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Getting Out and Staying Out! Conclusion

November 30, 2016 By Frederika Zylstra Leave a Comment

Lowering Criminogenic Risk Factors

We’ve learned enough about the existence and definition of the risk factors. We’ve also seen examples of how they work to predict crime. What can we do to lower our risk?

Flip the factors.

Risk Factor

Anti-Social Network

Anti-Social Beliefs

Family Dysfunction

Drug and/or Alcohol Addiction

Poor Impulse Control

Lack of Career and/or Education

Remedy

Pro-Social Network (not isolation!)

Pro-Social Beliefs

Family Counseling/Boundary Setting

Drug and/or Alcohol Treatment

Mindfulness Activities

College and Job Training

 

Sneaky Criminogenic Risk Factors…..When What Looks Positive is Actually Fraught with Danger

Let us walk through an example together that illustrates how sneaky the criminogenic risk factors can be:

John Doe has just been released from jail. He has a methamphetamine addiction and has been recovering. He is clean from all drugs and alcohol now. He has a sister who is pro-social and supportive of him. He’s trying to start a new life for himself. John moves thousands of miles away from his old anti-social friends and is determined to make a healthy, happy future for himself. He has no college education, but works hard and is physically strong. He gets a job working for a busy construction company. His sister is thrilled. He has a plan to save money and has a work truck which is running although it’s old. some of the guys who work at the construction company are using drugs and John shares some of the things he learned in drug treatment with them and encourages them to start on a better path.

This situation looks positive at first glance.What are John’s criminogenic risk factors?

  • Anti-Social Network. John has not drawn firm enough boundaries with his acquaintances. He is not solid enough in his new life to spend time, energy or effort attempting to help people struggling with current drug addiction. It’s only a matter of time before the law of constructive possession means that he gets arrested for being in a car or a place at the job where he’s near someone else’s drugs. His sobriety will not save him from a drug possession charge based on constructive possession. We do not review the law in this article, but Ascend students are taught the law of constructive possession and will cringe at the thought of being in the vicinity of someone who is actively in the throes of an addiction. John should have NO ONE in his network who is even remotely tied to drugs. NO ONE. UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
    John has a pro-social sister. He should be expanding the pro-social network so he has a group of people to socialize with as he starts his new life. Remember – a person’s anti-social network of today will be their co-defendants in the future!
  • Lack of Career and/or Education. John is understandably proud of the fact that he’s working and saving money. That is an excellent accomplishment! John is at risk, however, because his job may not be stable in addition to the fact that he has anti-social co-workers. When we have an education or other career training, we are set apart from the general population. What are the qualifications for John’s construction job? A strong body and a willingness to do tough work. Many people have these qualifications. What if John had an AA degree in a construction related field? A business degree? An architecture degree? The job pool is a lot smaller and he would be more in demand.
    What happens to John if the weather is bad and construction is slow? There is little stability then. John has no medical benefits. What happens to him if he’s injured? What happens to him if his addiction is triggered by the co-workers’ drug use and he needs treatment?
    What happens if John’s truck stops working? How will he be set back? He has a small savings account, which is great, but he may need those savings to survive if the weather changes and he’s unable to work for a period of time. An entry level job will not provide John with the level of security he needs to become truly stable over the long term.

John’s better path is to enroll in college while he’s working at the construction company and to see that job as a temporary stepping stone to a better one. He should avoid his co-workers like the plague and should be taking his sister’s help in being introduced to people in her pro-social network rather than spending his time forging acquaintances with drug using co-workers. Once he establishes a pro-social network, he is likely to get offered better jobs as well. John needs to change his entire world in order to stay out of jail rather than replicate his old world in a different part of the country.

Conclusion

Lowering criminogenic risk factors is the key to avoiding jail, prison, and/or probation. It is the key to creating a healthier and happier life in which there is long-lasting success. Not one of my clients or students who has made the effort to exclude an anti-social network in favor of a pro-social one has ever regretted it. In fact, they have thrived personally and professionally.

This is not to say that lowering these factors is easy. In fact, it’s incredibly difficult. But small, consistent, determined actions can eventually yield lowered risk factors and a new start to life. The first step is to become empowered with the knowledge that the factors even exist. That knowledge has been the platform from which many of our Ascend graduates have changed their lives. It is incredibly hard. But our students are incredibly resilient and capable. When they are empowered with knowledge, they manifest positive change that would not have been possible had they been kept in the dark about these sneaky criminogenic risk factors.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: criminogenic risk factors

Getting Out and Staying Out! Part III

March 24, 2016 By PhyllisOrzalli Leave a Comment

Criminogenic Risk Factors

In our last two newsletters, we covered the first and second articles in a series explaining the reasons people re-offend and how they can mitigate that risk. If you have a friend or family member who has been incarcerated, or you have been to jail or are on parole, you owe it to yourself to understand these risks. If you missed the first article – here’s the link.

To recap, here is the list of six dynamic Criminogenic Risk Factors:

  1. Anti-social network
  2. Anti-social beliefs
  3. Family dysfunction
  4. Drug and/or alcohol addiction
  5. Poor impulse control
  6. Lack of career and/or education

In our third article, we’re going to discuss anti-social beliefs and family dysfunction.

Anti-Social Beliefs

Social networkWhat are “anti-social beliefs”? These are beliefs which lead us toward the commission of a crime, dysfunction and unhealthy behaviors. Ascend teaches in depth about this subject, but an example of anti-social beliefs would be as follows:

ANTI-SOCIAL BELIEF: “My child needs diapers. I’m broke. I’ll steal some from K-Mart. They are a big corporation – no one will miss them.” (Short term, short cut thinking)

PRO-SOCIAL BELIEF: “My child will go back into foster care if I get caught stealing. I wouldn’t want someone to steal from me even if I were rich. Stealing from corporations makes the prices go up for all of us. I need to solve this problem another way.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: criminogenic risk factors, Stopping the cycle of crime in Sacramento

You’re Getting Out of Prison. How Do You Stay Out?

December 3, 2015 By Frederika Zylstra 2 Comments

Getting Out and Staying Out! Leaving Prison behind for good.

Knowledge and Management of Criminogenic Risk Factors

By: Toni White, J.D. (Co-Founder and Co-Director of Ascend)

This is the first of a series of articles covering the reasons people re-offend and how they can mitigate that risk.  If you have been incarcerated, or have a friend or family member who is in prison or on parole, understanding the risks and how to avoid them is invaluable information.

A key puzzle piece in avoiding a return to jail, prison or probation is knowing how to address the sneaky predictors of crime: Criminogenic Risk Factors.

“Criminogenic risk factors” is a fancy term with a simple definition. Criminogenic risk factors are factors that make a person more likely to commit a crime. There are dynamic and static risk factors. Static risk factors are factors which we cannot change such as age or criminal history. Dynamic risk factors are quite different. Dynamic risk factors are factors that we CAN change. This is where the magic happens!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: criminogenic risk factors, criminology, prisoners, re-offending, recidivism, rehabilitation

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