Institutional & Community Corrections and Philosophies of Punishment

Flashcards covering criminological theories, philosophies of punishment, institutional corrections, inmate subcultures, and evidence-based correctional interventions.

Retribution

A philosophy of punishment defined as revenge or payback where punishment is seen as a means to an end and must be proportional to the crime.

Proportionality in Punishment

The principle that the severity of the punishment should fit the seriousness of the crime.

Deterrence

The action of discouraging an actor or event through instilling doubt or fear of the consequences.

Specific Deterrence

A form of deterrence where an individual lawbreaker is punished with aversion, pain, or discomfort so that they refrain from breaking the law again.

General Deterrence

A form of deterrence aimed at setting an example for the public to make potential would-be offenders think twice before committing a crime.

Incapacitation

The deprivation of ability, quality, or strength to perform criminal behavior, typically achieved by physically removing offenders from society through incarceration.

Collective Incapacitation

An incapacitation strategy where everyone who commits a certain specified crime is locked up.

Selective Incapacitation

An incapacitation strategy that zeroes in on identifying and locking up high-rate offenders.

Rehabilitation

A correctional philosophy focused on addressing the underlying causes of criminality and criminogenic risks to prepare offenders for re-entry into society.

Total Institutions

Erving Goffman's conceptualization of prisons as isolated, highly regulated facilities that completely encompass and control the lives of inmates.

Prisonization

Donald Clemmer's concept describing the process by which inmates undergo social adaptation into the prison community and embrace the inmate code.

Pains of Imprisonment

Gresham Sykes' term for the social-psychological deprivations of prison life, including loss of liberty, goods/services, security, and heterosexual relationships.

Importation Model

John Irwin and Donald Cressey's theory proposing that inmate culture and prison behavior are shaped by pre-prison characteristics such as age, race, gender, SES, and criminal history.

Deprivation Model

A theoretical model proposing that prison subculture and inmate adjustment patterns stem directly from the deprivations and conditions inside the prison environment.

The 99 Percenters

A concept in prison violence research (influenced by Wolfgang's chronic $6000$ percenters study) describing a small group of inmates responsible for most of the violence and disorder in prison.

Security Threat Groups (STGs)

The formal term used in corrections for prison gangs, which often operate as extensions of street gangs.

Pseudo-families

Social structures formed among female inmates to recreate family roles and provide mutual support as a response to prison stressors.

Negotiated Coexistence

The delicate balance between order and chaos maintained by correctional staff through informal negotiation rather than relying solely on weapons, threats, or force.

Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)

The infamous 1971 study by Philip Zimbardo and colleagues that investigated psychological roles and behavior among mock guards and prisoners.

Evidence-Based Practice

Correctional strategies and evaluation studies based on objective, rigorous scientific testing and systematic reviews of existing research.

Narrative Review

A qualitative literature review method that summarizes findings verbally, which can introduce potential bias or cherry-picking of studies.

Meta-Analytic Review

A quantitative literature review technique that synthesizes numerical results from multiple studies to calculate a single pooled effect size.

RNR Model

A model for effective correctional intervention that stands for Risk, Need, and Responsivity.

Static Risk Factors

Unchangeable historical characteristics associated with recidivism risk, such as age and prior criminal history.

Dynamic Risk Factors

Changeable attributes or criminogenic needs linked to criminal behavior that can be targeted in rehabilitation, such as SES, antisocial peers, antisocial values, and employment history.

The Big Four

The primary risk factors for criminal behavior identified in the RNR model: history of antisocial behavior, antisocial personality pattern, antisocial cognition, and antisocial associates.

Fidelity Principle

The principle stating that correctional programs must be implemented correctly and delivered as originally designed to achieve effective results.

Correctional Counseling

The professional practice of helping individuals who are both troubled and in trouble using evidence-based therapeutic intervention strategies.

Selection Effects

A methodological problem in program evaluations occurring when participants who enter a treatment program systematically differ from those who do not.

Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R)

A 20-item clinical assessment tool used in conjunction with background information to diagnose psychopathy.