Publications by authors named "Abigail Henson"

Background: The literature on menstruation defines period poverty as the inability to access sufficient period products, education, and sanitary facilities needed to manage menstruation healthily and effectively. While research has identified shortcomings of healthcare in the carceral setting, period poverty behind bars has remained largely absent from criminal legal discourse.

Objectives: The current study examines the interplay of period poverty and carceral control to introduce the novel concept of menstrual victimization, defined as the physical, emotional, and financial victimization that results from period poverty perpetuated through carceral control.

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Scholars have found that family support is an important facilitator of successful reentry from prison to the community. At the same time, they have argued that owing court-ordered fines or fees, also called legal financial obligations (LFOs), can act as an additional barrier to reentry, especially for parents. There remains a need to test how LFOs impact the financial support formerly incarcerated parents receive from their families.

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Over the last decade, criminal justice scholars have increasingly endorsed "evidence-based practices"; however, some criminologists have voiced concerns over the varied methodological rigor used by evaluation researchers, differing definitions of evidence, and lack of critical exploration as to why programs may be (in)effective. This article argues that evaluability assessments (EAs) can answer these concerns. Through a case study of an EA used on a prison-based fatherhood program, this article demonstrates how EA's approach leads to a more precise understanding of outcome operationalization, and allows for the democratization of research, which is particularly important in a carceral setting.

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