Karol Lucken’s research while affiliated with University of Central Florida and other places

The employment of persons with a felony or prison record has been a longstanding problem in the U.S. Despite vocational programming and other efforts to address this problem, the results of these efforts have often fallen short. To fill the remaining void in understanding this problem, scholars have given increased attention to the cognitions or personality traits that can affect job attainment. One trait that is receiving some attention in this research is resilience. The current study uses logistic regression to examine the role of resilience in the current employment of 179 adult males on community supervision. Findings indicate there is a relationship between employment and certain resilience building factors, such as social support via marriage, job-based optimism, and faith.

The expectation that punishment be effective at controlling crime is a longstanding convention in the U.S., and no doubt elsewhere. While the history of American punishment has not been shaped entirely by the question of efficacy, it has played a predominant role in justifying penal policy for over 200 years. The question has become even more salient in policy decision-making of late, as research has begun to certify and consolidate findings on what is effective at reducing recidivism. What is lacking in this ongoing conversation, however, is a critique of this penal policy question and the answers it generates in the form of recidivism rates. The current paper fills this void by interrogating the claims of the evaluation literature, namely that better proof of what is effective is available and that more research is still needed. The questions and findings of 19th, 20th, and 21st Century seekers of what is effective in the American adult penal system are recounted and analyzed using several data sources. They include government reports, professional association meeting minutes, legislative documents, scholarly reports, individual studies, research reviews, and statistical analysis of systematic reviews. Ultimately, an overarching narrative is provided that deepens and challenges our understanding of what is known about what is effective.

The discipline of Criminology and Criminal Justice (CCJ) encompasses the study of any issue associated with crime [...]

Prisoner reentry has been a dominant focus of correctional policy for roughly 2 decades. The strong current of reform that underlays this policy focus means that present correctional practices and conditions should be noticeably different than previous ones. An area where change should be readily observable is in pivotal reentry environments, such as post-prison supervision (PPS). Whereas the reentry literature has concentrated on documenting offender needs, promoting certain strategies, and evaluating the effects of interventions or variables on post-prison recidivism, the current study aims to document the sorts of changes, if any, that have occurred in PPS practice. The impact of the reentry movement on PPS is measured using statewide survey data from 286 PPS professionals with The Florida Department of Corrections. Perceptions of the movement’s impact on supervision emphasis, workplace roles and responsibilities, and resource allocation for services for returning offenders are examined.

The concept of offender reentry is seen as symbolic of correctional change. However, this acknowledgement belies the fact that the concept itself, and thus the parameters of that change, have not been well-defined. Several scholars consider this ambiguity in reentry’s meaning – beyond that of change – to be problematic for operating, evaluating, and sustaining efforts advanced in the name of reentry. When viewing these potential problems against claims of correctional change, the need to examine reentry’s meaning in an applied setting becomes all the more apparent. The current study does so from the perspective of post-prison supervision professionals employed with The Florida Department of Corrections. Survey questions explore reentry’s meaning on three dimensions. They include its status as a new guiding policy, its association with rehabilitation and other goals and activities, and organizational responsibility. The findings are interpreted within the context of understanding correctional change and future policy and research.

In the USA, civil protection orders, commonly known as restraining orders, have been underutilized as a means of protecting victims of intimate partner violence. It has been proposed that part of the reason for this underutilization is victim apprehension over treatment by the courts. To improve the experience of accessing legal relief, Court Watch programs have been implemented in various jurisdictions across the country. Court Watch programs monitor judicial behavior on several dimensions, including whether interactions with victims are informational, explanatory, participatory, and respectful. Using secondary data obtained from a Florida Court Watch program, this study examines judicial behavior in 500 civil protection order hearings for intimate partner violence. Applying quantitative and qualitative analytic strategies, we examine Court Watch perceptions of judicial behavior, the association between Court Watch perceptions of judicial behavior and civil protection order outcomes, and factors that might account for judicial behavior.

A modest body of research has examined judicial decision making in civil protection order (CPO) cases. A major finding of this prior research is that the factors expected to shape judicial responses to CPO requests are often found to be insignificant. Because such decisions are often rendered in an environment of vast judicial discretion and competing allegations, the question of “what matters?” assumes added importance. This study examines permanent/final restraining order (PRO) outcomes for intimate partner violence on a number of variables. Specifically, chi-square analyses were performed examining the associations between granting/denying a PRO and demographic, relationship, hearing, and allegation characteristics associated with the petitioner and respondent. These tests helped to reveal relationships at the bivariate level and aided in further model-building using logistic regression and decision-tree analysis. The findings show that the factors most associated with PRO outcomes, namely, the denial of a PRO, are those reflecting the licit rather than illicit behavior of the respondent.

Recent trends in crime control have given new energy to an age-old question, namely what kinds of activity qualify as punishment. In addressing this question, jurists and scholars have often employed a logic that either restricts interpretations of punishment to traditional forms (e.g., prison, probation, death penalty) and functions (e.g., deterrence and retribution), or expands them to include the broader forms and functions of social control. This paper examines these opposing logics and considers an alternative logic based in common stipulations in power theory. Within this particular framework, punishment is conceived as action that is necessarily relational, intentional, personal and coercive.