CORRECTI

ONALPSYCHOLOGY
Onceadef endanthasbeenc onvic
ted,thewor kofthepoli
ceandthe
prosec
ut or
sisfini
shed.Forthemenandwomenwhowor kincorrect
ions
,the
j
obhasj ustbegun.Correct
ionalpsychologi
stsar
eani nt
egralpar
tofamoder n
corr
ectionalsys
tem,andas ses
smenti sthei
rmos ti
mpor t
antfunct
ion.
 Thecor
recti
onalsys
tem andt
heps
ychol
ogi
stswhowor
kwi
thi
nitar
efac
ing
unpr
ecedentedchal
lenges
.
 Afterpeopl earearrest
ed,itmus tbedec idedwhet hert heys houldbe
releasedordet ai
ned,divertedorpr os ecuted.Forthos ewhoar ec onvict
edof
cri
mi naloff
enses,j
udgesmus tdecidewhet hertheys houl dbeadmoni shed,
fi
ned,pl acedonpr obati
on,enr oll
edi nappr opr
iaterehabi litat
ionpr ogr
ams ,
ors entencedtotermsofc onfinement .Eac hnew admi ssiont oajailorprison
mus tbescreenedforpsychologicaldis ordersanddevel opment aldisabil
it
ies
toident i
fythosewho( a)aredanger oustot hems el
vesorot hers,(b)areat
ris
kofvi ct
imizat
ion,or(c)requirement alhealthintervent ions.
Inadditi
on,correct
ionalauthoriti
esmus tes
tabli
sht heirmos tappropriat
e
supervis
ionandc ustodylevelsandt hendeterminet hepr ogramsbes tsui
ted
totheirpart
icul
arneeds .Eventuall
y,manypr i
soner smus tbes cr
eenedt o
determinewhoc anber eleasedonpar ol
e.Psychologicalassess
mentpl aysa
cruci
alroleinmanyoft hes edecisi
ons .
 Thec orrecti
onalsystem compris
esanumberofs eparateanddi s
tinc
t
segment s.Eachhasitsownt as
ksandi ss
ues,andeachi ss
ubjecttodif
fer
ent
legalconstrai
nts.Thesesegmentsincl
udejail
s,pr
obationservi
ces,
correcti
onalinstit
uti
ons,andaftercar
eservic
essuchaspar ol
e.
St
andar
dsf
orheal
thc
arei
ncor
rec
tions
 Pr
isonersare,l
it
eral
ly,ac
aptivepopul
ati
on.Unli
kefree-
wor
ldc
lient
s,i
n-
matescannotshoparoundformentalheal
thser
vices
.
 Becausepr i
soner saretotal
lydependentonc orrecti
onals tafff
ortheirhealt
h
careneeds,anumberofpr ofessi
onalhealt
hc areorganizat i
onshave
formulatedstandar dsandgui del
inesregardi
ngt henatur eandt heextentof
thepsychologicalandot herservicest
hatshouldbeaf f
or dedi nvari
ous
set
tings.
 Theyincl
udet heAmer i
canAssociat
ionforCorr ec
tionalPsyc
hology(AACP) ,
theAmericanCor r
ect
ionalAss
oc i
ati
on( ACA),t
heAmer icanPsychiat
ric
Assoc
iat
ion,theAmer i
canPsychologic
alAssociati
on,theAmer icanPublic
Healt
hAs s
ociati
on,andtheNationalCommi ssi
ononCor rect
ionalHealth
 Car
e(NCCHC)
.
 TheAACP(2000)st
andardsc ont ai
nc ertai
ngener alprovisi
onsthatapplyto
ass
essmenti
nallcorrect
ionals ett
ings.Theys pecif
ythateac hs
ettingshoul
d
employoneormor edoctoral-
levellicensedps yc
hologist
sexperiencedinthe
del
iver
yofpsychol
ogicalservicesinc orrect
ionalsett
ings.
 Wit
hmi l
li
onsofpeoplebeingprocess
edbycorrec
tionalfaci
li
ti
eseac
hyear,i
t
i
sobvi
ouslyi
mpos s
iblef
ors uchhighl
yqual
ifi
edpr act
iti
onerstoc
arryoutal
l
t
heass
essmentproceduresthatar
eneeded.
Ins tead,theymus t(a)formulateandi mpl ementpr ot
ocolsforpsychologi
cal
scr eening;(b)super viseassessmentsc onductedbymas ter’
slevel
ps yc hol
ogists
,psyc hologyinterns,andpar aprofess
ionalment alhealt
hs t
aff
member s;and(c )trainotherc or
rectionalstaffmember storecognizethe
signsands ympt omsofment aldisor
der s.
 Withregardtoass
essment,correct
ionalpsychol
ogist
ss houldnotadmi ni
ster
orsupervi
setheadminist
rati
onofunf amiliarass
essmentt echniques.
Moreover,t
heyshouldunderstandanypr oblemsassociatedwi t
ht he
adminis
trati
onoffamil
iartechniquesincor r
ect
ionalsett
ings.
J
ail
s
Func
tions
:Aj
aili
sexpec
tedt
oser
vet
hreebas
icf
unc
tions
.
 Fi
rst
,itservesasarefer
r als
our
cef orarr
estedi
ndi
viduals
.Afterpeopleare
ar
rested,i
tmus tbedecidedwhethertheyshoul
dber el
easedordetained,
di
vertedorpr os
ecut
ed.
 Thoseindi
vidualswit
hurgentphysi
calormentalpr
oblemsmustbe
ident
ifi
edandr ef
err
edortreat
ed.Thesedec
isi
onsrequir
eass
essment
.
 Aft
erarrai
gnment,thesec
ondfunct
ionofthejai
list
oprovi
defort
hesec
ure
det
enti
onofaccusedoff
enderswhomayf l
eetoavoidpr
osecut
ionorwho
maycommi tf
urthercri
meswhileawait
ingtri
al.
 Thethirdandfinalf
uncti
onofthejai
listos
erveasacorrec
tionalfaci
li
tyf
or
thoseconvi
ctedofmisdemeanour
sands ent
encedtoper
iodsofc onfi
nement
oflesst
hanayear .
As
ses
sment
 Peopl
earri
veatthejai
ldi
rect
lyfr
om t
hestreetatal
lhoursofthedayand
night
.Of
tentheyareinac
uteneedofphys
icalormentalheal
thcare.
 Acut
ementalheal
thproblemsc
ani
ncludeps
ychos
is,agi
tat
ion,anger
,
depr
ess
ion,i
ntoxi
cat
ion,anddr
ugwit
hdrawal.
 Thefi
rstrequirementinjail
sisscr
eeni
ngnew admi s
sionsforphysicaland
mentalcondit
ionsthatrequireimmedi
ateinterventi
on,andi dent
ifyi
ngt hos
e
whoar edangeroustothems el
vesandother
s.Rec ept
ionscreeningmus tbe
donebeforetheinmateisplacedinadoublec el
lorintothegeneral
popul
ationofthejail(
AACP,2000).
Probat
ion
 Whenaj uvenil
eoradultdefendantpleadsguil
tyori
sc onvi
ctedof
commi t
tingacrime,t
hecour toft
enconsider
sprobat
ionasanopt i
on,
espec
iall
yforyoungeroffenderswhohavebeenc hargedwithrel
ativel
y
minor,nonviol
entoff
enses.
 Thepr obationerisexpectedtoreporttohisorhers upervis
ingprobati
on
off
iceratr egulari
ntervalsandtoabi debyotherc onditionsofprobat
ion,
whichmayi nc
ludeat t
endingschool,maintaininggainfulemployment ,
parti
cipatinginvar i
ousformsoft r
eat ment(e.g.
,angermanagement )
,and
obviously,refr
ainingfrom furt
hercr i
minalac ti
vit
y.
As
ses
sment
Indi
vidualasses
smentisof
tenaprimar
yfunc
tionofc
orr
ect
ional
psyc
hologist
sinprobat
ionservi
ces
.
 Theinves t
igati
ngprobati
onof f
icer(PO)compi l
esadet ai
ledcasehis
toryon
thebasisofintervi
ewswi t
ht hedefendantandwi t
hotherr el
evantsour
ces
suchasf amilymember s
,teachers,andempl oyers.Aspartofthis
inves
tigati
on,thePOmayr equestapsychologicaleval
uation.
 Thi smayf ocusondi agnos
is(Whati swr ongwiththi
sperson?Whyi sshe
runni ngawayf rom home,doingdr ugs,notatt
endingschool?Whyi she
steali
ngc ars
,gettingintof
ight
s?)orpr ognosi
s(Ifweplacethisper
sonon
pr obati
onwi llheors hemakeusl ookbad?Wi l
lshepassmor ebadchecks
?
Wi llhekeephi tt
inghi swi
fe?)
.
 Thec hoi
ceofassessmenttechniquesshouldbegearedtotheissuesrai
sedby
therefer
ralquesti
on;inadditi
ont oac l
inic
alint
ervi
ew,indivi
dual
int
ell
igence,ac
hievement,andper sonali
tytes
tsareoft
enindicated.
Pri
sonsandCorrect
ionalI
nst
itut
ions
 Thebas
icfunc
tionofpri
sonsistoc
onfi
neconvic
tedfelonsi
nas
ecur
eset
ting
fort
heper
iodoftimespeci
fiedbythes
ent
encingjudge.
 Pri
sonsar
eexpec
tedt
odomor
ethanc
onf
inei
nmat
esandpr
eser
vet
hei
r
heal
th.
 Varioussegment sofsoc
iet
yexpec
tpris
onstoinc
apaci
tate,puni
sh,
rehabil
itat
e,orreforminmates
,whil
edeter
ringcri
minalbehaviori
not
her
potenti
aloffenders.
 Toac complis
ht hes
egoal s
,furt
heras s
ess
menti srequi
red.Toprotectsoc
iet
y
andi ncapaci
tateof
fenders,cor
rect
ionalins
tit
utionsmustplacet
hem in
set
tingsthataresuffi
cientl
ysecur
et hatt
hepr i
sonerscannotorwi l
lnot
abscondores cape.
As
ses
sment
 Aft
ers entencing,off
ender saretypic
allyheldinthelocaljai
lunt i
ltheycan
betrans f
erred,alongwi t
hc opiesoftheirl
egal,medical
,andps ychologi
cal
rec
or ds,tothestatecorrecti
onalsystem,oftentoafacil
itythatissetasi
defor
admis s
ionandc l
assif
icati
on.
 Atthecl
assi
fic
ationcent
re,newlyadmi t
tedinmatess
houldimmedi at
elybe
scr
eenedforsignsofmentali
ll
ness,development
aldisabi
li
ti
es,andpotent
ial
sui
cidebyqualifi
edheal
thcareprofessi
onals.
Parol
e
 Theroleoftheps ychologistinpar ol
eservi
cesissi
mi l
artothatinprobat
ion.
Inbothinst
anc es,communi typlacementofconvict
edoffendersisbei
ng
consi
dered;thedi f
ferenc eisthatparol
edoffendershaveservedpartoft
heir
sent
enceandar ebeingr eleasedtosupervi
sedplacementint hecommunity
subj
ecttocertainspec i
fiedc ondit
ions.
I
ftheydonotabidebythes
econdit
ionsoriftheycommitaddi
ti
onalc
rimes,
t
heirparolecanber
evokedandtheyarereturnedtos
ervethebal
anceof
t
heirsentenc
e.
 Psychol
ogic
alas s
ess
ment smayber eques
tedtohel
pdeterminewhet
her
pris
oninmat esarereadyforpar
oleand,ifs
o,whatcondi
tionss
houl
dbe
imposed.
 Onceanoffenderhasbeenpar oled,thesupervi
singparol
eoffi
cermay
reques
taps ychologi
calass
essmenttoassisti
nmanagementort r
eat
ment .I
n
t
hes ec
ases
,t hetaskissi
milartothatofpsychol
ogist
sinprobati
onsett
ings.
Ri
skAs
ses
sment
 Ri
skas
ses
smentc
anbeus
edt
oref
ert
oaspr
edi
cti
ngdanger
ous
nes
s.
Approac
hestoRi
skPr
edi
cti
on:Anumberofappr
oac
hest
ori
skpr
edi
cti
onhave
beenadopt
ed.
 Cl
ini
calj
udgmentr
eli
esont
heexper
tis
eandexper
ienc
eofc
orr
ect
ional
 pr
ofes
sional
s,s
uchasc
asewor
ker
sandc
orr
ect
ionalps
ychol
ogi
sts
.
 Object
ivemet hodsutil
izes t
andardinstr
ument ssuc
hasc heckli
sts
,
sc
orecards,dec
isi
ontrees,andr egr
essi
onequat i
onstocalc
ulateeach
of
fender’sri
skforvar
ioust ypesofundesirabl
ebehavior
.
 Obj
ect
ivemet
hodsc
anbeder
ivedr
ati
onal
lyorempi
ric
all
y.
 Rati
onallycons
truc
tedins
trumentst
rytoc
apturethej
udgment
sof
cl
assif
icat
ionexper
tsandapplyt
hem inast
andardfas
hion.
 Empirical
lyderivedt
oolstypi
call
ycomparegroupsofoff
enderswhodif
fer
withregardtothebehaviorinquest
ion,s
uchasadjust
menttopris
on,and
combinethef ac
torst
hatsigni
fic
antl
ydiff
erent
iat
egroupsint
oanobject
ive
ins
trument .
 Obj
ect
iveorstandardri
sk-
ass
essmentinstr
umentswerec r
eatedtominimize
t
hesubjec
tivi
tyandunreli
abi
li
tyassoci
atedwit
hcli
nicaldeci
sionmaking.
Obj
ect
ivetool
sevaluat
eeachoffenderonthes
ames etofcri
teria.
 Theresul
tsar
ethentabul
atedins omefas
hion,andpr
edeter
mined,uni
for
m
dec
isi
onfuncti
ons,s
uchasc ut
tingscor
esordecis
iont
rees
,deci
dethe
out
come.
 Eachoffenderi
srel
iabl
yevaluat
edaccordi
ngtothesamec r
iter
ia.Whet
her
thes
ec ri
teri
aandtheresul
ti
ngdeci
sionsareval
id,i
s,ofc
ourse,anempiri
cal
questi
on.
Rat
ional
lyDer
ivedI
nst
rument
s.
 TheBOP’ srati
onall
yder ivedmodel,whi chhasbeenadopt edoradapt edbya
numberofs t
atecorrec
tionalsyst
ems ,basessecuri
ty-levelclas
sif
icat
ionon
theexpectedlengthofinc ar
cerat
ion,offensesever
ity,typeofpr i
or
commi t
ment ,his
toryofvi ol
enceores capeatt
empt s,andt ypesofdetainer
s.
Empi
ric
all
yDer
ivedI
nst
rument
s.
 Empiric
allydeviseds chemesar ef
aredbett
er.Sever
als
tudi
esshowedthat
thest
atis
ticalpr
edi ct
ionsofpr i
sonmisconductandpar
olesuc
cesswer
e
super
iortoexper ts
’subj ec
tivej
udgments.
 Thesesc
hemess eem t
oworkbestincorr
ect
ionalmentalheal
thfac
ili
ti
es
(whi
c ht
ypi
call
yhavemor edat
aavai l
abl
e,i
nc l
udingpsyc
hologi
cal
eval
uati
ons
,thanor di
nar
ycorrect
ionali
nst
ituti
ons)
.
Investi
gat
or st
henexaminet hei
nformati
onavailabl
einthecaserecordsto
determineempi r
ical
lywhichsoci
al,demographi
c,cri
minal-
hist
ory,orother
variabl
essigni
fic
antlydi
ffer
enti
atethecri
teri
ongroups.Theseri
skfactors
 ar
ethenc
ombi
nedi
ntoapr
edi
cti
ves
cheme.
J
uveni
leCorrect
ions
Incriminaljusti
ces yst
emsayout hdetenti
onc entr
e,knownasaj uveni l
e
detenti
onc ent
r e(JDC),j
uvenil
ehal l
,ormor ecol
loquial
lyasjuvie,als
o
sometimesr ef
er r
edasobs ervati
onhomeorr emandhomei sapr is
onf or
peopleundert heageof18,of t
ent ermedjuvenil
edelinquents,t
owhi ch
theyhavebeens entencedandc ommi t
tedforaper i
odoftime,ordet ained
onas hort-
term bas i
swhi l
eawai t
ingtri
alorplacementinal ong-t
ermc are
program.
J
uvenil
esgothroughasepar
atecour
tsyst
em,thejuveni
lecourt
,whi
ch
s
entencesorcommitsj
uveni
lest
oac er
tai
nprogram orfac
ili
ty.
 Onc eprocessedinthejuvenil
ecourtsyst
em therearemanydi ff
erent
pathwaysf orjuvenil
es.Somejuvenil
esarereleas
eddi rect
lybacki nt
othe
communi tyt oundergoc ommunity-
basedrehabil
itat
ivepr ogr
ams ,while
otherjuvenileswhomaypos eagreatert
hreattosocietyandtot hemselves
aretherefore,inneedofas t
ayinas upervi
sedjuveniledetenti
onc entr
e.
I
faj
uvenilei
ssentbythecourt
stoajuveni
ledet
enti
oncent
re,t
herear
e
t
wotypesoff
acil
it
ies
:securedetent
ionandsecureconf
inement.
 Securedetenti
onmeanst hatjuvenil
esareheldforusuallyshortperiodsof
ti
mei nfacil
it
iesinor dert oawaitcurrenttr
ialheari
ngsandf urther
placementdecisions.Byhol dingjuvenil
esinsecuredetenti
on,itensures
appearanceinc ourtwhi lealsokeepingthecommuni tysafeandr i
sk-free
ofthejuvenil
e.Thi stypeoff aci
li
tyisusual
lycalleda"juvenil
ehall,
"whi ch
isaholdingcenterf orjuveniledeli
nquents.
 Ontheotherhand,secureconf
inementimpli
esthatt
hejuvenil
ehasbeen
committ
edbyt hecourtint
othecustodyofasec
urejuveni
lecorrec
tional
f
acil
it
yforthedurationofaspeci
ficprogr
am,whichcanspanfrom af ew
monthstomanyyear s.
Juveniledetentioni snotint
endedtobepuni tive.Thestat
eorl ocal
j
ur isdi
cti
oni sus uallyres
ponsibl
eforprovidingeduc at
ion,recreati
on,
health,assessment ,counsel
ingandotherinterventionservi
ceswi ththe
intentofmai ntainingayout h'
swell-
bei
ngdur inghisorhers t
ayi ncust
ody.
 Wit
hinthec at
egor
iesofsec
uredet
entionandsecur
ec onfi
nementfor
j
uveni
les,t
heoverarchi
ngnameoft hesef
aci
li
ti
esisresi
denti
alprogr
ams
.
 TheOff
iceofJ
uvenil
eJ us
tic
eandDeli
nquencyPreventionfoundt
hefive
over
archi
ngtypesofresi
denti
alpr
ogramsforj
uvenilestobeabroad
 range,whichinc
ludeddet
ent
ion,c
orr
ect
ions
,camp,c
ommuni
tybas
ed,
andr es
ident
ialt
reat
ment.
Ser
vic
espr
ovi
dedt
otheyout
h
 Manys er
vic
esaresuppos
edtobepr ovidedtot
heyouthatbothdet
ention
cent
ersandconf
inementfac
ili
ti
es.Servic
esvar
yfrom f
aci
lit
ytofaci
li
ty.
 Atthecore,juvenil
efaci
li
tiesf
unc
tionasrehabil
it
ativeinst
ituti
onsforyouth.
Educati
oni sseenbymanyast heprimaryrehabil
it
ativeservic
et hatmustbe
provi
dedt odetainedyouth.
 Highlyeffec
tiveschool
swithinjuvenil
ef aci
li
tiesprovi
dehighschool
curri
culum,s pec
ialeducat
ionservices
,c er
tif
iedteachers
,smalls
tudentto
t
eacherr ati
o,connecti
onwi t
hfami l
ies,andvoc at
ionaltr
aini
ngopportunit
ies
.
 Manydi f
ferentment alheal t
htreatmentstrategiesexistforjuveniles
.Ment
al
healt
hservicesthatcanbepr ovidedtotheyout hi nc
lude,i ndivi
dual
counsel
ing,groupc ounseling,cr
isiscouns
eling,f amil
yi nterventi
on,
medicat
ionmanagement ,andtrans i
ti
onplanni ng.
 Educ ati
oni ss
eenasthec ornerst
oneofyout hrehabi
litat
ion.Despit
er esearc
h
stat
ingt heneedforst
rongeduc ationalprogramsinjuveniledetenti
on
faci
liti
es,ther
edoesnotexi stauniforms t
andardforeduc ati
oninjuveni l
e
faci
liti
esaseducati
ons et
tingsinjuvenilefac
ili
ti
esgreatl
yvar yacrossthe
count r
y.
 Theover s
eerofthes c
hoolwi t
hinthejuvenil
ef acil
it
ydiff
ersfrom st
ateto
stat
e.Somes c
hool swithi
njuvenil
edetenti
onf ac i
li
ti
esaredecentral
ized,
somear ecentral
izedandr unbyschooldist
ricts,andothersareoverseenby
aStateeducati
onagenc y.
Spec
ialeduc
ati
on
 Thereisalargeperc entageofi ncarcer
atedj uvenileswhoar ediagnosedwit
h
spec
ialneeds.Undert heIndividualswithDi sabil
it
i esEducat
ionAc t(I
DEA)
,
youthswithdisabil
itiesincor r
ec t
ionalfacil
iti
esareent i
tl
edtospecial
educati
onandr elateds ervi
cesr egardl
es sofincarcer at
ionst
atus.
 Thedisabil
it
iesmostpr
eval
entinincar
cer
at edj
uvenil
esi
ncludement
al
ret
ardati
on,lear
ningdis
abi
li
ti
es,andemotionaldi
stur
bances.
 TheOffi
ceofSpeci
alEducat
ionPrograms(
OSEP)requi
resSt
ateEducat
ion
Agenc
iestoensur
et hats
peci
aleducati
ons
ervi
cesarebei
ngprovidedat
j
uvenil
efaci
li
ti
es.
Conc
ernsandCr
iti
cis
m
 Twomaj orc
oncernsinregar
dtoj
uveni
ledetenti
oncent
resandlong-t
erm
conf
inementfac
ili
ti
eshavebeenr
ais
ed:over
c rowdi
ngandinef
fecti
veness.
 Overcrowdi
ngexis
tsinmanyfaci
li
tiesforj
uveni
les,andinover
crowded
juveni
ledet
ent
ioncentr
esandcorrect
ionalf
aci
li
tiesinc
reas
edviolenc
ecan
occur.
 Further mor
e,overcr
owdingcanleadtoas hortageofneces
s ar
yand
promi sedprogramsandser
vicesinthefac
ili
ty.Underfundingc anleadtoa
shortageofservic
esfort
heyouth,suchaseduc ati
onandment alhealt
h
servi
c es.
 Af urthercriti
cis
mi sthatt hec
entresfai
ltopr ovidethebasiceducati
onal,
ment alhealth,andnec essaryrehabi
li
tat
iveneedsoft heyouth.Forexample,
specialeducationservicesmaynotbepr ovi
dedt othos eyouthwhor equi
reit
whi l
es tayi
ngi nthefacili
ty.Manyjuvenilecentreslackbasiceducat
ional
programsf ort heyouth.
 Theremaybeadi r
ectrel
ationshipbet
weenr ecidi
vis
m ofj uvenil
esand
shor
tfall
sinthei
reducati
onalandment alheal
thneeds .However ,many
j
uvenilefaci
li
ti
eshavewel lexecutedmentalhealt
hpr ogramsf ortheyout
h.