The Prison Journal

Victims often face not only primary trauma but also secondary victimization from adversarial justice systems, exposing psychological blind spots. This study conceptually examines how trauma-informed justice aligns with victimology and restorative justice to advance empathetic and equitable legal responses. Using a conceptual normative method, it synthesizes secondary data sources through thematic triangulation. Findings reveal that trauma-informed justice is guided by five principles—safety, trust, collaboration, empowerment, and choice—shift justice toward healing and accountability. Originality lies in framing trauma-informed justice as a bridge between victim-centered and restorative paradigms, contributing a theoretical foundation for trauma-responsive reforms in Global South contexts.

This article examines how the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) violates specific provisions of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules). Through systematic analysis of accommodation standards, healthcare services, and solitary confinement practices, this article identifies fourteen distinct violations across these three domains. Drawing on peer-reviewed research, government reports, investigative journalism, and bipartisan congressional investigations, the study demonstrates that FBOP facilities fail to meet internationally recognized minimum standards for humane detention. The article concludes with specific recommendations for bringing FBOP practices into compliance with the Mandela Rules and discusses potential enforcement mechanisms.

Embedded within a larger randomized controlled trial assessing implementation strategies for delivering medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in jails and during transition to community treatment, this article focuses on barriers to MOUD. Twenty-three qualitative interviews representing 19 organizations were conducted to understand these barriers. The three that surfaced as most pertinent are: policy, organizational structure, and stigma related to addiction and incarceration. This study also found a double stigma for those incarcerated and struggling with addiction, amplifying barriers to MOUD. Improving MOUD implementation is essential to reducing fatal overdoses, enhancing care postrelease, and expanding treatment access in the community.

Incarcerated individuals are a population at greater risk of suicide, especially in Latin America, given the precarious conditions of confinement. Based on a national study conducted in Chile, this article analyzes suicidal ideation among a sample of 1,159 inmates from 20 facilities. Employing both the MQPL and the GHQ-12 instruments, the OLS regression model explained 36.5% of suicide ideation, with some predictors including perceived discrimination, experiences of suffering, stay in punishment, tense environment, and sadness. Suicide prevention efforts may be improved through periodic uses of both MQPL and GHQ-12 instruments.

This study explored the relationship between prison food satisfaction and experienced severity of imprisonment (ESI). Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to verify distinct food satisfaction aspects, and regression analyses were estimated to examine their association with ESI. The findings revealed a negative relationship between food satisfaction and ESI, particularly for satisfaction with food choice and variety, highlighting food as a key domain through which incarcerated persons experience autonomy, dignity, and deprivation. Expanding food-related autonomy may help mitigate the burdens of imprisonment. Integrating food policy into wider institutional strategies may offer a promising avenue for promoting humane and rehabilitative correctional environments.

A valuable goal for correctional settings is the application of workforce development education for incarcerated individuals as they prepare for the reentry process. Exploring the transitional bridge from prison to society signifies the need for “employment skills” that empower the formerly incarcerated to achieve employment success and avoid recidivism. The U-Work Program student volunteers teach reentry classes focused on workplace employment skills, including financial literacy, communications, resume writing, interviewing, and technology. This article showcases the themes that emerged from incarcerees’ responses in an exploratory study of the U-Work Program at a low-security federal facility in the Northeast, illustrating the importance of workforce development education in the reentry process.