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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Criminal justice system

A Toolkit for Legislative Reform: Improving Criminal Justice Responses to Mental Illness in Rural States
Toolkit details methods to improve access to mental health treatment in rural communities through the criminal justice system. Presents options for state policy reform, using South Dakota's mental illness intervention law as a case study.
Author(s): Barbara A. Pierce
Date: 09/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Crime and Justice Institute
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The Criminal Justice Experience of African American Cocaine Users in Arkansas
Examines associations between the involvement in the criminal justice system and drug use in urban and rural African American cocaine users in Arkansas between 2010 and 2012. Includes demographic statistics by gender, age, rurality, and route of administration.
Author(s): Nickolas Zaller, Ann M. Cheney, Geoffrey M. Curran, Brenda M. Booth, Tyrone F. Borders
Citation: Substance Use & Misuse, 51(12), 1566-1576
Date: 10/2016
Type: Document
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Domestic Violence Cases in Rural Pennsylvania Magisterial Courts: Practices, Effectiveness and Consequences
Results of a survey of judges in rural Pennsylvania courts as to the effectiveness of domestic violence case prosecution, with a focus on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Includes a discussion of reform history on both a national and state level, barriers to prosecution specific to rural communities, and statistics of types of charges filed versus convictions or dismissals.
Author(s): Gabriela Wasileski, Erika Davis-Frenzel
Date: 09/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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The Opioid Epidemic: Rural Organizations Fight Back
Highlights programs across the country, such as the ANGEL Program, the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PARRI) and the Second Chance Drug Initiative, in which police departments and treatment facilities work together to fight addiction and move drug users toward treatment rather than incarceration. Also discusses the use and availability of naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug.
Author(s): Zachary Toliver
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Health in Rural Missouri: Minority Health
Provides an overview of minority health in rural Missouri. Includes county-level information on African American and Hispanic populations. Describes minority health disparities, healthcare resources, and incarceration in rural areas.
Date: 2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Missouri Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
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Violent Victimization and Substance Dependency: Comparing Rural Incarcerated Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Women
Reports findings from a study of rural Appalachian women prisoners that looked at sexual identity and violent victimization experiences as they relate to alcohol and drug use.
Author(s): Melanie D. Otis, Carrie B. Oser, Michele Staton-Tindall
Citation: Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 16(1-2), 176-201
Date: 2016
Type: Document
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Drug Use, Hepatitis C, and Service Availability: Perspectives of Incarcerated Rural Women
Examines drug use and the health consequences of drug use, hepatitis C, and health service availability among a high-risk sample of women serving time in jail for drug use. Data was collected from a sample of 22 female offenders incarcerated in 3 jail facilities located in rural Appalachia.
Author(s): Michele Staton-Tindall, J. Matthew Webster, Carrie B. Oser, Jennifer R. Havens, Carl G. Leukefeld
Citation: Social Work in Public Health, 30(4) 385–396
Date: 07/2015
Type: Document
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An Examination of Hate and Bias Incidents in Pennsylvania, 1999 – 2012
Examines hate and bias incidents in Pennsylvania to compare their frequency, nature and impact on urban and rural communities.
Author(s): R. Barry Ruback, Andrew Gladfelter, Brendan Lantz
Date: 03/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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Attorney General's Advisory Committee on American Indian/Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence: Ending Violence So Children Can Thrive
Reports on the current epidemic of American Indian and Alaskan Native children's exposure to violence, and offers policy recommendations to the Attorney General on ways to address the issues.
Date: 11/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Justice
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'We Desperately Need Some Help Here' - The Experience of Legal Experts with Sexual Assault and Evidence Collection in Rural Communities
Provides context to promote understanding of the rural medico-legal response to sexual assault, and to inform sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) in rural areas. Describes the importance of the SANE role when responding to sexual assault and discusses possible solutions, such as telemedicine, to address the need for more properly trained SANEs in rural communities. Experts interviewed were from rural areas in Virginia.
Author(s): Sandra Annan
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 14(4), 2659
Date: 10/2014
Type: Document
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