A remarkable new book about a dark stain on modern South Africa – our enormous and problematic prison population – and what we can do to fix it.

"Lock them up and throw away the key!" is a cry we hear often in South Africa today. But this simplistic solution to crime simply isn’t working. As Father Babychan Arackathara, a Catholic chaplain to some of the Western Cape’s most notorious prisons, shows in this compassionate reflection on his work, even criminals have stories, and crime invariably has roots. He listens to those stories and untangles those roots on our behalf, sharing insights into the brokenness of our society and communities – and offering real, workable suggestions for fixing them.

Can we move to the ideal of hating the crime, but loving the criminal? What must we do to see that offenders are themselves victims and to engage them constructively? How do we break the cycles of addiction, trauma and crime to reach for reconciliation and transformation?

After matriculating from a top Jewish school, Nikki Munitz finds herself in the clutches of a heroin addiction. She's sent to a remote rehab, run by a pastor who brandishes a tattoo of Satan. There she meets the handsome son of a wealthy Afrikaans family. Lured by the illusion of her ‘happy-ever-after’ she marries him. But the facade soon crumbles.

Money is in short supply. Nikki takes on a job at a reputable law firm. Encrypted passwords are entrusted to her. She begins to siphon small, undetectable amounts from trust funds of loyal clients. The amounts increase. Caught red-handed, she's fired. By the time the law catches up with her, Nikki is clean and sober. On the advice of her lawyer who reassures her she will never go to jail, she pleads guilty to all 37 counts of fraud. After a gruelling 2-year court battle, she's found guilty.

Fraud is a powerful memoir about a young woman who is forced to face her life of deceit in a prison cell where she ultimately finds her freedom to fly.

The issue of human rights and its contemporary theory has drawn the attention of the author for a long period of time. Specifically, the rights of two groups of citizens of our planet that have existed next to one another for as long as the world has been turning a " the perpetrators of crimes and their victims. And, unfortunately, this will never change. To learn more about the author please visit his website at www.stanik.name and www.kosmas.cz. Also published by Zsolt StanA k (in English) are in printed form and available on www.amazon.co.uk: An Angel in Hell, Humour at its Best, Joy Till Death and I Forgive You One Sin on www.fast-print.net/bookshop: Farewell to Bad Times and I Forgive You One Sin on www.kosmas.cz: Ita s enough to drive you crazy (as an E-book)

This exciting new book brings together the experiences and expertise of a range of practitioners who work within criminal justice and provides a broad and informative account of a variety of intervention techniques. From pharmacological approaches, through the treatment of various specific conditions and on to the use of poetry and art by prisoners, the book offers a series of thought-provoking chapters that will help inform the practice of anyone who works with this vulnerable population. The book is edited by Peter Jones, a leading figure in the field of working therapeutically with offenders. Vital information for: Probation officers, social workers, counsellors, psychologists who work within the criminal justice system.

Typical offender risk factors include a history of antisocial behavior, an antisocial personality, antisocial cognition, antisocial associates, family and/or marital problems, school or work problems, leisure or recreation problems, and substance abuse. Though there are roughly 66 risk assessment instruments that measure these factors, only 19 of them are in wide use. Of these tools, micro-level and personal factors are included on typical risk instruments while external or macro-level matters are not. Community Risk and Protective Factors for Probation and Parole Risk Assessment Tools: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an essential research publication that explores tools for predicting recidivism rates among incarcerated individuals. The study provides evidence for an alternative explanation for a still prevailing notion that recidivism is primarily a result of personal/internal failings (such as mental illness or cognitive impairment) versus external/societal ones. Featuring a wide range of topics such as affordable housing, policy reform, and adult education, this book is ideal for criminologists, sociologists, law enforcement, corrections officers, wardens, therapists, rehabilitation counselors, researchers, policymakers, criminal justice professionals, academicians, and students.

This new and important title explores one of the most contentious and sensitive topics in criminal justice: the release and resettlement of life-sentenced offenders. Life after Life Imprisonment provides an in-depth analysis of the post-prison experiences of 138 discretionary life-sentenced offenders, all of whom were released from prison across England and Wales during the mid-1990s. Using accessible and engaging data the book examines key legal developments within the criminal justice system for discretionary life-sentenced offenders, explores the frontline experiences of criminal justice practitioners charged with the responsibility of supervising life-sentenced offenders and analyses the 'stories' or life narratives of a group of individuals who have committed some of the most serious crimes. The book also examines the process of recall for life-sentenced prisoners and explores key factors associated with failure in the community. This work therefore contributes to a variety of different areas of theoretical concern to legal scholars and criminologists as well as to applied areas of interest to practitioners in the field. Significantly, the book offers a major insight into how societies respond to serious crimes and identifies important elements of successful reintegration for released life-sentenced offenders.

A series of essays considering the use of social groupwork with offenders in carceral and community settings

DESCRIPTION: People with mental illness in the criminal justice system are a vexing problem in many countries. Efforts to cope with this problem have taken a number of forms and this volume explores the key issues in this area. Whether and to what extent any of these efforts achieve their goals remains a significant question for researchers from a range of disciplines and for actors and stakeholders from various sectors of the mental health and criminal justice systems TABLE OF CONTENTS: Contributors; Introduction; Criminal Justice Involvement and Severe Mental Illness; Where is the 'illness' in the criminalization of mental illness?; Treatment Modalities for Offenders with Mental Illness; Community mental health services and criminal justice involvement among persons with mental illness; Case management and the forensic client; The impact of 'new generation' anti-psychotic medications on criminal justice outcomes; Embedding Community Mental Health Service System Interventions in the Criminal Justice Process: From Arrest to Release; Jail diversion for people with mental illness: what do we really know); The nature of the alliance: an anthropological look at the practice of forensic psychiatry; Courting the court: courts as agents for treatment and justice; Prison, hospital or community: community re-entry and mentally ill offenders.

On any day in the United States, about 2 percent of the population is in prison. What do we know about the mental health of these inmates? And what are the implications of what we know? Nathaniel Pallone characterizes opinion on these questions as falling into two broad camps: the "tender-hearted," those who see an extensive overlap between mental illness and criminal behavior, and who are treatment oriented; and the "tough-minded," those who have little confidence in psychiatric categories, do not really accept arguments about diminished responsibility, and who feel the emphasis should be on punishment. Which is closer to the truth?

The incidence of mental disorder among prisoners is nearly four times greater than among comparable groups in the general population. In part, this is related to the fact that prisoners are disproportionately drawn from demographic groups with a high incidence of mental disorder--nonwhite and from lower socioeconomic strata. But on other measures the data are dismaying: mental retardation is 50 percent higher in prison populations; alcohol and drug abuse is probably between five and eight times greater among imprisoned offenders; and neurogenic (organic) disorders may be 1700 times greater than in the general population. In fact, in all categories of mental illness, the incidence among prisoners is far higher than among the general population.

What are the policy implications of these findings? Pallone does not argue that criminal behavior is a byproduct of mental disorder, nor that rehabilitation rather than punishment is the purpose of imprisonment. He does assert that the evidence suggests that the design and implementation of mental health care needs serious reevaluation, particularly in view of recent Supreme Court decisions mandating mental health care (as distinct from treatment). He acknowledges the very real obstacles that will need to be addressed if this is to occur. But he sees mental health care as the primary issue for those responsible for the management of prisons. Criminologists, psychologists, policy-makers, and all those concerned with these questions will find Mental Disorder Among Prisoners essential.

Working with Sex Offenders is a unique book which brings together leading practitioners in the field to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date distillation of relevant guidance to assist anyone who works with sex offenders. The authors examine topics including assessment, treatment, supervision and safeguarding. Skills and strategies for successful engagement with offenders are a key focus of the book, as well as improving understanding of underpinning factors associated with offending and desistance. This volume, which is derived from well-received presentations hosted by the UK's National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers (NOTA) over a number of years, also offers a detailed examination of individual, organisational and societal roles in relation to identifying and preventing sexual abuse in our communities. Using case examples throughout, Working with Sex Offenders will be essential reading for all professionals involved in the management and treatment of sex offenders.

Voices From American Prisons: Faith, Education and Healing is a comprehensive and unique contribution to understanding the dynamics and nature of penal confinement. In this book, author Kaia Stern describes the history of punishment and prison education in the United States and proposes that specific religious and racial ideologies - notions of sin, evil and otherness - continue to shape our relationship to crime and punishment through contemporary penal policy. Inspired by people who have lived, worked, and studied in U.S. prisons, Stern invites us to rethink the current punishment crisis in the United States.

Based on in-depth interviews with people who were incarcerated, as well as extensive conversations with students, teachers, corrections staff, and prison administrators, the book introduces the voices of those who have participated in the few remaining post-secondary education programs that exist behind bars. Drawing on individual narrative and various modern day case examples, Stern focuses on dehumanization, resistance, and community transformation. She demonstrates how prison education is essential, can provide healing, and yet is still not enough to interrupt mass incarceration. In short, this book explores the possibility of transformation from a retributive punishment system to a system of justice.

The book s engaging, human accounts and multidisciplinary perspective will appeal to criminologists, sociologists, historians, theologians and scholars of education alike. Voices from American Prisons will also capture general readers who are interested in learning about a timely and often silenced reality of contemporary modern society."

This book is the culmination of three years of research into sexual violence policies and sexual consent education at post-secondary institutions across Canada. The prevalence of sexual violence has not changed in more than 30 years, and its reporting to police or school authorities has only waxed and waned over those years. In response, this book asks what can be done differently to reduce the number of victims and potential perpetrators? The book provides an environmental scan of over 120 post-secondary institutions (PSIs) across Canada as well as a deeper analysis of 7 PSIs that also include student and staff experiences and opinions. The three-year research project employed various phases to capture over 160 student voices and over 20 sexual violence staff and subject experts. Subject experts and students were also involved in reviewing the draft iterations of the proposed sexual consent education module. This book delivers readers with a broad-brush approach to understanding the landscape of sexual violence prevention and education services at PSIs across Canada. It provides a narrowed focus on 7 PSIs where student and staff survey responses and interviews provide positionality in response to the available literature. The book concludes with a proposed sexual consent education module, including its strengths and limitations, as a point of discussion for PSIs to include into their sexual violence prevention education repertoire. This book is intended for post-secondary audiences in Canada, North America, and elsewhere - for undergraduate and graduate students and faculty, staff, and administrators - where it is crucial to consider ways to address its prevalence and the ways we can incorporate prevention education into our campus communities.

Offender rehabilitation has become increasingly and almost exclusively associated with structured cognitive-behavioural programmes. For fifty years, however, a small number of English prisons have promoted an alternative method of rehabilitation: the democratic therapeutic community (TC). These prisons offer long-term prisoners convicted of serious offences the opportunity to undertake group psychotherapy within an overtly supportive and esteem-enhancing living environment.

Drawing upon original research conducted with residents (prisoners) and staff at three TC prisons, "Offender Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Communities" provides a uniquely evocative and engaging portrayal of the TC regime. Individual chapters focus on residents adaptation to the TC way of rehabilitation and imprisonment; the development of caring relationships between community members; residents contributions towards the safe and efficient running of their community; and the greater assimilation of sexual offenders within TCs for men, made possible in part by a lessening in hypermasculinity .

By analyzing residents own accounts of desistance in process in the TC, this book argues that TCs help offenders to change by enabling positive developments to their personal identity and self-narratives: to the ways in which they see themselves and their life. The radically different penal environment allows its residents to become someone different .

The United States of America is in possession of the largest prison population in the world, with 2.3 million people currently behind bars. This number is predominantly and disproportionately made up of communities of colour and poverty. Between 1987 and 2007, the U.S. prison population tripled; the direct result of various 'tough on crime' public policies. Organizers and scholars use the term prison industrial complex (PIC) to name the structure that encompasses the expanding economic and political contexts of the detention and corrections industry in the USA. The PIC is a network that sutures capital, communities and the State to a permanent punishment economy. The term 'the PIC' aims to capture the range of material and ideological forces that shape the growth of detention: the political and lobbying power of the corrections officers unions, the framing of prisons and jails as a growth industry in the context of deindustrialization, the production and sales of technology and security required to maintain and expand the state of incarceration, and the naturalization of isolation as a logical response to harm. Education and Incarceration highlights the significance of centering agency and autonomy, and documents scholars who work to be accountable to justice movements and communities, not simply to academic disciplines or to research. Additionally, as emerging scholars committed to challenging the PIC, these authors struggle to build multi-layered analytic and material tools for resistance within and beyond the walls of schools, jails and prisons. This book provides snapshots of practices in motion: activist scholars working to engage, to be accountable to families, communities and larger justice movements, and to build abolition democracies. This book was originally published as a special issue of Race Ethnicity and Education.

1. Bringing together chapters co-authored by academics and practitioners, this book will find a market as a supplementary book for students and a book on best-practice for professionals. Each chapter has a set structure to ensure consistency. 2. This book will be particularly useful for universities offering qualifications for trainee probation officers in the UK, as well as Criminology students taking courses on criminal justice, penology, rehabilitation and working with offenders.

Prisoner resettlement is high on current political and policy agendas. The high reconviction rates of ex-prisoners have been acknowledged for many years but the rapidly rising prison population has meant that more prisoners than ever before are released. This together with the pressure this puts on to the infrastructure of the prison estate and the publication of two influential reports which highlighted the problems faced by prisoners leaving prison has concentrated attention on attempts to ensure that prisoners do not return to prison once released. The resettlement of prisoners is now a priority policy area linked directly to Government initiatives to reduce reoffending. The renewed policy interest in prisoners resettlement forms the context of this volume, which brings together current knowledge and understanding about prisoners resettlement. The book draws on the contributors extensive experience as researchers and practitioners in the field and includes contributions from acknowledged experts. Prisoner Resettlement provides a comprehensive review and analysis of resettlement policy and practice in England and Wales in the early part of the 21st century. In particular it: critically reviews current policy, theory, practice and research on prisoners resettlement explores practice issues through case studies of two resettlement initiatives and an examination of accommodation provision and voluntary sector involvement in prisoners resettlement; and examines the particular issues raised by the resettlement of different groups of prisoners including women, minority ethnic groups, prolific and priority offenders and high-risk offenders.

First published in 1973, Wrongful Imprisonment aims to combine the human interest of individual cases of wrongful imprisonment with a general analysis of how and why they occur. It deals in detail with the English system, but also provides comparisons with Scotland, France, and the United States. The authors spent three years collecting material from newspaper reports, trial transcripts, books, lawyers, the Home Office and - most important - interviews with the persons concerned. As a result, they have been able to analyse objectively the existing system of justice; they have isolated and identified the areas in which the system is at fault, and the successive hazards which may confront the innocent man suspected of a criminal offence; they have also revealed the many obstacles which have to be overcome by the wrongfully imprisoned man seeking to establish his innocence and regain his liberty. This topical and convincingly argued book should appeal not only to students of law and sociology, or to lawyers, policemen, criminals, and others involved in the system of criminal justice, but also to the man in the Wormwood Scrubs omnibus.

* This book uniquely attends to the group aspect of treatment. Each activity is designed to utilize and enhance the power of the group modality * This book includes activities that actively engage the group member and help them explore each topic more deeply and personally. * This book continues to be on the cutting edge of topic inclusion, with expanded coverage of Digital Abuse; Victims' Perspectives on Abuse; Religion and Abuse, and Parenting.

Explore the possibilities for successfully treating incarcerated or community-based substance abusers Substance Abuse Treatment with Correctional Clients: Practical Implications for Institutional and Community Settings provides key research findings and policy implications for treating alcohol- and drug-addicted correctional clients. This book addresses a range of critical issues associated with delivering treatment in institutional and community settings. The critical thinking questions, tables, extensive bibliographies, and name and subject index will help academics and practitioners in criminal justice, sociology, counseling/psychology, and public policy. Substance Abuse Treatment with Correctional Clients shares the practical knowledge of researchers and practitioners in the fields of drug and alcohol addictions, substance abuse counseling, and criminal justice. The first section provides a review of the theoretical explanations for substance abuse, best practice treatment programs for substance abusers, and the use of coerced/mandated treatment. The second section addresses the substance-addicted offender in the institutional setting, the third includes works that describe community-based treatment programs and the problems associated with them, and the fourth looks at special treatment populations, including juveniles and adolescent females. In Substance Abuse Treatment with Correctional Clients, you will find: reviews of various types of treatment programs being used to treat substance-addicted individuals a study of the predictors of success and/or failure in corrections-based substance abuse programminghow to identify and use the predictors to prevent relapse arguments for and against coerced treatment in the correctional environment, and the concept of motivation a thorough investigation of the therapeutic community (TC) program for institutional-based substance abusers descriptions of treatment programming designed specifically for substance abusing community corrections clientsdrug courts and Pennsylvania's Restrictive Intermediate Punishment treatment program Substance Abuse Treatment with Correctional Clients guides you through the major policy issues faced by those who provide substance abuse treatment under what can only be described as coercive circumstances. In this important resource, you will discover major treatment modules as well as advice for working with adult, juvenile, and male or female offenders. This book provides you with the techniques that treatment communities need for helping offenders stay clean after they re-enter the community environment.

Explore the possibilities for successfully treating incarcerated or community-based substance abusersSubstance Abuse Treatment with Correctional Clients: Practical Implications for Institutional and Community Settings provides key research findings and policy implications for treating alcohol- and drug-addicted correctional clients. This book addresses a range of critical issues associated with delivering treatment in institutional and community settings. The critical thinking questions, tables, extensive bibliographies, and name and subject index will help academics and practitioners in criminal justice, sociology, counseling/psychology, and public policy. Substance Abuse Treatment with Correctional Clients shares the practical knowledge of researchers and practitioners in the fields of drug and alcohol addictions, substance abuse counseling, and criminal justice. The first section provides a review of the theoretical explanations for substance abuse, "best practice" treatment programs for substance abusers, and the use of coerced/mandated treatment. The second section addresses the substance-addicted offender in the institutional setting, the third includes works that describe community-based treatment programs and the problems associated with them, and the fourth looks at special treatment populations, including juveniles and adolescent females. In Substance Abuse Treatment with Correctional Clients, you will find: reviews of various types of treatment programs being used to treat substance-addicted individuals a study of the predictors of success and/or failure in corrections-based substance abuse programming--how to identify and use the predictors to prevent relapse arguments for and against coerced treatment in the correctional environment, and the concept of "motivation" a thorough investigation of the therapeutic community (TC) program for institutional-based substance abusers descriptions of treatment programming designed specifically for substance abusing community corrections clients--drug courts and Pennsylvania's Restrictive Intermediate Punishment treatment programSubstance Abuse Treatment with Correctional Clients guides you through the major policy issues faced by those who provide substance abuse treatment under what can only be described as coercive circumstances. In this important resource, you will discover major treatment modules as well as advice for working with adult, juvenile, and male or female offenders. This book provides you with the techniques that treatment communities need for helping offenders stay clean after they re-enter the community environment.

Motherhood after Incarceration: Community Reintegration for Mothers in the Criminal Legal System explores the relationships of women with their children immediately after periods of incarceration. The analysis draws on in-depth interviews with 39 women who are mothers and who had recently been released in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area. Using data collected from these interviews, the authors address three interrelated questions: (1) How does incarceration affect mother/child bonds? (2) What obstacles interfere with successful reintegration of these mothers into the community? (3) Do mothers who regain immediate custody of their children after incarceration reintegrate better than those with delayed (or no) resumption of child custody? Implications of these findings for policy are explored. The research results demonstrate the struggles justice-involved mothers experience over time as they seek to reintegrate into the community and resolve their relationships with their children, while also struggling with employment, housing, family relationships, and avoiding situations that might ultimately lead to recidivism. The authors suggest that policies for reducing recidivism among reentering women should provide more resources for housing, childcare, mental health, and job training and coaching. Further, there are often behavioral and emotional repercussions associated with the lengthy separation of mother and child, which highlights the need for parenting support for these mothers and their children, including social and emotional counseling, and resources directed toward the maintenance of family ties. This book's detailed look at motherhood after incarceration, both for mothers with custody and without, will appeal to academics, policy makers, community advocates and activists, and undergraduate and graduate students in social science courses on correctional policy, gender and crime, and social work.

1. This book can be used as engaging supplementary reading for a range of research methods courses in Criminology, and across the Social Sciences. 2. The book does not just describe the method but brings it alive with case studies of empirical research in criminal justice.

Peer mentoring is an increasingly popular criminal justice intervention in custodial and community settings. Peer mentors are community members, often with lived experiences of criminal justice, who work or volunteer to help people in rehabilitative settings. Despite the growth of peer mentoring internationally, remarkably little research has been done in this field. This book offers the first in-depth analysis of peer mentoring in criminal justice. Drawing upon a rigorous ethnographic study of multiple community organisations in England, it identifies key features of criminal justice peer mentoring. Findings result from interviews with people delivering and using services and observations of practice. Peer Mentoring in Criminal Justice reveals a diverse practice, which can involve one-to-one sessions, group work or more informal leisure activities. Despite diversity, five dominant themes are uncovered. These include Identity, which is deployed to inspire change and elevate knowledge based on lived experiences; Agency, or a sense of self-direction, which emerges through dialogue between peers; Values or core conditions, including caring, listening and taking small steps; Change, which can be a terrifying and difficult struggle, yet can be mediated by mentors; and Power, which is at play within mentoring relationships and within the organisations, contexts and ideologies that surround peer mentoring. Peer mentoring offers mentors a practical opportunity to develop confidence, skills and hope for the future, whilst offering inspiration, care, empathy and practical support to others. Written in a clear and direct style this book will appeal to students and scholars in criminology, sociology, cultural studies, social theory and those interested in learning about the social effects of peer mentoring.

* emphasis on collaboration, co-creative innovation and organisational development. * discussion on academic/practitioner relations. * offers practical means of applying my discussion to real-world practice and research as well as means of boundary-crossing between academic and practitioners in the field. * offers a multinational, inter-sector, perspective on innovation, collaboration and learning in the penal system.

How can environments play a role in assisting and sustaining personal change in individuals incarcerated within the criminal justice system? Can a failure to address contextual issues reduce or undermine the effectiveness of clinical intervention? Bringing together a range of leading forensic psychologists, this book explores and illustrates inter-relationships between interventions and the environment in which they take place. This book examines how the environment can be better utilised to contribute to processes of change and how therapeutic principles and practices can be more strongly embedded through being applied in supportive, facilitative environments. In addition, it expands on emerging conceptualisations of how psychological functioning and environmental context are inextricably linked and offers an alternative to prevailing intrapsychic or 'essentialist' views of areas such as personality and cognition. Providing new and challenging insights and perspectives on issues of central relevance to forensic psychology and related disciplines, this book contributes to the development of innovative and unifying directions for research, practice and theory. This book will be an essential resource for those who work with or intend to work with offenders, particularly practitioners, researchers and students in the fields of psychology, criminology, psychiatry, psychotherapy and social work.