Public Perceptions Toward Community Management Policies for Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Community management policies for individuals convicted of sexual offenses (ICSO) are controversial, mainly because the effectiveness of these policies in reducing recidivism is limited and appear to have some collateral effects. Despite this, the current meta-analysis found the public highly support these policies. Studies examining public perceptions regarding community management policies for ICSO to understand levels of support, misconceptions about the policies, and factors affecting the views of the public were reviewed. After searching 7 electronic databases, 43 studies, both quantitative and qualitative, were included in the systematic review and 31 in the meta-analysis. Studies could be longitudinal or cross-sectional, needed to include public attitudes, opinions, and perceptions about ICSO community management policies and could include standardized or non-standardized measures, indirect assessments of attitudes, along with interviews and focus groups. Results suggest that overall, policies were supported by 76% of the public, 61% believed in their effectiveness, and 63% felt safer because of the policies. However, only 36% accessed the registry, 38% took preventive actions, and 40% were aware/concerned about the collateral consequences. All analyses yielded high levels of heterogeneity. Misconceptions about policies and ICSO were moderate. Finally, 36 studies explored factors that affected the public's attitudes and perceptions of policies with a variety of significant associations and predictors. The findings provide comprehensive evidence that while these policies are supported by the public, the public have less belief in the effectiveness of them in protecting children and reducing recidivism. Implications for public policy and future research are discussed.

Executive functioning as mediator of the association between traumatic brain injury and prison bullying.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether executive functioning (EF) mediated the relationship between childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI) and engaging in bullying in prison (BP). PARTICIPANTS: A sample of male adults in custody in Uruguay (N = 236), drawn from five prisons. METHODS: Inmates filled out self-report questionnaires examining TBI (Head Injury Questionnaire), EF (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function Adult, BRIEF-A) and bullying in prison (Direct and Indirect Prisoner Behavior Checklist - revised, SCALED, DIPC-SCALED-r). RESULTS: Findings showed that TBI was associated with prison bullying after controlling for age, level of education, socioeconomic status, and civil status. The mediation analysis indicated that the relationship between TBI and bullying was fully mediated via executive impairment, especially through the behavioral regulation component (mainly inhibition and emotional control). CONCLUSION: These findings suggested that compensating for EF difficulties in adult inmates with brain injuries might help to decrease the bullying in prison.

Implementation of a Treatment Program for Individuals Imprisoned for Sex Offenses in Uruguay: Achievements, Problems and Challenges.

Treatment for individuals convicted of sex offenses has substantially improved in developed countries in recent decades, providing practitioners with an extensive literature to guide the implementation of effective programs to reduce sexual reoffending. Nevertheless, sexual offending rehabilitation is still in its infancy in Latin American countries such as Uruguay, so little is known about the transference and implementation of evidence-based programs. The current study examines the strengths, barriers, and challenges of implementing a sex offenses treatment program in Uruguay. The findings suggest some achievements of the program, but also several problems with implementation. Some problems are universal among different countries (e.g., scarce resources and facilities, insufficiently trained staff, and unexpected changes in the organization), but others were particularly relevant in the Uruguayan context (e.g., government policy alien to a rehabilitation approach, lack of appropriate prison facilities, lack of training for therapists from a cognitive-behavioral perspective). All these difficulties must be anticipated and solved for successful generalizability of rehabilitation programs to different correctional systems.

A Systematic Review of Professionals' Views About Community Management Policies for Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses.

A contentious criminal justice policy issue in recent times has been community management policies for individuals convicted of sexual offenses. This systematic review attained professionals' views, areas of concern, and recommendations for community management policies. It went beyond the extant literature by exploring perceptions of heterogenous professional groups involved in the criminal justice system. Of the 25 studies, 12 were quantitative, nine qualitative, and four mixed methods, and included custodial and community correctional officers, probation officers, psychologists, police officers, prosecutors, lawmakers, and academics. Overall, professionals mostly supported the policies, but had less support for public registries and community notification. Four key issues associated with the policies were apparent: problems with actuarial risk assessment tools, difficulties accessing information with partner agencies, limited resources, and lack of education among the public. Within this, four recommendations were identified. These findings offer a valuable resource for researchers, along with government and policy professionals tasked with overseeing community management policies.

Executive functioning among first time and recidivist inmates in Uruguay.

Previous research has found association between antisocial behavior and deficits in executive functioning. However, research into a link between them accounting for criminal history has found divergent results in western countries. The present study sought to determine the severity of executive functioning deficits in offenders compared to a normative sample, and the differences between first time offenders as compared to recidivists in Uruguay using a cross-sectional design. The neuropsychological performance of 334 male adult inmates was assessed using the BRIEF- A and a normative sample of 377. Results indicated that offenders performed significantly worse than non-offenders in the global score and the subscales of the BRIEF-A. Moreover, first time offenders exhibited less performance deficits in cognitive functioning than recidivist offenders. Compared to first time offenders, recidivist showed executive dysfunction concerning behavioral regulation index and globally. These results enhance our knowledge about executive dysfunction associated with criminality and may help to tailor the offenders' programs to offenders with executive deficits.

Evaluating the quality of meta-analytical reviews using the AMSTAR-2: A systematic review of meta-analytical reviews regarding child sexual abuse interventions.

BACKGROUND: Effects of treatment for child sexual abuse (CSA) victims have important implications. Assessing Risk of Bias (RoB) is a vital step to inform interpretations of treatment effects for these victims. The AMSTAR-2 (A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews) offers a comprehensive critical appraisal, allowing users to distinguish high quality reviews. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is two-fold: 1) to provide an up-to-date systematic review of treatment program meta-analytical reviews on interventions for CSA victims; and 2) to evaluate the quality of meta-analytical reviews using the AMSTAR-2. This is the first systematic review to examine the quality of meta-analyses on the effectiveness of CSA interventions using the AMSTAR-2. METHOD: Eight electronic databases were searched for articles published up to April 2019. Meta-analytical reviews that assessed the effectiveness of any treatment modality for sexually abused children and adolescents up to 18 years old were considered. Outcome measures included physical and mental symptoms, and disorders, measured through validated instruments. Of 2794 articles, nine meta-analyses met the eligibility criteria. There was a variety of interventions, including: trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy CBT, psychodrama, play therapy, and eclectic interventions. The most common outcomes measured were post-traumatic stress disorder/trauma, externalizing, internalizing, and sexualized behaviors. RESULTS: Although effect sizes were moderately significant, with treatment having a positive effect, all meta-analyses showed a high RoB. CONCLUSIONS: To use the best available evidence in clinical decision-making for CSA victims, reviewers should conduct meta-analyses that employ RoB tools.