Saturday, September 15, 2007

More NCJRS Abstracts, Saturday, September 15, 2007

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

NCJ 219419
Daryl G. Kroner; Jeremy F. Mills; Robert D. Morgan
Socially Desirable Responding and the Measurement of Violent and Criminal Risk: Self-Report Validity
Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice Volume:6 Issue:4 Dated:2006 Pages:27 to 42

This study examined whether socially desirable responding (SDR) was a factor that reduced the construct and predictive validity of self-reported criminal histories and predictions of violence and risk for future criminal behavior. The study found that SDR was not a factor that undermined construct or predictive validity in self-reports of crime. Based on the current study and the findings of other recent research SDR in self-report assessments was not significant in determining self-report outcomes. Participants were 76 male offenders sentenced to between 2 and 6 years for various violent offenses, excluding sexual offenses. The mean age of the sample was 27.9 years. Two rating scales were used. The Level of Service Inventory-Revised, which was initially designed for offender classification, consists of 54 items grouped into 10 subscales: Criminal History, Education/employment, Finances, Family/Marital, Accommodations, Leisure/Recreation, Companions, Alcohol/Drug, Emotional/Personal, and Attitude/Orientation. The second rating scale Antisocial Orientation Ratings was designed to indicate construct validity for the Basic Personality Inventory (BPI), a self-report measure of psychopathology. In addition to the BPI, another self-report scale administered to the sample was the Self-Report Inventory, which solicits information on a variety of subjects, including crimes committed, education/employment, companions, and other personal information. Another self-report scale, the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding, measures a person's tendency to provide responses he/she believes are socially desirable by mainstream values. Postrelease measures addressed new convictions for violence and total convictions for a followup period of 6 years. 1 table, 1 figure, and 45 references

NCJ 219181
Dean G. Kilpatrick; Heidi S. Resnick; Kenneth J. Ruggiero; Lauren M. Conoscenti; Jenna McCauley
Drug-facilitated, Incapacitated, and Forcible Rape: A National Study
US Dept of Justice, National Institute of Justice

This study identified how many women in the United States and in college settings have ever been raped or sexually assaulted during their lifetime and within the past year, key case characteristics of drug-facilitated and forcible rapes and, factors that affected women's reporting of rape to police or seeking help from a support network; and it compared different types of rape. The findings show that approximately 20 million out of 112 million women (18 percent) in the United States have ever been raped, including an estimated 18 million women who have been forcibly raped, nearly 3 million who have experienced drug-facilitated rape, and 3 million who have been raped while incapacitated. Only 16 percent of all rapes were reported to law enforcement. Victims of drug-facilitated or rape while they were incapacitated were somewhat less likely to report the rape to authorities than victims of forcible rape. Major barriers to reporting rape included not wanting others to know about the rape, fear of retaliation, perception that evidence was insufficient, uncertainty about how to report the crime, and uncertainty about whether a crime was committed or whether the offender intended her harm. Injury was reported for 52 percent of forcible rape incidents and 30 percent of drug-facilitated or incapacitated rape incidents. Approximately 673,000 of nearly 6 million current college women (11.5 percent) have ever been raped, with an estimated half-million college women having been forcibly raped, 160,000 experiencing drug-facilitated rape, and just over 200,000 having been raped while incapacitated. Among college women, approximately 12 percent of rapes were reported to law enforcement. Consistent with the national sample, victims of drug-facilitated or incapacitated rape were less likely than victims of forcible rape to report it to police. Reasons for not reporting the rape were similar to those for nonreporting in the national sample. 52 exhibits and 51 references

NCJ 219386
Adele Harrell; Jennifer Castro; Lisa Newmark; Christy Visher
Final Report on the Evaluation of the Judicial Oversight Demonstration: Executive Summary
US Dept of Justice, National Institute of Justice

This paper presents a summation of the federally supported Judicial Oversight Demonstration (JOD) evaluation with findings from all three JOD sites (Wisconsin, Michigan, and Massachusetts). The evaluation points to the need for research in several critical areas: building stronger linkages between courts and NGO victim service providers, motivating offender compliance and desistance from violence using sanctions and treatment combinations, and changing offender perceptions of the risks of future violence, and identifying and addressing victim needs to ensure their safety and well-being. Highlights of key findings on the impact of the Judicial Oversight Demonstration (JOD) are presented from three primary outcomes: victim well-being, offender accountability, and perceptions and revictimization. These highlighted findings include: (1) JOD increased community-based victim services, particularly in Michigan; (2) victims in all sites were generally satisfied with the response of police, prosecutors, and the court; (3) JOD increased victim contacts with probation agents; (4) JOD increased offender accountability, especially in Dorchester and Milwaukee; (5) JOD did not decrease perceptions of the fairness of judges and the probation departments; (6) JOD increased the perceived certainty or severity of penalties for violations of some court-ordered requirements; (7) JOD reductions in victim reports of repeat intimate partner violence (IPV) were stronger for some types of victims and offenders; and (8) offenders’ perceptions of legal deterrence predicted lower frequency of offender reports of repeat IPV. In 1999, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence against Women selected three sites for the implementation of the JOD (Dorchester, MA, Milwaukee, WI, and Washtenaw County, MI). In each of the communities, criminal justice agencies and community-based agencies serving victims and offenders formed partnerships to work collaboratively to support an effective response to IPV incidents. The evaluation objective was to test the impact of JOD interventions on victim safety, offender accountability, and recidivism and to learn from the experiences of well-qualified sites who built collaboration between the courts and community agencies to respond to intimate partner violence. Tables

NCJ 219514
Wendy G. Turner
Experiences of Offenders in a Prison Canine Program
Federal Probation: A Journal of Correctional Philosophy and Practice Volume:71 Issue:1 Dated:June 2007 Pages:38 to 43

This study explored the experiences of the offenders who were involved in the Indiana Canine Assistant and Adolescent Network (ICAAN) program in prison. The data collected suggests that the Indiana Canine Assistant and Adolescent Network (ICAAN) program has positive effects on the rehabilitation of the offenders within the program. One of the most significant findings was that the men recognized improvements in self-esteem after participating in the program. The reason for this was thought to be due in part to the increased responsibilities they have been given and the trust instilled in them from the prison staff. The inmates also reported improved social skills from participating in ICAAN. The increases in self-esteem and the improved skills in communication and patience are likely to have an effect on each inmate’s life outside of prison. Prisons and juvenile detention centers across the United States have begun implementing dog-training programs in which offenders within the facilities train dogs for a variety of service positions. One of these programs is the ICAAN program. ICAAN is a non-profit organization that trains and places service animals and was founded in 2001. It began in a juvenile correctional facility, and it has since expanded to several correctional facilities involving males and females, both adolescent and adult. This exploratory study sought to gain insight and understanding into the offenders’ experiences of participating in the dog training program. The study used in-depth interviews with each of the ICAAN program participants. References

No comments: