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U.S. county jails hold large populations of mentally ill inmates but have rarely been researched quantitatively to assess their collective capacity for providing mental health treatment. This research uses ordinal logit and a partial parallel slopes model and a large sample of U.S. counties to assess conceptualized links between local institutional and structural indicators and jail mental health resourcing. Strong church networks and high rates of adult education completion are associated with enhanced jail mental health resourcing. Urbanized areas and areas with deep economic ties to manufacturing appear supportive of a strong jail mental health system. Conversely, conservative political environments and areas with strong medical and mental health networks based in the community are correlated with reduced jail mental health resourcing. Evidence from this research adds to a growing understanding of the need for enhanced community mental health service and diagnostic capabilities in our nation's jails, noting the characteristics and correlates of model program jurisdictions and jurisdictions where program enhancements are most likely in order.

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This research reviews the history of police change, documents law enforcement's sustained effort to maintain legitimacy through change, and serves as a backdrop for an empirical assessment of recent efforts by law enforcement to adopt meaningful change. This research quantitatively assesses the effects of federal funding on two outcomes: the percentage change in police employment between 1993 and 1999 and an index of progressive policing practices that reflect the community-oriented policing (COP) philosophy. The authors use regression with robust standard errors and a sample of 177 municipal police agencies staffed with 100 or more full-time officers to assess competing explanations for variation in these outcomes. Findings support claims that federal assistance grants contributed to progressive changes for the recipient agencies. Organizations receiving manpower grants increased hiring to a noteworthy extent, and innovation grants were closely associated with reforms in street-level practices. Targeted federal assistance helped municipal police agencies make progressive changes consistent with the COP model.

When you ask criminal justice students about issues related to the punishment of offenders, in my experience a significant number tend to extol the benefit of traditional forms (e.g., retribution and incapacitation) in class discussions. As a criminal justice educator who has actually worked in the field of corrections, I welcome the addition of Criminal Justice: Retribution vs. Restoration as a reader for my students. Judah and Bryant have put together a group of essays that allow readers to reexamine our system of punishment. Beginning with essays that are central to the teaching of the interplay between corrections and society (e.g., the social costs of imprisonment, the effects on the family and moral economy, and the impact of unforgiving drug policy implications), the authors become advocates for change in contemporary correctional practice. The essays that these authors have selected explore the depth of the human condition from those involved at the front-line, e.g. social workers charged with performing case studies and providing various rehabilitative efforts; with essays authored by practitioners; an inmate; public policy advocacy groups; the clergy; and professors. These essays attempt to illuminate not only how we punish offenders, but also the affect retributive forms of punishment have on the social fabric of our nation.In the introductory essay, the editors set the tone for the discussion of change in correctional practice by reminding us that the race to incarcerate will result in the annual release of some 600,000 prisoners and that more than 1 million will reenter the community after spending time in jail. The two essays that follow explain why the system needs changing. The first of these two essays examines how we address social problems by linking a potential correctional approach (restoration) to a medical model of treatment for the deviant in our population. The result Critical Criminology (2007) 15:123-126 Ó Springer 2006