Hung-En Sung

Gender Differences in the Determinants of Prison Rule Violations

This article addresses gender differences in the extent and explanation of inmate misconduct. The study employs nationally representative prisoner survey data to assess gender-specific explanations of prison rule violations. The gender-specific factors include prior victimization, diagnosed mental disorders, and the amount of inmate contact with their families via visits and phone calls. Logistic regression models support gender-specific explanations of inmate misconduct but also identify other factors of general importance. The policy implications of gendered pathways in prison misconduct are discussed.

Attitudes about gender integration among Bahraini policewomen

This research explored Bahraini policewomens attitudes towards gender integration of their police force. It tests two duelling hypotheses. The first hypothesis, embracing the modernisation model of the development of women in policing, predicts that younger generations of policewomen will be more likely to show support for gender integration. The second hypothesis is that the shift in the Bahraini culture from a nationalist secular feminism in the 1970s to the present neo-conservative Islamism predicts that younger generations of policewomen are less likely to support gender integration. In 2005, a survey was distributed to all Bahraini policewomen (N=241) with 46% (N=112) returning the completed questionnaire. Results from multiple regression analysis show that neither hypotheses satisfactorily predicted variations in Bahraini policewomens attitudes towards gender integration. Suggestions for more nuanced theories were offered to frame analyses of gender and policing in cultural contexts like Bahrain.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Violence-Related and Accident-Related Injuries Among State Prisoners

This study assessed the prevalence, nature, and risk factors of violence- and accident-related injuries among inmates in state prisons. Data from the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities (N = 14,499) were analyzed. More than 32% of inmates reported having been injured since their admission. History of violent offenses, violent victimization, and psychiatric treatment powerfully increased the risk of both types of injuries. Work assignments reduced the risk of violence-related injuries but increased the risk of accident-related injuries. Having received one type of injury raised the risk of the other type of injury. Unlike preexisting health conditions, injury can be proactively and effectively prevented. Coordination of prison services to address risk factors and implementation of prevention strategies can yield important benefits.

Self-Perceived Health Improvements Among Prison Inmates

Despite the extensive resources expended on providing medical care to inmates, inmates’ health perception is an understudied topic. The current study investigates inmates’ perception of health status while incarcerated using a sample of 136 soon-to-be released prisoners. Prisoners with poor health perception prior to their current incarceration were most likely to perceive health improvement. Sociodemographic characteristics were generally not associated with the perceived health improvement during incarceration. Analysis results suggest correctional institutions may play a vital role in delivering much-needed medical care to a segment of the prisoner population, including determining how they feel about their health. It is important to explore the policies and practices to increase continuity of health care following release to maintain perceived health improvement.

Mail Survey in Social Research

This chapter begins with a concise overview of the long history of the use of mail survey in the Western civilization. Then it examines the three main stages in the administration of mail survey: pre-notification, the survey packet, and the follow-up correspondence. The design of the basic components such as the outer envelope, the cover letter, the questionnaire, the return of the survey, and the assembly of the survey packet is discussed at length. A review of the methodological literature provides the basis for an empirical review of the strengths and weaknesses of this data collection method and related issues of validity and reliability. The entire presentation is aimed at providing a set of practical and tested guidelines for the planning and implementation of effective mail survey.

STRUCTURAL DETERMINANTS OF POLICE EFFECTIVENESS IN MARKET DEMOCRACIES

This study examined structural correlates of police effectiveness in 28 market democracies. It found that perceptions of police effectiveness rose in countries with low homicide rates, independent judiciaries, and high income. Greater political freedoms and a lower robbery rate were associated with low police effectiveness. The size of police forces and population and unemployment rates were largely irrelevant. Findings demonstrated the basic dependence of quality policing on good judicial governance and a healthy economy. Making the police more effective requires reform of more than the police. In postmodern democracies, effective policing will require improved media portrayal of crime and increased democratization of police tactics and strategies.

The impact of prison deinstitutionalization on community treatment services

BackgroundWith one in every 108 Americans behind bars, the deinstitutionalization of prisons is a pressing issue for all those facing the daunting challenges of successfully reintegrating ex-offenders into both their communities and the larger society. Given the strong evidence that treatment services, such as mental/behavioral health, alcohol/substance abuse, and primary healthcare may reduce recidivism, the large number of prisoner releases highlights the need for adequate treatment services in the community. It is within this context that the current study aims to examine the effects of prison deinstitutionalization on community based intervention modalities.MethodsThis study set out to address a set of fundamental research questions in the current climate of reversing the 40-year upward trend in prison population. This thread of inquiry is based on a hydraulic model of institutionalization of transinstitutionalization. This hydraulic framework posits that there are many overlaps between public safety and mental health needs, and that psychiatric institutionalization and penal institutionalization are functionally dependent. Longitudinal data with annual standardized measures such as rates and percentages for this change modeling were obtained from a number of national data programs for all 50 states. Our analytical focus concentrated on the second half of the decade of the 2000s.ResultsChange in the state imprisonment rate was negatively correlated with change in the rate of substance abuse treatment admissions (r = -0.24; p < .05) and the change in the rate of inpatient admissions in state psychiatric hospitals (r = 0.10; p > .05) as predicted. However, only the bivariate association between imprisonment and substance abuse treatment admissions attained the conventional threshold of statistical significance. Holding constant the direct and indirect effects of changes in the rates of violent crime and illicit drug use, change in prison population was negatively associated with changes in the rate of substance abuse (unstandardized coefficient = -0.891; p < 0.05) and mental health admissions (unstandardized coefficient = -0.509; p > 0.05) in the community.ConclusionBy using a path analysis of the hydraulic model, we argue that social systems, similar to water moving in closed tubes, aspire to equilibrate. In other words, a decrease in prison population will not go without a corresponding increase in community mental health and substance abuse services. Social voids like those created by deinstitutionalization must be filled; and with states deinstitutionalizing offenders the toll is on their corresponding communities to address the needs of those offenders who are reentering after being incarcerated. In devising a policy and practice strategy to address the projected increase in the reentry population, leadership within communities for social and supportive services to ex-prisoners, specifically treatment services should be of primary concern.