The purpose of this study is to explore the way(s) in which the disproportionate return of ex-prisoners to socially and economically disadvantaged communities impact(s) specific community structural factors identified in the study. After three decades of withstanding the enduring effects of the mass incarceration, communities stand at the edge of a new era. Economic realities, and the failure of policies designed to deter crime through imprisonment are rapidly ushering in an era of mass prisoner reentry. The complexity of the challenges surrounding the successful integration of offenders to communities requires a new leadership paradigm for justice leaders. This study posits that communities are complex adaptive systems and examines the applicability of complexity leadership theory to the interactive impact of prisoner reentry. Existing academic literature is replete with research examining the ability of community institutions to ease the transition of citizens returning home from prison and contributing to their ability to achieve success within the community. Additional studies have identified the negative effects of mass incarceration on elements or structural factors often define the viability of a community. These include, but are not necessarily limited to: employment, crime, poverty, and family relationships. This study builds upon previous academic research in the area of prisoner reentry. It steps in a new direction that focuses on the impact the concentrated return of ex-prisoners exerts on elements that contribute to the collective efficacy of neighborhoods. In order to effectively examine the interactive or reciprocating impact of prisoner reentry, a mixed methodological approach using both qualitative and quantitative research, situated in a case study, is employed. The research design incorporates the constructed realities of those experiencing the interactive impact of reentry and provides a statistical analysis of the attitudes of a broad representa (open full item for complete abstract)

This thesis focuses on prisons as spaces in which the Great Britain's colonial relationship with Northern Ireland was negotiated during the Troubles, specifically between the British prison administration and female republican prisoners at Armagh Gaol. This research draws from the historiography on the conflict that frames it in terms of settler colonialism rather than ethnic/religious violence or sectarianism. It examines prisons as institutions connected to and representative of the superstructures of colonialism, discussing prison structures as well as the legal mechanisms that categorized prisoners. It focuses on collective tactics of resistance among republican prisoners. The bulk of this discussion of resistance among prisoners is focused on the republican women of Armagh Gaol and their 1980 No-Wash Protest. The protest represented a moment of collaboration between the women of Armagh, male prisoners, republican groups outside of prisoners, and sections of the women's movement. That collaboration was a key factor in fundamentally changing the overall relationship between the women's movement and the republican movement in Northern Ireland and securing women a more prominent position within republican politics than ever before, both in the discussion of women's contributions to the republican struggle and the ways in which women's struggles differed uniquely from those of men.

This study evaluated suicide risk assessments in a correctional psychiatric setting. It considered whether clinicians' judgment of suicide risk predicted future suicidal behaviors in seriously mentally ill prisoners. Data analysis did not show that higher suicide risk scores predicted more suicidal behaviors, nor did it show that suicide risk scores differentiated multiple attempters, or those who went on to attempt suicide or self-harm two or more times in the three years following the assessment. Study data did, however show that suicide risk scores significantly differentiated those who went on to attempt suicide or self-harm at least once in the three years following the assessment. Low, moderate, and high suicide risk groups were characterized in terms of suicide assessments, suicidal behaviors, clinical factors, criminal factors, institutional behaviors, housing, and demographics. Multiple attempter and non-multiple attempter groups were similarly characterized. Observations about suicide risk assessment and housing were discussed. Notably, all but one infraction for suicide and self-harm took place in single-man housing. The electronic version of this dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd