The ability of inmates to secure stable, legal employment for themselves upon release from prison has been shown to be a crucial element for successful community reintegration. These individuals, however, often fail to find employment due to a multitude of personal, relational, structural, and institutional barriers. Formerly incarcerated women are particularly disadvantaged in this respect, given their high rates of psychiatric and substance abuse disorders, and history of domestic violence in conjunction with low educational attainment and limited employment skills. The main goal of the current study was to delineate the relative importance of a variety of personal factors as determinants of stable employment for female inmates. Data were collected as part of a population survey of female inmates in new jersey (N = 908). Female inmates who volunteered to participate in this study were asked to complete a short survey that included questions about their educational and work histories, their work skills, as well as their history of need in and treatment for behavioral health services. Findings from this study underscore the importance of both education and treatment for behavioral health problems as key determinants of stable employment. Recommendations for possible interventions are addressed.

OBJECTIVE: While criminal justice involvement among persons with severe mental illness is a much discussed topic, there are few large scale studies that systematically describe the patterns and prevalence of arrest in this population. This study examines rates, patterns, offenses and sociodemographic correlates of arrest in a large cohort of mental health service recipients. METHOD: The arrest records of 13,816 individuals receiving services from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health in 1991-1992 were examined over roughly a 10-year period. Bivariate relationships between sociodemographic factors and arrest were also examined. RESULTS: Roughly 28% of the cohort experienced at least one arrest. The most common charges were “crimes against public order” (trespassing, disorderly conduct, etc.) followed by serious violent offenses and minor property crime. The number of arrests per individual ranged from one to 71. Five percent of arrestees (roughly 1.5% of the cohort) accounted for roughly 17% of arrests. The proportion of males arrested was double that of females. Persons 18-25 had a 50% chance of at least one arrest. This rate declined with age, but did so unevenly across offense types. CONCLUSIONS: The likelihood of arrest appears substantial among persons with severe mental illness, but the bulk of offending appears concentrated in a small group of persons and among persons with sociodemographic features similar to those of offenders in the general population. Data such as these could provide a platform for designing jail diversion and other services seeking to reduce both initial and repeat offending among persons with serious mental illness.

The problems posed by persons with mental illness involved with the criminal justice system are vexing ones that have received attention at the local, state and national levels. The conceptual model currently guiding research and social action around these problems is shaped by the "criminalization" perspective and the associated belief that reconnecting individuals with mental health services will by itself reduce risk for arrest. This paper argues that such efforts are necessary but possibly not sufficient to achieve that reduction. Arguing for the need to develop a services research framework that identifies a broader range of risk factors for arrest, we describe three potentially useful criminological frameworks-the "life course," "local life circumstances" and "routine activities" perspectives. Their utility as platforms for research in a population of persons with mental illness is discussed and suggestions are provided with regard to how services research guided by these perspectives might inform the development of community-based services aimed at reducing risk of arrest.

Juveniles in secure confinement allegedly suffer from more mental health problems than their peers. This may reflect background and behavioral characteristics commonly found in clients of both mental health and juvenile justice systems. Another explanation is that mental disorders increase the risk of arrest. These interpretations were tested on a sample of Pittsburgh boys (N=736). Findings indicate that arrested youth exhibit more attention deficit hyperactivity (ADH) problems, Oppositional Defiant (OD) problems, and non-delinquent externalizing symptoms prior to their first arrests compared to their never-arrested peers. However, arrested and non-arrested youth score similarly on prior affective and anxiety problems and internalizing symptoms. Net of delinquency, substance use, and other selection factors, internalizing problems lower the risk of subsequent arrest, while OD problems and non-delinquent externalizing symptoms increase the risk of arrest. ADH problems have no effect on arrest net of delinquency and substance use. These findings lend only partial support to the criminalization hypothesis. Whereas some mental health symptoms increase the risk of arrest, others elicit more cautious or compassionate official responses.

This study compared the costs and outcomes associated with three treatment programs that served 149 individuals with dual disorders (i.e., individuals with co-occurring severe mental illness and substance use disorders) who were homeless at baseline. The three treatment programs were: Integrated Assertive Community Treatment (IACT), Assertive Community Treatment only (ACTO), and standard care (Control). Participants were randomly assigned to treatment and followed for a period of 24 months. Clients in the IACT and ACTO programs were more satisfied with their treatment program and reported more days in stable housing than clients in the Control condition. There were no significant differences between treatment groups on psychiatric symptoms and substance use. The average total costs associated with the IACT and Control conditions were significantly less than the average total costs for the ACTO condition.

This paper offers a criminologically-informed framework to guide research on the relationship between mental disorder and violence. Criminological theories examined include social learning, social stress, social control, rational choice, and social disorganization. In addition, the “criminal careers” and “local life circumstance” methodologies are reviewed. It is argued that adopting a criminologically-informed framework that takes into account within-person changes over time will contribute greatly to our understanding of the factors that affect violence among people with mental disorder living in the community, and enhance the capacity of research to support effective evidenced-based case management programs aimed at reducing violence.

People in prison are exposed to and experience sexual violence inside prisons, further exposing them to communicable diseases and trauma. The consequences of sexual violence follow the individual into the community upon release. This paper estimates the prevalence of sexual victimization within a state prison system. A total of 6,964 men and 564 women participated in a survey administered using audio-CASI. Weighted estimates of prevalence were constructed by gender and facility size. Rates of sexual victimization varied significantly by gender, age, perpetrator, question wording, and facility. Rates of inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization in the previous 6 months were highest for female inmates (212 per 1,000), more than four times higher than male rates (43 per 1,000). Abusive sexual conduct was more likely between inmates and between staff and inmates than nonconsensual sexual acts. Sexual violence inside prison is an urgent public health issue needing targeted interventions to prevent and ameliorate its health and social consequences, which spatially concentrate in poor inner-city areas where these individuals ultimately return.

This study estimates prevalence rates of inmate-on-inmate and staff-on-inmate physical victimization. Inmate subjects were drawn from 13 adult male prisons and 1 female prison operated by a single mid-Atlantic state. A total of 7,221 men and 564 women participated. Rates of physical victimization varied significantly by gender, perpetrator, question wording, and facility. Prevalence rates of inmate-on-inmate physical violence in the previous 6 months were equal for males (205 per 1,000) and females (206 incidents per 1,000). Males had higher rates of physical violence perpetrated by staff (246 per 1,000 vs. 83 per 1,000). By facility, inmate-on-inmate prevalence rates ranged from 129 to 346 per 1,000, while the range for staff-on-inmate was 83 to 321 per 1,000.

This study tests the proposition that peer influence mediates the effect of sensation seeking, a personality trait, on alcohol use among college students. Cross-sectional data to test this proposition were collected from a representative sample of college students at a large public northeastern university (N = 427). Results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that, as hypothesized, sensation seeking influenced personal alcohol use both directly and indirectly, through its impact on students' frequency of association with alcohol-using peers and the size of their drinking norm misperception. The findings suggest that interventions that seek to limit the frequency in which high sensation seekers associate with peers whose alcohol use is extreme, or alternatively, seek to facilitate social interactions of high sensation seekers with normative peers, may supplement efforts to influence sensation seekers' alcohol and other drug use through tailored mass media advertisements.

Many colleges in the United States are employing social norms marketing campaigns with the goal of reducing college students' alcohol use by correcting misperceptions about their peers' alcohol use. While the typical message used in these campaigns describes the quantity and frequency of alcohol use by the average student on campus, many students may find such a vague comparison other to be socially irrelevant. The current study compares the relative weight of perceptions about alcohol use by distant vs. proximate peers in the prediction of college students' personal drinking behavior. The results of analyzing data collected from a sample of college students at a large public northeastern university (N = 276) show that, as hypothesized, perceived alcohol use by proximate peers (best friends and friends) was a stronger predictor of students' personal alcohol use than perceived alcohol use by more distant peers (such as students in general), controlling for other strong predictors of alcohol use by college students (age, gender, race, off-campus residency, and sensation seeking tendencies). The implications of these findings for the design of more effective social norms messages are discussed.