Abstract

This study employed a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the impact of a modified START NOW program + behavioral level system (BLS) in a self-contained therapeutic community (SCTC) on inmate misbehavior at a correctional facility. The SCTC included a modified START NOW manualized mental health treatment, recreation groups, process groups as needed, and a level system on which to base the attainment of privileges. Inmate data was evaluated at 3-months pre- and post-SCTC to determine if there were differences in the number of mental health referrals for misbehavior, referrals to the restrictive housing unit, write-ups, instances of spontaneous use of force by correctional officers, and placement on suicide precaution status compared with a control group of inmates who were placed in restrictive housing during the same time frame. Analyses examined differences between these two groups comparing variables from pre-intervention to post-intervention timepoints. Both the modified START NOW + behavioral intervention group and the control group improved significantly from pre-to-post intervention on the number of placements in restrictive housing and number of write-ups for misbehavior but did not significantly improve on the remaining outcome measures. Study strengths and limitations are discussed.

摘要

本研究采用准实验设计来评估自给自足的治疗社区 (SCTC) 中修改后的“立即开始”计划 + 行为水平系统 (BLS) 对惩教设施中囚犯不当行为的影响。SCTC 包括修改后的 START NOW 手动心理健康治疗、娱乐小组、根据需要进行的过程小组，以及获得特权所基于的等级系统。在 SCTC 前后 3 个月对囚犯数据进行了评估，以确定因不当行为而转诊的心理健康数量、转诊到限制性住房单元、记录、惩教人员自发使用武力的情况是否存在差异，以及与在同一时间段内被安置在限制性住房中的对照组囚犯相比，自杀预防状态的安置。分析检查了这两组之间的差异，比较了从干预前到干预后时间点的变量。修改后的现在开始 + 行为干预组和对照组在限制性住房安置数量和不当行为记录数量方面从干预前后都有显着改善，但在其余结果指标上没有显着改善。讨论了研究的优势和局限性。修改后的现在开始 + 行为干预组和对照组在限制性住房安置数量和不当行为记录数量方面从干预前后都有显着改善，但在其余结果指标上没有显着改善。讨论了研究的优势和局限性。修改后的现在开始 + 行为干预组和对照组在限制性住房安置数量和不当行为记录数量方面从干预前后都有显着改善，但在其余结果指标上没有显着改善。讨论了研究的优势和局限性。