Laura E. Bedard

Quality of life (QOL) is an important area of exploration in U.S. corrections linked closely to well-being and an important indicator of intervention efficacy. Little is known of QOL in U.S. jails despite the admittance of over 10-million people to these settings every year. Research regarding the dimensions, correlates, and gender disparities in Q...

The process-based model of self-regulation has been evaluated throughout various agencies of the criminal justice system. However, the model has yet to be tested within jails. The goal of the current study is to fill this gap in the literature. Using a sample of 290 men and women incarcerated in a county jail, this study examines the association be...

Results from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) have indicated that approximately 8% of responding adolescents ages 12–17 engaged in illicit substance use during the past year; the most commonly reported substance used was marijuana (Substance Abuse and Mental Health...

Few studies have examined whether social ties influence concerns about reentry among women in prison. Given that a systematic understanding of reentry has the potential to inform research and policy efforts to assist women with transition, this gap is limiting. Our study addresses this void by testing whether social support affects reentry concerns...

Objectives Drawing on prior theoretical and empirical work on survey participation, this study develops one potential method for increasing response rates and response quality in correctional surveys. Specifically, we hypothesize that providing inmates with a superficial survey choice (SSC)—that is, a choice between completing either of two volunta...

Serious offenders, especially incarcerated individuals, are rarely asked to judge the procedural justice of the police and courts. While serious offenders are rarely studied, even more uncommon are assessments of serious female offenders. In addition, despite a fair amount of research on perceptions of the procedural justice of the police and court...

This study examined the effects associated with a trauma and abuse-focused psychoeducation group for incarcerated women on decreasing trauma symptoms. A total of 320 women participated in 34 groups in five prisons that followed a manualized intervention. A one-group pretest-posttest design was used to examine changes on 10 Trauma Symptom Inventory...

Girls are becoming involved in the juvenile justice system at a remarkable rate. As a result, the juvenile justice system must become more responsive to their physical, mental, and educational needs. Many of these girls have been victims of childhood emotional, sexual, or physical abuse resulting in serious mental health problems. This article desc...

Extemsive research has been conducted regarding factors contributing to the breakdown of marriage, focusing on problems such as infidelity, domestic violence, money problems and mid-life crises. This study explores a new question: does crime victimization contribute to the dissolution of marriage? Unique information from a national panel survey, th...

In an effort to explore criminal justice interns' observations of misconduct and reporting patterns of their observations, a survey of criminal justice interns was conducted after their internships were completed. Students from four universities in the South (n = 463) were asked to participate. While only 2 percent of respondents reported observing...

One-hundred and ninety-two incarcerated women who were participating in a trauma and abuse psychoeducation program were evaluated for childhood abuse, maltreatment and current dissociative symptoms. The link between childhood abuse and adult criminal behavior has been well studied but the mental health status of adult female inmates and the possibl...

This study examines the opinions of men and women from a random phone sample of super voters (those persons voting in the last three out of four possible elections) in Florida (N = 413) toward gay men and/or lesbians as adoptive parents. The survey gathered information on whether the respondents would place boys or girls available for adoption with...

A fundamental claim made in support of private prisons is that they reduce state inmate recidivism. Current knowledge on this empirical question is limited to three prior studies with problematic methodologies. To test this claim better, we use multiple measures of exposure to private prisons to define and analyze multiple treatment/comparison grou...

Following the velvet revolution of 1989 and the adoption of a democratic form of government, Czech policing has experienced a plethora of changes resulting in a new police force that has been understudied to date. This research seeks to address this void using an exploratory approach that utilizes survey research to gauge the attitudes of 70 Czech...

This investigation is an empirical evaluation of Esuba, an abuse awareness program implemented in the Florida correctional system. Research has indicated a link between violent and abusive behavior and criminal activity. This study specifically addressed whether the Esuba program had an impact on offenders' self-esteem, stability of self, faith in...

The case management model developed at the Corrections Mental Health Unit within the Florida Department of Corrections is a treatment model developed to better care for acute psychiatric inmate patients. The rate of readmission to the acute care facility had nearly quadrulped over a six-year period. In response to that, a new case management approa...

This national survey of 1201 Hispanics solicits opinions on a variety of topics including civil rights, health care, crime and education. Unique features of this study allow attitude comparisons controlling for country of origin and ethnic heritage. This paper reviews data concerning Hispanic perceptions of social issues relevant to social work pra...

This research examines incarceration data from the Hungarian Ministry of Justice for the years 1988 to 1992. This time period allows an analysis of incarceration rates before, during, and after the change in political regimes in the Spring of 1990. The data indicate a substantial overall decrease in incarceration rates independent of changes in cri...

A national survey of 1,201 Hispanics found a high degree of consensus in perceptions of crime, gangs, drugs, school dropouts and how these opinions affect correctional administration, regardless of respondents' age, gender, education, origin, or employment. A majority feels that these issues are major problems. (JOW)

Typescript. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 1998. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 199-205).