Beyond the Employment Dichotomy: An Examination of Recidivism and Days Remaining in the Community by Post-Release Employment Status

Correlates of Quality of Life in Autistic Individuals

Background

Quality of life is an important outcome to autistic individuals. However, the correlates of quality of life in this population are not well known. The purpose of this project was to investigate the extent to which employment, depression, anxiety, and social participation were associated with quality of life in autistic individuals. We also explored potential associations between emotion dysregulation and quality of life.

Method

Baseline data from two randomized control trials were used for analysis. A total of 125 autistic adolescents and adults aged 16-45 (M = 25.40) participated. Linear regression models were constructed to investigate whether employment, depression, anxiety, and social participation were associated with five domains of quality of life: overall, physical health, psychological, social relationships, and environment. Additional linear regression models explored whether emotion dysregulation was associated with the same quality of life domains.

Results

Surprisingly, employment was not significantly associated with any quality of life domain. Greater depression severity was significantly associated with poorer quality of life across all domains. Greater social participation was associated with better quality of life, but only for individuals with lower anxiety. More severe dysphoria was associated with poorer overall quality of life and the psychological and physical health domains.

Conclusions

Results suggest that mental health and emotion dysregulation are important predictors of quality of life for autistic people. They also suggest that anxiety symptoms may attenuate the beneficial effects of social participation. This study provides insight into the unique experiences of autistic individuals and highlights potential unmet need.

Six-month post-release outcomes for inmates with traumatic brain injury in supported community programming

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study is to examine the effectiveness of case management services for a population of justice-involved individuals with TBI history.

METHODS

Two thousand three hundred and eighty-nine records from statewide behavioral health and brain injury program databases were used in two studies.

RESULTS

Participants with a reported TBI history were more likely to have experienced trauma and to have a behavioral health diagnosis relative to incarcerated persons without TBI. Six months after release, 56.8% of participants with a history of TBI were still receiving community treatment, 27.8% were not in treatment, and 3.4% had completed treatment. There was a high attrition rate; 70% of people referred for case management failed to maintain contact.

CONCLUSIONS

For those that did receive services, these data suggest that it prevented an escalation of psychosocial needs. There were no differences in community participation as measured by the Mayo Portland Adaptability Index's Participation Index (M2PI) scores (t24 = .497, p = 0.624) at intake and after 6 months of case management. This study confirms that case management confers a benefit to persons with TBI who are released from the criminal justice system. Further, recidivism rates for this vulnerable group were no different from the larger population of returning citizens.

A shifting paradigm? A scoping review of the factors influencing recovery and rehabilitation in recent forensic research

Forensic research and practice have historically focused on risk assessment and prevention. This risk-oriented paradigm is shifting towards a more recovery-oriented perspective. The aim of this scoping review is to provide an overview of research on the factors influencing rehabilitation and recovery and discuss the recovery paradigm in a forensic setting. We performed a systematic search of the literature from the past 10 years, in Pubmed, Cinahl and PsycInfo, on recovery and rehabilitation. All types of study designs were included. Data was analysed and charted using an Excel template with various data items of interest. Clinical, personal, social, functional and forensic factors were found to be of influence on recovery and rehabilitation. A number of these overlapped with factors of influence on recidivism and desistance, others did not. Most studies on recovery and rehabilitation focused on a clinical forensic setting. This study provides an overview of the current body of knowledge on the factors influencing recovery and rehabilitation in forensic clients, and encourages researchers and practitioners in their focus on the recovery paradigm in forensic care. The body of evidence on rehabilitation and recovery is not yet as profound as that on recidivism and desistance. More knowledge on recovery trajectories for offenders in prison or ambulatory care, for example, is required.

Community relationship quality and reincarceration following rural drug-using women's reentry from jail

Interpersonal relationships and social support are important factors in women's successful reentry from incarceration, but limited research has explored the role of women's relationships to their communities during the reentry process. In the current study, women were recruited from three rural Appalachian jails, screened for high-risk behaviors (including drug use and unprotected sex), and interviewed at 12 months postrelease (N = 339). Interviews included the Relational Health Indices-Community scale, a validated measure of women's relationships in community contexts, with subscales for empowerment/zest, engagement, and authenticity. Women who were reincarcerated during the 12-month postrelease period (43.4%) were younger, less employed, more likely to have used illicit drugs, and reported lower-quality community relationships at 12-month follow-up. Multivariate logistic regression models indicated that the effect of community relationships may be driven by the engagement and empowerment/zest constructs. Results suggest that community connectedness may relate to more successful reentry outcomes for rural women.