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Chapter7Corr.pptxChapter 7: Prisons and the Correctional Client
Introduction: The State of Prisons (1 of 2)
Corrections experience shaped by shortages
Drug war has led to increases in incarceration and probation/parole caseloads
Stohr, Corrections: The Essentials 4e
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7.1: Describe the current state of the prison system and the factors that affect it.
Introduction: The State of Prisons
Corrections experience is shaped by shortages:
Overcrowding.
Underfunding.
Lack of focus.
The drug war raging on for the better part of 40 years has led to increases in incarceration and probation/parole caseloads.
Unable to meet demands for programs, staff, and institutions, many localities simply went without.
Reconsideration in last several years:
Recreational marijuana legalized in the District of Columbia and 11 states: AK, CA, CO, IL, ME, MA, MI, NE, OR, VT, & WA.
Reduced sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine.
Shift in correctional treatment away from retribution and deterrence as sole justifications.
Cost of corrections after 2007 recession has caused law enforcement to rethink prisons, the most expensive corrections option.
Changes in views have overall changed correctional policy and reduced populations.
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Introduction: The State of Prisons (2 of 2)
Corrections has been shaped by shortages
Federal government may be moving in other direction as of early 2020
Stohr, Corrections: The Essentials 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
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7.1: Describe the current state of the prison system and the factors that affect it.
Introduction: The State of Prisons
Corrections has been shaped by shortages.
Federal government may be moving in other direction (decarceration) as of early 2020; rates are at 657 incarcerations per 100,000 U.S. residents, currently the lowest they have been since 1996.
Still the highest rate in the westernized world.
Jails remain at an average 80% capacity, and in 12 states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, prisons exceeded rated capacity.
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Prison Organizations (1 of 19)
Classification
Begins when first entering prison
Based on numerous factors
Women and children classified into separate facilities as males
Stohr, Corrections: The Essentials 4e
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Organizations
Classification
Begins when first entering prison.
Based on numerous factors:
Crime.
Criminal history.
Escape risk.
Behavioral issues.
Health and programming needs.
Women and children classified into separate facilities as males.
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Prison Organizations (2 of 19)
Classification
Criteria for which facilities inmates are sent to
Inmates may request to transfer to specific facilities closer to family and friends
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Inmates sent to facilities based on:
First, supervision level (security needs).
Second, space available.
Third, inmate’s needs.
After some time, inmates may request to transfer to specific facilities closer to family and friends.
Not a priority for classification.
More viable for men; women and juveniles have fewer facilities available for transfer overall.
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Prison Organizations (3 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels
Prisons: correctional facilities that have a philosophy of penitence
Diversity has increased in prisons
Facilities data as of 2005
Stohr, Corrections: The Essentials 4e
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Prisons: Correctional facilities that have a philosophy of penitence (hence penitentiary) and that were created as a grand reform, as they represented, in theory at least, a major improvement over the brutality of punishment that characterized early Western, English, and American law and practice.
Prisons were and are used for long-term and convicted offenders.
Simultaneously utilizes numerous philosophies and justifications for punishment.
As number of prisons has expanded, diversity has increased:
By security level: supermaximum, maximum, medium, and minimum security.
By group: men, women, men and women, children, and military personnel.
By type of programming: regular confinement facilities, prison farms, prison hospitals, boot camps, reception centers, community corrections facilities, and more.
Facilities data as of 2005:
1,821 state and federal prisons.
1,406 of these are public and 415 are under private contract.
Most were operated by or under contract with a state (1,719) rather than at the federal level (102).
One fifth of U.S. prisons are maximum-security, but they house one-third of the nation’s inmates overall.
Medium-security prisons make up one-fourth of prisons but hold two-fifths of inmates.
Minimum-security prisons make up about half of prisons but hold only one-fifth of inmates (they are much smaller than maximum or medium facilities).
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Prison Organizations (4 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Supermax Prisons
First state prisons typically combinations of maximum- and medium-security
Supermax prisons: High-security prisons that hold those who are violent or disruptive in other prisons
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Supermax Prisons
First state prisons were typically combinations of maximum- and medium-security types with a very secure exterior but a relatively free interior.
Supermax prisons: High-security prisons, both internally and externally, that hold those who are violent or disruptive in other prisons in the state or federal system. Inmates are confined to their windowless cells 24 hours a day, except for showers three times a week (during which they are restrained) and solitary exercise time a couple of times a week. Prisoners eat in their cells, and visiting and programming are very limited.
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Prison Organizations (5 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Supermax Prisons
First supermax: Alcatraz Prison
Alcatraz held most notorious gangsters
State and federal facilities not all operated the same
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Supermax Prisons
Arguably, the first supermax was Alcatraz Prison (1934–1963).
Alcatraz held the most notorious gangsters of the era.
State and federal facilities today not all operated the same.
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Prison Organizations (6 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Supermax Prisons
Common characteristics
Limited programming available
Physical contact prohibited unless inmate in restraints
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Supermax Prisons
Certain common characteristics include solitary confinement to windowless cells almost 24 hours a day, showers three times a week (restrained), exercise couple times a week (alone), meals in cells often consisting of bland-but-nutritionally-adequate Nutraloaf.
Limited programming is available, and is given with the inmates in cells, treatment provider outside in hall.
Physical contact prohibited unless inmate is in restraints.
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Prison Organizations (7 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Supermax Prisons
Confinement typically for 1+ years
States began building them in 1980s
In 2004, 44 states had some form of supermax
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Supermax Prisons
Confinement typically for a year or more.
Other supermax prisons include federal supermaxes in Marion, Illinois (1963) and Florence, Colorado (1994); states began building supermaxes in the 1980s and the 1990s.
44 states as of 2004 had some form of supermax incarceration, holding some 25,000 inmates.
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Prison Organizations (8 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Supermax Prisons
Incarceration costs more expensive
Material costs of a supermax
Research suggests the existence of a supermax serves as general deterrent
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Supermax Prisons
Incarceration costs more expensive ($60,000/inmate/year) due to heightened security.
Material costs of a supermax are also greater by 2 to 3 times.
Research suggests the existence of a supermax serves as a general deterrent to violent offenders and reduces staff assaults throughout the prison systems.
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Prison Organizations (9 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Supermax Prisons
Sensory deprivation may impair inmates’ mental health
May be used to incarcerate mentally ill or with comparatively minor infractions
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Supermax Prisons
Sensory deprivation over time may impair inmates’ mental health after a stay in a supermax.
Supermaxes may be used to incarcerate the mentally ill or offenders with comparatively minor infractions, which may become a self-fulfilling prophecy in exacerbating mental and behavioral problems. On the other hand, some researchers found that supermax incarcerations had a calming effect on inmates and gave them time to reflect on their actions and behaviors. Regardless, evidence is weak on both sides of the argument.
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Prison Organizations (10 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Maximums
Maximum-security prisons: have high external and internal security
Responsible for holding most serious offenders
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Maximums
Maximum-security prisons: These facilities have high external and internal security. Maximum-security prisons may have the same exterior security controls as supermaxes, but inside inmates are not locked down as much, though the treatment and work programming are much more constricted than in medium-security prisons.
Responsible for holding most serious offenders.
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Prison Organizations (11 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Maximums
Location for death rows in death penalty eligible states
Same exterior security controls as supermax prisons
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Maximums
Location for death rows in death penalty eligible states, usually found in wholly separate areas of the prison.
Same exterior security controls as supermax prisons: razor wire, walls, lights, cameras, armed guards, and attack dogs.
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Prison Organizations (12 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Maximums
Programming allowed
Inmates may or may not be double bunked
Have some access to yard, cafeteria, and chapel
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Maximums
Programming allowed, but more supervision than medium-security prisons.
Inmates may or may not be double bunked.
Have some access to yard, cafeteria, and chapel.
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Prison Organizations (13 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Maximums
Visiting and contact with outside world less restricted
Inmates usually not in some kind of restraint
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Maximums
Visiting and contact with outside world less restricted than supermax.
Inmates usually not in some kind of restraint when interacting with the outside world.
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Prison Organizations (14 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Mediums
Medium-security prisons: hold mix of people in terms of crime categories but who program well
Exterior security can be tight as supermax or max facility
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Mediums
Medium-security prisons: Hold a mix of people in terms of crime categories but who program well. They offer high external security, but inmates are able to move around more freely within the “walls.” Some are built like a college campus, with several buildings devoted to distinct purposes.
Exterior security can be tight as a supermax or max facility.
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Prison Organizations (15 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Mediums
Inmates have many more opportunities for programming
Work may be done in a variety of capacities
Greater diversity in housing
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Mediums
Internally, inmates have many more opportunities for education, treatment, and other programming.
Work may be done in a variety of capacities.
Greater diversity in housing.
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Prison Organizations (16 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Mediums
Contact with outside world is less restricted
Population diverse in crime categories
Engaged in work industries
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Mediums
Contact with outside world is less restricted; some inmates may even rarely be allowed to leave for work-related deliveries or furloughs.
Population is diverse in crime categories: from convicted murderers who participate well in programs to a burglar or drug user participating in programming or awaiting transfer to a lower-security facility.
Engaged in work industries like furniture-building, making clothing, and printing license plates.
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Prison Organizations (17 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Minimums
Minimum-security prisons: Created for lower-level offenders or people relatively close to release date
Much more relaxed exterior security
More programming and work options
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Minimums
Minimum-security prisons: Created for lower-level felony offenders and those who are “short timers,” or people who are relatively close to a release date. Inmates are not expected to pose escape or behavioral problems. Ability and willingness to work are often prerequisites for classification to this type of facility.
Much more relaxed exterior security: sometimes there aren’t even walls or fences.
More programming and work options, some out in the community.
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Prison Organizations (18 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Minimums
Diverse housing options, and inmates can roam much more freely
Visiting options more liberal
Work is promoted
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Minimums
Diverse housing options, and inmates can roam much more freely during prescribed times.
Visiting options more liberal to aid in transition to community.
Work is promoted, and work in the community is encouraged or expected (for work release facilities).
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Prison Organizations (19 of 19)
Prison Types and Levels: Minimums
Usually “short timers” or close to release date
Low security risk
Inmates can move “down” as they approach their release
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7.2: Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Prison Types and Levels
Minimums
Usually “short timers” or close to release date.
Low security risk.
Even if crimes are most serious offenses, inmates can move “down” the other classification levels as they approach their release—this can result in murderers, rapists, and traffickers all serving together.
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Prison Value? (1 of 2)
Prison is very expensive
Cost was not always considered by policy makers
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7.3: Discuss the cost/benefit analysis of the value of prison.
Prison Value?
Prison is very expensive; states and the federal government spend at least $20,000 per year for adult males and more than double that for women and children.
Cost was not always considered by policy makers with goals of punishment for even the most minor offenses.
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Prison Value? (2 of 2)
Measuring whether prison has desired effect not always obvious
Imprisonment may even prove criminogenic
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7.3: Discuss the cost/benefit analysis of the value of prison.
Prison Value?
Measuring whether prison has desired effect is not always obvious or easy.
Any positive value must be assessed based on what is a desirable outcome.
Imprisonment may even prove criminogenic in durations longer than a year by exposing the incarcerated to deviant attitudes and beliefs.
Limits future employment and social opportunities by stigmatizing an individual.
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Attributes of a Prison That Shape the Experience (1 of 6)
Total Institutions, Mortification, Importation, Prisonization
Total institution: place of residence and work where large number of like-situated individuals lead enclosed life
Defined social strata
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7.4: Explain what prisonization, mortification, importation, pains of imprisonment, and mature coping are and how they influence inmate behavior.
Attributes of a Prison That Shape the Experience
Total Institutions, Mortification, Importation, Prisonization
Total institution: “A place of residence and work where a large number of like-situated individuals, cut off from the wider society for an appreciable period of time, together lead an enclosed, formally administered round of life.”
Erving Goffman (1961) used this term to describe the nature of American mental hospitals and prisons in the 1950s.
Definition remains directly applicable to prisons, even today.
Defined social strata:
Formal prohibitions against even minor social interactions between staff and inmates.
All formal power resides with staff over the inmates.
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Attributes of a Prison That Shape the Experience (2 of 6)
Total Institutions, Mortification, Importation, Prisonization
Institution where inmates live with people who are like themselves
Staff restrict interactions to business only
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7.4: Explain what prisonization, mortification, importation, pains of imprisonment, and mature coping are and how they influence inmate behavior.
The institution is where inmates live-and often work-with people who are like themselves (often in social class as well as other background characteristics).
Formal rules closely control inmate behavior and movement regardless of security status..
Staff restrict interactions to business only and give only absolutely necessary information to inmates.
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Attributes of a Prison That Shape the Experience (3 of 6)
Total Institutions, Mortification, Importation, Prisonization
Mortification: occurs as inmates enter a prison and suffer from loss of roles they occupied
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7.4: Explain what prisonization, mortification, importation, pains of imprisonment, and mature coping are and how they influence inmate behavior.
Mortification: Process that occurs as inmates enter a prison and suffer from the loss of the many roles they occupied in the wider world.
Total institutions have debilitating effect on inmates.
Mortification may occur upon entrance.
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Attributes of a Prison That Shape the Experience (4 of 6)
Total Institutions, Mortification, Importation, Prisonization
Importation: inmates bring aspects of larger culture into the prison
Prisonization: adoption of the inmate subculture
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7.4: Explain what prisonization, mortification, importation, pains of imprisonment, and mature coping are and how they influence inmate behavior.
Importation: Occurs when inmates bring aspects of the larger culture into the prison.
Prisonization: Adoption of the inmate subculture by inmates.
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Attributes of a Prison That Shape the Experience (5 of 6)
Pains of Imprisonment
Pains of imprisonment: deprivation of liberty, goods and services, relationships, autonomy, and security
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7.4: Explain what prisonization, mortification, importation, pains of imprisonment, and mature coping are and how they influence inmate behavior.
Pains of imprisonment
Pains of imprisonment: Perils described by Gresham Sykes (1958) as the “deprivation of liberty, the deprivation of goods and services, the deprivation of heterosexual relationships, the deprivation of autonomy, and the deprivation of security”
Sykes authored The Society of Captives: A Study of a Maximum Security Prison based on his research in a New Jersey maximum-security prison.
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Attributes of a Prison That Shape the Experience (6 of 6)
Pains of Imprisonment
Examples of pains of imprisonment
Female inmates form pseudofamilies
Not all inmates experience pains in similar ways
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7.4: Explain what prisonization, mortification, importation, pains of imprisonment, and mature coping are and how they influence inmate behavior.
Pains of imprisonment
Some pains of imprisonment include:
Extreme lack of contact with family and friends.
Requirement to surrender all property upon entrance and keep very little property of their own.
Cannot choose service providers (who cuts their hair, their doctors, etc.) While needs are met, the perception of deprivation matters.
Access to significant others is minimal, with few or no conjugal visits permitted in the real world.
Loss of autonomy via scheduled meals, work, and recreation.
Dangerous environments due to fellow inmates.
Female inmates form pseudofamilies, which may be a way of alleviating pains of imprisonment.
Not all inmates experience or perceive said pains in similar ways.
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The Prison Subculture (1 of 7)
Prison subculture: norms, values, beliefs, traditions, and language distinctive to prisons
Institution nature provides perfect environment for subculture to form
Research focused on prison inmates
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7.5: Explain what prison gangs are and why they exist in prisons.
The Prison Subculture
Prison subculture: Norms, values, beliefs, traditions, and even language that are distinctive to prisons.
Total institution nature provides perfect environment for inmate subculture to form.
Shared experiences of deprivation can further solidify subculture.
Research focused on prison inmates, especially in medium or maximum prisons.
Less likely to develop in jails due to shorter stay.
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The Prison Subculture (2 of 7)
Roles for inmates develop in subculture
“Convict subculture”: inmates seek power and information to obtain goods and services they desire
Research confirms inmates not solidly aligned against staff
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7.5: Explain what prison gangs are and why they exist in prisons.
The Prison Subculture
Roles for inmates develop in the subculture:
Criminals should not betray each other to the police.
Should be reliable.
Wily but trustworthy.
Coolheaded.
Ultramasculine.
Prone to displays of toughness.
In solidarity against staff.
Sykes and Messinger (1960) described this as a “convict subculture” when inmates seek power and information to obtain goods and services they desire to alleviate pains of imprisonment.
Women engage in their own unique version of this subculture.
A significant portion of inmates are uninterested in convict subculture.
Recent research on relationships with staff confirms inmates are not as solidly aligned against staff as in the past.
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The Prison Subculture (3 of 7)
Diversification of staff has changed dynamic between staff and inmates
Crewe, Warr, Bennett, and Smith (2014) researched a male prison in the United Kingdom
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7.5: Explain what prison gangs are and why they exist in prisons.
The Prison Subculture .
Diversification of staff has changed old dynamic between staff and inmates.
Staff less dissimilar to inmates and inmate world less masculinized.
Crewe, Warr, Bennett, and Smith (2014) researched a male prison in the United Kingdom:
Theorized that emotionally restrained “tough-guy” depictions of inmates in prisons do not fully describe emotional geography of such places.
Emotions more permissible in certain subcultural zones, such as visiting rooms, classrooms, and chapels.
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The Prison Subculture (4 of 7)
Gangs and the Prison Subculture
Gangs: groups of people with similar interests who support one another and also engage in criminal activities
Hierarchical organizational structure and set
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7.5: Explain what prison gangs are and why they exist in prisons.
Gangs and the Prison Subculture
Gangs: Groups of people with similar interests who socialize together and support one another but who also engage in deviant or criminal activities. Gangs have a hierarchical organizational structure and a set and often strict code of conduct for members.
Hierarchical organizational structure and set, often strict code of conduct.
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The Prison Subculture (5 of 7)
Gangs and the Prison Subculture
Ubiquitous in corrections for many reasons
Long history in prisons
Importation and exportation of gang related criminal activity in the 1920s
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7.5: Explain what prison gangs are and why they exist in prisons.
Gangs and the Prison Subculture
Ubiquitous in corrections for many reasons:
Meet needs of inmates for security, goods and services, power, and companionship.
Lessen pains of imprisonment by providing protection.
Conduits for the supply of illicit goods such as substances and sex.
Provide substitution for diminished family/friend relationships.
Long history in prisons described by Sykes in 1958.
The first investigation of New Jersey State Prison in 1830 found a “Stauch-Gang” terrorizing both inmates and staff.
Ward and Kassebaum (2009) highlighted the importation and exportation of gang related criminal activity in the 1920s.
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The Prison Subculture (6 of 7)
Gangs and the Prison Subculture
Jacobs (1977) observed gangs in Stateville Prison (IL) in the late 1960s and early 1970s
Prison gangs today
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7.5: Explain what prison gangs are and why they exist in prisons.
Gangs and the Prison Subculture
Jacobs (1977) observed Stateville Prison (IL) in the late 1960s and early 1970s and thought their ferocity and strength increased in that period.
Prison gangs today (Florida Department of Corrections, 2014):
Too numerous to keep track of.
Common criminal focus.
Most recruit based on ethnicity or race.
Much stronger in male prisons.
Will conspire with others to provide protection and increase criminal reach.
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The Prison Subculture (7 of 7)
Gangs and the Prison Subculture
FDOC website identifies six major prison gangs
Prison administrators try to control and suppress involvement
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7.5: Explain what prison gangs are and why they exist in prisons.
Gangs and the Prison Subculture
FDOC website identifies six major prison gangs:
Neta (Puerto Rican American/Hispanic).
Aryan Brotherhood (White).
Black Guerilla Family (Black)
Mexican Mafia (Mexican American/Hispanic)
La Nuestra Familia (Mexican American/Hispanic)
Texas Syndicate (Mexican American/Hispanic)
Prison administrators try to control and suppress involvement by:
Identification of members.
Separation of members and leaders.
Monitoring gang activity.
Punishing deviance or neutralize gang members.
Reduce activities and impact.
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Violence (1 of 8)
Why prisons are violent
56% of prisoners in 2017 incarcerated for violent offenses
Adult male inmates exposed to violence often had adjustment problems
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7.6: Identify the reasons why violence, riots, and sexual assaults occur in prisons and be familiar with some strategies for their reduction.
Violence
Why Prisons are Violent
Violence is endemic to prisons because incarcerated people are:
There unwillingly.
Forced to do things they normally would not.
Required to interact with people they may not like.
Sometimes inclined to be violent.
Carson (2014) found more than half (56%) of prisoners in 2017 were incarcerated for violent offenses.
Meade and Steiner (2013) found adult male inmates exposed to violence or physically victimized prior to incarceration often had adjustment problems.
Abuse as a child also associated with prison maladjustment.
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Violence (2 of 8)
The Amount of Violence
Difficult to determine exact amount of prison violence
Numbers of staff and inmate assaults
Suicide and homicide rates decreased from 1980 to 2003, but on the rise again
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7.6: Identify the reasons why violence, riots, and sexual assaults occur in prisons and be familiar with some strategies for their reduction.
The Amount of Violence
Difficult to determine exact amount of prison violence.
Institutions tend to under report incidences.
Variation as to what constitutes violence.
Inmates reluctant to report violence to staff.
Stephan and Karberg (2003) researched numbers of staff and inmate assaults:
Found an overall increase from 1995 to 2000.
Increase was greatest in private institutions.
Assaults on staff (in assaults per staff person) decreased slightly.
Suicide and homicide rates had decreased from 1980 to 2003, but are on the rise in recent years.
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Violence (3 of 8)
Sexual Assaults
Amount becoming increasingly clear
Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) of 2003 requires BJS collect yearly data
PREA findings from 2012 to 2015
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7.6: Identify the reasons why violence, riots, and sexual assaults occur in prisons and be familiar with some strategies for their reduction.
Sexual Assaults
Amount is becoming increasingly clear.
Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 requires BJS collect yearly data on amount of prison rape that occurs, including a 10% sample overall in 2018.
PREA findings from 2012 to 2015:
Correctional administrators reported 24,661 allegations of sexual victimization in 2015—nearly triple the number recorded in 2011 (8,768).
The increase in allegations of sexual victimization from 2011 to 2015 coincided with the release in 2012 of the National Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Prison Rape.
In 2015, an estimated 1,473 allegations were substantiated (determined to have occurred), up 63% from the 902 substantiated in 2011.
Fifty-eight percent of substantiated incidents of sexual victimization in 2015 were perpetrated by inmates, while 42% were perpetrated by staff members.
The number of allegations in prisons increased from 6,660 in 2011 to 18,666 in 2015 (up 180%).
During the 3-year aggregated period of 2013 to 2015, there were an estimated 15,875 allegations of inmate-on-inmate sexual harassment, of which 2,426 (16%) were substantiated on the basis of completed investigations.
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Violence (4 of 8)
Myths about the prevalence of prison rape may contain a grain of truth
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7.6: Identify the reasons why violence, riots, and sexual assaults occur in prisons and be familiar with some strategies for their reduction.
Myths about the prevalence of prison rape may contain a grain of truth; prison rapes may be underreported or in the past it may have been much more common.
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Violence (5 of 8)
Rioting
Group violence that presents direct threat to security of institution and inmates
Existed as long as there have been prisons
Two main types of violence: instrumental and expressive
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7.6: Identify the reasons why violence, riots, and sexual assaults occur in prisons and be familiar with some strategies for their reduction.
Rioting
Group violence that presents a direct threat to security of institution and inmates.
Often met with reciprocal force by staff and administration.
Existed as long as there have been prisons, and before:
Newgate “prison” in Connecticut was site of repeated riots.
Two main types of violence:
Instrumental: when violence is used to achieve some end.
Expressive: when violence is just an angry outburst.
Inmate rioting could be either or both.
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Violence (6 of 8)
Rioting
Two most notorious instances of prison riots: Attica Prison and New Mexico State Penitentiary riots
More recent group disturbances
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7.6: Identify the reasons why violence, riots, and sexual assaults occur in prisons and be familiar with some strategies for their reduction.
Rioting
Two most notorious instances of prison riots to date:
Attica Prison riot: The bloodiest prison riot in American history began with a spontaneous act of violence by one inmate against an officer who had tried to break up a fight. Violence quickly spread because inmates were frustrated and angry about the overcrowded conditions, lack of programming, and other conditions of confinement. Charges of racism were made by the mostly African American inmates regarding their treatment by the mostly White staff. Negotiations broke down, resulting in the prison’s being stormed by the state police and by correctional staff. Ten hostages and 29 inmates were dead or dying when the prison was secured. Another 80 inmates had gunshot wounds.
New Mexico State Penitentiary riot: A riot took place over the conditions of confinement and crowding, which were at very high levels. Repeated warnings were given that a riot would occur, but administration and staff failed to adequately prepare, resulting in the state’s eventually retaking the prison. Thirty-three inmates were killed by other inmates over 3 days. Numerous inmates, along with staff hostages, were beaten or raped. Millions of dollars in damage was done (Useem, 1985; Useem & Kimball, 1989).
More recent group disturbances:
2013 hunger strikes by 30,000 California inmates for “repressive conditions.”
In 2015, inmates in Texas shut down a facility over their treatment.
In April 2020, more than 200 inmates rioted at the maximum-security Monroe prison in Washington State. They had learned that five staff and six prisoners had tested positive for COVID-19, and felt they were not being adequately protected. It was quelled with pepper spray and sting ball grenades, but the state Supreme Court did order immediate release of nonviolent and vulnerable inmates.
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Violence (7 of 8)
Strategies to Reduce Violence
Evidence degree of prison violence differs from institution to institution
Strategies to reduce violence
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7.6: Identify the reasons why violence, riots, and sexual assaults occur in prisons and be familiar with some strategies for their reduction.
Strategies to Reduce Violence
Evidence that degree of prison violence differs markedly from institution to institution and group to group, rather than prisons and jails being naturally violent institutions.
Strategies to reduce violence:
Professional subculture.
Personnel.
Supervisors and supervision.
Classification.
Facilities without overcrowding.
Activities.
Formal grievance procedures.
Ombudsman.
Open architecture.
Official reporting.
Involvement of policy makers and public.
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Violence (8 of 8)
Strategies to Reduce Violence: Mature Coping
Mature coping: When inmate acts responsive/responsible and embraces autonomy and relatedness
Strategies to Reduce Violence: Social Support
Instrumental support is material
Expressive support is emotional
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7.6: Identify the reasons why violence, riots, and sexual assaults occur in prisons and be familiar with some strategies for their reduction.
Strategies to Reduce Violence
Mature Coping
Some inmates develop alternative means of adjusting despite issues such as mortification and prisonization.
Others are not capable of interacting without violence.
Mature coping: Occurs in prisons when the inmate deals “with life’s problems like a responsive and responsible human being, one who seeks autonomy without violating the rights of others, security without resort to deception or violence, and relatedness to others as the finest and fullest expression of human identity” (Johnson, 2002, p. 83).
Relatively rare among inmate population.
If inmates are to cope, they must be in a decent prison.
Inmates should be able to find a niche.
Prisons should afford opportunities and provide redress for issues that inmates experience and face.
Social Support
Necessary element to successful existence in this world.
Humans are social animals that need assistance, and inmates may need it more than others with limited financial and educational prospects.
Lin (1986) defined social support as “the perceived or actual instrumental and/or expressive provisions supplied by the community, social networks, and confiding partners.”
Instrumental support is material and includes goods or money.
Expressive support is emotional and often supplied by family and friends.
Research is more suggestive than solid.
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The Elderly and the Physically and Mentally Ill (1 of 4)
Numbers increasing at exponential rate
Four collateral consequences to aging in America and laws that lengthen sentences
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7.7: State why care for aging and physically and mentally ill inmates in prisons has become such an issue.
The Elderly and the Physically and Mentally Ill
Numbers increasing at exponential rate.
Four main collateral consequences to aging in America and laws that lengthen sentences:
Cost of incarceration is greater in the elderly.
Elderly people contribute less economic value to the system with decreased workloads.
Elderly inmates may require dedicated housing.
Elderly inmates have less external social support, especially if they’ve spent much or all of their adult lives in prison.
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The Elderly and the Physically and Mentally Ill (2 of 4)
Physically ill inmate numbers in prison have grown
Bureau of Justice Statistics: number of elderly inmates has risen by 400%
Arthritis and hypertension most common
Care depends on jurisdiction
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7.7: State why care for aging and physically and mentally ill inmates in prisons has become such an issue.
Physically ill inmate numbers in prison have grown in tandem with number of elderly inmates.
Bureau of Justice Statistics (Maruschak, 2008) show that the number of elderly (above 55) inmates has risen by 400% between 1993 and 2013, for a total of 10% of the prison population.
Two most prevalent medical problems were arthritis and hypertension.
Extent of care depends on jurisdiction, but is often minimal with little preventive care.
Larger vs. smaller institutions: large prison systems may have entire buildings or institutions for inmates with medical maladies.
However, it is hard to recruit medical personnel.
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The Elderly and the Physically and Mentally Ill (3 of 4)
Mentally ill inmate number has grown in prisons
Deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill: result of civil rights movement and related effort to increase the rights of people involuntarily committed
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7.7: State why care for aging and physically and mentally ill inmates in prisons has become such an issue.
Mentally ill inmate number has grown in prisons, exacerbated by the closure of mental hospitals in the 1970s.
Deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill: Happened in the United States as a result of the civil rights movement and the related effort to increase the rights of people involuntarily committed to mental hospitals. It was also helped along by the development of pharmaceuticals that purportedly addressed the symptoms of some illnesses and by decreased federal funding for state hospitals devoted to the mentally ill.
Prior to this movement, civil commitments were numerous and had no recourse.
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The Elderly and the Physically and Mentally Ill (4 of 4)
Community Mental Health Act in 1963: ended much of the support for mental health hospitals
Unintended consequences
Most institutions ill-equipped
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7.7: State why care for aging and physically and mentally ill inmates in prisons has become such an issue.
Mentally ill inmate number has grown in prisons, exacerbated by the closure of mental hospitals in the 1970s.
Passing of Community Mental Health Act in 1963 ended much of the federal support for mental health hospitals.
Unintended consequences:
Such hospitals closed down.
Fewer public services.
Jails and prisons became dumping grounds.
Most institutions are ill-equipped to handle mentally ill inmates.
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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Inmates (1 of 3)
Estimates suggest 3–5% of free community identify as LGB and <1% identify as transgender or intersex
Gender identity: gender one identifies with
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7.8: Recognize the need to respect the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) inmates.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Inmates
True numbers are not known, but estimates suggest 3–5% of the free community identify as LGB and 1% or less identify as transgender or intersex.
Gender identity: The gender one identifies with rather than the sex of one’s genitalia when born.
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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Inmates (2 of 3)
Transgender and intersex inmates more likely to be sexually assaulted
Protecting sexual orientation of inmates presents challenge for administrators
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7.8: Recognize the need to respect the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) inmates.
Transgender and intersex inmates more likely to be sexually assaulted.
Protecting sexual orientation of inmates presents challenge for administrators, especially in male prisons.
Especially vulnerable inmates may have been assigned male gender at birth but present as a female in a men’s prison.
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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Inmates (3 of 3)
Women’s prisons appear to be more acceptant
States balk at concept of paying for gender confirmation surgery
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7.8: Recognize the need to respect the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) inmates.
Women’s prisons appear to be more acceptant of both lesbian and transgender inmates.
States balk at the concept of paying for gender confirmation surgery, and hope is currently limited to just two states, California and Idaho, which have had state Supreme Court rulings in favor of gender-affirming treatment.
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Immigration Prisons (1 of 2)
Recent exponential growth in incarcerated immigrant populations
Overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Detainees are civilly committed
Do not receive due process protections as they are civilly committed
Can be held for years with no recourse
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7.9: Identify the challenges faced in prisons housing those seeking asylum.
Previously, prisons for immigrants were used for nonviolent drug offenders or those that crossed the border after a deportation.
Recently, there has been an exponential growth in immigrant population within these prisons.
Immigration prisons and jails are overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The Trump administration has used them to detain migrant individuals and families closer to the southern border so they are easier to process.
Private providers, however, have opened facilities all over the country, from Washington state to Michigan.
As detainees in immigration prisons are civilly committed, they do not receive typical due process protections.
Can and have been held for years, with no legal recourse or protestation.
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Immigration Prisons (2 of 2)
Privatized, lucrative, and abusive
Increasing populations of asylum seekers fleeing violence
May ethically compromise government officials
John Kelly, former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
May benefit in private sector for decisions made in DHS
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7.9: Identify the challenges faced in prisons housing those seeking asylum.
As of 2017, the United States detained 440,000 in 200 immigrant prisons.
Highly privatized, lucrative, and abusive industry.
Substandard medical care.
Widespread physical and sexual abuse.
Virtual slave-labor working conditions.
Little to no oversight.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has noted that increasing numbers of asylum seekers fleeing violence are held in immigrant prisons, which are costly to taxpayers and unquestionably substandard.
Detention for many of these individuals is functionally unnecessary.
Privately held immigrant prisons may be ethically compromising government officials.
In January 2019, White House chief of staff John Kelly stepped down from his post.
Four months later, he was appointed to the board of a conglomerate (Caliburn International) which operates the U.S. largest prison for immigrant children.
While Kelly served as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, he announced that the United States was considering the separation of immigrant families. Operating within the private sector, he is likely to benefit from his own earlier decision.
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