Research Guides: Criminal Justice: Corrections

Books @ SFU on Corrections

Corrections by William J. Chambliss (Editor)
Call Number: e-book
ISBN: 9781452266435
Publication Date: 2011-01-01
Encyclopedia of Community Corrections by Shannon M. Barton-Bellessa
Call Number: e-book
Publication Date: 2012-01-01
Rethinking Corrections by Lior Gideon (Editor); Hung-En Sung (Editor)
Call Number: e-book
ISBN: 9781412970198
Publication Date: 2010-01-29
Experiencing Corrections by Lee M. Johnson (Editor)
Call Number: e-book
ISBN: 9781452263908
Publication Date: 2011-01-01

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Scholarly Articles on Corrections

A sampling of articles from Sage:

The Privatization Debate A Conceptual Framework for Improving (Public and Private) Corrections ABSTRACT: Although the privatization of corrections has a long history in America, debates about its merits have intensified in recent decades. The goals of this article are (a) to argue that privatized corrections is more prevalent than recognized and yet little is known about how it compares with public corrections, and (b) to provide a conceptual framework for advancing research and policy on privatized corrections. In so doing, we shed light on a wide range of unanswered questions about both public corrections and private corrections. We conclude by highlighting opportunities for informing the privatization debate and advancing research.
Comparing Demographic Factors, Background Characteristics, and Workplace Perceptions as Predictors of Burnout Among Community Corrections Officers The purpose of this article was to explore the association between demographic and background characteristics, as well as workplace perceptions that may predict burnout among two connected groups of community corrections officers. Using the Maslach Burnout Inventory, we assessed whether burnout differed between probation/parole and residential officers and analyzed whether predictors of burnout varied across these two groups. Our results indicated that while probation/parole officers were more likely to report Emotional Exhaustion, they were not any more or less likely to experience Depersonalization or Personal Accomplishment. In addition, educational training had a stronger impact for residential officers, while schedule fit was more important for probation/parole officers, when predicting Personal Accomplishment. These results not only extended the existing research on burnout but also helped inform key correctional stakeholders about what policies and practices were working well, as well as indicated potential areas of change to help minimize burnout among staff.
Inmate Recidivism as a Measure of Private Prison Performance The growth of the private corrections industry has elicited interest in the comparative performance of state and private prisons. One way to measure the service quality of private prisons is to examine inmates' postrelease performance. Current empirical evidence is limited to four studies, all conducted in Florida. This analysis replicates and adds to the Florida measures in a different state and enhances previous methods. It uses data for a large cohort of Oklahoma state prison inmates released between 1997 and 2001. Controlling for known covariates, multivariate survival analysis revealed comparative rates of reincarceration for inmates in multiple exposure and comparison groups. These results are unique among prior studies on this topic; private prison inmates had a greater hazard of recidivism in all eight models tested, six of which were statistically significant. Finding no empirical support for claims of superior service from private corrections, the authors discuss policy implications and prospects for future research.
A General Strain Theory of Prison Violence and Misconduct: An Integrated Model of Inmate Behavior Explanations of prison violence and other forms of misconduct have been dominated by three competing models: (a) the deprivation model, (b) the importation model, and (c) the coping model. We propose that these three seemingly competing models can be integrated within Agnew’s general strain theory (GST). GST enriches the deprivation model by revealing three distinctive categories of strain. GST encompasses the importation model in hypothesizing that criminal cultural values and affiliations will structure the response to the strains of imprisonment. And GST incorporates the coping model in its emphasis on how social support, social capital, and human capital can blunt the effects of potentially criminogenic strains. Finally, GST is sufficiently broad to include factors (e.g., emotions, self-control) in the explanation of prison maladjustment not covered by the three main models of prison inmate behavior. In short, GST offers a general integrated framework for reconceptualizing our understanding of prison violence and misconduct.
The Impact of Correctional Officer Perceptions of Inmates on Job Stress Research suggests that job-related stress affects correctional officers’ attitudes toward their work environment, coworkers, and supervisors, as well as their physical and mental health; however, very few studies have examined the relationship between stress and attitudes toward inmates. This study examined the relationship between correctional officers’ levels of stress and their perceptions of inmates by surveying a sample of 501 correctional officers employed by a Southern prison system. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to test the principal hypothesis of this study—that more negative perceptions of inmates would result in higher levels of stress for correctional officers. Independent variables were grouped into four groups (demographic variables, supervisory support, job characteristics, and attitudes toward inmates) and were entered into the model in blocks. Lower supervisory support and perceptions of the job being dangerous were associated with higher levels of job stress. More importantly, correctional officers who saw inmates as intimidated (not arrogant) and nonmanipulative reported lower levels of job stress, while officers who perceived inmates as being unfriendly, antisocial, and cold reported higher levels of stress.

Check out our Sociology and Criminal Justice databases for more quality content.

Corrections - Web Sources

360degrees: Perspectives on the U.S. Criminal Justice System
Picture Projects and National Public Radio (NPR) present a unique collection of first-person stories from inmates, correctional officers, lawyers, judges, parole officers, parents, and victims. Includes, Prisoners' interviews and audio diaries available with Quicktime4, and Other exceptional features e.g., a timeline (601 to present) that explores the creation of prisons as know them today.
American Correctional Association
Oldest and largest international correctional professional association.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
The BJS publishes most of its reports on its WWW pages as well as in print. Statistics are maintained in the areas of law enforcement, prosecution, courts and sentencing, corrections (including capital punishment), and expenditure and employment.
Criminal Justice
This Center is a private non-profit organization with a self-stated mission to "reduce reliance on incarceration as a solution to social problems." Solid policy research reports and publications available online including New York State of Mind?: Higher Education vs. Prison Funding in the Empire State, 1988-1998. Useful links to Internet sources for juvenile and criminal justice information as well.
National Institute of Corrections/Corrections Library
Click library tab at top to enter the Digital Resource Library which has online publications on offender reentry, boot camp programs, community service, juveniles in adult facilities overcrowding release programs among other topics.
Corrections.com: The Official Home of Corrections
An online community resource center for corrections professionals to exchange ideas and better utilize practices, resources, case studies and new technologies. Online networking systems, news archives,career opportunities,events, corrections yellow pages, and more.
Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies
Comprises the "grey literature" from the field of Criminology, as well as other, related areas of specialization, including criminal justice, penology and corrections, juvenile deliquency/young offenders, policing and law enforcement, and private policing. Housed in the Univ. of Toronto Centre of Criminology Library, this file is composed of institute, association, and government publications, as well as unpublished papers, working papers, research reports, etc.
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Official website of the agency that oversees Federal corrections institutions. It is part of the U.S. Department of Justice.
National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS)
NCJRS is a federally funded resource offering justice and substance abuse information to support research, policy, and program development worldwide. Included on the website are extensive publications on Corrections, Courts, Crime, Crime Prevention, Drugs, the Justice System, Juvenile Justice, Law Enforcement, and Victims.
National Criminal Justice Reference Service: Corrections
The NCJRS provides a wealth of online publications (sorted by topic or date) and links to a multitude of Internet resources (by topic subdivisions). A must-see site for the state of corrections in the United States.
Public Health and Criminal Justice
Information on correctional health care issues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Also includes a "special topic" of Reentry into the Community.
U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness
Ill-Equipped: U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness is a report from Human Rights Watch on the underfunding and undertreatment of mental illness in prisons in the United States.
World Prison Brief
The World Prison Brief (WPB) is a unique database that provides free access to information about prison systems throughout the world. Country information is updated on a monthly basis, using data largely derived from governmental or other official sources. Each country page gives information on:

1. total prison populations, and prison population rates per 100,000 of the national population
2. the use of imprisonment for women, juveniles and foreign nationals
3. the extent of pre-trial/remand imprisonment
4. prison overcrowding, as indicated by occupancy levels
5. news and official reports on prison conditions
6. details of local organisations and other resources
7. department or ministry responsible for prisons, with contact information
The WPB also presents ‘highest to lowest’ country lists, enabling country-by-country and regional comparisons to be made of prison population rates and totals, occupancy rates, and proportions of pre-trial/remand prisoners, female prisoners and foreign prisoners. (Data shown in the highest to lowest lists are the most recent available but not necessarily from the same date. Please click on each individual country to see the date to which the data refer. As it is not possible to obtain meaningful comparative data on numbers of children in custody in different countries, we do not include juvenile imprisonment data in the highest to lowest lists.)

Prisoner Reentry

Corrections: Reentry/Release
This site from NCJRS is a good source for government publications and statistics on prisoner reentry, mostly from the National Institute for Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Prisoner Reentry Institute
John Jay College of Criminal Justice's Prisoner Reentry Institute's mission is to strengthen the field of prisoner reentry.
Public Health and Criminal Justice
Information on correctional health care issues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Also includes a "special topic" of Reentry into the Community.
Reentry Policy Council
A Council of State Governments project. Their site offers their groundbreaking Report and other resources such as legislation, national initiatives, statistics, news and media coverage.
Second Chance Act of 2005
Search congress.gov for bill summary and status for the Second Chance Act of 2005, a significant piece of federal legislation on prisoner reentry.