Efrat Shoham

The Battered Wife’s Perception of the Characteristics of Her Encounter with the Police

According to the research literature, the relationship between battered women and the police tends to be unsatisfactory and frustrating, characterized by a mutual lack of understanding. The aim of the present study is to consider how women who seek police help in the wake of violent attacks by their husbands perceive the attitude of the policemen during their encounter at the police station. The findings indicate that most of the women lodged a complaint out of feelings of fear and humiliation, expecting to receive some manner of support and protection. However, they perceived that the police did not understand their situation, tended to be suspicious of their motives, and believed them to be seeking revenge or trying to exact some sort of profit.

“Signs of Honor” Among Russian Inmates in Israel's Prisons

The unique nature of Israeli society as an immigrant society has also affected the prison population in Israel. This article focuses on a social and cultural phenomenon that particularly characterizes the prisoners of Russian origin, the phenomenon of tattoos. Using postmodernist theories, the article examines the function of the tattoo among Russian prisoners and the role it plays in constructing the criminal self-identity of these inmates in Israeli prisons. The tattoos observed during 2005-2006 among the Russian prisoners in four major Israeli prisons reflect the values of the Russian criminal subculture from which they evolved and were imported. This subculture is characterized by a hierarchical class structure and manifestations of machismo, domination, defiance, rebellion, and open antagonism against the Establishment and its representatives.

Changing Prison Into a Therapeutic Milieu: Evidence From the Israeli National Rehabilitation Center for Prisoners

This study examines how a change in prison milieu affected both inmate and staff experiences of treatment within a regular correctional facility. Specifically, the study seeks to demonstrate how a change in prison milieu brought change on inmates and staff behavior and perception. Data were gathered using semistructured interviews with inmates and prison staff, and narratives were later analyzed. Results suggest that the therapeutic milieu inside the Sharon prison was significantly different from other prison-based therapeutic modalities and that this difference may be responsible for improved treatment retention and compliance as well as lowering recidivism rates. Potential explanations for these findings are discussed, and their implications for prison-based treatment and rehabilitation programs are explored.

Sociolegal Characteristics and Parole Infractions Among Israeli Released Prisoners During Electronic Monitoring

The objective of this study is to examine the part played by sociolegal characteristics such as ethnic background, family status, or criminal past in the rate of infractions among ex-prisoners in Electronic Monitoring (EM) Programs. In addition, it focuses on the nature of the formal decisions made by community supervision agents regarding such infractions and their correlation with the sociolegal characteristics of the participants. The research population included all prisoners on license (i.e., prisoners who have been granted conditional early release) who took part in the EM project from mid-2007 until mid-2009 (24 months), altogether 155 participants. The data show no significant correlation between the number of infractions and the participant’s sociolegal background. In spite of the fact that the EM coordinators have extensive discretionary power, which is likely to lead to discrimination attributable to variables such as ethnicity, this research shows that the most efficacious variable for explaining formal responses is an objective one—the number of infractions.

Gender, Traditionalism, and Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence Within a Closed Community

This research was aimed at examining the attitudes toward domestic violence of people living in communal secular and religious kibbutzim. The findings, disregarding gender or traditionalism, indicate that most of the kibbutz members examined view the kibbutz as almost totally lacking any problem of violence toward women by their partners. The belief that the kibbutz home is a secure place for women within the family framework appears, surprisingly, at a higher frequency among women than among men. There are two possible theoretical explanations for this finding. First, the kibbutz lifestyle has indeed brought about equal power relationships, which explains why domestic violence is not viewed as a social problem, mostly by secular women. Second, women, who play a relatively minor role in constructing the public agenda in the kibbutz, have not become aware of the existence of this issue in the closed community.

For Prisoners, “Work Works”: Qualitative Findings From an Israeli Program

The study’s purpose was to assess the contribution of the Work Release Program of the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to the processes of prisoners’ rehabilitation. We interviewed 22 serving and released prisoners who participated in the program at two prisons in central Israel. Most respondents were positive toward the core components of the program, mainly the work outside the prison. Responses also indicated that the program eased their transition from prison life to life outside. However, some respondents criticized the way in which the program was operated. The article discusses the program’s strengths and weaknesses, and proposes some improvements.

Recidivism Among Licensed-Released Prisoners Who Participated in the EM Program in Israel:

Toward the end of 2006, a pilot program was launched in Israel wherein licensed-released prisoners were put under electronic monitoring (EM). In addition to EM, the pilot program, operated by the Prisoners’ Rehabilitation Authority, provides programs of occupational supervision and personal therapy and is designed to allow for early release of those prisoners who, without increased supervision, would have been found unsuitable for early release. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether participation in the EM program among licensed-released prisoners in Israel might bring about lessened recidivism. For that matter, rates of arrests and incarceration were examined during a follow-up period of up to 4 years, among the entirety of licensed-released prisoners participating in the EM program between the years 2007 and 2009 (n = 155). To compare recidivism rates, a control group was assembled from among the entirety of released prisoners who were found unsuitable for early release in judicial conditions, and had therefore served the full term of their incarceration, to be released between the years 2005 and 2006 (a period of time during which an EM program was not yet operated among licensed-released prisoners in Israel). Study findings clearly show that while among the control group, 42% of released prisoners were re-incarcerated, at the end of a 4-year follow-up period, only 15% among the study group had returned to prison. These findings can be explained by combining the Social Control theory and the Self-Control theory which consider the period of time under EM program and the occupational and familial integration tools for reducing criminal connections and enhancing pro-social behavior.

Reinforcing the impacts of work release on prisoner recidivism: the importance of integrative interventions

ObjectivesWe present findings from an evaluation of a large work release program in the Israeli Prison Service. The Israeli program uses an integrative therapeutic approach which combines work release with a series of other program elements. Our main question is whether this integration of multiple program elements leads to strong benefits in terms of reincarceration and re-arrests.MethodsThe study uses a rich administrative database to develop a propensity score matching approach for creating matched treatment (n = 547) and control (n = 547) subjects. The prisoners in the groups are found to be similar on known characteristics after matching. MHbounds methods are used to assess the sensitivity of the results to bias.ResultsAverage standardized effect sizes in our study vary between .17 and .31. In general, rehabilitation outcomes observed are much larger than those reported for US evaluations of work release programs.ConclusionsWork release in Israel is not simply work release, but involves a positive social environment, a high dosage of counseling and therapy, and more general privileges for inmates including furloughs and cultural activities. We argue that our findings suggest the importance of a broader more integrative approach to work release programs to achieve enhanced success in reducing recidivism.

“The Whole Is Greater Than the Sum of the Parts”: Prison Staff Perceptions of Domestic Violence Rehabilitation Programs:

This qualitative study is part of a mixed methods research project that examined the effectiveness of the primary rehabilitation program for domestic violence offenders in the Israeli Prison Services—the “House of Hope.” The quantitative part of the study showed that the “House of Hope” program was effective in reducing recidivism among participating inmates. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the rehabilitation program according to the perspectives of the program staff. For this purpose, semistructured interviews were conducted with the department staff during the study as well as with past directors. The qualitative findings suggested that the success of the program probably stemmed from a synergistic combination of several components, for example, identifying the characteristics of domestic violence offenders and adjusting treatment programs to their needs, along with exposure to psychological treatment in varied therapies (cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoeducational, and psychodynamic) and formats (group therapy and individual therapy) during a 1-year stay in a hierarchical therapeutic community. Other components mentioned are staff professionalism, stability, and the program’s location in a therapeutic-oriented prison that is architecturally designed and built to create a less stressful environment for the inmates and the staff.

The "Black Box" Behind Prison-Based Vocational Training Programs

This study examines the relationship between climate change and undernourishment and its negative impact on child health. The focus of this study is Palghar District (which was formed on August 1, 2014, in State of Maharashtra, India). This paper examines the efficacy of the role of healthy government initiatives and their awareness among people in overcoming the adverse effects of climate-change. The study is based on interviews with the District Collector, various government officials and anthropologists working in the area, as well as secondary data collected from the Palghar District Collectorate. As the data made available by the government were limited, the study is unable to supply extensive information about such aspects as the beneficiaries of various welfare schemes, project costs and cost analysis. Palghar district has reported 64 per 1000 child deaths and 44 per 1000 infant deaths between April and October, 2016. The researcher tried to find links between various potential variables and child mortality in this administrative region. The researcher hopes that by giving voice to a localised issue and discussing possible solutions for curbing the problem of child mortality due to undernourishment, it may be possible to find a long-term and comprehensive model for a solution for the same problem around the world.In modern conditions of globalization, the quality of static data of foreign economic relations of the country plays an important role in decision-making about the foreign economic sphere of the country. This is without their quality leading to wrong static analysis of the indicators of foreign economic relations and methods of evaluation. As a result, it is impossible for correct decision not to be made by the government. Also, there are questions about what are the important priorities in the development of foreign economic relations of the country. According to the analysis of static indicators of foreign economic relations of Syria before and during the crisis, we noted that there was a deterioration of all indicators of foreign economic relations due to armed conflict. This includes the increase in the external debt 2.75 times in 2014 compared with the period before the crisis, the decline in exports and imports, and the improvement of egovernment. In addition, work without high-quality cannot control foreign trade transactions.Liability of the custodian or custodian body for the damage caused by the persons totally divested from the ability to act due to mental disability is a kind of liability for the damage caused by the actions of the other person. In this case, his/her custodian or custodian body that is liable for his/her supervision shall be liable even for the damage caused by the person with mental disabilities. Obligation for supervision and care of the custodian or custodian body for the person with mental disabilities shall be the reason based on which they should respond in cases when the person with mental disabilities causes a damage to the third person. In order this kind of liability to come into consideration, in advance, there should be met some conditions as follows: 1. The damage is caused, 2. The damage is caused by the person that is incapable to judge and by the person who is under custody, 3. The damage has been caused since the custodian has not exercised adequately the supervision function as required according to the Law, decision of a body or any contract. These conditions should be fulfilled together in order that this kind of liability to come into consideration. Theoretical treatments regarding these kinds of liabilities, not in all cases, have brought the due clearance. In theoretical treatments of various authors that have treated this kind of liability there are presented dilemma which require a different analysis and approach in order that there to be identified some cases that have been left untreated until nowadays. Those authors, in their theoretical treatments, have ascertained that the custodian or custodian body shall be released from the liability for the damage caused by the person with mental disabilities or with mental slowdown development or any other circumstance according to which they could not judge his/her actions, if they can prove their innocence whether they have exercised adequately the supervision towards the person with mental disabilities or with mental slowdown development but the same authors have not given further explanations that who will be liable in such cases if the person with mental disabilities does not have economic conditions to make the compensation of the damage. This issue is regulated with legal framework of some countries treated in this paper. We have done this comparative analysis between the legal framework of these countries with the purpose of identifying the similarities and differences between them in regulating this liability. Even that there are some differences in legal determinations, we should say that Kosovo, Croatia, Serbia, Albania, France, Italy, Germany and Spain have approximately similar regulation regarding this liability since all these countries cover this kind of liability with their legal framework.This study is an effort to characterize the legal and social aspects of the polish regulations relating to the employment of people with disabilities in sheltered conditions. In Poland, the role of activation of the disabled in the protected labor market performs three types of operations: sheltered workshops, factories professional activity, and social co-operation. Authors discuss the formal requirements to obtain the status, specific rights, and the obligations of employers who are employing the establishment of protected or reinsured activity. The research included in the study was supplemented by an analysis of available statistical data based on the number of operators protected labor market and the number of disabled people employed in these workplaces.Starting from 1st May, 2004 countries of European Fifteen have gradually opened their labour markets for the new EU members, including the Poles. The first to take this step was Great Britain, Ireland and Sweden, the last - Germany and Austria. For the new EU citizens, emerging opportunities were connected with benefits and wide possibilities, but also with limitations and adaptation difficulties. They had to deal with the language barrier as much as the different culture, accepted behaviours, traditions, work culture and model of spending leisure time. Mentality of migrants – whether they were able or not to immerse into the “new” – had impact on finding themselves in another environment. Most of those, who left Poland did not plan to settle, they were leaving “for some time”, temporarily. Mentally, they were still connected with previous place of residence, more interested in environment left behind than new one. Such behaviour was not conducive to adaptation; on the contrary, it made adaptation harder. Migrants through listening to Polish radio, watching Polish television stations, using the Polish Internet portals and reading national press, separated themselves from the new environment. All of these was due to the assumption that engaging in new place has no point since their stay is only temporary. Their attitude to the kind of work and workplace was similar. Majority of migrants from the EU-8 countries was taking up secondary employment, regardless of educational background. Wages comparable with Polish were supposed to compensate depreciation on the labour market. A wide spectrum of adaptation problems of Polish migrants is an issue raised in reports prepared by specialized research institutions, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Polish Community organisations.The system of support for women within the framework of the social policy of the Second Polish Republic included: the adequate regulations of work legislation, the rules of social insurance, the activities towards the maternity protection of the insured and, finally, social services directly or indirectly provided to women by the central as well as local governments. These activities were extensive and, in many cases, very modern. What is more, they were directed towards solving the most important social problems of women. However, rather than common, the scope of those activities was very limited and selective. Moreover, the implementation of those activities was not always in accordance with the plans and expectations of their authors. From the point of view of the existing social needs, the most advanced solutions were those which resulted from a privileged position of women in the work legislation and the system of health insurance. The problem of the insignificant influence always had its roots in the socio-professional structure of the country. Only women in employment or covered by the insurance could receive the benefits. For the rest the offer was no longer that beneficial.In a society genetically endowed with great cognitive potential, the paradigmatic failure of the post-communist education system divide young people into three categories: young elitists who join foreign universities and companies, well-prepared young people eager to study in their country and young NEETs. The increasing percentage of the latter ones is confirmed by the national results obtained in the PISA tests and high school dropout rates. No community in this world can be strong when the investment in education lacks. Non-aligned job policies to educational ones will give birth to worrying imbalances, highlighting the phenomenon of migration. Demographic decline and the lack of strategies to stimulate birth rate will increase the impossibility to ensure generational change within the active population and all these will lead to a block of the pension system. Romania, in the next 20 years will follow the model of the European countries, which face labor importation and the migration of non-European capital. Are there any solutions to counterbalance these trends? This is the question which, the whole rethink of theoretical-methodological analysis of some policies meant to give value to the huge Romanian qualitative human force, deprecated within the large globalization, is based on.The essay deals with the difficult relationship between fiscal responsibility and representation: it seems that the traditional rule “no taxation without representation” is less and less true, as the responsibility of the representatives, be they those of the national parliament or of the representative bodies of local institutions, is no longer a real guarantee. The case of the Italian system is significant: local taxes have been interpreted in a very singular way by the constitutional case law, as the representatives’ responsibility connected with local government levies is limited to the determining only of certain aspects of the fiscal phenomenon. One first goal is therefore to analyse the atypical fiscal and financial responsibility of local administrators. But a specific phenomenon of the Italian Regions with a special level of autonomy deserves attention. These special Regions have negotiated with the central government a specific regime: since the constitutional implementation process of 2009, they dispose of undeniably high percentages of their territories’ tax revenue. The profiles of derived finance have been eliminated and it has been decided to return to the self-financing model, understood as the prevailing allocation in a fixed share of tax revenues produced within the territory. The case of the special regional revenues of Trentino-Alto Adige is a peculiar one and it is specifically studied in this essay. This work discusses the question of representation regarding tax revenues in a different way, based on a particular type of relation between the wealthproducing context and the institutions.Today, internet plays an indisputable role as a means of communication, information flow, and as a point of meeting the needs of a growing number of people. The authors noted more and more important role that mass communication plays in social media. This article presents various definitions of the phenomenon and the proposed typology, and threats which entails using either incompetent social media today. This article is intended to facilitate the communication process for researchers, sociologists, media experts, and people interested in the study of the phenomenon of online communication.A change depending on the time of the flood wave moving in a stream using flood routing approach is examined. Flood routing of flood discharge along the river with their account and calculating the changes in the water level of flood protection structure size is determined to safety. The aim of this study, Sutculer flood event will be modeled by Genetic Expression Programing (GEP) method. The GEP method makes use of few hydrologic parameters such as inflow, outflow, and time. Simulation results indicate that the proposed a predictive model is an appropriate for the flood routing. Case study is presented to demonstrate that the GEP model is an alternative in implementation of the Muskingum model.