Wednesday, February 14, 2007

More NCJRS Abstracts, Wednesday, February 14, 2007

AMONG THE LATEST RESEARCH POSTED AT http://www.ncjrs.gov/. CHECK FOR OTHER ARTICLES OF INTEREST THERE AS WELL.

NCJ 216950
Elizabeth P. Deschenes ; Barbara Owen ; Jason Crow
Recidivism Among Female Prisoners: Secondary Analysis of the 1994 BJS Recidivism Data Set, Final Report
National Institute of Justice/NCJRS

Over a period of 3 years after release, approximately 60 percent of the females in the total sample (included males released from prisons in the 15 States in 1994) were rearrested, compared with approximately 70 percent of the total sample; 40 percent of the females had a new conviction compared to 48 percent of the total sample. Approximately 30 percent of the females returned to prison (18 percent were the result of a new sentence), compared to 37 percent of the total sample (25 percent were the result of a new sentence). The majority of female offenders who had originally been imprisoned for violent offenses did not commit another violent offense within 3 years after their release in 1994. For both the total sample and the female subsample, those originally imprisoned for property or drug offenses were significantly more likely to have a new arrest than those originally imprisoned for other offense categories. Female offenders, similar to offenders in the total sample, were more likely to be rearrested for a property crime. Female offenders typically did not specialize in certain types of offenses over their criminal careers; however, there was some repeating of property, drug, and public-order offenses. The strongest and most consistent predictors of recidivism for female offenders were the number of prior arrests and being a younger age when released from prison. The majority of the women (63 percent) had no prior prison term and had served less time in prison than the total sample. The subsample of female inmates composed 8.7 percent (n=23,562) of the total sample of prisoners released in the 15 States in 1994 (272,111 male and female inmates). 22 tables and 50 references

NCJ 216952
Cynthia L. Blitz
Predictors of Stable Employment Among Female Inmates in New Jersey: Implication for Successful Reintegration
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume:43 Issue:1 Dated:2006 Pages:1 to 22

Study findings clearly underscore the importance of education and treatment for behavioral health problems as key determinants of stable employment among women in prison. Women with a high school level of education or greater were significantly more likely than their less educated counterparts to be fully employed and hold jobs for longer periods of time prior to their incarceration. Similarly, women who received treatment for drug addiction and/or a mental health disorder in the community were more likely to experience stable employment than women who needed but had not received behavioral health services. The findings reaffirm and add to the current knowledge of factors influencing employment for women in prison. The successful reintegration of inmates into their communities continues to be an important objective of ongoing social and institutional efforts to reduce the level of recidivism. However, achieving stable employment is a significant challenge for people leaving prison. The prospects of incarcerated women finding and retaining stable employment are more hampered than their male counterparts because they are more likely to have psychiatric disorders and a history of physical and sexual abuse. The main objective of this study was to delineate the relative importance of a variety of personal factors as determinants of stable employment for female inmates. The study sample consisted of 908 female inmates in New Jersey completing a survey on their history of need in and treatment for behavioral health services. Tables, references

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