Christopher Veeh

What Trauma Looks Like for Incarcerated Men: A Study of Men’s Lifetime Trauma Exposure in Two State Prisons
Published:
| Author: Maria Morrison, Carrie Pettus-Davis, Tanya Renn, Christopher Veeh, Christopher Weatherly
While it is understood that high rates of trauma exposure are common among incarcerated male populations, there is limited data on the nature of the trauma exposure. This study examined the trauma histories of a randomly selected sample of 67 men incarcerated in the Missouri Department of Corrections. The analyses revealed several patterns among study participants, including near universal trauma exposure in adolescence with the most frequent exposures involving witnessing or being proximate to violent deaths of family and friends.
Category: Trauma

Intervention Development Study of the 5 Key Model for Reentry: An Evidence Driven Prisoner Reentry Intervention
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Tanya Renn, Christopher Veeh
Over the past decade and a half, substantial resources were poured into the development of prisoner reentry programs. However, the excitement that surrounded the initial roll out of reentry programs has begun to wane from a lack of substantive change to the number of individuals who return to prison. Therefore, this paper details the development of an intervention that can provide a new path forward for prisoner reentry programs.
Category: Reentry, Well-Being, 5-Key Model for Reentry

The Intersectional Effects of Race and Gender on Time to Reincarceration
Published:
| Author: Katie Ropes Berry, Stephanie Kennedy, Margaret Lloyd, Christopher Veeh, Stephen Tripodi
People of color are disproportionately incarcerated and reincarcerated after release. When compared to women, men of all races report higher rates of recidivism. However, minimal research examines the intersectional effects of race and gender on recidivism. Proportional hazards models estimated the effects of varied risk factors for Black men, White men, Black women, and White women on 8-year recidivism rates among 21,462 incarcerated Black and White men and women. Black men were incarcerated more often and more quickly when compared to all other race/gender groups.
Category: Reentry, Recidivism, Racial and Gender BIas

The Relationship Between Severe Mental Disorders and Recidivism in a Sample of Women Released from Prison.
Published:
| Author: Erin A. King, Stephen Tripodi, Christopher Veeh
Women are one of the fastest growing sectors of the prison population, and have different pathways into prison and differing needs during the reentry process when compared to men. Women report higher levels of mental health problems overall, and report more severe symptomatology. The current study focuses on the role of severe mental disorders (SMDs) for 2,311 women released from prison and how SMDs relate to recidivism. Women diagnosed with SMDs were 16% more likely to have recidivated at eight years post-release compared with women who were not diagnosed with an SMD (p < .05).
Category: Reentry, Recidivism, Mental Health, Incarcerated Women

Promoting Reentry Well-Being: A Novel Assessment Tool for Individualized Service Assignment in Prisoner Reentry Programs
Published:
| Author: Christopher Veeh, Tanya Renn, Carrie Pettus-Davis
The Reentry Well-Being Assessment Tool (RWAT) is an innovative practice tool to systematically guide individualized assignment into reentry program services based on a participant’s changing needs during the transition from prison to the community. Clearly defined treatment targets that promote an individual’s well-being are paired with a comprehensive set of assessments within the RWAT to measure progress throughout a prisoner reentry program.
Category: Reentry, Well-Being

Deterioration of Postincarceration Social Support for Emerging Adults
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Elaine Eggleston Doherty, Christopher Veeh, Christina Drymon
More than 2.5 million emerging adults (ages 18-25) are incarcerated annually and most do poorly after release. Social support after an individual’s release from incarceration is a critical protective factor against recidivism for emerging adults. However, little is known about the stability of support for emerging adults post incarceration. This study uses hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to examine whether social support declines over time after incarceration and how change in support may vary by incarceration length.
Category: Reentry, Social Support, Emerging Adults

Gender differences in experiences of social support among men and women releasing from prison
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Christopher Veeh, Maxine Davis, Stephen Tripodi
Positive social support is critically important to postprison well-being outcomes. However, researchers and program developers are still trying to understand how to best promote stable and sustainable social support for formerly incarcerated individuals during reentry to the community. We sought to add to the body of knowledge on social support and prisoner reentry by comparing men and women releasing from prison on the quality (e.g., positive or negative) and amount of informal social support.
Category: Reentry, Incarcerated Women, Gender Differences

Enhancing Social Support Postincarceration: Results From a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Allison Dunnigan, Christopher Veeh, Matthew Owen Howard, Anna M. Scheyett, Amelia Roberts‐Lewis
Over 50% of released prisoners are reincarcerated within 3 years. Social support from loved ones postincarceration significantly reduces the likelihood of reincarceration. Increasingly, intervention developers aim to implement interventions that will enhance the stability of support available. This study responds to gaps in knowledge.
Category: Reentry, Social Support

The Economic Burden of Incarceration in the U.S.
Published:
| Author: Michael McLaughlin, Carrie Pettus-Davis, Derek Brown, Christopher Veeh, Tanya Renn
This study estimates the annual economic burden of incarceration in the United States. While prior research has estimated the cost of crime, no study has calculated the cost of incarceration. The $80 billion spent annually on corrections is frequently cited as the cost of incarceration, but this figure considerably underestimates the true cost of incarceration by ignoring important social costs. These include costs to incarcerated persons, families, children, and communities. This study draws on a burgeoning area of scholarship to assign monetary values to twenty-three different costs, whic
Category: Cost of Incarceration

Assessing Attitude and Reincarceration Outcomes Associated With In-Prison Domestic Violence Treatment Program Completion
Published:
| Author: Annelise M. Mennicke, Stephen Tripodi, Christopher Veeh, Dina Wilke, Stephanie Kennedy
Studies indicate that as many as 30%–56% of incarcerated men have perpetrated domestic violence, and that factors related to domestic violence perpetration are associated with long-term recidivism after release. The current study evaluates the effectiveness of an in-prison domestic violence treatment program called STOP and Change Direction to increase positive attitudes toward women, decrease levels of criminal thinking, and reduce general recidivism rates for program completers.
Category: Trauma, In-Prison Intervention

The Role of Preparatory Programming in Increasing the Effectiveness of a Sex Offender Treatment Intervention
Published:
| Author: Tanya Renn, Christopher Veeh, Melissa D. Grady, David Edwards, Carrie Pettus-Davis, Katherine Kelton
Although the number of sex offender treatment programs has increased nationally (McGrath, Cumming, Burchard, Zeoli, & Ellerby, 2009), their effectiveness, as well as the components that produce the greatest impact, remains unknown.