Research

I found another article on how reentry into the work field is difficult after being incarcerated. It looks promising when discussing the negative living conditions/consequences regarding substance abuse incarceration.

Group Meeting

We met today to discuss how we are going to put our paper together so it flows.  We are working on a Google document to share our information.    Things are rolling and coming along great. 

Ignore that FYI :)

Hey folks,  I forgot to mention in our last meeting that I was able to schedule my surgery until winter break, thus I won't have to do anything special to have our paper done.  That's exciting.
I'm currently working on my section of the paper.  I'd still like to add more research, though it is going well.  Thanks, Matt, for creating a google document for us!

Group Meeting

Today we met and began comparing research findings. We focused on the specific content that we want to include in our final report. We also talked about our individual progress on formulating the article.

Matt, Corri, JJ, Alisa, and Chyrese

Population

I am researching information on the population affected by this social problem.  I also listened to a Ted Talk video my field supervisor shared with me that relates to this social problem.  The video was created by his neighbor, Sean Hosman.

Contributing Factors

I have been working on gathering and putting together the information for the section addressing contributing factors to recidivism for individuals following prison or jail.  There are many that seem could be easily addressed and others that appear more difficult. 

Agency Meeting

I met with Desmond Lomax Clinical Director of the Treatment Resource Center at Provo Adult Probation and Parole this past Thursday. I began by talking with him about different resources and information that is available about recidivism rates within the TRC. He is going to access some of the local data so that we can compare local rates of recidivism to national rates. Along with that, we began to discuss the possibility of focus groups in January. He had some great ideas on how we could do some effective focus groups with the population and in addition with the Probation officers themselves, getting their opinions on what works and what doesn't.

Research

I have been working on the gathering information about the contributors to recidivism and putting this information together so it flows. It has been fun and interesting.

Heads up!

I know I mentioned this in our last meeting, but I wanted to bring it up again on our blog, just in case.  Hopefully within the next couple weeks I'll be having some surgery, which means I'll be missing a class.  In our next meeting perhaps we can delegate some chunks I can work on while I'm out.  I should know exact dates by next week.

In other news, this week I have been gathering articles to use in our paper.  I've been mostly skimming them for viability, then bookmarking or copying them for later use.

Research

I found several articles that will be helpful in understanding the barriers to reintegration.  Two examples are "Examining the Impact of Mental Illness and Substance Abuse on Recidivism in a County Jail" found in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 2011; and "Recidivism and Survival Time: A Racial Disparity Among Jail Ex-inmates" found in Social Work Research 2010.

Literature Review

I found a couple articles that might be helpful for us.


Hepburn, J. (2005). Recidivism Among Drug Offenders Following Exposure to Treatment.Criminal Justice            Policy Review, 15(2 237-259). Retrieved November 1, 2014.

Hepburn, J., & Albonetti, C. (1994). Recidivism among drug offenders: A survival analysis of the effects of           offender characteristics, type of offense, and two types of intervention.Journal of Quantitative                     Criminology, 10(2), 159-179.

The first article discusses the incarceration versus treatment and the effectiveness each has for helping an individual stay out of therapy.  The second article discusses what types of interventions and what characteristics are likely to keep an offender out of prison a second time.  

Factors Affecting Recidivism

I found an article about stats and factors relating to recidivism in Florida in 2001. 

The report collects information from the time or release from jail to time of reincarnation.  In the data collected it explores the factors that contribute to recidivism: "age at release, prior recidivism, race, gender, education level, offense type, custody level at release, number of disciplinary reports received, and time served in prison" (Crews, 2001). 

Crews, Michael D. (May 2001). "Recidivism Report". Florida Department of Corrections.  retrieved on November 2, 2014: http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/recidivism/2001/factors.html.   

References for circumstances

Narevic, E., Garrity, T. F., Schoenberg, N. E., Hiller, M. L., Webster, J. M., Leukefeld, C. G., & Tindall, M. S. (2006). Factors Predicting Unmet Health Services Needs Among Incarcerated Substance Users. Substance Use & Misuse, 41(8), 1077-1094. doi:10.1080/10826080600692167

In this article, it explains how the effects of substance abuse increase the need for health care services due to the negative consequences substances have on the body. However, those who use drugs are usually 'medically undeserved' of health care. 

Logan, T., Walker, R., Staton, M., & Leukefeld, C. (2001). Substance Use and Intimate Violence Among Incarcerated Males. Journal Of Family Violence, 16(2), 93-114.

This article explains how substance abuse increases the possibility of partner and family abuse.