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Now available at Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice ONLINE
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice/La Revue canadienne de criminologie et de justice pénale
Volume 53, Number 4 / October
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/gjw1r2p47h40/
This issue contains:
Executive Cognitive Functioning Abilities of Male First Time and Return Canadian Federal Inmates
Erin H. Ross, Peter N.S. Hoaken
A primary goal of forensic rehabilitation programming for incarcerated offenders is to eliminate or, at the very least, decrease rates of recidivism. However, repeat offending continues to occur, and studies suggest that reductions in recidivism brought about by programs are modest. Indeed, a series of studies suggests decreases in recidivism ranging between only 7% and 14%. While several factors have been identified as potential contributors to criminal behaviour, one notion that has garnered much attention is that an individual may be predisposed to criminality if s/he has deficits in executive cognitive functioning. At this time, the link between executive functioning and antisocial behaviour is largely unquestioned. However, it remains uncertain whether executive deficits may be even more profound in offenders who have served multiple terms of imprisonment. Using a cross sectional design, 93 Canadian federal inmates, categorized as either first timers (n=56) or return inmates (n=37) were tested on a battery of executive cognitive-functioning measures. In keeping with our hypotheses, return inmates showed more severe and pervasive patterns of executive dysfunction. These results suggest that improved focus on ameliorating ECF deficits of offenders may further assist in decreasing recidivism.
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/pvu704410t3374t7/?p=dfb6c8d136044f4ea6b3f230775a5cf3&pi=0
DOI: 10.3138/cjccj.53.4.377
Set Up to Fail: The Unintended Consequences of Multiple Bail Conditions1
Jane B. Sprott, Nicole M. Myers
Bail conditions are placed on youths in an effort to ensure they return to court and to reduce danger to the public by constraining the behaviour of the accused in the community. These conditions, however, may have the unintended consequence of setting youths up to accumulate further criminal charges of failing to comply with a court order. The present study tracked a random sample (N=225) of youths who were held for bail hearings and ultimately released from a large Toronto court. Although ultimately close to half the sample had all charges related to the bail hearing withdrawn, close to a third of the sample were charged with failing to comply with conditions of release. Those who were subject to a bail order for a relatively long time and had numerous bail conditions were most likely to accumulate new charges of failing to comply.
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/f8247421w3722215/?p=dfb6c8d136044f4ea6b3f230775a5cf3&pi=1
DOI: 10.3138/cjccj.53.4.404
Insiders' Views of their Role: Toward their Training
Margorit Rita Krespi Boothby
Research on peer-led support programs in prisons suggests that these programs are beneficial. One such program is the Insiders Scheme. Preliminary reports on its effectiveness suggest that it has a positive impact on prisoners as well as on the Insiders themselves. Nevertheless, there is no detailed information on the ways in which the Insiders perceive their role. Information may help to set targets for training of Insiders. Therefore, in the present qualitative study, focus group meetings were undertaken with all three Insiders in a male prison, using an interview-guide approach to describe the ways in which the Insiders perceived their role. The anonymized transcripts of these meetings were analysed inductively by following established conventions to ground analysis in the data. Insiders evaluated their role in terms of the different aspects of their role, the strategies that they used to help other prisoners, the personal impact of their role, the difficulties that they experienced during the course of their work, and possible ways of improving their role. The present findings contribute to an evidence-base for peer-centred training for the Insiders Scheme and therefore highlight the value of undertaking qualitative research among Insiders to identify specific targets for their training.
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/0735n1g5480w4096/?p=dfb6c8d136044f4ea6b3f230775a5cf3&pi=2
DOI: 10.3138/cjccj.53.4.424
Disproportionate Minority Contact in Canada: Police and Visible Minority Youth1
Robin T. Fitzgerald, Peter J. Carrington
There is a consensus that some racial groups are over-represented in their contact with the Canadian justice system, but a lack of agreement about possible reasons for this over-representation. The two dominant explanations for disproportionate minority contact (DMC) with the police are differential involvement in crime and differential treatment by the police. Differential treatment may be due to disproportionate possession by minorities of risk factors for police contact or to discriminatory policing. This paper uses data on self-reported delinquency and police contacts from a representative sample of Canadian youth aged 12 to 17 years from the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth to test the hypotheses that DMC is due to differential involvement or to differential treatment due to disproportionate risk factors. The results indicate that there was disproportionate minority contact with the police, but no support was found for explanations of DMC in terms of either differential involvement or differential treatment due to risk factors. Distinguishing between youth who report violent delinquency and all other youth, DMC was found only for the non-violent youth; this DMC was also not explained by differential treatment due to risk factors. By eliminating other explanations, the results suggest that racially discriminatory policing may be one explanation for DMC in Canada.
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/qn37t76821l4h336/?p=dfb6c8d136044f4ea6b3f230775a5cf3&pi=3
DOI: 10.3138/cjccj.53.4.449
Book Reviews / Recensions de livres (October/octobre 2011)
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/9220g3174306kx14/?p=dfb6c8d136044f4ea6b3f230775a5cf3&pi=4
DOI: 10.3138/cjccj.53.4.487
Books Received / Livres reçus – October/octobre 2011
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/r68261224542l066/?p=dfb6c8d136044f4ea6b3f230775a5cf3&pi=5
DOI: 10.3138/cjccj.53.4.488
Index to Volume 53 /Index du volume 53
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/j773206l622m1646/?p=dfb6c8d136044f4ea6b3f230775a5cf3&pi=6
DOI: 10.3138/cjccj.53.4.490
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice
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This highly respected scientific publication of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association features in-depth articles based on research and experimentation and appeals to justice administrators, researchers and practitioners, academics, and anyone wishing to keep abreast of recent criminological findings and opinions.
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