A t any given time, over 2 million people are incarcerated in prisons and jails in the U.S (1). It is estimated that nearly 80,000 of these inmates have diabetes, a prevalence of 4.8% (2). In addition, many more people pass through the corrections system in a given year. In 1998 alone, over 11 million people were released from prison to the community (1). The current estimated prevalence of dia...

While legislatively sanctioned discrimination against the mentally ill in general society has largely disappeared, it persists in correctional systems where inmates are denied earn-time reductions in sentences, parole opportunities, placement in less restrictive facilities, and opportunities to participate in sentence-reducing programs because of their status as psychiatric patients or their ne...

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), defined as deliberate self-directed tissue damage, presents a serious health concern for offender populations. Approximately one-third of offenders report a history of NSSI, and it is the most common reason for mental health treatment within correctional settings. To date, no review exists with a specific focus on NSSI in criminal justice contexts. Therefore, th...

The reintegration and rehabilitation of offenders is one of the main objectives of the Department of Correctional Services in South Africa, yet this aspect is of primary concern of the community and the public at large. This is primarily due to the perceptions that many people have about the criminal justice system which is often gleamed from daily news reports on television, newspapers and var...

In rehabilitation, we donchr('39')t often think about globalization or how what we do may have impact worldwide. Many of us donchr('39')t have the time, inclination, yet maybe we need to think beyond our borders to pick up a global concept. Apparently the era of globalization is having negative implications for the provision of effective psychiatric rehabilitation programs. The question is whet...

Judicial decisions established legal standards for prison conditions and the treatment of prisoners. Prisoners used the litigation process to seek judicial enforcement of these rights-based standards that restricted the autonomy previously enjoyed by correctional officials. Judicial intervention into corrections transformed corrections by pushing all correctional institutions to become professi...

Several large evaluations of correctional programs across the United States have found that offender assessment is one of the most poorly implemented principles of effective offender intervention. Correctional programs have relied too much on subjective, clinical assessments of offenders’ likelihood of re-offending or risk, and specific risk factors. Corrections programs have neglected one of t...