International Criminal Justice Review

Publisher:: Sage Publications, Inc.
Publication date:: 2021-09-06

ISBN:: 1057-5677

Issue Number

Latest documents

Book Review: Life imprisonment: A global human rights perspective by D. Van Zyl Smit and C. Appleton
Mental Health Experiences Among Inmates Serving Life Sentences in Ghana Prisons
In Ghana, a convicted person is not entitled to parole. The only hope for their return into the community is either completing the sentence or government amnesty. However, recidivists on life sentences are completely denied the chance of returning into the community. This coupled with the demand of adjusting to the country’s prison conditions affects the mental well-being of life-sentenced inmates. This study explored the mental health experiences of life-sentenced inmates. An interpretive phenomenological approach guided the analysis of qualitative data collected from 21 life-sentenced inmates who were serving terms in three selected prisons. We employed the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) and International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11) mental disorder symptomologies to situate the participants’ narration of their experiences. The participants reported feeling sad, hopelessness, and having sleepless days and nights due to thinking about their perceived spoiled plight. They also experienced stress and were fearful of uncertainties due to perceived prison officer apathy and harsh prison conditions. Additionally, the participants resorted to drug use as a means to cope with their mental health experiences. The participants’ descriptions of their experiences were consistent with some symptomologies of mental disorders as provided in the DSM-5 and ICD-11 and call for the creation of mental health treatment services in the country’s prisons to improve the mental health of inmates.
Book Review: Punishment and citizenship: A theory of criminal disenfranchisement by M. Tripkovic
Book Review: Stick Together and Come Back Home: Racial Sorting and the Spillover of Carceral Identity by P. Lopez-Aguado
Book Review: Demystifying the big house: Exploring prison experience and media representations by K. A. Foss
Book Review: The puzzle of prison order: Why life behind bars varies around the world by D. Skarbek
Predictors of Aggression Among Sample-Specific Young Adult Offenders: Continuation of Violent Behavior Within South African Correctional Centers
Offenders in South Africa face dehumanizing conditions in overcrowded correctional centers known for constant violence and corruption. These offenders need to cope and adjust to life within a correctional center. However, the majority of young adult male offenders use aggression to adjust to the correctional environment. It is, therefore, essential to identify which predictor variables predict aggression the best among incarcerated young adult male offenders. This study focused on 243 young adult male maximum-security offenders sampled through convenience sampling. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate which variable(s) or set(s) of variables explain a significant percentage of the variance of aggression. The results indicated that problem-solving, seeking social support, and avoidance, as a set of predictors, significantly predicted physical aggression, anger, and hostility. These findings seem to suggest that to decrease physical aggression, anger, and hostility among young adult offenders, it would be advisable to implement interventions that would (i) increase their problem-solving skills, (ii) improve their social support, and (iii) teach them to refrain from making use of avoidance as a coping strategy.
Rearrests of Noncitizens Subsequent to Immigration Removal From the United States
Deportation or removal from the United States for criminal justice–involved noncitizens has been described as analogous to incapacitation. A common assertion is that if immigration authorities remove these noncitizens from the United States, future criminal justice involvement will be averted. The present study explores the hypothesized incapacitation effect of immigration removal and tests whether a record of prior removal predicts postremoval rearrest patterns. The sample consists of 521 foreign-born males with a verified immigration removal from the United States, following transfer into federal immigration custody from Los Angeles County Jail in 2002. California rearrests after the date of verified U.S. removal were tracked through 2011. Results indicate that 48% of the sample was rearrested at least once and 22% had three or more postremoval arrests. These findings do not support the hypothesis that deportation equates to permanent incapacitation. The study also found that a record of prior removal did not predict postremoval rearrest likelihood or frequency. As a single longitudinal study and the first of its kind, these results alone cannot inform responsible policy recommendations. The study does, however, highlight directions for further research and the pressing need for access to individual-level immigration data for empirical study and public distribution of results.
Book Review: Governing delinquency through freedom: Control, rehabilitation and desistance by G. Bugnon
ICJR Publications Received