Parolees behaving badly: Exploring ways to decrease risky behavior among parolees in the community

Substance Use and Sexual Behavior among Men Prior to Parole Revocation: Prevalence and Correlates

From Journal of Correctional Health Care 

Police officers are always trying to control the misconduct of those who are on parole in order to control crime in the community, but what types of behaviors land them back in jail and what can law enforcement officials do about it? This article discusses how to target the most common risky behaviors among specific groups of parolees in order to lower crime in the community. 126 state-prison inmates were interviewed who had been reincarcerated due to parole violations. These ex-parolees were asked about their behavior throughout the three-month period prior to their parole revocation. The researchers found that throughout this period of time, a majority of men shared two things in common: drug use and sex with multiple partners.

The authors wrote, “Our findings further document the need to focus effort on the prevention of substance abuse and sexual risk behavior among men who are on parole.” The researchers stated that certain prevention programs could be created to target the behaviors among specific types of men on parole. Two thirds of people released from prisons in the United States are reincarcerated within three years, many for substance use violations. This reveals that current prison treatment programs do not effectively enable men to avoid drug relapses after they are released from prison.

Sexual violence, social policy and the need to identify sexually positive ways of being a man

Invisible men: social reactions to male sexual coercion – bringing men and masculinities into community safety and public policy

From Critical Social Policy 

This paper outlines the gendered nature of sexual violence and considers the social reactions to male sexual violence. It identifies amongst other reactions; moral panics, risk assessments and denial. The paper highlights that acts of sexual coercion are perpetrated by a wide range of people, mostly men or boys, many of whom never come into contact with the criminal justice system. Thus, a policy to alleviate the ‘suffering and distress’ caused by sexual coercion requires more than a focus on the convicted offender. It looks at how the UK government identified aims for its ‘Action plan’ focussing on prevention and victim care and support.  A significant challenge for public policy is how to address the atti­tudes and behaviours of young people towards sex and violence and the social structures that support them. Whilst some policy initiatives could occur within a health framework, it is argued the other area of policy that is possibly most relevant is education. It concludes that an important step in this area is to identify and recognise pro-social and sexually positive ways of being a man.

Tackling ‘worklessness’, the impact of a gender blind social policy approach

‘Striking out’: Shifting labour markets, welfare to work policy and the renegotiation of gender performances

From Critical Social Policy

The continued war against ‘worklessness’ has been highlighted as a priority within UK politics by Prime Minister David Cameron. Welfare to work interventions were made a key issue under New labour. Tony Blair called for a shift away from what he termed ‘passive Welfare’. This article (free for a short period) outlines schemes implemented to tackle social exclusion through ‘worklessness’ and recognises that to date, there has been very little consideration given to the impact a social policy approach ignoring gender has on men.