Examining a Triple Threat: The Intersection of Mental Health, Substance Use, and Re-entry of a Sample of Justice-Involved Persons.

Having a mental health (MH) or substance use (SU) issue can make the transition from prison to the community a challenging process. Despite this, few studies have quantified how justice-involved individuals with mental health issues only, substance use only, those with both struggles, and those with neither are uniquely affected. Using a sample of re-entering men who were released from twelve state prisons in the United States, we assessed the effects of having MH and SU issues on their drug use during re-entry.

Advancing Research: An Examination of Differences in Characteristics of Sexual and Non-Sexual Offense Recidivism Using a 10-Year Follow-Up.

In this article, we examine our current understanding of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the intersection of mental health challenges and substance use on sexual and non-sexual recidivism. This study uses administrative data and comprehensive case files of a sample of 626 individuals who were incarcerated for a sexual offense. Each case was standardized to a 10-year post-release follow-up time for criminal history review.

Do Views on Sex Offending Vary by Nationality? A Comparative Analysis of Community Sentiment Toward Sex Offense Legislation in the United States and United Kingdom.

Much attention has been paid to the examination of community sentiment regarding convicted sex offenders and the policy that governs these offenders' behavior. This literature, however, has largely been absent of international comparisons of sex offender community sentiment. The current study seeks to fill this gap by drawing from the results of surveys ( = 333) conducted in both the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK).

Firearm Use in Violent Crime: Examining the Role of Premeditation and Motivation in Weapon Choice.

Although there is a plethora of research documenting the relationship between firearms and violence, we know little about the influence of offenders' motivation and premeditation as they relate to the choice of weapon for the commission of a violent crime. In this study, we examined a sample of 375 violent crime inmates incarcerated in the New Jersey Department of Corrections. We addressed two research questions: what variables influence the use of a firearm in a violent crime, and do premeditation and motivation increase the odds that an offender will use a firearm in a violent crime? We found that premeditation and motivation are robust covariates of firearm use, which aligns with Rational Choice Theory; this suggests that firearms are used as tools to gain compliance and facilitate the commission of a crime.

Criminal Recidivism in Inmates with Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders.

The relative contributions of mental illness and substance use disorders to criminal recidivism have important clinical and policy implications. This study reviewed 36 months of postrelease data for nearly 10,000 New Jersey state inmates released in 2013 to ascertain the rearrest rate of those diagnosed with mental illness, substance use disorders, both, or neither. We also examined whether certain characteristics suggestive of higher risk of psychiatric decompensation were associated with higher rates of rearrest.

Sleep duration, handgun carrying, and taking a handgun to school: an analysis of a statewide sample of Florida youth.

Objectives: To investigate whether sleep duration is associated with adolescent handgun carrying behaviors.

Design: The Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS) is a cross-sectional study of adolescents.

Setting: The state of Florida.

Incarcerated for a Sex Offense: In-Prison Experiences and Concerns about Reentry.

Using a sample of 3,041 incarcerated men and women, this study examines the impact of being incarcerated for a sex offense and individuals' in-prison experiences on their concerns about reentry into society. Bivariate analyses suggest that being incarcerated for a sex offense is related to greater concerns about housing and fewer concerns about recidivism compared with individuals incarcerated for nonsex offenses. A sex offense conviction is also associated with weaker social bonds, greater relational difficulties, and greater fear of victimization while incarcerated.

Sexual Offense Legislation Across the Pond: A Review of Community Sentiment Toward the United Kingdom's Implementation of Sarah's Law.

Within both the United States and the United Kingdom, laws have been implemented that govern the behavior of individuals convicted of certain sexually based offenses. Thus, research has naturally gravitated toward examining the public perceptions of these laws. Although both the United States and United Kingdom have laws regarding convicted sex offenders, and although these laws vary, research into the perceptions of these laws has largely been concentrated within the United States.

Prison Experience and Reoffending: Exploring the Relationship Between Prison Terms, Institutional Treatment, Infractions, and Recidivism for Sex Offenders.

Given that sex offenders have been found to serve longer prison terms compared with other types of violent criminals, it has been suggested that the influence of imprisonment may impact subsequent reoffending. However, institutional factors are often overlooked in risk assessment studies and very few risk assessment instruments include institutional items within their models. The current study explores prison experience explanations for recidivism among convicted sex offenders and indicates that, with respect to time served, both institutional treatment and institutional infractions demonstrate a significant impact.

Examining the Continuity of Juvenile Sex Offending Into Adulthood and Subsequent Patterns of Sex and General Recidivism.

Current sex offending legislation and public opinion present an image of sexual offenders as specialized predators who are likely to exhibit continued sexually deviant behavior over the life-course. Although sex offending continuity and post-release recidivism has been independently assessed in prior research, the potential link between sex offending continuity and post-release recidivism has yet to be investigated. Using data collected at two different time points from a sample of sex offenders who served a prison sentence for an adult sex offense, the present study examines the prevalence of sex offending continuity, and its potential linkages with subsequent sex and general recidivism as well as identifying risk factors related to these outcomes.

Community Protection Policies and Repeat Sexual Offenses in Florida.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of sexual offender management policies on sex crime repeat arrest rates in Florida. Aggregate data for the period 1990 to 2010 were provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The repeat offense rate was defined as the proportion of arrests each year that were committed by individuals with a previous conviction in the same crime category.

The Adam Walsh Act: An Examination of Sex Offender Risk Classification Systems.

This study was designed to compare the Adam Walsh Act (AWA) classification tiers with actuarial risk assessment instruments and existing state classification schemes in their respective abilities to identify sex offenders at high risk to re-offend. Data from 1,789 adult sex offenders released from prison in four states were collected (Minnesota, New Jersey, Florida, and South Carolina). On average, the sexual recidivism rate was approximately 5% at 5 years and 10% at 10 years.

An empirical assessment of the overlap between sexual victimization and sex offending.

There has been a recent proliferation in the number of studies that are investigating the phenomenon that has been coined the victim-offender overlap. There has been noticeably less attention toward examining the sexual victimization and sex offending overlap. Acknowledging this gap in the literature, the present study provides an assessment of this overlap among a large sample of male prisoners with a focus on the cycle of violence hypothesis.

Failure to register as a predictor of sex offense recidivism: the big bad wolf or a red herring?

This quasi-experimental study analyzed the recidivism outcomes of 1,125 sexual offenders in two groups. The first group comprised 644 registered sex offenders who were convicted of a sex crime and at some point failed to register after release from prison. The comparison group contained 481 registered sex offenders released from prison during a similar time frame who did not fail to register after their release.

A longitudinal examination of sex offender recidivism prior to and following the implementation of SORN.

The goals of the present study were to examine the recidivism rates of two matched samples of sexual offenders, those released prior to and after sex offender registration and notification (SORN) in New Jersey. The pre-SORN group (1990-1994) included 247 offenders, while the post-SORN group (1996-2000) included 248 offenders. The longitudinal analysis demonstrated that for sex offenders released from prison both prior to and after implementation of SORN, there are clearly two distinguishable groups of sex offenders in relation to patterns of recidivism.

Age, cumulative trauma and stressful life events, and post-traumatic stress symptoms among older adults in prison: do subjective impressions matter?

Background: The aging prison population in the United States presents a significant public health challenge with high rates of trauma and mental health issues that the correctional system alone is ill-prepared to address. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of age, objective, and subjective measures of trauma and stressful life events and post-traumatic stress symptoms among older adults in prison.

Methods: Data were gathered from 334 prisoners (aged 55+) housed in the New Jersey Department of Corrections, as of September 2010.

Who are the people in your neighborhood? A descriptive analysis of individuals on public sex offender registries.

Despite growing focus on registration and notification systems as central elements of national sex offender management practice, there has been remarkably little systematic analysis of the content of these registries and the diversity of individuals contained within them. Specifically, little research attention has been paid to examining the heterogeneity of the population of registered sex offenders - a circumstance that may obscure important distinctions within the population and, in turn, may undermine the ostensible purpose of SORN to prevent sexual victimization. Addressing this significant gap in our current knowledge, this article sets forth a national profile of the registered sex offender (RSO) population, drawn from an analysis of data on 445,127 RSOs obtained from the public registries of 49 states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and Guam.

Trauma and life event stressors among young and older adult prisoners.

This study examined lifetime trauma and life event stressors among young and older prisoners. A stratified random sample of young (age 18 to 24 years) and older (age 55 and above) male prisoners was drawn from the New Jersey Department of Corrections. Fifty-eight participants completed a modified version of the Trauma and Stressful Life Experiences Screening Inventory during face-to-face interviews.

Trauma, stress, health, and mental health issues among ethnically diverse older adult prisoners.

The United States' older adult prison population is growing rapidly. This study identifies and describes important psychosocial characteristics, particularly trauma, life-event stressors, health, mental health, and substance abuse, among older adults in prison. Data were collected using case record reviews of 114 prisoners aged 55 or older in the New Jersey Department of Corrections.

Perceptions and coping with punishment: how registered sex offenders respond to stress, internet restrictions, and the collateral consequences of registration.

This study examines how registered sex offenders (RSOs) experience, respond to, and attribute stress regarding sex offender registration and notification process and policies. In addition, the frequency and reasons for Internet access is assessed, with a focus on how new legislation in New Jersey (P.L.