: James Austin, Marino A. Bruce, Leo Carroll, Patricia L. McCall, Stephen C. Richards   Abstract: The past two decades have produced a profound and historic shift in the use of imprisonment within the United States. In 1980, there were less than 500,000 people imprisoned in the nation’s prisons and jails. Today we have nearly two million and the numbers continue to rise. We are spending over $35 billion annually on corrections while many other government services for education, health and human services and public transportation are hard pressed to meet the need for such services. More alarming is the fact that the use of imprisonment has been highest for African American and Hispanic males. It is now estimated by the U.S. Department of Justice (USDJ) that approximately one third of all Black males will experience state prison in their lifetime. We also know that much of this increase in the use of imprisonment is directly related to the nation’s war on drugs policy, which has also dramatically increased the incarceration of women -- mostly for drug crimes. Furthermore, the high growing incarceration rates have resulted in nearly 1.5 million children (or 2 percent of the entire population under age 18) having a parent incarcerated.   --Get Document:   Introducing the New School of Convict Criminology   by Richards, S.C., Ross, J.I. (2001). Social Justice 28, (1) 177-190   Abstract: The United States imprisons more people than any other country in the Western world. Meanwhile, prison research is dominated by government funding and conducted by academics or consultants, many of them former employees of the law enforcement establishment (ex-police, correctional, probation, or parole officers), who subscribe to conservative ideologies and have little empathy for prisoners. Much of this "managerial research" routinely disregards the harm perpetrated by criminal justice processing of individuals arrested, charged, and convicted of crimes. If legislators, practitioners, researchers, and scholars are serious about addressing the corrections crisis, we need to be more honest and creative with respect to the research we conduct and the policies we advocate, implement, and evaluate. To promote this objective, this essay introduces what we are calling "Convict Criminology," and reviews the theoretical and historical grounding, current initiatives, and dominant themes of this emerging school and social movement.   --Get Document:   A Convict Perspective on the Classification of Prisoners   by Richards, S.C., Ross, J.I. (2001). Reaction 44, (3) 243-252   Abstract: Convicts are rarely asked to comment on prison policy or procedure. They have little voice in correctional decisions. This essay attempts to give the men and women who live in cages a voice in how they are classified. This is no small issue for convicts. Although prisoners may not be considered “stakeholders” (as Berk et al. point out), they may stake their very lives on how they are classified and in which security level they are confined. Typically, new prisoners enter prison systems through “reception centers” or in what the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) calls “Receiving and Departure.” Although intake procedures differ, they never receive a pleasant welcome. The prisoners arrive scared and worn, wearing handcuffs, belly chains, and dragging leg irons. Standing in line, they are ordered to strip, searched, sprayed or dusted with a delousing chemical, issued clothes, and ordered to submit to a battery of token medical and psychological examinations administered by guards pretending to be medical staff. Convicts call this “kicking the tires.” If it’s not flat, don’t fix it. It makes no difference if the prisoner is HIV positive, ready to have another stroke, or near death. The line marches on.   --Get Document:   Inmates' Conceptions of Prison Sexual Assault   by Jones, R. S., Schmid, T. J. (1989). The Prison Journal, Vol LXVIX, 1, 1998.   Abstract: The personal fears that a new inmate brings with him to prison center around his concerns for safety. Like anyone who watches television or reads newspapers, he has seen stories about prison riots, murders, stabbings, and beatings. Like most people in our society, he believes that the prison world is a violent world; unlike most people, however, he is about to enter this world, so this general cultural image becomes greatly intensified and personalized in his own mind. He is afraid of what might happens to him in prison. He is afraid of being hurt. He is afraid of dying. And, perhaps more than anything else, he is afraid of being sexually assaulted.   --Get Document:   Experiential Orientations To The Prison Experience: The Case of First-Time, Short-Term Inmates   by Schmid, T.J. & Jones, R. S. (1990). Perspectives on Social Problems, 2, 189-210.   Abstract: This paper offers a new perspective on the "prisonization" experience by focusing on the process through which first-time, short-term inmates come to know, and act in, their prison worlds. The study is based on participant observation and interviewing in a men's maximum security prison. We discuss inmates' evolving perceptions and definitions of prison life as they enter, endure, then exit the prison, noting the changing imagery of the prison over the course of their sentences. We analyze inmates' adaptations to incarceration at various stages of their sentence in terms of experiential orientations to prison life and the practical problems and concerns that dominate inmates' everyday lives.   --Get Document:   Uncovering The Hidden Social World: Insider Research In Prison  by Jones, R. S. (1995). Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 11, 2, 106-118.   Abstract: The prison setting provides researchers with specific challenges that must be considered prior to conducting a study. This paper addresses some of these challenges and provides an argument for why the use of a qualitative methodological approach may be the best strategy for what Marquardt (1086) refers to as "penetrating the backstage prison behavior settings." Specifically, this paper provides a brief discussion of the different types of research methods that have been used to study prison. Secondly, we will address the strengths and weaknesses of a qualitative methodological approach to studying the prison. Third, we will provide as an exemplar a unique approach to the study of prisons, namely an ethnographic study that utilized a complete participant (inmate-sociologist) and an outside observer (sociology professor) as a way of achieving an insider's understanding while maintaining an outsider's objectivity. The paper concludes with a discussion of alternative ways of achieving insider knowledge of the prison social world.   --Get Document:   Coping with Separation: Adaptive Responses of Women Prisoners   by Jones, R. S. (1993). Women and Criminal Justice, 5, 1, 1993.   Abstract: This study is a descriptive analysis of the adaptation responses of inmates at a correctional institution for women located in the Midwest of the United States. Data for the study were collected and analyzed using a qualitative methodological approach.. This investigation extends the literature on women prisoners by examining the inmates' perceptions of the deprivations of incarceration; how inmates respond to the deprivations of incarceration; and the impact that relationships outside of prison has on inmates' response to incarceration.   --Get Document:   Iowa's Perpetual Incarceration Machine  by Richards, S. C., & Jones, R. S. (1997). Perpetual incarceration machine: Structural impediments to post-prison success. The Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 13, 1, 4-22.   Abstract: The prison system is a perpetual incarceration machine growing on failure. This article explores structural impediments that contribute to parole failure and recidivism. Prisoners exit prison with few material resources and many obligations. Upon arrival at the work release centers, they are subjected to the demands of "collection counselors." They complain about deductions from their employment checks, including restitution, court costs, fees for public defenders, and rent for work release beds. The correctional system perpetuates itself: Failures in work release, probation, and parole account for the majority of new prison admissions. Recommendations are provided for facilitating effective prison release programs.   --Get Document:   Introduction: Criminal Justice and Families   by Arditti, J. A. (2001). Marriage and Family Review, 32 (3/4) 3 - 10.   Abstract: Families impacted by systems of criminal justice are virtually invisible and too often excluded from discourse pertaining to family policy. This special issue is an attempt to bring the debate "home" and emphasize an important but unarticulated element contributing to "an insecure situation for the child" that puts children at risk.   --Get Document:   Drug Policy and Families: Casualties of the War   by Arditti, J. A., McClintock, C. (2001). Marriage and Family Review, 32 (3/4) 11 - 30.   Abstract: This paper explores the consequences of drug policies, especially punitive criminal justice sanctions, for the families of offenders. Mandatory minimum sentences and certain legal developments have created substantial growth in the prison industry with a likely increase in the number and intensity of harms to drug offenders and their families. Negative outcomes include at-risk developmental pathways for children, uncertain quality of care and parenting, family dissolution, and weak-ended communities. The evidence suggests that punitive drug policies come at great social and economic cost with minimal benefits. Harm-reduction is offered as a framework for change in relation to drug offenders and their families. Recommendations for family preservation and sentencing reform are discussed.   --Get Document:   Doing Family Research at the Jail: Reflections of a Prison Widow   by Arditti, J. A. (2002, December). Doing family research at the jail: Reflections of a prison widow. The Qualitative Report, 7(4).   Abstract: In this article, Dr. Arditti reflects on her experience running a small family research project at a local jail. She focuses on methodological and policy issues inherent in controversial research, as well as her own personal reactions to the criminal justice system. Implications of insider status are discussed as they apply to researcher stance and responsibilities in corrections settings.   --Get Document:   Excon: Managing a Spoiled Identity  by Richard S. Jones, Ph.D. (2003). In Ross, J. I. & Richards, S. C. Convict Criminology (pp. 191-208). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.   Abstract: The challenge of reentry and reintegration for those who have been formerly incarcerated and the effects of "prisonization" on ones' self-concept while imprisoned and later when returning to society are significant, and relearning how to act on the outside involves learning how to cope with a spoiled identity. The stigmatized individual must determine what information they should convey to others within the social community, employment, and relationships about their ex-con status.   --Get Document:   Prison Release in Kentucky: A Convict Perspective on Policy Recommendations  by Richards, S. C., Jones, R. S. & Austin, J. (2003). Offender Programs Report, 7, 1, 1-16.   Abstract: Like many other states, Kentucky is facing a severe budget crisis and is seeking ways to lower its prison costs. To better understand the number and types of persons being released from prison to parole, we recently requested and received from the Kentucky Department of corrections a data file that contained information on all prisoners released in 1998. We also interviewed prisoners and parolees, as well as correctional and parole staff. In our analysis of these records and interviews, we found no difference in recidivism based on a prisoner's length of stay. Put differently, no crime reduction gains will be achieved by either extending or reducing the period of a prisoner's imprisonment. As of January 2003, this study has contributed to the immediate release of nearly 900 prisoners in Kentucky. Policy recommendations are provided with this study.   --Get Document:   Saturday Morning at the Jail: Implications of Incarceration for Families and Children   by Arditti, J. A., Lambert-Shute, J., Joest, K. (2003). Family Relations. 52, (3) 195 - 204.   Abstract: Little is known about the experience of families affected by incarceration, yet current trends indicate that millions of children have a parent who is imprisoned. Using a conceptual framework that acknowledges the losses associated with a parent's incarceration, 56 caregivers visiting an incarcerated family member during children's visiting hours were interviewed. The interview gathered information about family, health, economics, and the legal aspects of the inmate's situation. Overall, families were at risk economically before incarceration, and the most vulnerable became even more financially strained afterward. Other problems believed to be created by incarceration included parenting strain, emotional stress, and concerns about children's loss of involvement with their incarcerated parent. Implications for family practice and policy are discussed.   --Get Document:   Kentucky's Perpetual Prisoner Machine: It's About Money  by Richards, S. C., Jones, R. S. & Austin, J. (2004). Review of Policy Research, 21, 1.   Abstract: Kentucky is currently facing a severe budget crisis and is seeking ways to lower its prison and community corrections costs. This article focuses on our study of the prison and parole experience of men and women in Kentucky. What we found is a virtual "perpetual incarceration machine" where prisoners are recycled from prison to parole and back to prison. The following discussion includes: Kentucky's prison population continues to grow, parole failure, methods, description of interview samples, interview data, the structure producing parole failure, and Kentucky's perpetual incarceration machine. Based on our findings, several promising reforms are recommended that if implemented would serve to reduce the prison population and the rate of parole failure.   --Get Document:   Beating The Perpetual Incarceration Machine: Overcoming Structural Impediments to Reentry   by Richards, S.C. & Jones, R. S. (2004). In Maruna, S. and Immarigeon, R., After Crime and Punishment: Pathways to Offender Reintegration, Willian Publishing (2004).   Abstract: In this book chapter we introduce the convict perspective and a structural analysis of prisoner reentry to the community. We then discuss the economic and legal consequences of incarceration, qualitative methods used in our study of Iowa convicts, our findings, the perpetual incarceration machinery. We conclude with an esoteric discussion of descent and ascent: a means mentally to overcome the material structures of the incarceration machine. As former penitentiary prisoners we learned mind over matter and the need to struggle against the oppression of determinist structural barriers. Our research study attempts to answer the following questions. Why do so many ex-convicts experience rearrest and reincarceration? What are the social-structural variables, impediments and obstacles that contribute to recidivism? Specifically, what insights into the structural problems of prison release explain parole failure? How do convicts beat the machine?   --Get Document:   Families and Incarceration: An Ecological Approach   by Arditti, J. A. (2005). The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 86 (2) 251 - 260.   Abstract: This article advances an ecological framework that emphasizes the context of parental incarceration and its impact on families and children. Particular attention is given to the disenfranchisement resulting from a family member’s imprisonment, loss, and the experience of family visiting in corrections settings. Drawing from U. Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) systemic approach to understanding development, the framework provides a basis from which to interpret existing scholarship as well as guide ecologically sensitive practice and policy.   --Get Document:   "It's Been Hard to Be a Father": A Qualitative Exploration of Incarcerated Fatherhood   by Arditti, J. A., Smock, S.A., Parkman, T.S. (2005). The Journal of Men's Studies: Fathering, 3 (3) 267 - 288.   Abstract: This study investigated the experiences of incarcerated fathers, their perceptions of fatherhood, and the nature of their involvement with their children. Fifty-one incarcerated fathers confined at two minimum security correctional facilities were interviewed approximately one moth prior to their release from prison. A qualitative content analysis revealed detailed description pertaining to participants' feelings of helplessness and the difficulties of being a "good father" while in prison. Incarceration represented a dormant period for men in terms of fatherhood, and reentry signified an opportunity to "start over" with their children. Finally, father involvement was profoundly constrained during incarceration, and men were entirely dependent on nonincarcerated mothers or caregivers for contact with children. Many fathers perceived mothers' gatekeeping, or efforts to prevent contact, as evidence of their powerlessness. Recommendations for future research and intervention are discussed.   --Get Document:   The Prevailing Injustices in the Application of the Missouri Death Penalty   by Lenza, M. (2005). Social Justice; 2005; 32, 2; Criminal Justice Periodicals pg. 151   Abstract: Gregg v. Georgia (1976) approved the constitutional criteria of Georgia statute, Ga. Code Ann., 26-1101 (a) (1972) as a model for rewriting of state capital punishment laws, one of them Missouri's present revised death penalty statute (§ 565.020 R.S.Mo. 2000). The majority opinions in Gregg assured Americans that "arbitrary and capricious" sentencing was an element of racist past and that if the provisions in Gregg were followed by lawmakers and practiced by the courts, fair and equitable treatment was possible in the overwhelming majority of cases. This article will argue that the procedural remedies in Gregg have failed to rectify those inequalities and that in the instance of the State of Missouri, arbitrary and capricious sentences of death have proceeded in numbers that are exceptional in proportion to its population.   --Get Document:   Mother's Reentry into Family Life Following Incarceration   by Arditti, J. A., Few, A.L. (2006). Criminal Justice Policy Review, 17(1) 103 - 123.   Abstract: The experiences of a group of mothers reentering the community after a period of incarceration are explored. The authors are particularly interested in how incarceration and subsequent reentry influence mothers’ family relationships and primary risk and protective factors. Eighty interviews are conducted with 28 women probationers who had at least one minor child and had undergone incarceration at least 2 months prior to release. Descriptive analyses reveal that mental health risks characterize many mothers in this study, resource adequacy and parenting stress are significantly related, and family support is an important factor in successful reentry. It also appears that incarceration, even for short periods, is associated with shifts in family configuration on mothers’ release by increasing the likelihood of divorce and decreasing the likelihood that mothers will reside with the father of at least one of their biological children. Implications for intervention and directions for future research are discussed.   --Get Document:   Toking Their Way Sober: Alcoholics and Marijuana as Folk Medicine   by Lenza, M. (2007). Contemporary Justice Review Vol. 10, No. 3, September 2007, pp. 307–322   Abstract: In this exploratory study, 18 semistructured life-history interviews were conducted with heavy drinkers who substituted marijuana for their alcohol use. Folk knowledge on the efficacy of marijuana in self-treatment for alcoholism, particularly associative depression and anxiety disorders, is examined. The study views the impacts of alcohol and marijuana on the subjects’ ability to sustain viable normative selves in their daily interaction orders. Other instrumental uses of marijuana, consciousness expansion and social facilitation, are also presented as well as how normative dosages of marijuana can be socially constructed and transmitted within rituals of use.   --Get Document:   Supermax Prisons   by Ross, J.I. (2007). Society 44, (3) 60-64   Abstract: Each time a crime occurs, an arrest is made, the trial ends, and a person is sentenced to prison, the public has a recurring curiosity about where the convict is sent. Over the past two decades, a phenomenal number of individuals have been sentenced to jails and to state or federal prisons. But this is just the beginning of the journey. Prisoners are classified into a whole host of various kinds of facilities. They typically vary based on the level of security, from minimum to high. But since the mid-1980s, a dramatic change has underscored corrections in the United States and elsewhere. Correctional systems at all levels have introduced or expanded the use of Supermax prisons.   --Get Document:   Controversies Surrounding Laud Humphreys’ Tearoom Trade: An Unsettling Example of Politics and Power in Methodological Critiques   by Lenza, M. (2004). International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 24, (3) 20-31   Abstract: Regarding these issues surrounding research on human subjects, this paper will argue that this dominant view of Humphreys’ tearoom trade study, focusing primarily upon respect for autonomy (informed consent), misinforms the reader as much as it informs of the underlying moral and ethical foundations for research with human subjects. Three moral and ethical principles provide the foundations for most medical, scientific, and social research methodologies: beneficence, justice, and respect for autonomy (informed consent) (Faden and Beauchamp 1986: 5). I will first review each of these three ethical foundations for sociological research, then, I will examine Humphreys’ Tearoom Trade study through the vantage point of each and the historical facts surrounding the controversies.   --Get Document:   USP Marion: The First Federal Supermax   by Richards, S.C. (2008). The Prison Journal 88, (1) 6-22   Abstract: The U.S. Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois (USP Marion) was the first federal supermax prison. The “mean little house” is one of the most significant U.S. prisons built in the past century. It has served as a model for high-security detention confinement and been copied worldwide. Marion also has a history of violence, mistakes, and inflicting serious damage on prisoners. This article employs a “convict criminology perspective” to discuss the history of Marion, the profile of federal prisoners, control units, programs and services, prisoners released from Marion, the prison camp, transfer of high-security prisoners, and comparable supermax penitentiaries. Early in 2007, USP Marion was converted to medium security, closing one of the most infamous chapters in recent American penal history.   --Get Document:   Maternal Distress and Women’s Reentry into Family and Community Life   by Arditti, J. A., Few, A.L. (2008). Family Process, 47(3) 303 - 322.   Abstract: This paper advances conceptualization of maternal distress following incarceration. We utilized a multiple case study methodology based on interviews with 10 mothers who demonstrated various permutations of ‘‘the triple threat’’ (depression, domestic violence, and substance abuse; Arditti & Few, 2006). Findings suggest that depressive symptomology persisted and worsened for mothers in our study and that maternal distress was indicative not only of women’s psychological state, but also a relational and situational construct that embodied women’s core experience. Maternal distress was largely characterized by health challenges, dysfunctional intimate relationships, loss related trauma, guilt and worry over children, and economic inadequacy. Further, maternal distress seemed to be intensified by the punitive traumatic context of prison and lessened by rehabilitation opportunities as well as support by kin and probation officers after reentry. Recommendations for clinicians and professionals who work with reentry mothers center around the need to alleviate maternal distress and better address women’s emotional and physical health needs during incarceration and reentry.   --Get Document:   Parental Imprisonment and Family Visitation: A Brief Overview and Recommendations for Family Friendly Practice   by Arditti, J. A. (2008). Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare: Children of Incarcerated Parents. CW360: p.16.   Abstract: This article discusses parental incarceration and the impact on families and children as it relates to visitation in a prison environment. Parental incarceration is a fact of life for millions of children and families and not simply a criminal justice issue or an individual matter. Parental incarceration is a matter for children's well-being, where child welfare and intervention clearly matter.   --Get Document:   One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008   by The PEW Charitable Trust (2008).   Abstract: Three decades of growth in America’s prison population has quietly nudged the nation across a sobering threshold: for the first time, more than one in every 100 adults is now confined in an American jail or prison. According to figures gathered and analyzed by the Pew Public Safety Performance Project, the number of people behind bars in the United States continued to climb in 2007, saddling cash-strapped states with soaring costs they can ill afford and failing to have a clear impact either on recidivism or overall crime.   --Get Document:   Convict Criminology: Voices From Prison   by Stephen C. Richards, Donald Faggiani, Jed Roffers, Richard Hendricksen, and Jerrick Krueger (2008). Race/Ethnicity 2, (1) 121-136   Abstract: Today, more than two million men and women reside in our nation’s jails and prisons. This population is disproportionately black and brown, while those who attend universities are nearly exclusively white. The drug war has devastated minority communities and has contributed to a dramatic increase in the rate of incarceration for people of color (Miller, 1996; Austin et al., 2001). In this article, we discuss the following topics: convict criminology perspective, inviting convicts to college programs, convicts as “invisible” minorities, minorities in prisons, and correctional education and recidivism. The Convict Criminology course is taught at one university and two state prisons. A ten-question survey was administered to the three classes. The respondents’ replies are provided as a means for comparing university and convict students’ perceptions and thoughts about the course they completed. As simply as possible, we have outlined one way that universities can help prisoners to exit prison and enter college.   --Get Document:   One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections 2009  by The PEW Charitable Trust (2009).   Abstract: States face the worst fiscal crisis in a generation. Shrinking budgets are forcing governors and legislators to examine all areas of public spending for possible savings, even those that have been off limits. Corrections is a prime target for cuts. Last year it was the fastest expanding major segment of state budgets, and over the past two decades, its growth as a share of state expenditures has been second only to Medicaid. State corrections costs now top $50 billion annually and consume one in every 15 discretionary dollars. The remarkable rise in corrections spending wasn’t fate or even the natural consequence of spikes in crime. It was the result of state policy choices that sent more people to prison and kept them there longer. The sentencing and release laws passed in the 1980s and 1990s put so many more people behind bars that last year the incarcerated population reached 2.3 million and, for the first time, one in 100 adults was in prison or jail. The escalation of the prison population has been astonishing, but it hasn’t been the largest area of growth in the criminal justice system. That would be probation and parole—the sentenced offenders who are not behind bars. With far less notice, the number of people on probation or parole has skyrocketed to more than 5 million, up from 1.6 million just 25 years ago. This means that 1 in 45 adults in the United States is now under criminal justice supervision in the community, and that combined with those in prison and jail, a stunning 1 in every 31 adults, or 3.2 percent, is under some form of correctional control. The rates are drastically elevated for men (1 in 18) and blacks (1 in 11) and are even higher in some high-crime inner-city neighborhoods.   --Get Document:   The First Dime: A Decade of Convict Criminology  by Richard S. Jones, Jeffrey Ian Ross, Stephen C. Richards, Daniel S. Murphy (June 2009); The Prison Journal Volume 89, Number 2, 151-171.   Abstract: This article discusses the historical origins of Convict Criminology (CC); intellectual legacy of Convict Criminology; organization of the Convict Criminology group; allies in the Convict Criminology struggle; recent activities of the Convict Criminology group; impact of Convict Criminology on the study of jails, prisons, and community corrections; and the authors’ future plans. Thus, the focus of this article is on taking stock of the development of Convict Criminology and identifying the accomplishments to date.   --Get Document:   Beyond Bars: Rejoining Society After Prison  by Jeffrey Ian Ross, Stephen C. Richards (July 2009)   Abstract: The vast majority of these men and women spend enough time in prison to disrupt their connections to their families and communities. And prison authorities fail to prepare ex-convicts for the difficult and often lifethreatening process of “reentry.” As a result, the percentage of ex-convicts who return to a life of crime and additional prison time escalates each year. Beyond Bars is the most current, practical, and comprehensive guide for ex-convicts and their families for managing a successful reentry into the community. Written by criminal justice experts who have 30 years of experience working with the prison system, this valuable book includes information on ... Preparing for release while still in prison. Navigating and benefiting from the parole system. Dealing with family members, especially spouses and children. Finding a place to live on the “outside.” Finding a job. Money issues such as budgets, bank accounts, taxes, and debt. Avoiding drugs and other illicit activities. Free resources to rely on for support.   --Get Document:   Everyone Pays: A Social Cost Analysis of Incarcerating Parents for Drug Offenses in Hawaii  by Thomas E. Lengyel and Marilyn Brown (August 2009)   Abstract: This study takes as its primary goal the construction of an economic foundation for corrections policy in the State of Hawai’i. Up to this point, Hawai’i’s citizens, elected representatives, and state administrators have not had access to a serious accounting of the costs of putting their fellow citizens in prison. These costs and benefits of prison time are much more diverse and affect far more people than has been portrayed in the local media, whose reports often focus narrowly on the cost of the prison bed. As the title of this work implies, costs and benefits spread across society, and the costs for the state, for the prisoner, and for the prisoner’s family far outweigh the benefits. We explore this subject using as a case study the cohort of drug offenders released from Hawaii’s prisons in fiscal year 2006. (Download: Executive Summary   --Get Full Document:   Spreading the Pain: The Social Cost of Incarcerating Parents  by Thomas E. Lengyel (September 2006)   Abstract: This paper sets out to itemize and estimate the social costs and benefits incurred by the incarceration of parents who have minor children. We do so by assembling and integrating a diverse set of studies addressing the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of social service programs, cost-of-illness studies of drug and alcohol abuse, cost of crime studies, and a very small set of studies of the costs of incarceration itself. Few authors have previously attempted a comprehensive, societal approach and none have systematically itemized costs and benefits for incarceration.   --Get Document:   Inviting Convicts to College Program  by Rose, Chris, Kristin Reschenberg, Stephen C. Richards (2010); The Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume 49: 293-308, 2010   Abstract: While we know formal education is an important variable for reducing recidivism, there are few prison systems still offering college courses. We introduce the Inviting Convicts to College Program that deploys undergraduate student-teachers as instructors of college level courses inside prisons. The student-teachers are supervised by professors. The course taught is Convict Criminology. This article describes the program, and uses quantitative and qualitative methods to assess four semesters taught at a medium-security state prison. The methodology uses both a survey and focused interviews of prisoners and student teachers. Findings indicate the program goals were met, and the courses taught served as valuable educational experiences for convicts and student-teachers.   --Get Document:   Death by Incarceration as a Cruel and Unusual Punishment when Applied to Juveniles: Extending Roper to Life Without Parole, Our Other Death Penalty   by Robert Johnson, Ph.D. and Sonia Tabriz (2009); U. MD. L.J. RACE, RELIGION, GENDER & CLASS [VOL. 9: 241-258 2009]   Abstract: In Roper v. Simmons, the United States Supreme Court held that juveniles could not be subjected to the death penalty. The Court emphasized that the well-documented immaturity of juveniles makes them less culpable for their crimes and less easily deterred by the threat of punishment. In this article, we maintain that the Eighth Amendment also prohibits sentencing juveniles to life without parole because this sanction is a death sentence in its own right. A sentence of life without parole amounts to “death by incarceration” since offenders are sentenced to die in prison, making this sanction “our other death penalty.”   --Get Document:   From Corrections to College: The Value of a Convict’s Voice   by Leyva, Martin and Christopher Bickel (2010); Western Criminology Review 11(1):50-60.   Abstract: The rise in mass incarceration has been accompanied by an abandonment of first-hand, in-depth accounts of crime and incarceration. Too few criminologists have stepped foot inside a prison, let alone served time within its walls. Situated within a growing movement of convict criminology, this article provides a first-hand account of the abuse convicts often experience in the home, the streets, and later in prison. Breaking from the traditional scholarly format, this autobiographical article not only highlights the importance of a convict’s voice, but also calls on criminologists to move beyond official data sources and crime reports to a more in-depth exploration of complex lives of the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated.   --Get Document:   A Partial Test of Life-Course Theory on A Prison Release Cohort   by Matthew G. Yeager, Carleton University   Abstract: This article examines the thesis put forth by Sampson and Laub (1993) that “social capital” over an offender’s life course positively or negatively impinges upon their success in the community – i.e., ability to avoid criminal re-processing. Using a data set (N= 773) of male Canadian penitentiary inmates released to the community between 1983-1984, a test is made of the impact of both employment and marriage during a three-year supervision follow-up, controlling for race, alcohol involvement, prior juvenile convictions, and prior adult convictions. Because the sample does not represent a classic, longitudinal design, we consider this to be a partial test of the life course thesis. Regardless of whether the dependent variable is general or violent criminal recidivism, full-time employment and marriage remain significant predictors for male convicts -- employment being the more statistically significant of the two. Ironically, at the very time when the Canadian prison industry was disbanding their offender employment programs, this data suggests otherwise. Today, employment programs for offenders are politically unpopular yet they suggest promise when offenders can find meaningful and stable jobs. Structural intervention in market economies might be suggested. Is it therefore reasonable to ask: who is creating conditions favorable to criminality and are our prisons designed to maintain the employment marginality of offenders?   --Get Document:   The View From the Other Side of the Fence: Incarcerated Women Talk about Themselves  by Annette Kuhlmann, University of Wisconsin Colleges in Baraboo, Justice Policy Journal, Volume 2 - No. 1 - Summer 2005   Abstract: Women are the demographic group with the fastest growing incarceration rates, yet historically women’s prisons have been built and organized according to the male model. In this manner female convicts’ special needs have been ignored. In recent years a small body of literature has begun to address the special situation of women in the criminal justice system, the way that the nature of their crimes and their life in prison is different than that of men and is rooted in patriarchy. Listening to the voices of the women themselves reveals the interrelated nature of the crimes for which they are convicted and their structural position.   --Get Document:   WHEN THE PAST IS A PRISON: THE HARDENING PLIGHT OF THE AMERICAN EX-CONVICT  by Roger Roots, University of Nevada, Las Vegas   Abstract: Today’s American criminal justice system is generating more ex-criminals than ever before, due to increasingly punitive sentencing, the increasing criminalization of formerly noncriminal acts, and the increasing federalization of criminal matters. At the same time, advances in record-keeping and computer technology have made life more difficult for ex-convicts. This article examines the hardships faced by American exconvicts reentering the non-custodial community both at present and in the past. It concludes that modern ex-convicts face more difficulties than those of past generations, because 1) a greater number of laws that restrict their occupational and social lives, and 2) better data collection and transfer among criminal justice jurisdictions make evading or escaping from one’s criminal past more difficult. The result of these coalescing trends is that American society is increasingly forming a hierarchical order of citizenship, with long-term negative economic and social consequences for both ex-offenders and the broader community.   --Get Document:   Political and Demographic Explanations of Felon Disenfranchisement Policies in the States  by Daniel S. Murphy, Adam J. Newmark, and Phillip J. Ardoin (Appalachian State University), Justice Policy Journal, Volume 3 - No. 1 – Spring 2006   Abstract: Nearly 5 million Americans are currently deprived of the right to vote as a result of state laws which prohibit voting by felons and ex-felons. With the exception of Maine and Vermont, every state denies incarcerated individuals the right to vote, 30 states deny felons on probation or parole the right to vote, and in 12 states felons are permanently banned from voting (Sentencing Project 2004). This research explores the political and demographic factors that influence the probability of a state adopting more or less stringent laws regarding a felon’s right to vote.   --Get Document:   Empowerment Not Entrapment: Providing Opportunities for Incarcerated Women to Move Beyond “Doing Time”  by Barbara H. Zaitzow, Appalachian State University, Justice Policy Journal, Volume 3 - No. 1 – Spring 2006   Abstract: The popularity of imprisonment as a sanctioning tool has significant implications for corrections, which traditionally has allocated few resources for institutional or community-based programs for female offenders. Many women who are imprisoned have backgrounds of economic disadvantage and have limited resources at either a personal or social level to change their circumstances. Moreover, institutional rules and programmatic opportunities available to women in prison, contribute to the continuation of their disadvantaged status. Thousands of women are being released from prison each year with no safety net to assist survival and combat recidivism. The hurdles and barriers that present themselves are often cumbersome and challenging. In light of the growing numbers of women who are affected by the imprisonment experience, a critical assessment of current prison programs for women is necessary to move beyond the mere acceptance of limited program offerings as a means to manage the “doing time” experience toward a realistic re-entry approach that promotes the successful reintegration of women offenders.   --Get Document:   An Ex-Con Teaching Criminal Justice: The Etics-Emics Debate and the Role of Subjectivity in Academia  by Daniel S. Murphy, Appalachian State University, Justice Policy Journal, Volume 4 – No. 1 –Spring 2007   Abstract: The etics-emics debate, “neutral objectivity” versus “biased subjectivity,” is ongoing within the academy. As academics we are indoctrinated into, and convince ourselves of, the ideology of objectivity. We are subjective human beings who attempt to develop objective standards. This stated, we are subjective by nature yet strive for the arcamedian point of absolute neutrality. The present paper explores the positive-negative aspects of incorporating personal-subjective experience(s) in teaching criminal justice. The reality of subjectivity is explored within the context of the unobtainable pursuit of pure objectivity.   --Get Document:   Logical and Consistent? An Analysis of Supreme Court Opinions Regarding the Death Penalty  by Matthew B. Robinson and Kathleen M. Simon, Appalachian State University, Justice Policy Journal, Volume 3 - No. 1 – Spring 2006   Abstract: This paper examines opinions by Supreme Court justices of the most significant death penalty cases of the 1970s and 1980s [i.e., Furman v. Georgia (1972), Gregg v. Georgia (1976), Woodson v. North Carolina (1976), and McCleskey v. Kemp (1987)]. We seek to determine: 1) what main justifications were used by justices to support their own opinions; 2) how inconsistent over these cases were justices in issuing their opinions; and 3) what factors led to changes in opinions across time. We examine three types of inconsistency: First, issuing an opinion that is contradictory to opinions issued in earlier cases (e.g., a justice rules in favor of capital punishment in one case and then against it in another, or vice versa); Second, issuing an opinion that appears to be contradictory to statements made in written opinions in earlier cases (e.g., a justice votes in a way opposite to the principles he or she has put forth in previous cases); and Third, ruling in a way that appears to violate a precedent or rule of law. We seek to explain such inconsistencies to illuminate why capital punishment is still legal despite numerous problems with its application. It is these cases that best illustrate why capital punishment persists.   --Get Document:   Another Emerging “Storm”: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans with PTSD in The Criminal Justice System  by William B. Brown, Western Oregon University, Justice Policy Journal, Volume 5 – No. 2 – Fall 2008   Abstract: America seems to have moved to a position in history where we are captivated with thoughts of military power. Not since World War II has America been engaged in combat along two theaters of combat operation – Iraq and Afghanistan. We now have extended our military prowess and declared war against global terrorism, which means the number of potential combat front lines is impossible to determine. The initial blowback from such a strategy seems to be an economic catastrophe at home. This article focuses on another potential blowback – an emerging storm that encompasses the war at home that Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans are beginning to experience. The lessons from the aftermath of the Vietnam are available for all to review. A disinterest acknowledging those lessons seems to be prevailing. This article is written as evidence for the men and women who serve, or have served, in Afghanistan and Iraq that they have support for their second war – the war that begins when they leave the military. This article also challenges researchers and service providers to begin preparation to support these veterans.   --Get Document:   Vocational, Educational and Psychological Assessments of Deaf Inmates  by Aviva Twersky-Glasner and Matthew J. Sheridan, Justice Policy Journal, Volume 2 - No. 2 - Fall 2005   Abstract: A number of important sociological and psychological factors result from linguistic development delay and cultural dissonance. These are unique to the deaf and hard of hearing offender population and need to be taken into account in efforts to assess the vocational, educational and psychological needs of deaf prison inmates. This paper discusses these various factors and provides suggestions for corrections officials to remediate these problems.   --Get Document:   The Myth of a Fair Criminal Justice System  by Matthew Robinson and Marian Williams, Appalachian State University, Justice Policy Journal, Volume 6 – No. 1 – Spring 2009   Abstract: This paper examines whether the belief that the US criminal justice system is fair is a myth. After an introduction of the criminal justice system and its goals, we turn to possible sources of unfairness in criminal justice, including the criminal law, definitions of crime, policing, courts, and corrections. The authors explore the possibility that the criminal justice system is unfair both in what it does and in what it does not do. After a discussion of the role of mythology in criminal justice, the paper concludes with a summary and suggestions for making American criminal justice activity fairer.   --Get Document:   CONVICT CRIMINOLOGY: PROVOCAZIONI DA OLTREOCEANO. LA RICERCA ETNOGRAFICA IN CARCERE  by Teresa Degenhardt (Queen’s University, Belfast), Francesca Vianello (Università di Padova), Studi sulla questione criminale, V, n. 1, 2010   --Get Document:   Resisting the Carceral State: Prisoner Resistance from the Bottom Up by Jeffrey Ian Ross; Social Justice; 2009/2010; 36, 3; Criminal Justice Periodicals pg. 28   Abstract: To Protect its citizens and maintain the status quo, the state has created numerous coercive agencies (Ross, 2005). Some of the most dominant are law enforcement, intelligence/national security, and the military. Although these organizations have been analyzed in the specific context of state crime (e.g., Gill, 1995; Menzies, 1995), few scholars have explicitly reviewed correctional institutions (especially correctional workers, their policies and processes) as perpetrators and facilitators of state crime that can include corruption, civil and human rights violations, and torture (Ross, 2000a, 2000b; Rothe, 2009). In general, the correctional sanction is established to punish, rehabilitate, and serve as a specific deterrent for lawbreakers. It is also supposed to protect the community and deter others who might engage in similar criminal activity. Aside from punishment, jail and prison sentences rarely achieve the objectives of the correctional sanction.   --Get Document:   Prisons as seen by Convict Criminologists by Richards, S. C., Lenza, M., Newbold, G., Jones, R. S., Murphy, D., & Grigsby, R. (2010). Prison as seen by convict criminologists. In Martine Herzog-Evans (Ed.) Transnational criminology manual, Volume 3 (pp. 343-360). Nijmegen, The Netherlands: Wolf Legal Publishers.   Abstract:Most criminologists tend to base their view of prison on ideological assumptions gathered from secondary sources, with at best limited entry to the prison world. They nearly always get it wrong, as they systematically exclude the perspectives real life experiences of their human subjects. These academic researchers have contributed to poor public policy that promotes the violent repression of prisoners in the USA and other countries. In response, Convict Criminologists are ex-convicts working as criminology criminal justice professors, along with "non-con" associates, that insist that as a means for societies to develop humane, effective, and cost efficient prisons, we must develop ways to incorporate the voices of prisoners in our theorizing about, policy recommendations for, and management of the prison.   --Get Document:   Money, criminology and criminal policies by Lenza, Michael, and Jones, R. S. (2010) Money, Criminology and Criminal Justice Policies: The impacts of political policies, criminality, and money on the criminal justice in the United States. In Martine Herzog-Evans (Ed.) Transnational Criminology Manual Vol.1, (pp. 313-332) The Netherlands: Wolf Legal Publishers.   Abstract: As Convict Criminologists we draw upon our experiential knowledge as prisoners held within the American criminal justice system. That experience provides us with a substantial emersion within the material conditions of life within prison as politics, criminality, and the impact of money substantially altered the criminal justice system in the USA that surrounded and controlled our lives. Combined, our experience goes back to the 1970s as convicts, then up to the present as academic faculty and researchers. We review what we believe is the best evidence that explains the inter-relationships between policies (political), criminality and money, and their age-old dance with race, class, and ethnicity in the United States. We first provide a general introduction outlining our research, followed by the historical overview of core policy changes that led to the vast expansion of corrections and their social impacts. Then we take a closer look at research examining intersections of race, money, and politics in USA on drug and crime polices. Conclusions follow.   --Get Document:   The Mass Incarceration Movement in the United States of America by Rose, C. D., Beck, V., & Richards, S. C. (2010). The Mass incarceration movement in the USA. In Martine Herzog-Evans (Eds.). Transnational criminology manual, Volume 2 (pp. 533-551). Nijmegen, The Netherlands: Wolf Legal Publishers.   Abstract: Throughout this discussion about mass incarceration in the United States of America (USA), the authors provide a description and analysis of incarceration rates within the USA. An overview of comparative international trends in incarceration rates, conditions of confinement in American jails and prisons, an analysis of the USA's transition from indeterminate to determinate sentencing, as well as, some of the economic and social costs of the USA's mass incarceration are also discussed. The paper concludes with suggestions on how the momentum of the mass incarceration movement in the US can be lessened, and what American life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness might look like in the 21st Century.   --Get Document:   The Inviting Convicts to College Program by Rose, Chris, Reschenberg, Kristin and Richards, Stephen 'The Inviting Convicts to College Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 49:4, 293 - 308 (2010). .   Abstract: While we know formal education is an important variable for reducing recidivism, there are few prison systems college courses. We introduce the Inviting Convicts to College Program that deploys undergraduate student-teachers instructors of college level courses inside prisons. The student-teachers are supervised by professors. The course Convict Criminology. This article describes the program, and uses quantitative and qualitative methods to assess semesters taught at a medium-security state prison. The methodology uses both a survey and focused interviews and student teachers. Findings indicate the program goals were met, and the courses taught served as valuable experiences for convicts and student-teachers.   --Get Document:   The Maximizer: Clarifying Merton's Theories of Anomie and Strain by Murphy, D., & Robinson, M.. (2008). The Maximizer: clarifying Merton's theories of anomie and strain. Theoretical Criminology, 12(4), 501. DOI: 10.1177/1362480608097154 (ISSN: 1362-4806) [Nov 2008]   Abstract: Robert Merton's (1957) theories of anomie and strain are among the most widely examined theories of criminality. Messner and Rosenfeld's (1994) theory of institutional anomie built on Merton's conception of anomie, delineating how specific institutions lead to conditions of anomie and criminality. Cloward and Ohlin's (1961) theory of differential opportunity built upon Merton's strain theory, underscoring the fact that those involved in illegitimate means of opportunity require a set of learned skills as do those involved in legitimate means. In this tradition, the present paper further expands Merton's theories of anomie and strain, suggesting that Merton's categories of conformist and innovator are not mutually exclusive. In fact, some individuals combine both legitimate and illegitimate means of opportunity in pursuit of the American Dream. The Maximizer, the authors suggest, merges elements of both the conformist and the innovator (i.e. legitimate and illegitimate means). The present paper explores the justification for merging legitimate and illegitimate means of opportunity in pursuit of the American Dream   --Get Document:   The Electronic “Scarlet Letter”: Criminal Backgrounding and a Perpetual Spoiled Identity by Murphy, Daniel S., Fuleihan, Brian, Richards, Stephen C. and Jones, Richard S.(2011) 'The Electronic “Scarlet Letter”: Criminal Backgrounding and a Perpetual Spoiled Identity', Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 50: 3, 101 — 118   Abstract: Crimes are multifaceted events that are not adequately explained with basic descriptors, yet a considerable amount of significance is afforded to relatively few simplistic labels that make up the contemporary ‘‘scarlet letter.’’ Today’s criminal records create a lifetime of stigmatization for a person. These public records employ a limited range of information. By acknowledging the deleterious effects of even one documented criminal event on an individual’s self-concept and status in society, we cannot avoid being faced with a serious moral dilemma in light of society’s prevalent reliance upon electronic criminal records. The electronic brand carried for life poses great challenges to offender rehabilitation and reintegration.   --Get Document:   Health Care in the Federal Bureau of Prisons: Fact or Fiction by D. Murphy/Californian Journal of Health Promotion 2005, Volume 3, Issue 2, 23-37   Abstract: Having spent five years imprisoned in Federal Medical Centers (FMC), I have substantive experience with the health care delivery system of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP). Intimately familiar with the symbolic quality of health care provided, I lived the rationing of health care practiced by FBOP medical personnel, and saw the organized denial of medical care to wards of the FBOP. Medical care within the FBOP is symbolic, with minimal expectation of improving prisoners' health. Discretionary medicine is top-down FBOP policy. The symbolic health care(less) provided by the FBOP is the focus of the present article.   --Get Document:   Self-Control Behind Bars: a Validation Study of the Grasmick et al. Scale by Delisi, Mathew, Andrew L. Hochstetler, and Daniel S. Murphy. (2003) Self Control Behind Bars: A Validation Study of the Grasmick et al. Scale. Justice Quarterly, 20(2): 241-263. Version of record published by Taylor & Francis for the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, www.informaworld.com (ISSN: 0741-8825) DOI: 10.1080/07418820300095521 (June 2003)   Abstract: Much empirical support of self-control theory is based on the 24-item scale conceptualized by Grasmick and his colleagues. This study examined the dimensionality of the scale. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analyses, and a structural equation model (SEM) produced results that are discordant with much prior research. The Grasmick et al. scale was not unidimensional, more complex theoretical iterations failed to meet most goodness-of-fit statistics, and considerable refinement via modification indices was needed before a measurement model that fit the data could be found. Further refinement is required to justify it as the quintessential measure of self-control.   --Get Document:   Damaged Goods: Exploring Predictors of Distress in Prison Inmates by Hochstetler, Andrew L., Daniel S. Murphy, and Ronald L. Simons. (2004) “Damaged Goods: Exploring Predictors of Distress in Prison Inmates.” Crime & Delinquency, Vol. 50, No. 3, 436-457 (ISSN: 0011-1287) SAGE - DOI: 10.1177/0011128703257198   Abstract: Victimization is a significant part of the incarceration experience. In this study, we assessed the effects of victimization while incarcerated and pre-existing conditions on prisoners’ distress. Data are drawn from surveys administered to 208 men recently released from prison. Using path analysis, we examined the direct effects of victimization and the direct and indirect effects, via victimization, of preprison characteristics and other control variables on distress (symptoms of post-traumatic stress [PTS] and depression). Findings reveal that victimization in prison significantly predicts the occurrence of PTS symptoms and depressive symptoms. Previous trauma, self-control, and race also have direct effects, and previous trauma and race have indirect effects on PTS and depressive symptoms.   --Get Document: