Posts Tagged ‘Season 7’

In the final episode of this season of the Aced It! podcast we provide strong theoretical and empirical evidence regarding what prison staff can do to improve outcomes for everyone. To do this, we review recent research about residents: prison philosophies and strategies that harm them and barriers they face to accessing programs in custody.…

Culture and climate are at the forefront of many discussions in prisons/jails, in research domains, and among the general public. These issues are also at the forefront of the research study behind this podcast. The four articles we present in this podcast cover some of the key ideas or talking points that contextualize these conversations…

Our interviews with residents overwhelmingly suggest that staff in many prisons/jails are not acting in ways consistent with cultural competency. Two of the biggest issues relate to race/ethnicity and gender/sexual identity. In this episode, we present, with sensitivity, information that may help correctional staff understand these issues in a deeper and more meaningful way, using…

Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) and Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) are evidence based/informed practices that show tremendous promise in carceral settings. To educate correctional staff and administrators about medication for SUD/OUD in prisons, we selected three articles that highlight what these treatments are, how jails/prisons can partner with community providers to offer them, and…

Although there is a lot we could talk about related to SUD in carceral settings, in this episode we will cover three key topics that came up frequently during our project interviews: fentanyl, K2, and drug testing. These three issues challenge correctional staff; their level of understanding regarding fentanyl and K2, specifically, is generally very…

This episode addresses a key theme of our interviews with individuals working in prisons and jails—mental and physical health for correctional staff. Using multidisciplinary science, we consider the effects of violence exposure on staff and some possible protective factors in prisons and jails that may help staff cope. The episode also looks at the importance…

This episode builds on the prior episodes and presents a deeper dive into trauma-informed care. Talk of trauma-informed care is all the rage right now in corrections, but training correctional staff in trauma-informed care for use with carceral residents and actually doing trauma-informed care in practice is a whole different story. The episode covers a…

This episode tackles two focal areas correctional staff from our study perceive as critical for their work but for which they lack training: PTSD and suicidal ideation. To bolster our review of recent science, we provide up-to-date and easy-to-understand information about PTSD and suicide prevention, and consider trauma-informed approaches that may equip carceral staff to…

In this informative episode, we’ll help correctional staff understand some of the major issues contributing to poor physical health among residents. Using research evidence as our framework, we consider food and nutrition, vitamin and mineral intake, commissary prices, and in-custody healthcare co-pays. Download the one-pager (PDF). Berkowitz, S. A., Basu, S., Gundersen, C., & Seligman,…

This episode merges findings from two articles published in the last several years that consider the use of segregation in U.S. prisons. This topic is crucial as many states–including several where our research team conducted interviews–have recently enacted solitary confinement reforms, and others are beginning to think about such reforms. The episode covers data related…