Incarceration

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  • A man shakes a woman's hand at a job fair in Clarksville, Tennessee, March 6, 2020, photo by Casey Williams/Clarksville Now

    Research Brief

    A More Accurate Way to Predict Recidivism Risk in Background Checks

    Roughly 30 percent of people in the United States have criminal histories, so exclusions resulting from background checks can foreclose job and other opportunities for many. But what if it were possible to show that some people pose a low risk of recidivism?

    Jan 6, 2022

  • Camille Glinton (L) kisses her mother Luz Gonzalez at California Institute for Women state prison in Chino, California May 5, 2012. An annual Mother's Day event, Get On The Bus, brings children in California to visit their mothers in prison.

    Essay

    What Programs Can Help Parents in Prison and Their Children?

    Around 2.3 million people live in U.S. jails and prisons, and most of them are parents. What are prisons doing to help them be better parents when they get out? It's more than just a policy question—it's a social justice question.

    May 2, 2022

Explore Incarceration

  • Soldiers escort Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman at the Navy's airstrip in Mexico City, February 22, 2014

    Commentary

    El Chapo's Prison Escape Should Come as No Surprise

    Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel and similar criminal organizations have long used tunnels to literally undermine security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

    Jul 24, 2015

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    Peer Mentoring for Male Parolees: A CBPR Pilot Study

    This study demonstrated the feasibility and import of involving formerly incarcerated adults in the design, implementation, and testing of interventions intended to support their reintegration efforts.

    Jul 7, 2015

  • Report

    Report

    Self-inflicted Deaths in NOMS' Custody Amongst 18–24 Year Olds: Staff Experience, Knowledge and Views

    This Report presents the findings of research into self-inflicted deaths in custody amongst 18-24 year olds in England and Wales. The research was undertaken in five UK prisons, and was commissioned by a national review examining deaths in custody.

    Jul 1, 2015

  • Report

    Report

    Public Safety Realignment in Twelve California Counties

    California legislation grants flexibility to counties in implementing public safety realignment. This report determines whether counties continued and expanded existing practices or took the opportunity to change correctional business as usual.

    Jun 29, 2015

  • Young man in handcuffs

    Report

    Los Angeles County Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act: Fiscal Year 2013–2014

    Overall, juvenile offenders and at-risk youth in Los Angeles who participated in evidence-based programs and services showed more positive outcomes (e.g., lower arrest rates) than a comparison group.

    Jun 24, 2015

  • Group of friends making a toast

    Commentary

    Could You Lose Your License to Drink?

    Criminal justice reform requires creating demand for bold ideas about simultaneously reducing incarceration and crime. Given the prominent role alcohol plays in crime — and the strong results from South Dakota's 24/7 Sobriety program — suspending one's “license to drink” seems well worth considering.

    Jun 23, 2015

  • Criminal justice technology taxonomy web tool

    Tool

    Criminal Justice Technology Taxonomy Web Tool

    This tool presents a dynamic map populated by information on tools and practices that allow the user to explore the different areas of corrections technology and practice and to make comparisons between community and institutional corrections.

    Feb 2, 2015

  • News Release

    News Release

    Options and Issues Regarding Marijuana Legalization in Vermont

    If Vermont chooses to remove its prohibition on producing and selling marijuana, lawmakers will have many choices to make about who will supply it, who can buy it, if and how it will be taxed, and how it will be regulated. There are pros and cons to all policy options as well as uncertainty about how different forms of legalization will affect public health and safety.

    Jan 16, 2015

  • Customers shop for

    Report

    Insights for Vermont and Other States Considering Marijuana Legalization

    If Vermont chooses to remove its prohibition on producing and selling marijuana, lawmakers will have many choices to make about who will supply it, who can buy it, if and how it will be taxed, and how it will be regulated. There are pros and cons to all policy options as well as uncertainty about how different forms of legalization will affect public health and safety.

    Jan 16, 2015

  • Canvassers leave flyers to drum up support for Oregon's Measure 91, which would legalize recreational marijuana use, in Portland, October 28, 2014

    Research Brief

    The Marijuana Legalization Debate

    Marijuana policy should not be viewed as a binary choice between prohibition and the for-profit commercial model seen in Colorado and Washington. Legalization encompasses a wide range of possible regimes.

    Jan 16, 2015

  • Young man in handcuffs

    Journal Article

    Incarcerated Youths' Perspectives on Protective Factors and Risk Factors for Juvenile Offending: A Qualitative Analysis

    Juvenile offenders admit bad judgment but think a better path is still achievable.

    Jan 7, 2015

  • Security guard watching video monitoring surveillance security system with portable radio transmitter

    Report

    New Tool Helps Corrections Agencies Rank Innovation Needs

    Institutional and community corrections agencies are facing increasingly complex tasks and challenges that call for innovative tools, technology, practices, and approaches. Given resource constraints, prioritizing needs is essential. A new tool can help.

    Jan 6, 2015

  • Priority Criminal Justice Needs Initiative Tool

    Tool

    Interactive Tool for Ranking Corrections Innovation Needs

    Interactive tool that allows users to leverage the research in Fostering Innovation in Community and Institutional Corrections.

    Jan 6, 2015

  • News Release

    News Release

    Previously Removed Immigrants Are More Likely to Be Rearrested After Leaving Jail

    Unauthorized immigrants who previously have been removed from the United States are more than 2.5 times more likely to be rearrested after leaving jail, and are likely to be rearrested much more frequently than those who have never been removed.

    Dec 16, 2014

  • A man is hand-cuffed by the New York Police Department before New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square

    Journal Article

    Previously Removed Immigrants Are More Likely to Be Rearrested After Leaving Jail

    Unauthorized immigrants who previously have been removed from the United States are more than 2.5 times more likely to be rearrested after leaving jail, and are likely to be rearrested much more frequently than those who have never been removed.

    Dec 16, 2014

  • U.S. Immigration and Customs official arrests an undocumented immigrant

    Commentary

    Prior Removal and Recidivism

    President Obama's executive action on immigration includes a new program that targets immigration enforcement at those arrested for more serious offenses and those deemed to be risks to national security. Research shows that unauthorized immigrants who have been previously deported are more likely to be rearrested after jail release, so local public safety interests and federal immigration enforcement priorities may well align around immigrants with a record of prior removal.

    Dec 11, 2014

  • News Release

    News Release

    Community Justice Center in San Francisco Is Associated with Lower Rearrest Rates

    San Francisco opened the Community Justice Center in 2009 to serve the city's Tenderloin district and adjacent neighborhoods. Those arrested for an eligible offense in the Center catchment area after it opened were 8.9 to 10.3 percent less likely to be rearrested within one year.

    Oct 8, 2014

  • A gavel and handcuffs

    Report

    Community Justice Center in San Francisco Is Associated with Lower Rearrest Rates

    San Francisco opened the Community Justice Center in 2009 to serve its Tenderloin district and adjacent neighborhoods. Those arrested for an eligible offense in the Center catchment area after it opened were 8.9 to 10.3 percent less likely to be rearrested within one year.

    Oct 8, 2014

  • Offenders read and write papers inside the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary library located in the Darrington Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice men's prison in Rosharon, Texas

    Commentary

    Using Education to Stop the Prison Revolving Door

    Providing education and vocational training to inmates is a cost-effective way to reduce recidivism rates, thus shrinking prison populations and easing the strain on prison budgets. Education is far less expensive than incarceration.

    Sep 30, 2014

  • An adult classroom

    Commentary

    The State of Washington and Its Focus on Rehabilitation

    California can learn a great deal from the state of Washington, which has implemented a series of reforms focused on rehabilitation—on diverting offenders to treatment and other options and making serving time in prison the last option.

    Sep 16, 2014

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