Paradigms and prisons: a narrative of translation and transformation : my hero's journey from "at-risk" youth to teacher/learner in a jail setting /

All life is suffering. Life is the pursuit ofhappiness. These are two foundational Buddhist dictums that, in their simplicity, I have entirely misunderstood regarding their depth, misreading them as contradictory. Indeed, my superficial interpretations led me to Thoreau's life ofquiet desperation and deep depression. We come to know and bring understanding to our lives by storying them. My own Hero's Journey, the path from my egoic selftoward the universal Self, can be understood as the resultant translations and transformations. Inevitably each of us is involved in such a story, though most are unaware of the stages along our own Hero's journey. ' Narrative honours writing as a means of knowing. The contemplative reflection allows insight into our imprisoning paradigms, beliefs, behaviours, and blind spots. My research revisits and explores nodal experiences along my Hero's Journey through 4 categories: self, society, soil, and Self. While the value of this process of narrative inquiry lay in its ability to come to know and understand one's self, perhaps its greater value is of a more universal nature. My inquiry, while adding to the body of academic educational narrative literature, may also illuminate a path to educators, students, and all interested, encouraging a response to the call of their own Hero's journey. I am a teacher/learner in a jail setting, working with youth between the ages of 12 and 18 who have committed crimes such as armed robbery, assault, rape, and murder. As this thesis follows my continual development from egoic self/teacher/learner to universal Self/Teacher/Learner, it also enables me to both consciously and unconsciously open the ways in which I expand my care, compassion, and love to work with at-risk youth.

Running a Cartel? Go directly to jail

Operators of cartels now face not only big fines, but also time in jail. And new laws criminalising cartels leave no room to move.

The implications of jail time discounting for court sentences

Specific and marginal general deterrence are being increasingly discredited as useful sentencing objectives. One reason is that offenders discount jail time, sometimes quite substantially. As a consequence, there is a significant difference between the court's sentence and the effective penalty. The latter is the offender's perceived duration of the time in jail. Discount rates, which perhaps can be thought of as a measure of acclimatisation to the prison experience, potentially weaken considerably the likelihood of successfully attaining the objective of specific deterrence. In addition, since jail time discount rates increase as the sentence length increases, punishment burden increases less than proportionately. This means that successfully achieving marginal deterrence is even more problematical. Using New South Wales data for three different offences, mean estimates of jail time discount rates are obtained, and then used to adjust downwards court sentences and estimate their effective equivalents. Effective sentence elasticities are then computed to gauge the impact of sentence doubling. Very low values are obtained. The critical implications for sentencing suggested by this study are, first, that absolute general deterrence and specific deterrence are realistic sentencing objectives. Marginal deterrence, however, does not seem to be attainable, given the ubiquity of positive time preference. Secondly, subject to the proportionality constraint, relatively shorter sentences are likely to be more punitive than longer ones, and therefore more effective as specific deterrents.

Identification of mental illness in police cells: a comparison of police processes, the brief jail mental health screen and the jail screening assessment tool

The study investigated current police practices employed to identify those with a mental illness in police custody, and to evaluate the predictive utility of the Brief Jail Mental Health Screen (BJMHS) and the Jail Screening Assessment Tool (JSAT). One hundred and fifty detainees were recruited from two police stations in Melbourne, Australia. Measures included the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR, BJMHS and JSAT. Axis-I disorders were compared with police decisions regarding identification of mental illness based on their usual practices. Participants were classified as requiring referral for further mental health evaluation according to the screening tools. Results indicated that current police practices produced high false negatives, with many of those experiencing mental illness not identified. There was no significant difference in performance between BJMHS (AUC =0.722) and JSAT (AUC =0.779) in identifying those with a serious mental illness (p=0.109). However, JSAT performed significantly better at identifying any Axis-I disorder, excluding substance use disorders, as compared with BJMHS (AUC =0.815, vs AUC =0.729; p=0.018). Given the high prevalence of mental illness among detainees, there is a pressing need to introduce standardised screening tools for mental illness in police custody. This can assist the police in managing detainees appropriately and securing mental health services as required.

Jail up; crime down does not justify Australia becoming an incarceration nation

The imprisonment rate in Australia is at unprecedented high levels, both interms of actual prisoner numbers and the rate at which it is increasing. Forthe first time in recorded history the incarceration rate in Australia has morethan doubled in less than 25 years. Prison is the harshest form ofpunishment in our system of justice and imposes considerable hardship onoffenders. It also comes at a considerable financial cost to the community.Accordingly, the surge in prisoner numbers is a significant macro social,economic and legal development. The increase did not occur pursuant to anoverarching strategic plan and is an area that is under-researched. Theprison population increase has arisen as a result of a ‘tough on crime’approach that continues without any sign of abatement. The use ofimprisonment should only be increased if there is a demonstrable benefit tothe community. This article examines whether there is a sound rationalebehind the rising trend in prison numbers. The increasing incarceration ratehas coincided with a significant reduction in the crime rate. A causalconnection between the two events (increased prisoner numbers andreduced crime) could constitute a powerful argument in favour of the surgein prison numbers. However, an examination of the empirical data inAustralia fails to demonstrate even a tenable link between these events. Wealso conclude that at the theoretical level there is no rationale for theincreased use of imprisonment. If the imprisonment rate continues to rise,there is a risk of a prison and financial crisis similar to that currently beingexperienced in the United States, which has resulted in an extremecounter-reaction in the form of a retrospective reduction of some prison terms.

Identifying characteristics of mentally ill homeless individuals who are successfully linked to health and social services post-incarceration via the jail inreach project

Healthcare for the Homeless—Houston (HHH) received a research grant from The Medallion Foundation, Inc. in March 2006 to pilot The Jail Inreach Project, an intensive “inreach” initiative to assess the impact of providing continuity of mental and primary health care services for homeless individuals who suffer from mental illness and/or substance abuse being released from jail. This pilot project was initiated by HHH, in collaboration with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the Mental Health Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County (MHMRA). Those who are flagged as “frequent flyers” and who are diagnosed with a mental illness are referred to the Jail Inreach Project. In order to maximize the effectiveness of the discharge plan, case managers offer the option of meeting the client at the time of release and bring them to the HHH clinic located four blocks from the jail. Participation in both the program and the option for direct release to the care of a case manager are voluntary.^ The purpose of this study is to determine the outcomes of the Jail Inreach Project and addresses the following objectives: (1) to evaluate the characteristics of inmates that chose to be released from jail to the direct care of an HHH case manager versus those who opt for self release and (2) to determine the number and percent of inmates that are linked to services and relationship with type of release (direct versus indirect), (3) to determine if there is a relationship between outcomes and characteristics and (4) to determine what outcomes are a function of release, controlling for characteristics. Statistical analysis, including frequencies, cross tabulations, chi-square and logistical regression, found that those who opt for self release are six times less likely to be successfully linked to services and that gender is the most significant predictor of choosing self release. Men are far more likely to opt for self release than women engaged in this program. These findings help inform policy and program design and development that addresses the difference in service utilization and successful linkage to services post-incarceration. Successful linkage to services, thus continuity of and access to care, further impact the effects of the revolving door phenomenon of mentally ill homeless individuals cycling between the streets, jails and hospital emergency centers.^

The drunk driver and jail. Volume 5 - resource materials.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Field evaluation of jail sanctions for DWI. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Memoirs of the Rev. Ammi Rogers ... persecuted in the state of Connecticut, on account of religion and politics, for almost twenty years; and finally falsely accused and imprisoned in Norwich jail, for two years on the charge of crimes said to have been committed in the town of Griswold ... Also a concise view of the authority , doctrine, and worship, in the Protestant Episcopal church, and a very valuable index to the Holy Bible.

Mode of access: Internet.

Developing jail mental health services : practice and principles /

Item 507-B-5

County jail and detention facility report.

Title from cover.

A description of the jail distemper as it appeared amongst the Spanish prisoners, at Winchester in the year 1780 : to which is added an appendix containing an account of the experiment ... on board the Union Hospital Ship, in 1795, &c. to determine the effect of the nitrous acid in destroying contagion /

Mode of access: Internet.

Observations on the jail, hospital or ship fever /

Mode of access: Internet.