International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology

Life-course criminology has demonstrated the importance of social relationships and life transitions to understand desistance. Yet, individuals convicted of sexual offenses seem to differ in terms of turning points, where treatment is suggested as salient to their desistance processes. Drawing on 13 teller-focused interviews with adult male incarcerated participants in a new Swedish sex offender program, this paper examines the treatment experience and the under-explored aspect of early desistance, as well as the role of society and social relations in the treatment process, through a practice-oriented lens...

This study examines blame attributions of victims and perpetrators in female-on-male rape cases and event severity attributions as affected by three victim-related variables: prior sexual victimization, resistance during the rape, and sexual arousal during the rape. It assesses the relative weight of each of these variables in determining the attribution of blame to the victim and perpetrator and the attribution of severity to the event. The study found that sexual arousal and absence of resistance correlated with higher victim blame attribution, lower perpetrator blame, and lower event severity attributions, while prior sexual victimization had the opposite correlations...

Existing research has demonstrated the benefits of therapist self-disclosure (TSD) in strengthening therapeutic alliance. However, little is known about its effectiveness in the forensic context. The current research sought to address this gap by interviewing six Compassion Focused (CFT) therapists who had experience of working across a range of forensic settings. Results of an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) indicated that all participants advocated using TSD as a powerful therapeutic tool when working with forensic clients...

Despite evidence that psychological treatments benefit from pre-treatment intervention, there remains no published research on the value of including a pre-treatment intervention in forensic mental health settings. The present study aimed to address this gap by examining the effects of adding a brief motivational preparatory program (MPP) to standard forensic psychiatric care. The MPP was based on hope theory and motivational interviewing within a cognitive-behavioral therapy approach. MPP participants and a waitlist control group completed a battery of self-report measures of hope and motivation to change, which were compared with respect to risk, demographic, offence history, and outcome variables...

Recent high-profile uses of deadly force by police in the United States and elsewhere have been the subject of extensive media coverage and social unrest. In turn, researchers have exhibited nascent interest in the factors that influence the use of deadly force by police, as well as vignette-driven studies of circumstances in which deadly force is believed to be acceptable. Less attention has been paid to perceptions of the frequency with which deadly force is used, proportion that is legal and necessary, to what extent its use varies by race, or how these beliefs are shaped by media consumption...

Individuals with mental illness are significantly overrepresented in the Canadian justice system. Given the high rate of mental illness among individuals who are incarcerated, correctional facilities must implement accessible and effective mental health resources. This not only improves their health and well-being but also contributes to their rehabilitation efforts. However, evidence suggests that the care provided in prisons is inadequate. This scoping review asks, "What is known about the access and quality of mental health care services for adults who are incarcerated in Ontario?" Mental health care services included non-acute interventions and care that is provided in the institution...

The field of forensic mental healthcare is unique in several ways. Forensic vigilance is a specialty needed by forensic mental health professionals, consisting of professional forensic psychiatric knowledge, knowledge of individual patients, environmental observations, and clinical judgment. Though communication seems to play an important role in forensic vigilance, it is still unknown which communication styles are related to forensic vigilance, if any. In the current study, we examined if certain communication styles are related to forensic vigilance by means of an online survey among forensic mental health professionals...

Forensic case formulation (FCF) is a key activity within the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway (OPDP), performed by OPDP specialist offender managers (OMs) and psychologists. Although FCF training is provided to OMs, there are a number of questions about the adequacy and effectiveness of this training. Furthermore, it is unclear whether psychologists receive sufficient support to keep their FCF skills relevant and effective over time. This study aimed to investigate the FCF training experiences of OPDP staff, to assess staff satisfaction with this training, to identify ways of improving this training, and to explore the value of FCF from a staff perspective...

In Canada and internationally the number of older offenders on parole and living in the community is increasing rapidly. Older offenders in the community are a vulnerable population at high risk for lack of well-being. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with N  = 64 offenders aged 50 years and older on conditional release from custody in Canada, including long-term, recidivist, and first-time older offenders. Compared to their non-offender counterparts, older offenders in the community experience many of the same problems of aging and well-being, but are at greater risk for mental health problems, traumatic injuries, and for recidivists, substance abuse...

Group climate in residential youth care is considered to be essential for treatment of youth and young adults. Various instruments exist to measure quality of living group climate, but some are lengthy, use complicated wording, which make them difficult to fill out by youth and individuals with a mild intellectual disability. The present study describes the development and rationale for the Group Climate Instrument-Revised (GCI-R). Construct validity and reliability of the GCI-R were examined by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) in a two-step validation process using a construction sample ( n  = 190 youth, representing 41 groups) and a validation sample ( n  = 207 youth, representing 42 groups)...

This special issue of the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology intends to expand the examination of victimology and victim issues. The social problem of violence is universal, and there is much to learn from policies and programs that are found to be effective across the globe. The four issues in this special issue span global problems such as cybercrime, interpersonal violence, violent socialization, and the victimization of college students. Solutions to these harms include micro-level programmatic efforts as well as broader social-political efforts...

This methodological review includes literature (1987-2022) concerning the role and influence of musical practices-including music therapy and participatory music interventions-on well-being in carceral settings such as jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers. We provide a thorough description of key methodological procedures used in 55 studies: (1) Key Elements of Research Questions; (2) Types of Musical Practices; (3) Musical Genres; (4) Methodologies and Designs; (5) Locations; (6) Theoretical Frameworks; and (7) Samples...

A disproportionally large number of adolescents engage in cyber-deviance. However, it is unclear if distinct patterns of adolescent cyber-deviance are evident, and if so, whether and to what extent low self-control is associated with different patterns of cyber-deviance. The current study addressed this research gap by examining the relationship between self-control and distinct latent classes of adolescent cyber-deviance net of potential confounders among a cross-sectional sample of 1793 South Australian adolescents...

UK veterans with complex needs arrested in police custody can access support through pre-charge diversion into treatment and ancillary services. We consider why veterans in police custody disengaged from a peer-led criminal justice diversionary support service in one UK region that adopted a continuous case management approach. Seven hundred and fifty-seven veterans were assessed to have high levels of comorbid health needs and socio-economic harms, with one-quarter (26.7%, n  = 202) subsequently disengaging from the service...

A case study was employed to explore the effectiveness of the teaching-learning process in the center. Active participants in the process and the head of the juvenile correction center were purposely selected as informants. Semi-structured interviews and classroom observations were used to gather relevant data. Data analysis and data collection were conducted simultaneously. The study revealed that teachers either use corporal punishment or are laissez-faire when students show misbehavior. They often use the lecture method...

The current study investigated variables that are being considered when assigning psychotherapists to individuals convicted of sexual and violent offences. Its main aim is to inform practitioners and researchers alike of potentially beneficial combinations between therapist and client and infer hypotheses for future studies. A mixed-methods approach, combining interviews and a follow-up questionnaire, was employed. Nineteen interviews with forensic practitioners working in socio-therapeutic facilities in Germany were conducted...

The percentage of female offenders who are single mothers of minor children is a growing concern among the total incarcerated population in South Africa and globally. This study aimed to explore how expectations about mothering manifest for incarcerated mothers who are physically separated from their children. The experience of motherhood was captured using face-to-face interviews with a guide of semi-structured questions with eight (8) incarcerated mothers at Johannesburg correctional facility, Gauteng province, South Africa...

Previous research indicates that parental monitoring protects adolescents from delinquency. While, emerging adults spend increasing amounts of time outside the family setting, they often remain in or return to reside in the parental home, possibly prolonging the period of parental monitoring. We examine whether parental monitoring, differentiating between child disclosure, parental solicitation, and parental control, is a protective factor for delinquency for emerging adults. We also examine whether monitoring occurs in educational settings, by the partner or in employment settings, and whether this monitoring is associated with delinquency...

This study provides an evaluation of recidivism outcomes for a specialized, field-based treatment program for youth who perpetrate sexual offenses in an Australian jurisdiction. Using survival analyses, recidivism outcomes for the treatment group ( n  = 200), who were followed for an average of 5.07 years ( SD  = 3.13), were contrasted with a sample of sexually offending youth who were either referred but not accepted or not referred to the program ( n  = 295)...

Prior research has found inverse relationship between religious involvement and misconduct among prisoners. In this study, we examined the mediating role of accountability as welcoming responsibility for one's actions with respect to the transcendent (e.g., God or a higher power) and other people. We applied structural equation modeling to analyze data from surveys with 339 individuals (108 females and 231 males) incarcerated at three facilities in Texas. We found that prisoner religiosity was positively related to transcendent accountability, which was in turn positively associated with human accountability...