Although restorative justice has become more regularly utilized in workplace and school settings, its use in the criminal justice system is still often met with criticism. A new study by Masahiro Suzuki, from Central Queensland University, and Xiaoyu Yuan, from Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, seeks to provide empirical evidence for why and how restorative justice works within a criminal justice setting for both offenders and victims. This article provides a summary of their research, which was approved for publication in Criminal Justice and Behavior and published online February 20, 2021. What Is Restorative Justice? Restorative justice is a method of justice … [Read more...]

Continued family contact during incarceration has been found to improve in-prison behavior and reintegration upon release. The value of prosocial contacts has been consistently found through empirical work that examined in-person visitation and phone calls. In recent years, computerized tablets have become more commonplace across U.S. prisons, yet little to no research has evaluated how this advancement in communication has altered experiences of incarceration. While prior research has established the importance of continued prosocial contact, we are unaware if having access to video and electronic communication changes the effect of continued contact during incarceration. Project … [Read more...]

The International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology is excited to announce the launch of a new project to advance research: Mental Health in Community Corrections: International Perspectives. This project explores the range of how services are provided, internationally, for people in community corrections who experience mental health challenges, including serious mental illness. The project’s goal is to advance research on how programs and services are provided to a population with high needs, and the extent to which that population can be best served in the community. The Mental Health in Community Corrections project was approved by IACFP’s Board of Directors in June … [Read more...]

America’s criminal justice system has been criticized for many things, among them its apparent racial bias. Minority individuals, particularly African Americans, have been incarcerated disproportionately to their percentage in the general population. Race sensitivity training in correctional settings has become more common, and in the umbrella of the Black Lives Matter movement, racism has once again become a topic of public interest, moreso in light of Robin DiAngelo’s popular book White Fragility (DiAngelo, 2018), in which she discusses why it is so difficult for white people to talk about racism; a social structure that emerges “when a racial group’s collective prejudice is backed by the … [Read more...]

IACFP Board meeting, held virtually on 28 January 2021. L to R: Emma Black Regan, Cherie Townsend, Jim DeGroot, Diane Williams, Melvin Hinton, Frank Porporino, Dick Althouse, Gabriel Ong, Javel Jackson, Maureen Alley, Jeff Pfeifer, Jeff Metzner, Sarah Shelton, Matt Epperson, and Silvia Martinez. We've compiled top highlights from IACFP events, international research, and world news for our March/April IACFP International News summary. Our topics include IACFP Board and leadership updates, notable research relevant to practitioners, and international topics of interest. 1. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR CORRECTIONAL AND FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY UPDATES The IACFP Board met on … [Read more...]

A recent report published by the Brookings Institute focuses on the inadequate and sometimes deadly result of using police as first responders for people in need of immediate mental health response. The report's authors, Stuart M. Butler and Nehath Sheriff, argue that crisis situations wherein individuals may have behavioral or mental health needs require an approach that shifts police away from leading the response and instead uses mental health professionals and community resources to help individuals secure the care they need. The Data The authors cite several high-profile cases wherein police responded with force when encountering individuals with mental health or developmental issues. … [Read more...]

After decades of not just increasing populations in prisons and jails in the United States but unconscionable mass incarceration, several different efforts began to reduce these numbers.  Some efforts looked at policy; some at decision-making, and some looked at the bottom line, (i.e., the costs to continue mass incarceration). Nearly ten years ago the concept of “Smart Decarceration” was introduced. This article provides a summary of new research presented in Criminal Justice and Behavior Special Issue, Volume 48, Number 1, January 2021. What is Smart Decarceration? Decarceration is a descriptive term that is sometimes used to generically describe population reduction in secure … [Read more...]

In a Sept/Oct Newsletter contribution, I suggested that our brains’ reflexive amygdala-powered fear/anger responses to the prevailing views of criminals explained the persistence of America’s increasingly punitive “tough-on-crime” policies. Even with declining national crime rates in the U.S., offenders continue to face legal and social barriers to community reintegration, despite the fact that they had “done the time,” and America grapples with an enduring sociopolitical resistance to proposed criminal justice and prison reform interpreted to reflect a “soft on crime” attitude. In this article, I continue to examine the implications of neuroscience and brain functioning in influencing … [Read more...]

We've compiled top highlights from news stories, research, and resources across the world in this month's IACFP International News summary. Our topics for the beginning of 2021 include IACFP leadership updates, student research awards, updates from the International Mental Health Leadership Network, new research, and COVID resources for practitioners. 1. IACFP Effective 1 January 2021, Jeffrey Pfeifer became the IACFP President and Frank Porporino moved to Past-President. The other members of the board’s executive committee are newly elected President-Elect, Sarah Shelton, Treasurer, Diane Williams, and Secretary, Richard Althouse. Jeffrey Metzner and Melvin Hinton were appointed to … [Read more...]

This article introduces the values and principles behind Growth and how penal reform can be realised through a Growth-based approach, emphasising the core conditions of transformative change. Gaining traction and building momentum for penal reform remains challenging; yet this article highlights how a new perspective on penal reform may help drive change and reduce social harm. This article proposes that prisons and penal organisations can be places of meaning, hope, and growth if core conditions of change are embraced to meet transformative ends.      Start with the Why Growth is not solely about the rehabilitation of prisoners but instead focuses on growing an organisation and the … [Read more...]

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world have had to identify, implement, and refine regulatory practices to help decrease the spread of the virus and mitigate the impact on healthcare facilities and personnel. A new rapid review conducted by researchers in Canada highlights strategies considered most effective in managing COVID-19 in correctional facilities and other secure units, specifically for individuals with mental health issues. Here, we provide a summary of key findings and recommendations from the research, published in Victims & Offenders: An International Journal of Evidence-based Research, Policy, and Practice. Research Context Measures … [Read more...]

Several months ago, Dr. Jeffrey L. Metzner was interviewed and asked about his career, advice to others in the early to mid-stage of career development, and recommendations for contributing to corrections’ system reform. He was gracious in his time and humble in describing the experiences that led to his current status of “expert” in the field. He was quick to point out the opportunities that he had to learn from others and how that may have shaped the trajectory of his career. Just the Basics Jeffrey L. Metzner, M.D., was appointed to the IACFP Board in 2018 and was recently reappointed to serve a second term. He received his M.D. from the University of Maryland Medical School and … [Read more...]