Talk:Positive criminology

Needs references

This article badly needs references, not just author-date citations. Without proper references it is impossible to verify the statements in the article. Looie496 (talk) 13:01, 15 November 2015 (UTC)

Clean-up

In response to the above posting and the article tag, I am moving uncited content here to see if someone can help find sources, if it's useful content:

• Background From the sentence that begins Similar to the restorative justice and therapeutic jurisprudence approaches, the following content was added to the end of the sentence without a citation: between offenders and members of the normative community rather than emphasize, or privilege, the separating forces of law-enforcement (e.g., imprisonment, exclusion, shaming).
• Essence - from the end of the first paragraph, removed A fundamental postulate of positive psychology is that positive experiences are not secondary to negative processes and they might have a lasting impact on helping people to refrain from engaging in criminal conduct. In the positive criminology context, crime resistance is a desired outcome of positive experiences. Positive criminology acknowledges the ability of offenders and ex-convicts to be reformed and rehabilitated under certain circumstances, and highlights the importance of positive, humanistic encounters for any effective rehabilitation process. Positive criminology holds for various resources and means to attain this wished goal, some are directly psychological by nature (as positive psychology indicates) but others represent other-than psychological spheres and issues (e.g., law-enforcement issues, sociological processes). and is another dimension of a positive unification that denotes a reduced self-centeredness. Finally, the direction towards unification with a spiritual power greater than the self represents the positive vector in the spiritual dimension. from the last sentence of the section.
• Goals
  • First paragraph

Positive criminology was created in response to the negative effects of criminological literature that reinforce delinquency. Positive criminology aims to broaden our understanding beyond the usual focus of criminology on separating, excluding, and disintegrating forces and processes that lead individuals and groups to embrace deviant and criminal lifestyles and activities. It studies individual and group encounters with external influences that are simultaneously:

1. experienced as positive and integrative (parallel to positive psychology);
2. assisting them to resist and desist from engaging in deviant activities and crime (an innovative emphasis of positive criminology) by various means of formal or informal interventions (e.g., therapy, self-help group, social acceptance, faith, goodness, altruism, reintegrative shaming).

• It balances the excessive negative targeting of the traditional criminological field, through emphasizing positively experienced aspects in the context of criminology. Positive criminology places an emphasis on social inclusion and on unifying and integrating forces at individual, group, social and spiritual dimensions. Positive criminology reinforces the need to study and processing of "positive elements" (as compassion, love, forgiveness, social acceptance, human kindness, gratitude, altruism).

• Criminology as peacemaking - at the end of the paragraph: This approach is based on the perception that peace and social justice can be obtained only when the social, economic, and political structure in which we live changes, so that the restoration of relations based on humanistic values replaces punishment, ostracism, and stigmatization.
• Restorative justice - at the end of the paragraph:

The practices of restorative justice represent the conceptual perspective of positive criminology that emphasizes the potential of positive, humanistic encounters for rehabilitation process, and acknowledges the ability of offenders and ex-convicts to be reformed and rehabilitated.

The programs included in the practice of restorative justice, such as victim-offender mediation, conferencing and circles, are characterized by four key values:

1. Encounter. Create opportunities for victims, offenders and interested community members, to meet and discuss the crime and its aftermath.
2. Amends. Expect offenders to take steps to repair the harm they have caused.
3. Reintegration. Seek to reintegrate victims and offenders to the whole, to be contributing members of society.
4. Inclusion. Provide opportunities for parties with a stake in a specific crime to participate in its resolution.

• Desistance from crime - See this edit for where the content was located.
  • It is understood that individuals usually do not "quit crime" by making a decision and walking away in the same way they might resign from employment. Due to various reasons, including the stigma of having a criminal record, the cycle of crime and punishment can become a repetitive loop that is difficult to escape from. A better metaphor for desisting from crime is recovery from an addictive behavior such as gambling or substance use. Desistance from crime will probably involve some false stops and starts, sometimes called "relapses".
  • Farrall (2004) distinguishes 'desistance-focused' perspectives from 'offending-related' approaches on the basis that whereas the latter concentrates on targeting or correcting offender deficits, the former seeks to promote those things thought to be associated with desistance (such as strong social bonds, pro-social involvements and social capital). Others have argued for a shift from 'deficit-based' interventions (focusing on risk factors and 'needs' as defined by the experts) to 'strengths-based' approaches that seek to promote 'good lives' as defined by the person him or herself.
  • Until recently, desistance research has been more interested in how offenders give up crime in their own way, rather than how interventions can help them give up. Desistance research has not, as said, given much attention to the role of programs, but few desisters say that programs were part of what helped them give up offending. However, many modern correctional interventions have a strong evidence base, and they could be seen as "assisting desistance" by helping to develop the internal mindsets that are important to desistance. It has also been said that programs can help desistance by offering a "blueprint" for change. But the desistance research suggests that just doing a program won't be enough without also paying attention to the important external desistance factors. In addition, interventions that label, that penalize and that exclude are likely to pose problems for and create obstacles in desistance pathways, impeding successful integration.
• Desistance research makes clear that offenders are heterogeneous, their needs are complex and their pathways to desistance are individualized. Having this in mind, the desistance literature offers several suggestions for intervention with desisters that might increase the chances for prolonged desistance. These suggestions are represent the positive criminology perspective: focus on strong and meaningful relationships; give strong optimistic messages and avoid labeling; focus on strengths and not just on risks; recognize and mark achievements towards desistance; make practical assistance the priority; work with parents and partners; work with support communities.

Arbitrary break

• Recovery - The best predictor of the likelihood of sustained recovery is the extent of 'recovery capital' or the personal and psychological resources a person has, the social supports that are available to them and the basic foundations of life quality, i.e. a safe place to live, meaningful activities and a role in their community (however this is defined). Barriers to recovery include psychological problems (mental illnesses and the absence of strengths, such as self-esteem and self-efficacy), significant physical morbidities (including blood borne viruses), social isolation and ongoing chaotic substance use. While structured treatment has a key role to play, it is only part of the support that most people will need. Ongoing support in the community is essential for the ongoing recovery journey and often includes mutual aid and other peer support. Recovery is not just about the individual, but impacts on families and communities. Long-term recovery is altering the complex relationships between individuals and the multiple layers of the ecosystem in which individuals and families are nested. As such, all layers of this ecosystem are targets of recovery-focused interventions. Recovery can be initiated in an artificial environment, but recovery stabilization and successful recovery maintenance can be achieved only in a natural community environment.
• The Good Lives Model - from the end of the paragraph For example, completing an apprenticeship might satisfy the primary goods of knowledge and excellence in work, whereas joining an adult sports team or cultural club might satisfy the primary good of friendship. Such activities are incompatible with dynamic risk factors, meaning that avoidance goals are indirectly targeted through the GLM's focus on approach goals. Rehabilitation endeavors should therefore equip offenders with the knowledge, skills, opportunities, and resources necessary to satisfy their life values in ways that don't harm others. Inherent in its focus on an offender's life values, the GLM places a strong emphasis on offender agency. That is, offenders, like the rest of us, actively seek to satisfy their life values through whatever means available to them. The GLM's dual attention to an offender's internal values and life priorities and external factors such as resources and opportunities give it practical utility in desistance-oriented interventions.
• Existential therapy - Entire section Existential therapy in the context of criminology asserts that in the root of offenders' experience usually lies an existential inner void or an insatiable gorge, which represents, inter alia, a separation and isolation from others (Shoham & Addad, 2004). In accord with positive criminology, recovery is achieved by a movement towards the other, with an integration and unification force. Existentialism also decrees that in order to reach authenticity an individual has to extricate oneself from the fetters of the generalized other, and that life priorities should not be arranged according to the expectations of others, but according to the inner self and the discovery of the potentials of revelation and creativity inherent within this inner self. The existentialist treatment is designed first of all to help the client discover the inner authentic existence and to counter with this inner authenticity the outward hardships and threats. Therefore, the stages of existentialist therapy are (1) to discard the tendency to comply with social norms without examining their adequacy in order for the realization of the potential of the client to discover the capacity for revelation and creativity; (2) for the client to extricate herself/ himself from the positive feedback of the surroundings to succeed at all costs. The client has to realize that I-It relationship with the surroundings will never let one go out of the fetters of the generalized other. Hence she or he has to strive to reach an I-Thou (Following Buber) relationship with the surroundings and relevant others. An individual has to realize that while being thrown into the world, in the words of Heidegger, with anxiety and dread, he or she is imbued with initial pain, but then this pain can be sublimated into creativity, with depth and inner meaning.
• Positive victimology - followed the two initial sentences

Victimology aims to prevent secondary victimization of crime victims, while positive victimology suggests an additional focus on social response. Similar to positive victimology it must meet three criteria:

1. Social response to the victims' attempts to strengthen their integration at three levels – interpersonal, mental and spiritual.
2. Social response is experienced as positive by the victims.
3. Social response not only prevents further victimization but will be one that enables the healing and personal, social and spiritual growth of the victims despite the harm they experienced.

Studies

• Social acceptance and life transformation - from the end of the paragraph: The results affirmed the hypothesis that posttraumatic growth is negatively associated with psychological stress. A phenomenological analysis identified themes in the participants' reflections on posttraumatic growth. It was found that prison experiences forced the participants to change. Prisoners experience emotional support from others during incarceration as crucial to positive change. Taking responsibility for the crime helped them engage in the therapy more fully and resulted in more posttraumatic growth.
• Impact of interactions with volunteers - from the end of the paragraph: The results of these different studies by different researchers were consistent and show that it was important for beneficiaries to be served by volunteers, since they perceived volunteers as true altruists, were satisfied to the degree of preferring their services over that of paid workers, and were positively affected by the encounter with volunteering. Meeting the volunteers raised their awareness of giving without expecting a reward, which sharply contradicts their view of the world as a battlefield. In some cases, the example set by the volunteers inspired the young people to consider volunteering themselves. Finally, they were able to generalize the altruistic image to the entire service and overcome their initial objections to a service run by the establishment. Volunteers set a living example of the possibility of human goodness via personal encounters and demonstrated the existence of a responsive society with mutual, unconditional caring. The proposed explanation refers to the contrast between the example of the volunteers and the self-centeredness of at-risk youths, which shifted slightly as a result. These results exhibit practical implications for innovative interventions with youth at-risk and illustrate the significance of the science of goodness.
• Altruism - end of the paragraph: A study carried out by Tahel Uzan (2009) was conducted on young offenders in Israel, who participated in volunteer activity of helping needy persons in the community. It was found that participants perceived this activity as most significant, leading to a process of introspection which included a decision to change their way of life. It seems that participation in altruistic activities develops and strengthens internal virtues (e.g., responsibility, caring for others, goodness), that motivate the offenders to adopt pro-social attitudes and behaviors.
• Improving offender's well-being =

Vesna Nikolic-Ristanovic from the University of Belgrade, Serbia, summarized this body of research and accordingly, existing research on happiness and crime may be classified into three main groups of happiness and crime relationships:

1. Happiness and victimization/fear of crime: the impact of fear of crime and victimization on happiness; the impact of happiness on vulnerability, i.e. do happy people become victims less often than unhappy people and why?
2. Happiness and offending (for example: Do happy people commit crimes, or do people commit crimes in order to achieve happiness?
3. The impact of penalties/incarceration on happiness and desistance from crime (for example: Do penalties, including incarceration, affect offenders' happiness and does making people happy through prison programmes reduce their risk of reoffending?)

The conclusion of these studies, that confirms positive criminology basic assumptions is that making people happy is the best crime prevention and, thus, the best response to crime – at least, for those who can still change and become happier.

• Psychological strengths and posttraumatic growth of South African ex-offenders = most of the paragraph on the possible presence of psychological strengths and posttraumatic growth in the life stories of ex-offenders who desisted returning to crime. At the background of the study stands the very high recidivism rate of released prisoners in South Africa and the lack of knowledge concerning positive psychological factors that may facilitate successful reentry of ex-offenders in the South African context. In an exploratory qualitative study, the authors interviewed three adult male ex-offenders who had successfully reintegrated into society, focusing on their life stories. Several psychological strengths, including hope, gratitude, and spirituality, were evident in the life stories of the participants. Furthermore, they seemed to experience a sense of posttraumatic growth, albeit the traumatic experience while being incarcerated.
• Mindfulness and rehabilitation of young offenders- Findings suggest that the 10 male participants (age 18–24 years) experienced reductions in stress and improvements in emotion regulation. The young men were able to integrate the teachings of mindfulness practices into their often stressed and strained lives in ways that may help foster desistance. Several participants noted the importance of the development of an embodied practice for assisting them in managing anger and impulse control. The young men's narratives suggest that mindfulness-based interventions can contribute positively to rehabilitative outcomes within alternative to incarcerations settings, providing complementary benefit to existing ATI programs, especially for clients amenable to mindfulness training.
• Angola's Christian seminary - Angola's Inmate Minister program deploys seminary graduates in bivocational pastoral service roles throughout America's largest maximum-security prison. Drawing upon the unique history of Angola, inmates establish their own churches and serve in lay-ministry capacities in hospice, cellblock visitation, tier ministry, officiating inmate funerals, and through tithing with "care packages" for indigent prisoners. Four themes of positive criminology prominently emerge from inmate narratives: (a) the importance of respectful treatment of inmates by correctional administrations, (b) the value of building trusting relationships for prosocial modeling and improved self- perception, (c) repairing harm through intervention, and (d) spiritual practice as a blueprint for positive self-identity and social integration among prisoners.

—CaroleHenson (talk) 19:26, 5 January 2017 (UTC)