Managing the Threat of Violence: Coping Strategies Among Juvenile Inmates.

This article reports findings on violence, safety, and coping strategies from interviews conducted with 281 male youth incarcerated in California's Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). Descriptive analyses revealed that youth report that violence is a common occurrence and that some locations, such as school or housing units, were particularly dangerous. Analysis of how youth avoid violence revealed three distinct precautionary or coping strategies. These three categories highlight a range of conflict management techniques from avoidance to aggression. Those youth who were younger, sex offenders, or newer to the facility used more passive avoidance techniques while gang members and those more active in violent misconduct used more aggressive techniques. A third group, those youth proactively navigating their interactions, had spent more time in their current institution and were marginally more likely to be adult court commitments. Intervention and policy implications of this study are also discussed.

Treating high-risk offenders in the community: the potential of drug courts.

The drug court model, which integrates drug treatment with community supervision and uses the authority of the court to facilitate compliance and behavioral change, provides an innovative alternative to processing as usual. While drug courts have enjoyed considerable empirical support, research suggests that they could increase their effectiveness through further refining their target population. In particular, it is hypothesized that drug courts are particularly well suited to treat drug offenders who have a high risk for recidivism. The purpose of the current study is to compare recidivism rates of high-risk drug court participants and high-risk probationers. Using new charges as a measure of recidivism, the results indicate drug court participants had significantly better outcomes than probationers. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Poly-Victimization Risk in Prison: The Influence of Individual and Institutional Factors.

Victimization research suggests that individuals who either witness or are direct victims of violence are substantially more likely to experience long-term negative outcomes. Although recent studies identifying factors associated with prison victimization are emerging, the risk factors predicting inmate's experience of multiple types of victimization, called poly-victimization, remain unknown. Utilizing a lifestyles model that incorporates the importation/deprivation framework, the current study examines whether certain features of the prison environment or individual characteristics predict who is most likely to experience victimization. Data from more than 1,600 recently released inmates confirm that the environmental and individual-level factors are related to poly-victimization in prison. The findings from the study have implications for policy and practice.

Outcomes among drug court participants: does drug of choice matter?

The link between drug and alcohol abuse and criminal behavior is clearly illustrated in the literature. The options of how to respond to these offenders, however, has widely fluctuated over time. Currently, many states have reconsidered their "get tough" approach to one that is more rehabilitative in nature. One particular community-based intervention that has gained in popularity is the drug court model. The literature on drug courts is generally supportive; however, there is a need to examine effectiveness by target population. The purpose of this study is to explore recidivism rates of drug court clients by drug of choice. Using a 2-year follow-up period, this study finds that drug of choice does not significantly influence either successful graduation or arrest. Policy implications are discussed.