Faith E. Lutze

Ultramasculine prison environments and inmates' adjustment: It's time to move beyond the “boys will be boys” paradigm

Shock incarceration programs have become increasingly popular as an alternative to traditional prisons. Critics state, however, that such programs are characterized by ultramasculine environments which may lead to a number of negative outcomes for inmates. This study compares inmates in a shock incarceration program with inmates in a traditional minimum-security prison on the degree to which they perceive their environments as masculine, and how these perceptions relate to institutional adjustment. Inmates who describe their environment as possessing ultramasculine attributes were more likely to report negative patterns of adjustment.

Homelessness and Reentry A Multisite Outcome Evaluation of Washington State’s Reentry Housing Program for High Risk Offenders

Each year many offenders are released homeless putting them at great risk of being returned to prison. To reduce the likelihood of recidivism, Washington State implemented the Reentry Housing Pilot Program (RHPP) to provide housing assistance for high risk/high need offenders leaving prison without a viable place to live. This study provides a longitudinal (2008-2011), multisite outcome evaluation that considers how ex-offenders in the RHPP program (n = 208), who were provided housing and wraparound services, compared with similar offenders released with an elevated risk of homelessness while being traditionally supervised (n = 208). Findings show that the RHPP program was successful in significantly reducing new convictions and readmission to prison for new crimes, but had no significant effect on revocations. In addition, results showed that periods of homelessness significantly elevated the risk of recidivism for new convictions, revocations, and readmission to prison. The authors recommend that subsidized housing for high risk offenders become a central part of coordinated responses to reentry.

The Nexus Between Drug and Alcohol Treatment Program Integrity and Drug Court Effectiveness: Policy Recommendations for Pursuing Success

The literature supporting the efficacy of drug courts continues to grow. Much attention and research has focused on recidivism rates for participants, and generally address the question of, do drug courts work? The current state of drug court practice is a process that relies heavily on the drug and alcohol treatment services that are offered to clients. Many treatment programs, and the treatment philosophy that underlies their approach to solving substance abuse, offer vague and eclectic approaches that oftentimes do not meet the diverse needs of their clients related to gender, culture, and specific cognitive impacts on the brain caused by drug use. We argue that a move toward the use of evidence-based practice, coupled with quality assurance measures for treatment providers, will promote best practice and will ensure program integrity that leads to effective and long-lasting drug court programs.

The influence of a shock incarceration program on inmate adjustment and attitudinal change

Abstract One of the goals of shock incarceration programs (SIPs) is to provide a disciplined environment that will reduce negative inmate behavior and influence positive adjustment and attitudinal change. This study compares inmates serving time in a SIP (n=271) with inmates in a minimum-security traditional prison (n=106) and measures attitudinal change and inmate adjustment to the institution over time. The results support prior research findings that shock incarceration inmates, in general, tend to hold more positive attitudes and be better adjusted than traditional inmates during their incarceration. The results also indicate that, although shock incarceration inmates remain positive about their future throughout their imprisonment, they nonetheless experience some difficulty in adjustment, are inclined to become increasingly less optimistic about the program during their sentence, and report attitudinal change related to specific program outcomes (i.e., work, drug use) similar to that of traditional inmates.

The Future of Community Corrections Is Now: Stop Dreaming and Take Action

The political, economic, and social context in which community corrections functions makes it extremely difficult to achieve successful outcomes. The current fiscal crisis, however, is forcing change as many states can no longer support the cost of our 30-year imprisonment binge. As in the past, community corrections will be expected to pick up the pieces of an overcrowded and expensive prison system. The authors argue that community corrections is capable of taking on this challenge and can be successful if policy makers take action to reduce prison and community supervision populations, ensure that agencies are structured to proactively support evidence-based practice, and recognize corrections as a human services profession. The authors present a number of actions that can be taken to promote a new era of shared responsibility in corrections that is framed within a human rights perspective and driven by an ethic of care.

Boot Camp Prisons as Masculine Organizations: Rethinking Recidivism and Program Design

Abstract A number of studies have tested the effectiveness of boot camp prisons in reducing recidivism and results indicate that they have not been as successful as originally anticipated. While no two programs are comparable in terms of programming and treatment, most programs utilize a hypermasculine paramilitary prison structure to deter, punish, and rehabilitate. We argue that this structure is problematic in terms of the way in which it is used to instill and reinforce hypermasculine behaviors that have been found to be highly correlated with criminal behavior. After introducing the prison as a gendered organization and discussing the relationship of masculinity and crime, we review studies of boot camp prisons and relate these findings to specific masculine attributes of the boot camp to show how the organizational design may be ineffective in producing desired correctional outcomes.

Innovation in Community Corrections and Probation Officers’ Fears of Being Sued : Implementing Neighborhood-Based Supervision in Spokane, Washington

Probation departments are emphasizing a greater level of community interaction between officers and ordinary citizens as an integral part of effective offender supervision. This trend is due in part to the prisoner reentry correctional paradigm, which conceptualizes probation officers as relationship brokers between offenders and their employers, family members, and community stakeholders. Field probation officers are a critical part of implementing this community-oriented approach. Few scholars, however, have evaluated probation departments’ organizational capacities to implement this change in light of the legal vulnerabilities to torts faced by these officers. We use in-depth interview data from a sample of field probation officers in eastern Washington State to understand how probation officers’ concerns about being sued and their trust in the organization may affect its capacity to innovate. The theoretical and policy implications of our findings are discussed.

The Effectiveness of a Shock Incarceration Program and a Minimum Security Prison in Changing Attitudes toward Drugs

Shock incarceration programs, or boot camp prisons, have been advocated as one means to deal with the recent massive influx of drug offenders into the criminal justice system. The study compares the attitudes of prisoners (N = 103) in a minimum security facility and inmates (N = 267) in a prison boot camp toward alcohol, marijuana, and hard drugs (measured by acceptability scales) over a 6-month period. The findings reveal that shock incarceration appears to be an effective program in changing attitudes toward the use of alcohol but has little impact on attitudes toward illicit drug use. It also appears that an inmates history of alcohol and drug use has a greater influence on attitudinal change than does prison setting.

Anti-Human Trafficking Interagency Collaboration in the State of Michigan: An Exploratory Study

ABTRACT In recent years, there has been increased recognition that public, private, and nongovernmental agencies must work collaboratively to effectively respond to the crime of human trafficking. Despite this recognition, limited empirical research exists that examines the topic of anti-human-trafficking interagency collaboration. This study examines (a) the types of agencies engaged in anti-human-trafficking interagency collaborative efforts, and (b) the characteristics of such interagency collaborative activities in the state of Michigan. The results show that many agencies in criminal justice, human/social services, victim services, and allied agencies do not participate in interagency collaboration related to human trafficking. For those that do, the types of formal collaborative activities engaged in are severely limited and tend to be concentrated in just a few areas. Future research directions and policy implications are discussed.

The Reality of Practicing the Ten Key Components in Adult Drug Court

Model adult drug courts are designed based on the Ten Key Components. Although most process evaluations describe the structure of program implementation, few studies describe the reality of implementing the Ten Key Components or provide a discussion about the intense commitment by staff and offenders necessary to achieve a successful drug court. This study provides a detailed description of the reality of implementing the Ten Key Components as related to everyday operations and to the broader process evaluation literature. Policy recommendations are provided regarding the most relevant components to informing the successful implementation of adult drug courts.