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Pre-sentence reports (PSRs) provide important information about an individual's background and circumstances to assist judicial officers in the sentencing process. The present study analyzed PSRs for 63 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people sentenced by either an Indigenous sentencing court or a mainstream court in the Australian State of Victoria. Using natural language processing techniques, our analyses revealed few differences between PSRs conducted for each court. However, PSRs were found to predominantly feature key words that are risk-based, with mainstream court PSRs more negatively worded than the Indigenous sentencing court's PSRs. This may have been due to the inclusion of results from a risk and need assessment tool. Pro-social factors did comprise more than one third of extracted keywords, although the number of strength-based culture-related keywords, in particular, was low across PSRs in both courts. It is possible that courts may not be receiving all the information needed to promote individualized justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This systematic review aims to identify the factors that facilitate or impede the engagement of Aboriginal people living with a disability with disability services through review of the current academic and industry literature. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are twice as likely to experience disability as non-Indigenous Australians, yet often have more difficulty accessing support. 17 documents were included in the final review. The review revealed the super-ordinate theme of culture and Indigeneity which pervades the three additional themes of accessibility, engagement and lack of support. All four themes can be viewed as barriers or facilitators of engagement for Aboriginal people. Quality assessment highlighted the need for research exploring the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with disability and for more culturally appropriate and scientifically rigorous research. The findings provide guidance for policy makers and service providers in relation to supporting Aboriginal people living with disability. Aboriginal people living with a disability experience numerous barriers to positively engaging with disability services. The current literature that examines the lived experience of Aboriginal people living with a disability is limited in scope and quality. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander access and engagement with disability services may best be facilitated through the consideration of Aboriginal cultural beliefs, individual cultural needs, and Aboriginal perspectives of health. There is a need for disability services to become more culturally aware and more inclusive of Aboriginal cultural understandings to better inform inclusive policy and practice. The study recommends more collaborative research into the lived experience of Aboriginal people living with a disability, particularly relating to the way that inclusion can improve wellbeing and engagement with support services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imprisonment can be an intensely stressful experience, and efforts to limit distress are critical to prevent adverse events such as suicide. This study examined whether time spent in prison predicted psychological distress in young adult and adult prisoners, and whether coping style moderated this relationship. While time spent in prison was not associated with distress, the use of avoidance coping was associated with higher levels of prisoner distress. Seeking social support was associated with lower levels of distress, but only for older adult prisoners. These results can be drawn upon to guide psychological treatments designed to lessen prisoner distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review and meta-analysis evaluated the effectiveness of well-being interventions offered to correctional officers within prison settings. A search strategy was developed and 11 databases were searched to identify eligible studies. Articles were screened against preset eligibility criteria, and quality was assessed using the Downs and Black Checklist. Nine studies were identified, including four single-group design and five quasi-experimental designed studies. Interventions comprised a mixture of crisis interventions, psychoeducational programs, and an exercise program. For those studies with sufficient data, a meta-analysis was conducted to examine intervention effects on stress and psychopathology. Fixed-effects meta-analysis showed that treatment had no effect on stress or psychopathology. Of those studies that could not be included in the meta-analysis, there were mixed outcomes. These findings highlight the need for more rigorous study designs and suggest further research is needed to examine the theoretical mechanisms in the development of interventions within correctional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correctional officers work in a highly challenging environment and are at a heightened risk of a range of negative stress-related health conditions. This study examines how correctional officer responses to adversity moderate the association between perceived workplace adversity and psychological well-being. The aim was to assess the degree that perceived workplace adversity predicts correctional officer psychological well-being and the subsequent impact on negative organizational outcomes such as absenteeism, presenteeism and job dissatisfaction. Hundred and seventy four officers completed an online questionnaire including measures of perceived workplace adversity, officer responses, psychological well-being and organizational impact. Structural Equation Modelling revealed that a heightened perception of workplace adversity predicted lower psychological well-being and in turn increased negative organizational impacts. Analyses indicated that using an interpersonal/solution focused response style moderated the relationship between perceived workplace adversity and psychological well-being, reducing its negative impact on well-being and in turn the frequency of negative organizational impacts. These findings offer insight into how officers' perceptions of their working environment and how they respond to workplace adversity influence their psychological well-being and the organizations that employ them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores differences in perceived work-related environmental adversity between correctional officers and those in other occupations in order to gain a clearer understanding of how prisons may impact those who work there. The Work-Related Environmental Adversity Scale (WREAS) was developed in order to assess the perceptions of employees across a range of occupations, including correctional officers. The instrument was completed by 440 participants and, as hypothesized, results indicate that correctional officer perceptions of work-related environmental adversity were significantly higher than the perceptions of those employed in all other occupations assessed (with the exception of police and emergency service workers). Further analyses of sub-scales indicated that correctional workers identify a number of specific environmental factors that impact their perceptions and subsequent well-being. The results of this study identify the importance of empirically assessing occupational workplace adversity as a component of the overall understanding of correctional officer well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]