Sexual coercion reported by women in three midwestern prisons

The study was an anonymous self‐report survey of coercive sexual experiences of women incarcerated in three Midwestern prisons. Inmate populations were 295 (Facility 1), 113 (Facility 2) and 60 (Facility 3). Return rates were over 50%. Some prison staff were also surveyed. The 150 inmates in Facility 1 reported relatively high rates of sexual coercion: 27% had been coerced in the state system and 19% in their present facility. The 80 inmates in Facility 1 and 36 inmates in Facility 3 reported lower rates: 8% to 9% for prisons statewide and 6% to 8% for their present facility. One half of the perpetrators were female inmates. Most incidents involved genital touching. About one fifth of the incidents were classifiable as rape. We concluded that the prison environment potentially fosters female sexual aggression among inmates and sexual exploitation by staff.     

Sexual coercion reported by women in three midwestern prisons

The study was an anonymous self-report survey of coercive sexual experiences of women incarcerated in three Midwestern prisons. Inmate populations were 295 (Facility 1), 113 (Facility 2) and 60 (Facility 3). Return rates were over 50%. Some prison staff were also surveyed. The 150 inmates in Facility 1 reported relatively high rates of sexual coercion: 27% had been coerced in the state system and 19% in their present facility. The 80 inmates in Facility 1 and 36 inmates in Facility 3 reported lower rates: 8% to 9% for prisons statewide and 6% to 8% for their present facility. One half of the perpetrators were females. Most incidents involved genital touching. About one fifth of the incidents were classifiable as rape. We concluded that the prison environment potentially fosters female sexual aggression among inmates and sexual exploitation by staff.     

Auditory status and experiences of abuse among college students

Studies that explore experiences of abuse among deaf or hard of hearing college students are sparse and usually focus on lifetime experiences rather than the college years. A random sample of more than 1,000 college students at a campus in Upstate New York provided the data for this study. An institute for the deaf or hard of hearing was one of the colleges at the university and provided a unique opportunity to explore experiences among this demographic. Victimization rates and experiences by auditory status--deaf and hard of hearing or hearing--were examined. Binomial regression analyses were employed and findings indicated a significant association with being deaf or hard of hearing and physical and psychological abuse at the hands of a partner. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.     

FROM THE SANCTUARY TO THE SLAMMER: EXPLORING THE NARRATIVES OF EVANGELICAL PRISON MINISTRY WORKERS

Current survey research reveals that religious conservatives exhibit more punitive attitudes toward criminal offenders than their nonreligious and mainline counterparts. Despite the pervasiveness of conservative Protestant support for the punitive treatment of criminal offenders, evangelical-run prison ministry programs have proliferated in recent decades. This study uses in-depth interviews to examine the motivations of prison ministry workers. The narratives demonstrate that prison ministry workers embrace a distinctive orientation of compassion and, through sustained contact with inmates, they negotiate the tension between conservative religious values and their practical experiences working in prison ministry. From this overarching theme of compassion, three important subthemes emerged: (1) the calling of prison ministry, (2) special connections to the prison context, and (3) a sense of comfort and security with inmates. Overall, we observe how prison ministers negotiate two competing moral logics—judgment and compassion—in light of their religious convictions and experiences with inmate outreach.     

LEGITIMATING TRANSPHOBIA

Transgender persons are strangers to the law; or put more accurately, the legal imagination is so deeply entrenched in normative gender binarism as to effectively render transsexuals a ‘freakish’ anomaly to law. This essay attempts to offer a reflection on transgenderism, law and sexual crime from a human rights and criminal law perspective. It focuses on one of the most violent types of institution in society – the prison – and asks: what are the legal imagination and practice surrounding transgender prisoners as they are linked to social and cultural transphobia? What ‘human’ rights can be practiced for a dehumanized class? It first surveys the legal predicament of transgender prisoners in the US prison system in relation to Eighth Amendment rights provided by the US Constitution. The US situation has seen cases that have importantly shed light on other jurisdictions when engaging with the combined questions of prisoners’ rights and transgender rights together. The analysis is then taken to the context of Hong Kong prisons in a modest application. In contrast to some other Asian contexts (such as Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia), critical cultural studies of transgenderism are non-existent in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, human rights studies of the same have only emerged through the work of legal scholar Robyn Emerton. It is hoped that a rights-based approach will emerge in Hong Kong for the protection of transgender inmates from sexual violence in local correctional facilities.     

Role Fusion: The Occupational Socialization of Prison Chaplains

The conclusion that prisons, as total institutions, are “forcing houses” for the changing of persons can be extended beyond inmates to the prison staff. In this article I focus on one subset of prison staff that has received only scant examination: prison chaplains. Using qualitative interview data, I analyze the occupational socialization of state‐employed prison chaplains. I begin by discussing the initial expectations chaplains held about their work and what they hoped to accomplish. I describe the challenges of working in the correctional environment and note the occupational adjustments chaplains made in reaction to these challenges. I conclude with a theoretical examination of the role and identity processes that framed the occupational socialization of prison chaplains.     

Expansion of long-term care in the prison system: an aging inmate population poses policy and programmatic questions

Throughout the United States, departments of corrections are experiencing increases in their inmate populations. More specifically, the number of aging inmates is increasing and will continue to grow as younger prisoners who have long sentences with no possibility of parole age in prison. In addition, the number of younger inmates with illnesses such as AIDS has increased. Although long-term care can be required by individuals of any age, the need for such assistance tends to increase with age. Long-term care, therefore, can be seen as an issue confronting prisons with aging inmate populations. Yet, little is known about the nature or extent of the need. This paper focuses on older inmates and includes reasons for the increased need for long-term care in the prison setting. The standard for prison health care, the long-term-care status of older inmates, and examples of long-term-care services and facilities are described. Key questions related to furnishing long-term care to an older incarcerated population are identified. Recommendations are presented for both corrections and long-term-care providers and policymakers as they develop strategies to address this challenge.     

试论青少年罪犯的公民意识培养

青少年罪犯的公民意识，是在监狱、未成年犯管教所服刑青少年罪犯关于自身权利、义务和自我意识、自我认同的总称。在当下，培育青少年罪犯公民意识的必要性主要体现在它是维护正常监管改造秩序的重要一环。是青少年罪犯成为守法公民的关键和根本．是提升全社会公民意识的一个组成部分。培育青少年罪犯公民意识的主要内容应涵括培育青少年罪犯的权利和义务意识，培育青少年罪犯守法意识和主体意识。要加强教育培育青少年罪犯的公民意识。立足当前，着眼未来，坚持常抓不懈．同时要重视培育监狱干警自身的公民意识。     

Mental Health Care for American Indians in Prison

Abstract

Based on an earlier finding that as many Native Americans in upstate New York received mental health care in prison as outside of prison during a 10-month period, this study was designed to investigate if prisons had become an alternative treatment option for Native Americans with a mental illness in New York State. The study was not able to answer this question due to the limited number of cases and to outside constraints. However, it is possible from the results to provide a picture of mental health needs and attitudes among Native American inmates which is surprising and instructive for those who provide psychiatric care to American Indians, either within or outside of prison walls. A noteworthy finding was the importance placed by these inmates on the use of culturally appropriate ceremonies to assist in their rehabilitation. Low rates of serious mental illness among the American Indian sample highlight the need for further study in this area.     

Punishing Juvenile Offenders as Adults: An Analysis of the Social and Political Determinants of Juvenile Prison Admissions across the United States

Abstract

Although the punishment of juvenile offenders has increasingly become an issue of major concern to the public, few studies test the government's coercive response to offending by this particular group. This article addresses the issue by examining the variation in the willingness of courts in the United States to adjudicate juvenile offenders in the adult criminal courts and sentence them to adult correctional facilities. I use pooled time-series negative binomial regression to analyze raw counts of juveniles admitted to adult prisons from 1983 to 2001. Results consistently show that states with larger minority populations admit more juvenile offenders to prisons but that states with very large African American populations send fewer of these offenders to prison. The findings also show that differences in the ideological climate of each state are a strong predictor of the variation in adult sanctions for minors. Additional evidence shows that states where judges must run in an election to gain their seats and states where judges have shorter terms proscribe more severe sanctions for juvenile offenders by sentencing more of them to adult prisons. Overall, the results suggest that race and politics play a very strong role in the sentencing of juvenile offenders to adult prisons.     

Abuse and deaf children: Some factors to consider

Deaf children are uniquely disadvantaged in terms of access to information on safety and abuse. This is often due to misunderstood linguistic and cultural needs which relate to the deaf community. Consequently, a greater number of children who are deaf are placed in potentially abusive situations when compared to their non-deaf peer group. A high percentage of deaf children have also acquired negative self-concepts. This is often due to external influences such as educational experiences and family communication. Many deaf children believe that abuse is part of their being deaf. The implications of this are that deaf children are at risk of neglect and abuse as well as long-term damage to their emotional development and self-esteem. A number of survivors of physical and sexual abuse have been referred to the National Centre for Mental Health and Deafness, Preston. Some of these referrals have been inappropriate and due to a dearth of local resources. Extremely little support is available for deaf people who have been or are being abused. There are few appropriately trained counsellors equipped with the necessary skills in communicating with deaf people and even fewer trained in deaf awareness. A number of risk factors have been identified and are illustrated in this article. Three case studies are described to highlight the issues involved.     

Immigrants in Spanish prisons: searching for an educational way out

In recent years, the Spanish prison system has undergone major changes, with a marked increase in the number of immigrant inmates. Thus, educational interventions in prisons must be set against this backdrop of ethnocultural diversity, especially if the aim is re-education and reinsertion into society. This paper focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive educational intervention programme for closed prisons, adaptable to diverse prison situations and educational aims. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between immigration and crime, the potential for educational intervention in this context, and possible strategies favouring intercultural communication within prisons.     

CAT FIGHTS AND GANG FIGHTS

This article uses Joan Acker's (1990) theory of gendered organizations to frame an analysis of the construction of occupational choice. Utilizing interview data collected from correctional officers (N = 36) working in a men's and a women's state prison, I examine these officers' strong preference for work in the men's prison. Reasons for preferring work with men draw on a comparison of male to female inmates in which the latter are seen as emotional and irrational, an ideal typical construction of the men's prison as a "real penitentiary,'and a feeling among officers that supervisors in women's prisons are less able to enforce institutional rules. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of this case study for a theory of gendered occupational choice and gendered organizations.     

Disaster Relief and Crisis Intervention with Deaf Communities: Lessons Learned from the Japanese Deaf Community

ABSTRACT

During natural disasters and crises, the deaf and hard of hearing community might not have full accessibility to all of the information shared with the larger hearing community. This could be due to the lack of awareness among social work professionals about these cultural and linguistic needs of this minority population. The purpose of this article is to explore the challenges faced by the deaf community and to discuss culturally and linguistically appropriate crisis intervention and mobilization to natural disaster situations based on the experiences of the Japanese deaf communities affected by the Kobe and Tohoku earthquakes.     

Gambling Among Prison Inmates: Patterns and Implications

There is an absence of research on gambling among prison inmates during their incarceration. Little is known about how prisoners organize gambling activities or the potential risks they face from gambling. Similarly, no empirical attention has been given to how correctional institutions respond to inmate gambling. This study employed interviews with 55 male prisoners and self-administered surveys with 159 correctional officers and staff, at two medium security prisons in Ohio. Data were gathered on prevalence and patterns of inmate gambling, perceived hazards of gambling, and perceived institutional responses to prisoner gambling. Findings suggest that inmate gambling is common and constitutes an important feature of the underground economy of prisons, yet little is done to deter or prevent this activity. Suggestions are made for more effective institutional responses.     

Deaf and hard of hearing faculty in higher education: enhancing access,equity, policy,and practice

Higher education institutions are often well prepared in terms of accommodation policies and practices for disabled students. Ironically, campuses are often not prepared once disabled academics return as faculty. Most are particularly unfamiliar with the unique access needs of deaf or hard of hearing academics. This can result in career hindrances to employment and tenure, as well as potential losses to campuses in terms of diversity. Background and substantiation on this access issue is provided along with recommendations for policy-making and practices for campuses that are geared to ensuring career success for deaf and hard of hearing faculty.     

Suspended Identity: Identity Transformation in a Maximum Security Prison

This article presents an empirically-grounded model of identity transformation that differs both from the gradual transformation processes that characterize most adult identity changes and from such radical transformation processes as brainwashing or conversion. Data for the study are derived from participant observation and focused interviews with first-time, short-term inmates at a maximum security prison. By attempting to suspend their preprison identities and constructing inauthentic prison identities through impression management, these inmates are able to forestall more radical identity change and to maintain a general sense of identity continuity for most of their prison careers.     

Planned change in the disability community

Planned change with people, who are physically or mentally disabled, as with other special populations, requires a range of skills and knowledge; several specific aspects of the change process are identified and discussed in this article: the characteristics of the change agent, the timing of the change event, and creating a vision for change. These aspects are illustrated through the writer's own experiences as a change agent working a long-range change event to improve access1 to mental health services in the US with and for people who are deaf and hard of hearing.     

Addiction Treatment with Deaf and Hard of Hearing People: An Application of the CENAPS Model

ABSTRACT

Alcohol and drug addiction is a significant problem among deaf and hard of hearing people. Looking through a Deaf culture lens, treatment for alcohol and drug addiction is key for providing care for deaf and hard of hearing clients. Using the CENAPS model, an applied cognitive-behavioral therapy program is recommended for addiction treatment. The CENAPS model provides clinicians with tools for stabilizing deaf and hard of hearing clients, supporting their transition to early recovery. Educating the client about the stages of relapse and the stages of recovery, clinicians using this model can better treat and prepare deaf and hard of hearing clients for long-term recovery.