From the Scholars Strategy Network, written by Joe Soss, University of Minnesota.
From the Scholars Strategy Network, written by Michael Leo Owens, Emory University
Prisoners suffering from mental illness or showing its symptoms are common among criminal justice populations. The potential relationship between crime and mental illness could have important policy implications, particularly if increased more widespread mental health treatment could prove to have wide effects on rates of criminality.
Longer prison sentences, the result of public policy shifts over the past 30 years, may effectively discourage crime and repeat offenders. However, increased lengths of incarceration may have significant implications for convicted persons as they attempt to reintegrate into society after release.
Are charter schools better for children? The answer depends on context. And it’s not an unequivocal “yes,” at least based on evidence from test scores: One of the most comprehensive randomized studies to date, published in 2010 by the National Center for Education Evaluation, found that charter schools were no more effective than public ones in raising math and reading outcomes.
In the United States, approximately 40% to 45% of prison inmates have a history of substance abuse. Without effective treatment, many are likely to re-offend after release. The period of incarceration is thus a critical opportunity to implement correctional interventions.
Problems facing Latinos and African-American men continue to represent a nationwide social challenge. Sustained disparities in socioeconomic well-being across race and ethnicity imply that efforts must be undertaken to bridge the inequality.
