Preventing youthful disconnectedness

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this article examines the characteristics (and later life histories) of 16- to 23-year-olds who, during the 1980s, were “disconnected” from mainstream society, that is, they were not enrolled in school, not gainfully employed, not in the military, and not married to someone who was “connected” in one of these ways. One in three youths were disconnected for at least half of a calendar year. As adults, youths who were disconnected for a short time (in only one or two years) did not differ substantially from those who were never disconnected in terms of educational attainment, work history, family income, reliance on government programs, and marital status. However, those who were disconnected in three or more years experienced significantly greater hardships. This article suggests that school-related interventions (such as career-oriented education, after-school “safe havens,” and targeting individual deficits) might help prevent youthful disconnectedness.     

Enhancing victim empathy for sex offenders

Victim empathy is a widely used component of sex offender treatment throughout North America and Great Britain. Yet, it has been controversial over the past few years. One of the complications involves giving empathy a solid definition. Empathy was defined as the capacity to express compassion for victims. A multi-level system was developed to help specify the definition. The second issue concerns which methods to use in enhancing victim empathy. A variety of techniques are provided as specific ways in which clinicians can help enhance an offender's empathy level.     

Incarcerated Dutch juvenile sex offenders compared with non-sex offenders

There is some debate about whether or not sex offenders are similar to non-sex offenders with regard to family background (parental characteristics), personality, and psychopathology. The central aim of this study focused on the comparison of juvenile sex offenders and non-sex offenders. The sample consisted of incarcerated juvenile male sex (n = 30) and non-sex (n = 368) offenders. It appeared that sex offenders resembled non-sex offenders with respect to most of the offender and parental characteristics. Results demonstrated some differences between both groups, while the majority of characteristics were similar. Limitations of the study are discussed, especially the low number of sex offenders, followed by suggestions for further research.     

Female sex offenders: a comparison of solo offenders and co-offenders

Even though much of the prior sex offender literature focuses on males, recent research has included females as offenders. Such research, however, has been limited by small sample sizes. Several researchers have proposed typologies of female sex offenders that include both females who act alone (i.e., solo offenders) and females who act with another person (i.e., co-offenders), often a male. The current research includes a cross-national sample of 123 females who were solo offenders and 104 who were co-offenders. It was found that the two groups of females were not significantly different in regard to their age, race, time of offense, and the location of the offense. Co-offenders were more likely than solo offenders to have more than one victim, to have both male and female victims, to be related to the victim, and to have a nonsexual offense in addition to the sexual offense listed.     

Nursing interventions for parasuicidal behaviors in female offenders

Parasuicide refers to the nonfatal, intentional, self-injurious behaviors frequently exhibited by individuals with features of a borderline personality disorder. In correctional systems, the rate of parasuicidal behavior among incarcerated female offenders can be high and intertwined with complex behavioral and social issues. Nursing interventions in the management and treatment of parasuicidal behaviors incorporating the principles of dialectical behavior therapy have been developed and implemented at the authors' institution. This treatment approach provides practical, effective nursing interventions including pretreatment orientation, strategies for use with threats to self-harm and during self-harming episodes, and follow-up treatment.     

Treatment of violent offenders

In treatment of criminal offenders, especially those with a history of violence, it is essential that the clinician pay close attention to the criminal act itself. This area is often overlooked or avoided by practitioners who focus entirely on history, antecedents, current functioning, and problems of daily life. Important as these areas are, this paper suggests that a first step should be a detailed history of the criminal act, in a process requiring the client to walk the therapist through the crime. This procedure provides invaluable information both for assessing treatability and for evaluating change. The history and walk-through can be used as an adjunct to the therapist's primary clinical model, whatever it may be. Material presented is drawn from the author's experience at Atascadero State Hospital, California, the state's primary institution for sex offenders and the criminally insane.Originally prepared for presentation at the 10th Annual Scientific Conference of the Society for Clinical Social Work, Los Angeles, California, October 19–21, 1979.     

Acceptability of a stage-matched expert system intervention for domestic violence offenders

Most interventions for men who batter are standardized and "one-size-fits-all," neglecting individual differences in readiness to change. A multimedia expert system intervention based on the transtheoretical model (the "stage model") was developed as an adjunct to traditional court-mandated programs. The expert system assesses stage of change, decisional balance, self-efficacy, and processes of change and provides immediate individualized stage-matched feedback designed to increase readiness to end the violence. Fifty-eight male batterer intervention program clients were invited by agency staff to complete an expert system session and an evaluation of the program; 33 men were recruited at program intake and the remainder from ongoing groups. Responses to the intervention were very positive. For example, 87% of participants reported that they found the program to be easy to use, and 98% said it could probably or definitely help them change their attitudes or behaviors. Findings provide encouraging evidence of the acceptability of this stage-matched approach to intervention for domestic violence offenders.     

Modelling interactions among offenders: A latent space approach for interdependent ego-networks

Illegal markets are notoriously difficult to study. Police data offer an increasingly exploited source of evidence. However, their secondary nature poses challenges for researchers. A key issue is that researchers often have to deal with two sets of actors: targeted and non-targeted. This work develops a latent space model for interdependent ego-networks purposely created to deal with the targeted nature of police evidence. By treating targeted offenders as egos and their contacts as alters, the model (a) leverages on the full information available and (b) mirrors the specificity of the data collection strategy. The paper then applies this approach to analyse a real-world example of illegal markets, namely the smuggling of migrants. To this end, we utilise a novel dataset of 21,555 phone conversations wiretapped by the police to study interactions among offenders.     

Current practices in residential treatment for adolescent sex offenders: a survey

A list of all treatment facilities for adolescent sex offenders that described themselves as inpatient or residential was requested from the Safer Society Foundation in Brandon, Vermont. A total of 203 such facilities were identified in this manner. Each was sent a questionnaire regarding their policies and practices. Of the 50 questionnaires that were returned, 49 were usable. Items on the questionnaire dealt with major phases of operating a residential program, including number of beds, average daily census, number of males and females in treatment, testing and assessment procedures, most frequent diagnoses, average IQ of patients, abuse history, therapeutic approaches used, number and types of individual/group treatment sessions per week, qualifications of therapists, average length of treatment, and follow-up research on treatment.     

The role of local stakeholders in transforming economic upgrading into social upgrading in Ethiopian textile and garment firms

The authors examine the links between economic and social upgrading in a developing country with stringent industry policy and employment legislation, focusing on the strategies of local firms participating in global apparel production networks. Based on the 2015 case studies of five textile and garment firms in Ethiopia, they find that employment security and physical well-being were driven mainly by government labour regulations negotiated by local employers, workers and trade unions rather than by global buyers and conclude that upgrading and downgrading can occur simultaneously within a firm.     

Close encounters of the utilitarian kind: mediated reparation for young offenders

SUMMARY. The proposal that reparation be added to the range of disposals available in our systems of juvenile justice has generally been resisted. In looking at both English and Scottish systems, it is stressed that decision-makers are legally required to give priority to the welfare of the child. However, where reparation warrants rehabilitation that requirement is satisfied. Rehabilitation is more likely to be achieved when young offenders are diverted to programmes which support the development of appropriate attitudes to rights in property or person. Mediated encounters between victims and offenders may be programmes of the right type     

Assessing reoffense risk with juvenile sexual offenders

This article summarizes a two-year study of juvenile sexual offenders in Washington. Both community-based and institution-based treatment programs were evaluated. A typical profile of the juvenile sexual offender is offered, as well as recidivism data from a mean 20-month follow-up period.     

Sentencing outcomes of convicted child sex offenders

This research examines the sentencing outcomes of convicted child sexual offenders from data collected over an eight year period. Multiple regression and nominal log linear regression are used to examine length of prison sentence, length of probation sentence, and whether the convicted offender is actually sent to prison or to probation. While many independent variables appear to be related to sentence outcome, they fall into three categories: characteristics of the offender, characteristics of the victim, and characteristics of the crime. Additionally, while many variables appear related at the bivariate level, when multivariate analysis is applied, fewer variables remain significant, and these are mostly from the characteristics of the offense.