We've compiled top highlights from recent research, policy, and practice resources across the world for our latest IACFP International News summary. Our topics for July and August, 2023 include recent research; policy updates; considerations for practice; and upcoming conferences.
Coming Soon…
The IACFP Board is making changes in the way it communicates with its members. The first step will be the integration of Higher Logic, a member and customer engagement platform, into the website. This will provide an updated member portal, add the ability for members to engage with one another through the IACFP Connected Community (if they choose to do so), and create a foundation for future additions. If you would like to be part of the beta testing for this, please contact Cherie Townsend at executivedirectoriacfp@gmail.com.
Secondly, this is the last issue of the IACFP Bulletin that will be solely posted as individual articles on the website. The next issue will add the presentation of the IACFP Bulletin in a digital magazine format on the website.
1. Research
- Student Research Award
The IACFP Board is pleased to announce their first Student Research Award for 2023 will go to Ms. Orla Gallagher. Ms. Gallagher is enrolled in the Doctorate program in Forensic Psychology at University College Dublin. The title of her research is “From Operationally-Driven to Psychologically-Informed: Following the Journey of the Violently Disruptive Prisoner (VDP) Policy in the Irish Prison Service”. In the coming months, you will see an article regarding her research in the IACFP Bulletin.
The board has extended the application period for the 2023 IACFP Student Research Awards until Friday, October 6, 2023. For more information, please visit: www.myiacfp.org. - Criminological Highlights, Vol. 20, No. 6, June 2023
The most recent issue of Criminological Highlights, published by the University of Toronto, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies is available here. This issue of Criminological Highlights addresses the following questions:
- Does the language used to describe those returning to the community from prison matter?
- Can changing schools reduce crime?
- What challenges still need to be addressed after a police service is made more diverse?
- What makes victim compensation especially attractive to politicians?
- Are classification instruments useful when classifying indigenous prisoners?
- How are first names important determinants of the sentencing of Black offenders?
- Do judges follow the law?
- When youths are arrested, are they the only ones who are punished?
This issue covers a wide range of topics and research methods. As always, the summaries provide the highlights of contemporary research and reference them. They are a great way to keep up to date on current research.
2. Policy
- Ending Mass Incarceration: Safety Beyond Sentencing
The Sentencing Project’s most recent report can be found here. This report offers five recommendations:
- Implement community safety solutions
- Transform crisis response
- Reduce unnecessary justice involvement
- End the drug war
- Strengthen opportunities for youth
While none of these recommendations may be new to readers, transforming crisis response is the one that may have the greatest impact on individuals experiencing a mental health crisis and deserves further study and implementation. While many countries and less populated areas may have fewer resources for mental health treatment, investing in a crisis response will be much less expensive and more effective than using jails as our first line of defense and response.
3. Practice
- Letters from Prison: An Exploration of Isolation
This episode of the Just Humans Podcast, published by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, focuses on a written correspondence project led by Ms. Deborah Russo, a PhD student. Russo received over 150 letters from people in prison. These letters detail their personal accounts of their experiences in isolation, the physical and psychological toll it has taken on them and the ways in which they cope with life inside.
For those working with these individuals, this episode provides insight that may go unnoticed in day-to-day work.
4. Conferences
- NCCHC National Conference on Correctional Healthcare, September 30-October 4, 2023
More information on NCCHC's fall conference can be found at www.ncchc.org
- ICPA 2023 Conference, October 22-27, 2023
Registration is open for the ICPA 2023 Conference; additional information is available here. IACFP will be sponsoring the 2023 Distinguished Scholar Lecture, which will be announced in the next IACFP Bulletin.
