Examining the Effect of Correctional Programming on Perceptions of Likelihood of Recidivism Among Incarcerated Prisoners

ABSTRACT

For many years, policymakers and criminal justice scholars have debated the impact of correctional programming on recidivism. This debate is currently unresolved. Using data from 1,234 currently incarcerated inmates in a mid-Southern state, this study examines whether inmates who participate in correctional programming while incarcerated are less likely to feel that they will recidivate upon release from prison. The findings from this research suggest that program participation while in prison has little impact on the inmates’ perceived recidivism, although important programming effects may still occur. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

When the Methodological Shoe is on the Other Foot: African American Interviewer and White Interviewees

Some scholars engaging in the insider/outsider debate have argued that the pairing of researcher and subjects based on racial similarity—i.e., “race matching”—is the most effective means for conducting qualitative research. Although insider/outsider status has been discussed with respect to white researchers' studies of African Americans, I explore the heretofore rarely discussed situation in which an African American is the researcher and whites are the subjects. I argue that insider status with respect to race continues to be based on a presumed connectedness linked to phenotypical characteristics—like skin color or hair texture. Yet, rather than experiencing a solely insider or outsider status, researchers and subjects experience what I call “insider moments” wherein their interests converge and they are able to share in the kinds of interactions that yield important insights. I conclude by evaluating the utility of insider/outsider status in qualitative research.     

Nightlife Girls: Envy,Theatre, and Encounters with Men and Women

This article explores how envy influences affective performance in the service industry. Utilizing the first‐person accounts of 12 women working in one Manhattan bar, it examines how the experiences these women have with male and female customers are differently intersected by expectations for gendered performance. It further explores how envy — as the emotion most prompted in the servers in the face of these expectations — can in response be harnessed as a force for their critical agency. Seeing envy as both an antagonizer and central defence mechanism, the paper goes on to dissect the various strategies employed by the serving women to both adopt the differing embodiments of affective gender performance expected by their male and female customers, and protect themselves from the emotional damage that is risked in adopting such externally dictated subjectivities.     

Immigration and Generational Solidarity: Elderly Soviet Immigrants and Their Adult Children in Israel

Immigration in later life is an extremely stressful life event. When multigenerational families resettle together, elders turn to their adult children for support, while both generations face challenges of integration. Drawing on the framework of intergenerational solidarity-conflict-ambivalence, this qualitative study explores the relationships between elderly, ex-Soviet immigrants and their adult children in Israel. The findings illuminate the declining personal resources and family status of the elders, as well as their main coping strategies. Both generations try to discover a new balance among the old and new cultural expectations, reciprocity, and use of available, formal, geriatric services.     

Bringing the body back into theory and methodology

This is a discussion of a book by Kathryn Linn Geurts, Culture and the Senses. Bodily Ways of Knowing in an African Community, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2002; and a book by Judith Farquhar, Appetites. Food and Sex in Post-Socialist China, Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press, 2002.

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Improved estimators for the location of double exponential distribution

In this paper, attention is focused on estimation of the location parameter in the double exponential case using a weighted linear combination of the sample median and pairs of order statistics, with symmetric distance to both sides from the sample median. Minimizing with respect to weights and distances we get smaller asymptotic variance in the second order. If the number of pairs is taken as infinite and the distances as null we attain the least asymptotic variance in this class of estimators. The Pitman estimator is also noted. Similarly improved estimators are scanned over their probability of concentration to investigate its bound. Numerical comparison of the estimators is shown.     

Impaired angiogenesis in the aged

The process of angiogenesis, during which new blood vessels are formed, is impaired during aging. This Perspective describes many of the myriad components of the angiogenic response that are altered with age. In addition, the impact of impaired angiogenesis on wound healing, vascular disease, and cancer in the aged is discussed.     

A Cautionary Note on the Use of the Grønnesby and Borgan Goodness-of-Fit Test for the Cox Proportional Hazards Model

Grønnesby and Borgan (1996, Lifetime Data Analysis 2, 315–328) propose an omnibus goodness-of-fit test for the Cox proportional hazards model. The test is based on grouping the subjects by their estimated risk score and comparing the number of observed and a model based estimated number of expected events within each group. We show, using extensive simulations, that even for moderate sample sizes the choice of number of groups is critical for the test to attain the specified size. In light of these results we suggest a grouping strategy under which the test attains the correct size even for small samples. The power of the test statistic seems to be acceptable when compared to other goodness-of-fit tests.     

Implications of no recent sexual activity,casual sex,or exclusive sex for college women's sexual well-being depend on sexual attitudes

Objective: We examine how sexual activity relates to sexual well-being within the context of sexual attitudes, sexual agency, and sexual desire. Participants/Methods: We surveyed 471 college women in 2012–2014 who had ever had sex. Results: Sexual agency and sexual desire consistently predicted well-being, regardless of recent sexual activity. There was a significant interaction between recent sexual activity (none, casual, or exclusive relationship) and sexual attitudes. Exclusive sex was associated with higher than average sexual well-being, especially for women with permissive attitudes. Women who had casual sex and held permissive to average attitudes had the next highest levels of well-being, but those with non-permissive attitudes fell substantially below the overall mean. Women who had no recent sex were consistently below the mean, especially for women with more permissive attitudes. Conclusions: A disconnect between sexual attitudes and recent sexual activity may lower women's sexual well-being.