Suchergebnisse

Drug courts are slowly beginning to expand their admission criteria to include more chronic and serious offenders since traditional probation and incarceration have failed to prevent drug use and crime. Drug courts have moved from providing diversion programs for first-time offenders charged with drug possession to developing tracks for more complex clients. Many of these new drug court participants have extensive criminal histories, including histories of violent crime. Drug court decision-makers thus confront the difficulty of balancing the needs of treatment versus corrections by attempting to target offenders whose criminal histories suggest that their candidacy in a drug court would not pose a risk to public safety. To date, little is known about whether drug courts are appropriate for offenders with lengthy criminal histories that often include violence. The research presented here explores correlates of drug court graduation for seriously crime-involved offenders, most of whom have a history of violence.

Health problems comprise some of the most important concerns about female offenders today. In comparison to others, they suffer more frequent and serious chronic disease, acute illness, and injuries. Although many have argued that these higher rates can be explained by poverty, inaccessible medical care, and poor nutrition, few have studied the impact of the severity of criminal and substance abuse involvement on the same. Consequently, the authors ask if these factors help explain the likelihood of leading health problems of female cocaine-abusing offenders. Bivariate logistic regression analyses on women ( n = 848) from Dade County, Florida, show important effects of criminal and substance abuse involvement on chronic disease and illness, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, and mental illness. However, after controlling for demographic variables with multivariate logistic models, their predictive power decreases substantially. The findings lend insights to both theoretical models explaining health problems and to policy recommendations for female offenders and inmates.

Delaware researchers have argued for a continuum of primary (in prison), secondary (work release), and tertiary (aftercare) therapeutic community (TC) treatment for drug-involved offenders. Previous work has demonstrated significant reductions in relapse and recidivism for offenders who received primary and secondary TC treatment 1 year after leaving work release. However, much of the effect declines significantly when the time at risk moves to 3 years after release. Further analyses reveal that program effects remain significant when the model takes into account not simply exposure to the TC program, but, more importantly, program participation, program completion, and aftercare. Clients who complete secondary treatment do better than those with no treatment or program dropouts, and those who receive aftercare do even better in remaining drug- and arrest-free.

Prison narratives, mass media, and conclusions drawn from institutional research have fostered a perception of widespread "homosexual rape" in male penitentiaries. However, studies of sexual contact in prison have shown inmate involvement to vary greatly. To explore the nature and frequency of sexual contact between male inmates in a Delaware prison, the authors administered a survey of sexual behavior. Respondents were questioned extensively about sexual activities that they engaged in, directly observed, and heard about "through the grapevine" prior to their entry into a prison treatment program. Findings indicate that (a) although sexual contact is not wide-spread, it nevertheless occurs; (b) the preponderance of the activity is consensual rather than rape; and (c) inmates themselves perceive the myth of pervasive sex in prison, contradicting their own realities.

HIV risk is a public health concern, particularly for women prisoners who are reentering the community. This article describes findings from focus groups conducted as part of the National Institute on Drug Abuse—funded Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS) cooperative agreement to inform the development of a gender-specific HIV intervention for women. Focus group findings indicate that a woman's HIV risk behavior is influenced by relationships: (a) drug and alcohol use are common in relationships, (b) sex is used as a strategy to manipulate partners, (c) trust is often derived from a perceived long-term commitment, (d) perceived safety is influenced by specific partner characteristics, (e) HIV and other sexually transmitted infections were not viewed as potential consequences of risky behavior, (f) feelings of low self-esteem and self-worth become normalized in problem relationships, and (g) women fear rejection if they ask their partners to use protection. Recommendations for developing a relationship-focused HIV intervention for women prisoners at community reentry are discussed.

Female drug addicts are often stereotyped either as promiscuous, lazy, and selfish, or as weak, scared, and trapped into addiction. These depictions typify the "pathology and powerlessness" narrative that has historically characterized popular and academic conversations about female substance abusers. Neither Villain Nor Victim attempts to correct these polarizing perspectives by presenting a critical feminist analysis of the drug world. By shifting the discussion to one centered on women's agency and empowerment, this book reveals the complex experiences and social relationships of women addicts. Essays explore a range of topics, including the many ways that women negotiate the illicit drug world, how former drug addicts manage the more intimate aspects of their lives as they try to achieve abstinence, how women tend to use intervention resources more positively than their male counterparts, and how society can improve its response to female substance abusers by moving away from social controls (such as the criminalization of prostitution) and rehabilitative programs that have been shown to fail women in the long term. Advancing important new perspectives about the position of women in the drug world, this book is essential reading in courses on women and crime, feminist theory, and criminal justice