chap 11-incarceration and prison society

modern prison progression

• 1940s–1950s: “big house,” large tiered cell blocks, yard, workshops
• 1960–1970s: move toward rehabilitation and correctional institutions
• During the past 40 years, people of color and urban representation has
increased along with drug-related and violent offenses.
• Focus has shifted to mere crime control.

custodial model

emphasizes secuirty, discipline, order

rehabilitation model

emphasizes treatment programs to reform offender

• emphasizes treatment programs to help imprisoned people address the personal problems and issues that led them to commit crimes.

  Cole, George F.; Smith, Christopher E.; DeJong, Christina. Criminal Justice in America (p. 366). Wadsworth Publishing Co Inc. Kindle Edition.

reintegration model

emphasizes maintaining the offenders ties to family and community as a methods of reform

• maintaining the individual’s ties to family and community as a method of reform, recognizing that the offender will be returning to society.

  Cole, George F.; Smith, Christopher E.; DeJong, Christina. Criminal Justice in America (p. 366). Wadsworth Publishing Co Inc. Kindle Edition.

prison managers

− Cannot select their clients
− Have little or no control over the release of their clients
− Must deal with clients who are there against their will
− Must rely on clients to do most of the work in the daily operation of the
institution—work they are forced to do and for which they are not paid
− Must depend on the maintenance of satisfactory relationships between
clients

order

abensence of misconduct that threatens the saftey of others

amenities

anything that enhances the comfort of the inmates

service

programs designed to improve the lives of inmates

rewards and punishments

• used to gain cooperation by officers

• tolerating minor rule infractions

inmate leadership

trusted prisoners can help communication

overall governing society of captives

defects of total power make effective managment key

correctional officers

• Expected to counsel, supervise, and protect inmates
• 30 percent people of color, 25 percent women
• Basic training and salaries vary greatly

• use of force is legally acceptable in these situations

  • self defense

  • defense of third persons

  • upholding prison rules

  • prevention of crime

  • prevention of escape

who is in prison?

• Most prisoners are middle-aged male people of color with little education.
• Elderly prisoners have increased sharply.

• geriatric prisons

• AIDS is the third largest cause of inmate deaths.
• Mentally ill are four times more likely to be incarcerated.
• 10 percent of inmates are serving life with parole.

• each sentence cost taxpayers over 1 million

inmate code

− The values and norms of the prison social system that define the inmates’ idea of the model prisoner.
− The code also emphasizes the solidarity of all inmates against the staff.
− It offers some protection from victimization while in prison.
− Today, no single “code” exists in all prisons.

classification

The process of assigning an inmate to a category based on his or her risk to security, educational level, ability to work, and readiness for release.

Cole, George F.; Smith, Christopher E.; DeJong, Christina. Criminal Justice in America (p. 388). Wadsworth Publishing Co Inc. Kindle Edition.

convict world- society and orientations

• contemporary prison society is divided along social, ethnic, and gang subgroups

• most male inmates use one of of four orientations to adapt

  • doing time

    • view prison term as a brief, inevitable break in their criminal careers, a cost of doing business

  • gleaning

    • try to take advantage of prison programs to better
      themselves and improve their prospects for success after release

  • jailing

    • This is the choice of those who cut themselves off from the outside and try to construct a
      life within the prison

  • disorganized crim

    • A fourth role orientation describes inmates who cannot develop any of the other three
      orientations

convict world- prison economy

• In prison, as outside, individuals want goods and services.

  • Prisons have a commissary from which inmates may purchase a limited
    number of items in exchange for credits drawn on their “bank accounts.”

• An informal, underground economy acts as a major element in prison society.

  • Economic transactions can lead to violence when goods are stolen,debts are not paid, or agreements are violated.

  • Prison gangs may play a role in the underground economy.

women in prison

• Women constitute about 7 percent of the entire prison population.
• Mandatory sentencing has sharply increased the number of women prisoners.
• Male subcultures versus female subcultures

- Over half of male but only a third of female inmates are serving time for
violent offenses.
− There is less violence in prisons for women.
− Women show greater responsiveness to prison programs.
− Men are divided by security level, but most women serve time in facilities
where the entire population is mixed.
− Men tend to segregate themselves by race; women, less so
− Men rarely become intimate with their keepers, but women often do.

issues in the incarceration of women

− Sexual misconduct
− Educational and vocational training programs
− Medical services
− Mothers and their children

 65 percent of incarcerated women are mothers with dependent aged
children.
 The distance of prisons from homes, intermittent telephone privileges,
and an unnatural visiting environment

-prison programs

• educational training

  • basic skills, GED clases

• vocational

  • widespread, but questionable effect

  • obsolete skills

• prison industries

  • work skills and discipline

  • quality may suffer due to high turnover

• rehabilitative programs

  • psycological, behavorial, and social science programs

• medical services

  • physician care is often contracted

• classification of prison residents

violence in prison

• 3 characteristics tend to underlie assulative behavior factors:

  • age, mental illness, race

• 3 main categories of prison violence

  1. prisoner-prisoner violence

     • prison gangs

       • security threat groups are linked to violence in prisons.

       • Gangs make it difficult to maintain control in prisons

     • prison rape

       • 2004 Prison Rape Elimination Act establishes zero tolerance standard for the incidence
         of rape in prison

     • protective custody

       • Used by some victims of prison violence as the only way to escape further abuse

       • Marks them as "weak"

  2. prisoner-officer violence

     • Typically, specific situations and specific individuals

     • Yearly, prison residents may assault as many as 18,000 staff members.

     • Constantly “on guard” increases officer stress

     • Unexpected attacks

  3. officer-prisoner violence

     • Officers may view violence as everyday legitimate procedure.

     • Some institutions use physically powerful officers to maintain order.

     • Wardens may feel a need to support their officers even in the face of brutality
       complaints.

dec prison violence

five factors contribute:

• Inadequate supervision by staff members

• Architectural design that promotes rather than inhibits victimization

• Easy availability of deadly weapons

• Housing of violence-prone prisoners near relatively defenseless

- effect of architecture and size

- role of management eople
 A general high level of tension produced by close quarters