By Michelle Kirby

  The Family Violence Education Program is Connecticut’s pretrial program that gives eligible defendants the chance to attend programs that provide education about family violence instead of going to trial. Any defendant who wants to take part in the program must submit an application to the court. If the court grants the defendant’s application, he or she must take part in nine, 90- minute sessions of a psycho-educational class that is focused on reducing any future family violence. If the defendant completes this program successfully and follows any other conditions set by the court while he or she is taking part in the program, the court will dismiss the charges against the defendant. Classes are offered all over the state by judicial branch-contracted community providers  

OLR Research Report, Hartford:   Connecticut General Assembly ,  Office of Legislative Research , 2023. 4p.

By Michelle Butler,, Catherine B. McName, Dominic Kelly

Despite its impact on imprisonment, no quantitative study has examined the factors related to people's status on prison incentive schemes. This study addresses this gap by using administrative data to explore the factors related to the status of 405 men on a prison incentive scheme. Results revealed that those who had a prior history of passing prison drug tests at time 1, and spent more time imprisoned during the follow-up period, were more likely to be on the highest level of the scheme one year later at time 2. In contrast, those who had a history of past involvement in misconduct, referrals for serious self-harm/attempted suicide in prison, not taken a prison drug test, property offences, and greater periods of custody at time  were more likely to be on the lower levels of the scheme at time . The potential implications for theory, policy, and practice are discussed.

  European Journal of Criminology 2024, Vol. 21(6) 887–907 

By Johann Koehler https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1305-891 j.koehler@lse.ac.uand Friedrich Lösel

We synthesize 53 meta-analyses on the effectiveness of correctional treatment applied to a wide variety of offender groups delivered in either custodial or community-based settings. Those meta-analyses revealed positive overall effects on reoffending of correctional treatment delivered in both settings. However, the treatment setting is also associated with complex moderator effects. With respect to effect size, for most groups, community-based correctional treatment is associated with statistically significant larger reductions in reoffending than treatments delivered in custodial settings. With respect to effect precision, custodial treatments report more consistent effects on reoffending than community-based treatments. The findings extend and develop the insight that treatment flexibility, such as is found among community-based treatments, can optimize program effectiveness. Likewise, the opportunities for monitoring and treatment fidelity that custodial settings enable can homogenize outcomes. Nonetheless, the promising results observed among treatments delivered both inside and outside institutional settings implicate a complex policy tradeoff between prioritizing strong performance and consistent effects.

European Journal of Criminology 2025, Vol. 22(1) 3–29 , 2024    

By Amanda Wilson

Centering the perspectives and lived experiences of incarcerated persons, this article considers the ways food is used as a tool and site of contestation and possibility within federal prisons in Canada. Focusing specifcally on the implementation of and resistance to the Food Services Modernization Initiative, I explore food as “contested terrain” within carceral systems, making visible a range of tactics of resistance employed by incarcerated persons, from testimonials and ofcial complaints to direct collective action. In analyzing these actions and narratives, I refect on the importance of both food justice and prisoner justice to transforming carceral food systems and call for greater acknowledgment of carceral food systems within food movement discourses and campaigns.  

  Critical Criminology (2023) 31:83–104

By Ben Stickle, Steven Sprick Schuster

Recent expansions in prison school offerings and the re-introduction of the Second Chance Pell Grant have heightened the need for a better understanding of the effectiveness of prison education programs on policy-relevant outcomes. We estimate the effects of various forms of prison education on recidivism, post-release employment, and post-release wages. Using a sample of 152 estimates drawn from 79 papers, we conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the effect of four forms of prison education (adult basic education, secondary, vocational, and college). We find that prison education decreases recidivism and increases post-release employment and wages. The largest effects are experienced by prisoners participating in vocational or college education programs. We also calculate the economic returns on educational investment for prisons and prisoners. We find that each form of education yields large, positive returns due primarily to the high costs of incarceration and, therefore, high benefits to crime avoidance. The returns vary across education types, with vocational education having the highest return per dollar spent ($3.05) and college having the highest positive impact per student participating ($16,908).

American Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 48, pages 1263–1294, (2023):

By Zarek Khan

This article is based on interview data (N = 16) collected in a medium security men’s English prison (HMP Wandsworth). It begins with an introduction of the Incentives and Earned Privileges scheme and outlines the amendments to Incentives and Earned Privileges that have transformed prisoners’ requirements for progression during their sentence. As the article demonstrates, the policy alteration increases the need for prisoners to be visibly compliant by staff in order to advance through the scheme; it is no longer sufficient to be invisibly compliant. To this end, I present a typology of visibility that illustrates prisoner compliance and outcomes to the Incentives and Earned Privileges scheme. The article situates the revisions made to Incentives and Earned Privileges against the backdrop of neoliberal informed penal politics. The article concludes by summarising the key theoretical and practical implications of the study.

Criminology & Criminal Justice 2022, Vol. 22(1) 97–114 , 2020  

By Tasseli McKay and William A. “Sandy” Darity Jr.

  A rich empirical literature documents the consequences of mass incarceration for the wealth, health, and safety of Black Americans. Yet it often frames such consequences as a regrettable artifact of racially disproportionate criminal legal system contact, rather than situating the impetus and functioning of the criminal legal system in the wider context of White political and economic domination. Revisiting a quarter century of mass incarceration research through a stratification economics lens, we highlight how mass incarceration shapes Black–White competition for education, employment, and financial resources and contributes to Black–White disparities in well-being. Highlighting persistent research gaps, we propose a research agenda to better understand how mass incarceration contributes to systematic White advantage. To address mass incarceration’s consequences and transform  it arose, we call for legislative and judicial intervention to remedy White hyper-enfranchisement and reparations to eliminate the Black–White wealth gap. 

Annu. Rev. Law Soc. Sci. 2024. 20:11.1–11.22 

By Charlie Taylor

The rate of self-harm among women in prison has rocketed in the last 10 years and is now 8.5 times higher than in men’s jails.

Rather than specific health care interventions, this thematic focuses on what practical support officers and leaders can offer women to reduce the likelihood that they will resort to self-harm.

We found that the paucity of regimes, the difficulties in enabling visits, and the lack of training or support for officers all contributed to a failure to help women cope. Staff spent a lot of their time helping women suffering acute crises, leaving little time to provide less intensive yet vital support for other women, which was taking a toll on the mental health of both staff and the women in their care.

London: HM Inspector of Prisons, 2025. 47p.

By Robin Joy

This research brief contains a preliminary analysis on the use of Conditions of Release in Vermont Criminal Division and charges of Violations of Conditions of Release if a violation of 13 V.S.A. 7559(e). The purpose of this brief is to inform stakeholders on the following questions: • Who gets conditions of release? • What are the conditions? • Who violates conditions of release? CRG invites inquiries and discussions as we move forward with our research. Several data sources were used in this analysis. The Adjudication Database maintained by CRG was used to answer questions about county use of conditions versus released on own recognizance. The Judiciary created a data set for CRG that gave information on what conditions were imposed on people from March 2021- March 2022. CRG acquired the criminal histories (rap sheets) of people in the data set the judiciary provided to understand more about violations, criminal pasts, and current cases of the people on conditions.

Montpelier VT: Crime Research Group, 2024. 7p.

By Simon D. Venema https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2623-2964 s.d.venema@rug.nl, Petrick Glasbergen, […], and René Veenstra

Various programmes have been implemented in prisons to strengthen parental involvement and parent–child relationships during imprisonment. In-depth insights into such programmes are limited. This qualitative study compared the experiences of two groups of imprisoned fathers in the Netherlands: fathers who participated in a family approach programme (N = 10) and fathers in a comparison group (N = 29). Based on a thematic analysis, four key differences were identified between the family approach group and the comparison group. Fathers in the family approach group: (1) described more positive engagement activities in direct father–child interactions, (2) reflected more positively on their fathering role during imprisonment, (3) structurally included participation in the family approach programme in their narratives of how imprisonment affected father–child relationship quality, and (4) more often expressed feelings of uncertainty and caution when discussing family life after imprisonment. The findings of this study are informative for the mechanisms behind prison-based parenting and family relationship programmes and illustrate the potential of these programmes to alleviate the unintended negative impact of imprisonment on parental involvement and family relationships. Based on these findings, recommendations for further research and practice are provided.

European Journal of Criminology 2024, Vol. 21(4) 533–555 pages

By Megan Davey, Julia Yates & David McAlonan

The Electronic Monitoring (EM) as a Licence Variation (LV) project commenced as a pilot on 8 August 2022 in one probation region of England and Wales, which increased to five probation regions on 28 March 2023. The project allows probation practitioners in participating probation regions to vary a prison leaver’s licence by imposing electronically monitored conditions, where they believe that it would be beneficial to do so. This can take the form of Global Positioning System (GPS) location monitoring or Radio Frequency (RF) curfew monitoring. The EM as LV tool is intended for use on a discretionary basis by probation practitioners as a response to an escalation of risk or as an alternative to recall, as is the case with other licence variations, so as to support the successful completion of the licence period. Moreover, EM as LV should only be used as an alternative to recall when the recall threshold is met and the risk is assessed by probation as manageable in the community with additional licence conditions. The purpose of this process evaluation is to assess how the discretionary use of EM as LV has contributed to the management of people on probation in the community by HM Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS) across the five participating probation regions. The evaluation is also intended to help identify any improvements that could be made as part of any future roll out of the intervention to further probation regions. This report summarises the findings of the process evaluation led by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). It explores stakeholders’ views and experiences of the EM as LV project to understand how it has been operating, its perceived effects and its observed limitations. The process evaluation fieldwork was carried out during summer 2023. 1.1 Key findings  between go-live in early August 2022 and the end of December 2023. The EM as LV data were also matched to management information (MI) recorded by the Probation Service using unique identifiers so as to obtain estimates of a set of protected characteristics and other variables, which were subject to missing values and potential data input errors. Comparisons were provided with respect to all prison leavers released on an adult licence over the same time period, where relevant. The qualitative data regarding stakeholders’ perceptions were obtained using primarily interviews that were conducted among police officers, probation practitioners, EM service provider staff and people on probation who were enrolled in the EM as LV project. The main limitation was that the views expressed by respondents were only representative of those individuals who chose to participate. In particular, the number of people on probation who responded was small. 

Ministry of Justice Analytical Series: London: Ministry of Justice, 2025. 83p.  

By Cheryl Yates

In October 2019, the Iowa Department of Human Rights Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning (CJJP) was awarded Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) funding through the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), to conduct a longitudinal evaluation of sex offenders serving special sentences in Iowa. The purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of the special sentence policy and the extent to which it reduced recidivism long-term. The special sentence was enacted in 2005 to mandate extended monitoring of sex offenders in the community for a duration of 10 years or life, depending on the crime. An initial study was conducted by CJJP in 2014 for the former Sex Offender Research Council (SORC). The 2014 study compared recidivism rates of Iowa sex-offenders who were supervised on special sentence to a cohort of sex-offenders who were supervised before the special sentence was enacted. The results showed lower rates of new convictions for sex offenses among those on the special sentence within a three-year tracking period, but higher prison return rates for technical violations presumably a result of the increased monitoring in the community.1 The current study will use a longer, nine-year recidivism tracking period to track the same cohorts studied in 2014. The purpose is to examine whether the special sentence cohort continues to have lower sex offense recidivism rates and higher prison returns over a nine-year tracking. The evaluation questions investigated in this report include the following:  Is the low likelihood of sexual reoffending sustained longer-term?  Does special sentence monitoring continue to result in more technical violations and time incarcerated for sex offenders on the special sentence compared to the pre-special sentence cohort?  What are the estimated costs and what resources might be needed in the future to sustain this intensive supervision?  What is the expected forecasted growth of offenders serving a special sentence in the community and those who are in the prison population? As outlined in the SAC grant proposal, multiple indicators of recidivism will be examined, including any conviction, felony conviction only, sex conviction, felony sex conviction, and revocation (prison return due to technical violation or new conviction). The study will also examine the demographics of sex offenders, their convicting offense, risk levels, and treatment participation; the number of offenders on the special sentence and forecasted; and costs of the special sentence and alternatives.

Iowa Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning (CJJP) , 2021. 52p.

 By Roger Grimshaw  

This working paper seeks to clarify the key contexts in which the recent history of indefinite detention for people convicted of crimes should be placed and to suggest ways of interpreting the kinds of evidence and analysis which future inquiries or reviews may wish to consider. Here it is argued that the main contexts are, in order of scope and generality: A. Socio-political structures and state developments B. Operations of the state: law and administration C. Initiatives, reactions and effects at the individual level The paper gives most attention to contexts A and B on the grounds that these contain the sources of the fundamental problems to be resolved, while evidence about C continues to be documented. It is agreed that the recent history of indefinite detention is complex, with several strands that over time have become knotted, hindering lucid and effective solutions. In this paper an attempt has been made to identify some of the most convoluted, and to trace their origins and implications. Inevitably, Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) will loom large, though future work will seek lessons from other jurisdictions and from similar sentences. The act of clarification focuses our minds on what is entailed in challenging the conventional wisdom around political and institutional understandings of indeterminate preventive detention. As we shall see, a cluster of such sentences have emerged from a longstanding political context and sit inside a range of measures and technologies which are embedded in criminal justice as we know it. The account is neither reassuring nor redemptive, but its intention is to present a foundation for a cogent criticism of that history and a prospective agenda for a future alternative.

Working Paper 2  London:  Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, 2025. 14p.

By Rosa Loureiro-Revilla

Overcrowding, limited resources, and systemic corruption hinder Peru’s ability to manage its prisons, where mobile phone smuggling thrives. Addressing these issues requires investment in modern technology, robust staff training, and better pay to reduce bribery risks. Comprehensive policies, including alternatives to incarceration for minor offences, can improve governance and curb illicit practices that undermine state control.

Bergen, Norway: U4 is part of the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), 2024. 18p.

By Travis J. Meyersa , Alexander Testaa , and Kevin A. Wrightb

Purpose: The use of segregation continues to be at the forefront of debates on the most effective way to address violence in prisons. Concern over the negative impact of these placements has prompted correctional administrators to employ alternative strategies to reduce their segregated populations and address serious misconduct. Few studies, however, have explored the impact that these strategies have on future behavioral outcomes. To address this gap, the current study explores the effectiveness of a disciplinary segregation program reserved for those who engage in violent misconduct during their incarceration. Methods: This study employs a quasi-experimental research design to estimate the treatment effects of placement in a disciplinary segregation program on subsequent levels of institutional misconduct during a one-year follow-up. Results: Placement in the disciplinary segregation program had no effect on subsequent levels of serious in-prison misconduct amongst participants when compared to their matched counterparts. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that scholars and practitioners should work to build a response to in-prison violence that starts with what is known about the causes of violence and what effectively modifies attitudes and behaviors. Future research should include rigorous measures of both program process and implementation to better identify effective forms of intervention.

American Journal of Criminal Justice, 2021, 41p.

By Pablo Marshall, Diego Rochow, Sergio Faúndez

This article analyses the enfranchisement process of the prison population in Chile. Although institutions were reluctant to grant the vote to this group for several years, in 2022, new policies allowed prisoners to suffrage for the first time. The Voto Preso movement, a set of organisations struggling for prisoners’ political participation, played a fundamental role in this transformation. However, incarcerated people's participation in constructing the movement's demands and strategies was scarce. Drawing on eleven interviews with key movement actors, the article sheds light on the main discourses by which it promoted the materialisation of Chilean prisoners’ voting rights. The article also critically scrutinises the consequences of prisoners’ limited inclusion in the Voto Preso movement. Finally, the article discusses how its analytical approach may open new avenues for studying prisoner dis/enfranchisement as a situated boundary issue.

Howard J. Crim. Justice. 2025;64:3–23 pages

By Hanna Hernandez. & Vasiliki Georgoulas-Sherry

Rates of recidivism have been commonly used as a key measure for public safety and in assessing the effectiveness of the criminal justice system – sentencing, jails, prisons, community supervision, treatment and reentry programming. Tracking recidivism can provide necessary information to support successful integration into the community following a prison sentence – which promotes community and public safety. Furthermore, understanding the individuals who are more likely to recidivate, and assessing demographic differences amongst the years can provide even more knowledge for supporting successful reentry. To evaluate long-term recidivism in Washington, the Washington Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) applied for and received the 2021 State Justice Statistics (SJS) grant from Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Under this grant from BJS, the SAC first drew on publicly available data from the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) to evaluate the long-term recidivism trends of incarcerated individuals released from prison (Georgoulas-Sherry & Hernandez, 2024). To expand on the findings, this report utilizes the same cohort to further evaluate the racial and sex similarities and differences in recidivism rates.

Olympia: Washington State Statistical Analysis Center, 2024. 31p.

By Fouzia Awan, Jared Stahl, Alec Bukata, Bergen Sorby, Anna Newberry, Sarah Frahm

Pursuant to Section 133(20), Chapter 376, Laws of 2024, the Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM) contracted with Western Washington University’s Center for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) to provide a comprehensive analysis of communication rates for incarcerated individuals across the United States. This report examines the costs associated with various communication methods — including voice calls, video conferencing, email, and text messaging — offered by contracted vendors in each state. Included in the report is an overview of the payments made by each state to their communication vendors, outlining the rate structures applicable to incarcerated individuals and their families over time. Additionally, it presents data on the total amounts paid by families to vendors each fiscal year. The report features a comparative analysis of rate structures over time, alongside historical communication fees. It also aims to forecast market trends from 2024 to 2030, providing insights into expected changes. Furthermore, the report identifies states that offer any form of communication — whether voice, video, email, or text — free of charge to both the initiating and receiving parties. It includes specific dates when these states began offering free communication services. Additionally, the report examines any access limitations for incarcerated individuals to these services once they are provided free of charge, as well as how communication policies have evolved in these states as a result.

Olympia, WA: Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM) , 2024. 31p.

By Noreen Wallace, et al.

The implementation of the standard determinate sentence 40 (SDS40) scheme in July 2024 and the subsequent announcement of the Government’s sentencing review have placed at centre stage the ability of the Probation Service to supervise and manage people effectively in the community. To achieve the best results, the Probation Service needs sufficient, well-trained staff to meet those demands. This thematic inspection therefore comes at a timely moment. Since probation services unified in 2021, our inspection reports have routinely described significant shortfalls in the number of probation practitioners, resulting in excessive workloads for many, which have had a negative impact on the quality of work undertaken. Strategic plans have acknowledged the need to recruit practitioners, and this has been undertaken at pace; from the start of the 2021 financial year to the end of the 2023/2024 financial year, over 3,500 trainee probation officers have started training. While wholly commendable and necessary, recruitment at this scale places considerable demands on existing resources and has further depleted the number of practitioners, as staff have been recruited into the management and support roles required for the new recruits. Despite successful recruitment campaigns that have attracted many trainee probation officers and probation services officers, there are still shortages at the frontline, exacerbated by increased attrition rates. The staff group is also not sufficiently diverse, and further work is needed to understand why there are some disproportionate outcomes for certain groups in the recruitment processes. While probation staff can make a huge positive difference to people’s lives, the work is also demanding and, at times, stressful. Probation practitioners have often been operating with high, and in some cases excessively high, workloads, which has undoubtedly had an impact on the quality of work. The success of community supervision depends on skilled practitioners who can build rapport, assess risks, and rehabilitate people on probation. However, we have found that practitioners are not always sufficiently equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to work with the cases they are allocated. A closer look at the current training arrangements shows that considerable efforts have been made to meet the demands of high new starter numbers. However, there is still room to improve the way that training is delivered, to equip practitioners better with the skills to work effectively with people on probation. The recruitment of trainee probation officers has now rightly moved away from seeking only to attract graduates, and a range of pathways is now available to attract a more diverse workforce. The programme is intense and not all recruits are prepared for the demands it places on them. To maximise the prospect of positive outcomes, it is essential that recruits are tested adequately, to ensure that those who are appointed have the potential and commitment to become competent probation officers. Evaluation of the recruitment and training methods used for each intake is needed to have a better understanding of what produces the most effective outcomes. There is considerable investment in training, and it is vital that this investment is focused on building a stable and committed staff group who want to remain within the Service. Considering the pace of probation training, it is crucial that the support arrangements for newly qualified officers are strengthened to allow them to hone their skills before taking on full caseloads; failing to do this can place pressures on new officers that can be overwhelming and counterproductive to long-term development and retention. HM Prison and Probation Service recognises the reasons why many staff leave; high workloads and the ongoing pressures faced by the Service are common factors. Given the considerable demands of the work, and its impact on public protection, pay is also inevitably an issue. Pay needs to reflect the significant level of risk and responsibility that probation staff hold. Another key issue is the tension between practitioners’ professional priorities and the expectations placed on them by the service. More needs to be done to harmonise these expectations and ensure that practitioners feel proud of the valuable work they do, to change lives and keep communities safe.    The sentencing review that is now under way was triggered by the capacity pressures in the prison system. Increased supervision in the community will inevitably be considered and the public needs to feel confident that community supervision is safe and effective. Well-resourced, trained, and supported probation staff make this possible. Overall, while there are initiatives aimed at improving staff experiences, challenges remain in building a capable and stable workforce. We have made recommendations based on our findings which, if followed, should lead to positive improvements in the recruitment, retention, and training of probation staff

Manchester: HM Inspectorate of Probation January 2025  65p.