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PPOINT5.pptxChapter 5: Jails and Detention Centers
Introduction: The Community Institution (1 of 5)
Jails: community institutions that hold people who presumed innocent before trial, convicted people before sentencing, and convicted minor offenders
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5.1: Identify the origins of jails and types of jails in operation.
Introduction: The Community Institution
Jails: Local community institutions that hold people who are presumed innocent before trial, convicted people before they are sentenced, convicted minor offenders who are sentenced for terms that are usually less than a year, juveniles (usually in their own detention centers, separated from adults in adult jails, or before transport to juvenile facilities), women (usually separated from men and sometimes in their own jails), and people for the state or federal authorities; they serve to incapacitate, deter, rehabilitate, punish, and reintegrate (depending on the particular jail population being served and the capacity of the given facility).
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Introduction: The Community Institution (2 of 5)
Mission of jails increasingly diverse
Originally primary means of holding accused for trial, execution, or in lieu of a fine
In modern times, local and community institutions
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5.1: Identify the origins of jails and types of jails in operation.
The mission of jails has become increasingly diverse.
Originally the primary means of holding the accused for trial, for execution, or in lieu of a fine.
In modern times, they are local and community institutions that hold:
People who are presumed innocent before trial.
Convicted offenders before sentencing.
Minor offenders sentenced to terms one year or less.
Juveniles (typically in dedicated detention centers but always separately from adults.)
Women (usually separately and sometimes in their own jails.)
Individuals jailed by the state or federal authorities (there exist exclusively federal jails as well).
Meet correctional goals: incapacitate, deter, rehabilitate, punish, and reintegrate.
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Introduction: The Community Institution (3 of 5)
Jails often receive limited support and professional regard
Most jails operated by county sheriffs
Serves all purposes above, and as repository nominally criminal people
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5.1: Identify the origins of jails and types of jails in operation.
Jails often receive limited support, funding, and professional regard.
Most jails operated by county sheriffs, who focus more on law enforcement than corrections.
Leads to neglected jail facilities:
Dilapidated structures.
Jail staff with less training and pay than most correctional staff and the deputy sheriffs in the same organization (sheriff’s office).
Ultimately serves all the purposes above, as well as acting as a repository for people who are only nominally criminal (homeless, mentally ill).
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Introduction: The Community Institution (4 of 5)
Jail Types
Who runs jails
Locations of jails
Current numbers
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5.1: Identify the origins of jails and types of jails in operation.
Jail Types
Who runs a jail:
Typically, the sheriff of a county.
Cities.
States.
The federal government.
Sometimes, multiple jurisdictions combine resources to form a regional jail.
Some counties hire jail administrators to take responsibilities instead of sheriff.
Locations of jails:
American Indian tribes may have their own jails.
Police departments often have short-term lockup facilities on premises.
Usually, jails are located somewhat close to a city or town center.
Current numbers:
2,850 jails in the United States.
79 jails operated by American Indian tribes.
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Introduction: The Community Institution (5 of 5)
Jail Types
State or federal governments ask county jails to fill in when they have no facility
Facilities
Technological changes in supervision
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5.1: Identify the origins of jails and types of jails in operation.
Jail Types
State or federal governments will ask county jails to fill in when they have no facility of their own in a given locale.
Most counties are happy to accept as they are paid a fee that often exceeds the cost of holding inmates.
Facilities:
Typically just one or two neighboring buildings.
Larger jurisdictions may have more than one jail.
Smaller states may combine systems.
Technological changes in supervision and control:
Use of cameras.
Voice-operated and visual-check-operated doors by a control center.
Electronic fingerprint machines.
Video arraignments.
Video visiting to allow inmates to more easily maintain contact with the outside.
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Jail Inmates and Their Processing (1 of 2)
Jails operate 24/7
Clientele range widely
Most inmates are in and out within a few days to a week
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5.2: Explain how jails process individuals.
Jail Inmates and Their Processing
Jails operate 24/7.
Clientele range widely:
Serious convicted offenders awaiting transport.
State or federal prisoners.
Accused misdemeanants who cannot make bail.
66% have not yet been convicted.
Most inmates are in and out within a few days to a week (sometimes within hours!)
Those held for more than a year are likely sentenced state or federal inmates.
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Jail Inmates and Their Processing (2 of 2)
Procedure by tradition, law, and practice
Delivery of arrestee
Booking
Classification
Placement in more permanent housing
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5.2: Explain how jails process individuals.
Procedure prescribed by tradition, law, and practice:
Delivery of arrestee.
Many are distressed, disturbed, or intoxicated.
If arrestee is injured, in need of a blood test, or obviously ill (especially since the advent of COVID-19), booking staff may require law enforcement to take the arrestee to the hospital before admission.
Booking.
Officer, with arrestee still accompanying, will fill out admittance paperwork.
Jail will then accept and search (typically a strip-search) the arrestee, after which they begin their own paperwork.
Arrestee may be allowed to contact family/friends or a bail bondsman.
Arrestee may be released on recognizance (ROR) if the offense is minor. Otherwise, the arrestee needs to await a judge’s arraignment to determine bail and will likely be booked into the jail.
Belligerent or intoxicated new inmates may be temporarily placed in a holding cell, which may have padded walls or a restraint chair depending on their needs.
Classification.
On basis of alleged offense, alleged criminal coconspirators, criminal history, gang involvements, health, treatment, and other needs.
Placement in more permanent housing.
To reduce effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, some jails have received judicial approval to increase their ROR orders, relax bail requirements, or quarantine new inmates for 14 days.
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Trends in Jail Populations (1 of 5)
Overcrowding
Overcrowding: when the number of inmates exceeds physical capacity
Misleading aspects of capacity percentages
Effects of overcrowding
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5.3: Assess how jails affect and are affected by overcrowding, race, gender, age, and special needs of their inmates.
Trends in Jail Populations
Overcrowding
Overcrowding: A phenomenon that occurs when the number of inmates exceeds the physical capacity (the beds and space) available.
In past decades, beds were frequently filled as soon as they were built.
In the years since 2008, there has been an unprecedented decrease in the number of jail inmates.
As of 2018, jails were on average operating at 81% of capacity (compared to 96% in 2006 and 2007 and over 100% during the 1980s–1990s.)
The misleading aspects of capacity percentages:
Certain sections of jails reserved for specific types of inmates.
Separated by gender, age, health status (including those quarantined for COVID-19), or gang membership.
Can cause overcrowding even if overall capacity is below 100%.
Effects of overcrowding:
Less programming.
Overtaxed health and maintenance systems.
Stressed staff.
Inmates feel their health, security, and privacy are threatened.
Loss of ability to classify and control inmates.
Release of dangerous offenders into communities to avoid overcrowding.
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Trends in Jail Populations (2 of 5)
Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Juveniles
Most inmates are adult minority men
Women: small percentage, but have increased by 15.4% from 2008 to 2018 as men decreased by 9.1%
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5.3: Assess how jails affect and are affected by overcrowding, race, gender, age, and special needs of their inmates.
Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Juveniles
Most inmates are adult minority men.
Numerically, White people are the largest racial grouping.
Number of White people as a proportion of total men has increased markedly since 2010.
However, Black people are incarcerated at a rate of 3.2 times greater than that of whites.
Latinx inmates now have a lower incarceration rate than White inmates.
Women are a small percentage, but have increased by 15.4% from 2008 to 2018 as men decreased by 9.1%.
May be due to prosecution in drug wars.
Focus on low-level sellers has resulted in more minorities and women being arrested.
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Trends in Jail Populations (3 of 5)
Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Juveniles
Reasons for shift unclear
Bureau of Justice Statistics: statistics on race and incarceration
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5.3: Assess how jails affect and are affected by overcrowding, race, gender, age, and special needs of their inmates.
Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Juveniles
Reasons for shifting demographics are unclear:
Could be a random variation rather than a trend.
Longer-term change in use of jails due to the recession of 2007–2010.
Rethinking in prosecution of drug war.
Another unknown variable.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Blacks were almost three times more likely than Hispanics and five times more likely than whites to be in jail” in 2006.
In part due to targeting impoverished neighborhoods and enhanced sentences for crack cocaine rather than powder cocaine.
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Trends in Jail Populations (4 of 5)
The Poor and the Mentally Ill
John Irwin (1985): referred to those in jails as “rabble”
Mental illness, homelessness, substance abuse, and poverty
Mental illness and victimization
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5.3: Assess how jails affect and are affected by overcrowding, race, gender, age, and special needs of their inmates.
The Poor and the Mentally Ill
John Irwin (1985) once referred to those managed in jails as “rabble,” by which he meant “disorganized and disorderly, the lowest class of people.”
“Detached” and of “disrepute” in that their offense to others is committing mostly minor crimes in public.
Mental Illness, Homelessness, Substance Abuse, and Poverty
Greater risk for negative police contact as private matters are likely to be open to public view, which disturbs or offends some community members.
Those with mental illness are more likely to be homeless as they are less able to manage the daily challenges of employment, housing, and securing food.
26% of jail inmates in 2011 and 2012 reported “experiences that met the threshold for serious psychological distress (SPD) in the 30 days prior to a survey.”
44% of jail inmates “had been told in the past by a mental health professional that they had a mental disorder.”
Compares to about 10.6% of the U.S. population with symptoms of mental illness.
Common diagnoses are major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, personality disorders, and schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders.
Jail inmates more likely than state or federal prisoners to exhibit symptoms.
Mental illness associated with homelessness, greater criminal engagement, prior abuse, and substance use.
Mental illness and Victimization
Mentally ill individuals more likely to be sexually victimized during incarceration.
Risks are heightened if inmates are not heterosexual.
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Trends in Jail Populations (5 of 5)
The Poor and the Mentally Ill
Mental illness and solitary confinement
Calls for reform in the care of the mentally ill
Jails and immigrants
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5.3: Assess how jails affect and are affected by overcrowding, race, gender, age, and special needs of their inmates.
The Poor and the Mentally Ill
Mental Illness and Solitary Confinement
Mental illness makes inmates more likely to receive solitary confinement.
May be targeted by other violent inmates.
Pearson (2015) study of Rikers Island 10-jail complex found disproportionate inmates have mental health diagnoses.
Healthcare workers reticent to approve solitary confinement, yet their behavior problems and need for protection often result in a placement in solitary anyway.
In a culture of violence, the target is often mentally ill inmates.
Calls for Reform in the Care of the Mentally Ill
Cohen (2013) documented in the Atlantic that abuse of the mentally ill is widespread and exists in both jails and prisons, which he cited as a failure to provide constitutionally-appropriate levels of care.
Council of State Governments Justice Center (2015) declared a crisis and launched a national initiative to help counties address issue of problematic treatment of mentally ill in jails.
Jails and Immigrants
Renewed interest under the Trump administration in preventing undocumented immigrants from entering and remaining in the country.
Research suggests that some undocumented teens (even some with green cards) are being held without charges in secret in juvenile facilities in the Northwest and other facilities nationwide.
Former detainees in these juvenile facilities report self-harm and extreme punishments including restraints and invasive monitoring.
Detainees that reach 18 are transferred for deportation.
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Medical Problems (1 of 10)
Problematic social issue: relatively poor health of the incarcerated
Maruschak (2006 & 2015): most maladies preceded incarceration
2% have mobility impairments requiring an assistive device
75% are overweight
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5.4: Describe the various approaches jails take to address medical problems of inmates.
Medical Problems
A problematic social issue is the relatively poor health of the incarcerated.
Maruschak (2006 & 2015) found most of these maladies preceded incarceration. In order of prevalence, these included:
Arthritis.
Hypertension.
Asthma.
Heart problems.
Cancer.
Paralysis.
Stroke.
Diabetes.
Kidney problems.
Liver problems.
Hepatitis.
Sexually transmitted diseases.
Tuberculosis.
HIV infection.
2% have mobility impairments requiring an assistive device (like a cane or wheelchair).
75% are overweight.
More than 60% are morbidly obese.
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Medical Problems (2 of 10)
Elderly Inmates
More prone to some medical maladies than younger inmates
Due to premature aging, this is anyone over 50 years
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5.4: Describe the various approaches jails take to address medical problems of inmates.
Elderly Inmates
Much more prone to some medical maladies than younger inmates.
Due to premature aging in inmates, this is anyone over 50 years of age.
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Medical Problems (3 of 10)
Elderly Inmates
61% of inmates over 45 reported a medical problem
Older inmates more likely to have any of the above maladies
Older inmates more costly to manage
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5.4: Describe the various approaches jails take to address medical problems of inmates.
Elderly Inmates
Sixty-one percent of inmates over 45 reported a medical problem.
Older inmates more likely to have any of the above maladies (excepting asthma and HIV infection, which are more prevalent in younger inmates.)
Older inmates are more costly to manage due to their need for medical care.
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Medical Problems (4 of 10)
Female Inmates
More likely to report medical problems
Reported more prevalence of most medical problems documented in study
Roughly equal mortality rate to men in jail
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5.4: Describe the various approaches jails take to address medical problems of inmates.
Female Inmates
Women much more likely to report medical problems than men.
Women reported more prevalence of every medical problem documented in study with exception of paralysis and tuberculosis.
Women have a roughly equal mortality rate to men in jail, but they are more likely to die from illnesses in jails than men are.
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Medical Problems (5 of 10)
Juvenile Inmates
Have own set of problems which can present health risk to community
5% of teens contracted gonorrhea and 15% chlamydia in a juvenile detention center in Chicago
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5.4: Describe the various approaches jails take to address medical problems of inmates.
Juvenile Inmates
Have own set of problems which can present an immediate health risk to community.
Broussard et al. (2002) found that 5% of teens had contracted gonorrhea and 15% had chlamydia in a juvenile detention center in Chicago.
Girls were three times more likely than boys to have one of these diseases.
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Medical Problems (6 of 10)
Rights to Medical Care
Estelle v. Gamble (1976)
Affordable Care Act of 2010: jails provide medical and mental-health care
Medical care important for a number of reasons
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5.4: Describe the various approaches jails take to address medical problems of inmates.
Rights to Medical Care
Estelle v. Gamble (1976):
Inmates have constitutional right to medical care.
To be deliberately indifferent to the medical needs of inmates would violate the 8th Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
Affordable Care Act of 2010 requires jails to provide medical and mental-health care within their facilities.
Jails need budgetary coverage for medical issues of inmates including enough to staff nurses, doctors, mental health providers, and dentists.
Staff need training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and other medical knowledge such as stroke and heart attack symptoms.
Some jails are contracting with private medical services or using telemedicine to meet these standards.
Medical care is important for a number of reasons:
Lawsuits may be filed for inadequate care.
Moral thing to do for those who don’t have the freedom to access healthcare on their own.
Offenders return to community, often within a week or two, so medical care in jails can preserve public health outside of jails.
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Medical Problems (7 of 10)
Jails and the Novel Coronavirus
COVID-19 spread challenged jails and prisons
Number of inmates and staff contracted the virus
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines
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5.4: Describe the various approaches jails take to address medical problems of inmates.
Jails and the Novel Coronavirus
COVID-19 spread across the United States in late 2022 and early 2020, which challenged jails and prisons to secure the safety of both staff and inmates.
Jail and prison environments often require close personal contact.
A number of inmates and staff contracted the virus.
Several jail facilities worked with judges to authorize the release of inmates accused or convicted of minor offenses.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided these guidelines:
As much social distancing as feasible.
Provision of greater sanitation, masks, and gloves for staff (and sometimes inmates).
Testing of staff and inmates.
Doubtful all these guidelines can be met given the difficulties of obtaining testing or personal protective equipment in the general public.
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Medical Problems (8 of 10)
Substance Abuse and Jails
Social commentary prisoners frequently have substance abuse issues actually fits reality
68% of inmates reported substance abuse or dependence problems in 2002
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5.4: Describe the various approaches jails take to address medical problems of inmates.
Substance Abuse and Jails
Social commentary that prisoners frequently have substance abuse issues actually fits reality.
68% of inmates reported substance abuse or dependence problems in 2002, according to a Bureau of Justice Statistics study of inmates.
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Medical Problems (9 of 10)
Substance Abuse and Jails
Half of convicted inmates report being under the influence at time of offense
Many have “co-occurring disorders”
2002 Bureau of Justice Statistics study of inmates
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5.4: Describe the various approaches jails take to address medical problems of inmates.
Substance Abuse and Jails
Karberg and James (2005) noted that half of convicted inmates report being under the influence at time of commission of their offense.
Alcohol more likely to be in system than drugs.
16% committed the crime they were convicted of to obtain money for drugs.
Drugs of choice: marijuana, cocaine or crack, hallucinogens, stimulants including methamphetamines, and inhalants.
White, Goldkamp, and Campbell (2006) found many of those arrested have “co-occurring disorders.”
2002 Bureau of Justice Statistics study of inmates
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Medical Problems (10 of 10)
Substance Abuse and Jails
Violent offenders more likely to use alcohol at time of offense
63% of those with substance abuse problems had been in treatment programs
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5.4: Describe the various approaches jails take to address medical problems of inmates.
Substance Abuse and Jails
Violent offenders more likely to use alcohol at time of offense but less likely to be under the influence of drugs.
Karberg and James (2005) found 63% of those with substance abuse problems had been in treatment programs before.
44% of these people had actually been in residential treatment programs or detoxification programs, had received professional counseling, or had been put on maintenance drugs.
Treatment in jails was just 6% as of 2002, which may in part be due to the short stays and unconvicted status of inmates.
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Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails (1 of 12)
Suicides
Most enter intoxicated
Most incarcerated for first time
Can represent low time in life
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5.5: Discuss how jails manage sexual violence, gangs, and suicides.
Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails
Suicides
Most enter intoxicated.
Most are incarcerated for first time.
Can represent a low time in life.
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Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails (2 of 12)
Suicides
Combination of conditions predispose inmates
National Center on Institutions and Alternatives (1986)
Second study twenty years later (2006)
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5.5: Discuss how jails manage sexual violence, gangs, and suicides.
Suicides
Combination of conditions can predispose inmates to contemplate or attempt suicide.
National Center on Institutions and Alternatives (1986) studied of suicides in jails.
Second study twenty years later (2006). Based on 464 suicides in 2005 and 2006 compared with mortality data from the BJS:
Suicide was the leading cause of death of adult in jails from 2006 to 2016. It accounted for 31% of deaths, or the same amount as in 2000 (BJS).
Sixty-seven percent were White (NCIA). Rates for Whites were more than 5.25 times higher than for Blacks and 3.5 times higher than for Latinx (BJS).
Ninety-three percent were male (NCIA). Rates for men were 1.6 times than for women (BJS).
The average age was 35 (NCIA). Rates tended to be spread across the age span (BJS).
Forty-two percent were single (NCIA).
Forty-three percent were held on personal or violent charges (NCIA). Rates for violent charges and offenses were 2.5 to 5 times higher than property, drug, or public order and other offenses (BJS).
Forty-seven percent had histories of substance abuse (NCIA).
Twenty-eight percent had histories of medical problems (NCIA).
Thirty-eight percent had histories of mental illness (NCIA).
Twenty percent had histories of taking psychotropic medications (NCIA).
Thirty-four percent had histories of suicidal behavior (NCIA).
Deaths were evenly distributed throughout the year; certain seasons or holidays did not account for more suicides (NCIA).
Thirty-two percent occurred between 3:01 p.m. and 9 p.m. (NCIA).
Twenty-three percent occurred within the first 24 hours, 27% between 2 and 14 days, and 20% between 1 and 4 months after incarceration (Hayes, 2010, p. xi; NCIA).
Convicted offenders had a rate of suicide that was 7.33 times that of the unconvicted (BJS).
Forty-seven percent of the suicides took place in general housing units (BJS).
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Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails (3 of 12)
Suicides
Generally, suicide-prone inmate is White male in jail on violent offense charge
Winter (2003): suicide data from jails in one Midwestern state
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5.5: Discuss how jails manage sexual violence, gangs, and suicides.
Suicides
Generally, a suicide-prone inmate is a White male of indeterminate age in jail on a violent offense charge. He would have a history of substance abuse and be at the beginning of his incarceration.
Winter (2003) performed a study of ten years of suicide data from jails in one Midwestern state and found:
Strong confirmation or the above findings.
Those committing suicide tended to be younger, with no histories of mental or physical illness, and more likely to be intoxicated with alcohol when admitted.
They did not necessarily “exhibit suicidal tendencies.”
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Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails (4 of 12)
Suicides
Rates of suicide attempts and completions generally higher in smaller jails
Larger jails may have resources and training to monitor and prevent suicides
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5.5: Discuss how jails manage sexual violence, gangs, and suicides.
Suicides
Rates of suicide attempts and completions generally higher in smaller jails.
Crowded jails and those with special needs/long-term inmates also more likely to have higher rates (Tartaro and Ruddell, 2006).
Larger jails may have the resources and training to effectively monitor and prevent suicides, like the ability to house younger inmates separately from older inmates—if younger inmates fear being abused by adults, they may be more likely to attempt suicide in age-mixed housing.
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Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails (5 of 12)
Suicides
Detailed record-keeping important to preventing suicides
Selling et al. (2014): suicides in New York City jail system
Leading cause of death among inmates
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5.5: Discuss how jails manage sexual violence, gangs, and suicides.
Suicides
Detailed record-keeping is important to preventing suicides, which may be better-handled in large jurisdictions.
Selling et al. (2014) studied suicides in the New York City jail system from 2007 to 2011 and found:
8 deaths resulting from suicide.
2,514 cases of self-injury.
Average yearly admissions 80,000 and average daily population of 12,500.
Jail managers used this research to improve surveillance and electronic health records.
Leading cause of death among jail inmates (31.1%).
The rate is three times than that of prisons despite similar homicide rates.
Illnesses as a whole still eclipse suicides.
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Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails (6 of 12)
Comparable homicide rates
Deaths due to suicide and homicide declined from 1983 to 2002
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5.5: Discuss how jails manage sexual violence, gangs, and suicides.
Comparable homicide rates
Jail and prison deaths due to suicide (and homicide) declined precipitously from 1983 to 2002
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Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails (7 of 12)
Gangs
Present problems for managers
More prevalent in large urban areas
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5.5: Discuss how jails manage sexual violence, gangs, and suicides.
Gangs
Present myriad of problems for jail and prison managers:
Violence and other offenses tend to naturally follow in their wake.
More prevalent in large urban areas, so more of a problem in large urban jails.
Tapia (2014) finds a range of 16% to 25% prevalence in large jail systems, depending on the jail’s location.
Likely to be low estimates, as individuals may not be forthcoming about membership.
Less likely to hold many gang members than prisons.
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Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails (8 of 12)
Gangs
Jails try to counter collective influence of gangs
Tapia (2014): intergenerational disputes on how the gang should be operated
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5.5: Discuss how jails manage sexual violence, gangs, and suicides.
Gangs
Jails try to counter collective influence of gangs:
Separate members in housing units, placing the most disruptive in segregation.
Document those involved in gangs and their activities throughout system.
Tapia (2014) studied Latinx gangs in Texas and found intergenerational disputes on how the gang should be operated and the tactics they should use.
Younger inmates tended to organize themselves in autonomous groups which were simultaneously support groups and criminal enterprises in the jail setting.
Most prevalent gangs in Texas jails: Texas Mexican Mafia, the Aryan Brotherhood, Bloods, the Texas Syndicate, Crips, Tango Blast, Tango Orejon, Aryan Circle, and Hermandad de Pistoleros Latinos.
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Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails (9 of 12)
Sexual Violence
Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA): mandated the Bureau of Justice Statistics collect data on sexual assaults in adult and juvenile jails and prisons
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5.5: Discuss how jails manage sexual violence, gangs, and suicides.
Sexual Violence
Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA): Act that mandated that the Bureau of Justice Statistics collect data on sexual assaults in adult and juvenile jails and prisons and that it identify facilities with high levels of victimization.
Rate of sexual allegations by prison inmates is 1.5 times that of jail inmates in the previous 12 months.
24,661 allegations of sexual victimization in jails and prisons in 2015, which is almost triple the number reported in 2011.
These increases may just be due to the release of clear national standards in 2012.
Some victimizations by staff members may have been “consensual,” but it is legally impossible for inmates to consent to staff.
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Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails (10 of 12)
Sexual Violence
Female inmates more than twice as likely to be victimized by another inmate
LGBTI inmates more likely to be victimized
More than half committed by female staff on male inmates
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5.5: Discuss how jails manage sexual violence, gangs, and suicides.
Sexual Violence
Beck et al. (2013) found female inmates in jails and prisons were more than twice as likely to experience victimization by another inmate at 3.6%.
Males slightly more likely to be victimized by a staff member.
Higher victimizations by both staff and other inmates for White and multiracial inmates as well as those with college degrees and inmates younger than 34.
LGBTI inmates much more likely to be victimized.
7 times more likely to be victimized by other inmates.
2.5 times more likely to be victimized by staff.
More than half of substantiated staff on inmate sexual misconduct victimization was committed by female staff on male inmates.
“Appeared to be willing” in 84% of cases but technically cannot be legal as inmates cannot give consent.
37% of cases involving a male staff and an inmate “appeared to be willing.”
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Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails (11 of 12)
Sexual Violence
Female staff more likely perpetrators in prisons
Perpetrator more likely to be male staff when offense was actually sexual battery
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5.5: Discuss how jails manage sexual violence, gangs, and suicides.
Sexual Violence
Female staff are more likely perpetrators in prisons rather than jails, generally speaking.
Marquart, Barnhill, and Balshaw-Biddle (2001) found that the perpetrator was more likely to be male staff when offense was actually sexual battery.
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Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails (12 of 12)
Sexual Violence
Males staff more likely to be perpetrators in jails
Four common outcomes
Urban Institute made multifaceted recommendations
Stohr, Corrections: The Essentials 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
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5.5: Discuss how jails manage sexual violence, gangs, and suicides.
Sexual Violence
Males staff more likely to be perpetrators in jails.
In substantiated allegations, common outcomes include:
Staff perpetrator fired (78%).
Staff perpetrator arrested, prosecuted, or convicted (45%).
Inmate perpetrators placed in solitary confinement (73%).
Inmate perpetrators prosecuted if the act was nonconsensual (48%).
Urban Institute (La Vigne, Debus-Sherrill, Brazzell, & Downey, 2011) used situational crime prevention approach to reduce violence and sexual assault after studying three jails and made multifaceted recommendations.
Studying past incidents and their characteristics.
Increasing surveillance cameras outside cells.
Consistent staff presence.
Higher quality staff.
Training staff in crisis intervention and about violence, mental illness, suicide, and sexual assault.
Zero tolerance policies for staff sexual misconduct.
Developing strategies to reduce violence and sexual assault.
Reducing contraband.
Providing necessary medications and mental health care on time.
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Innovations in Jails (1 of 14)
New-Generation, or Podular, Direct-Supervision Jails
Construction began in 1980s
New-generation (podular) direct supervision jails: two key components
Benefits of direct supervision
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5.6: Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
Innovations in Jails
New-Generation, or Podular, Direct-Supervision Jails
Construction began in 1980s
New-generation, or podular, direct supervision jails: Jails that have two key components: a rounded, or podular, architecture for living units and the direct supervision of inmates by staff.
Believed to complement ability to supervise and contrasts with indirect or intermittent staff supervision of inmates.
Benefits of direct supervision:
Negate ability of inmates to control units.
Provision of more goods and services in unit (access to telephones, visiting booths, recreation, and library books).
More enriched leadership and communication for staff.
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Innovations in Jails (2 of 14)
New-Generation, or Podular, Direct-Supervision Jails
Officer role changed
Seven critical dimensions of new generation officer behavior
Widely popular late 1980s to 1990s
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5.6: Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
New-Generation, or Podular, Direct-Supervision Jails
Officer role had to change to participate in a direct supervision jail.
Zupan (1991) built off of Gettinger (1984) to identify seven critical dimensions of new generation officer behavior:
Proactive leadership and conflict resolution skills.
Building a respectful relationship with inmates.
Uniform and predictable enforcement of all rules.
Active observation of all inmates in unit.
Attendance to inmate requests with respect and dignity.
Disciplining inmates fairly and consistently.
Being organized and in the open with supervisory style.
Became widely popular by late 1980s through 1990s.
Architecture (some features) can be seen in prisons today.
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Innovations in Jails (3 of 14)
New-Generation, or Podular, Direct-Supervision Jails
Represent significant improvement over traditional jails
Outcomes if operated correctly
Implementation sometimes faltered
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5.6: Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
New-Generation, or Podular, Direct-Supervision Jails
Often represent significant improvement over traditional jails, which is widely acknowledged by scholars and practitioners.
If operated correctly and include all elements, can be:
Less costly in long run.
Safer for both staff and inmates.
Provide more developed and enriched role for staff.
Include more amenities for inmates.
However, implementation of this model has sometimes faltered or been left incomplete.
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Innovations in Jails (4 of 14)
Community Jails
Promising innovation in jails
Community jails: inmates engaged in programs in the community will receive services while incarcerated
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5.6: Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
Community Jails
Promising innovation in jails.
Community jails: Organized so those inmates engaged in educational programs, drug or alcohol counseling, or mental health programming in the community will seamlessly receive such services while incarcerated and again as they transition out of the facility.
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Innovations in Jails (5 of 14)
Community Jails
Programming on inside does not end at jail house door
Partnership with jail and community to provide services
Stohr, Corrections: The Essentials 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
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5.6: Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
Community Jails
Programming on inside does not end at jail house door; a seamless transfer into the community is sought.
Partnership with jail and community to provide services.
Inmate is part of community whether in custody or not.
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Innovations in Jails (6 of 14)
Community Jails
Development requires resources to accommodate experts
Jail managers must convince local service providers and lawmakers
Stohr, Corrections: The Essentials 4e
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5.6: Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
Community Jails
Development requires resources, especially physical space, to accommodate community experts.
Jail managers must convince local service providers and lawmakers, if need be.
People in jails have a right to and continued need for services.
Making this case is hard when social services are already underfunded and policymakers fear the use of more tax dollars.
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Innovations in Jails (7 of 14)
Community Jails
Continued provision by community experts benefits inmates and larger community
Research on mentally impaired inmates with Medicaid coverage
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5.6: Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
Community Jails
Continued provision by community experts benefits both inmates and larger community.
Research on mentally impaired inmates with Medicaid coverage who reentered society finds that they were more likely to have a smooth transition to needed care.
ACA does not prohibit jail inmates from signing up for Medicaid or health plans.
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Innovations in Jails (8 of 14)
Coequal Staffing
Coequal staffing: provide comparable pay and benefits for those who work in jail with those who work on streets as law enforcement
Stohr, Corrections: The Essentials 4e
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5.6: Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
Coequal Staffing
Coequal staffing: Programs that provide comparable pay and benefits for those who work in the jail with that of people who work on the streets as law enforcement in sheriffs’ departments.
Jails are historical dumping grounds for staff as well; those deemed as not being able to make it in law enforcement were often given a job in the jail.
Jail staff were (and often still are) paid less and received less training than police.
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Innovations in Jails (9 of 14)
Coequal Staffing
Inequities make it difficult to attract and keep the best personnel
Give deputies in jails equal training and pay to those working in free communities
Stohr, Corrections: The Essentials 4e
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5.6: Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
Coequal Staffing
Inequities make it difficult to attract and keep the best personnel, who may use the jail position as a “stepping stone” to something with better pay and higher status on the law enforcement side.
Solution is a program instituted to give deputies in the jails equal training and pay to those working in the free communities.
Anecdotally, this has professionalized staff and improved morale.
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Innovations in Jails (10 of 14)
Reentry Programs for Jails
Rethinking how to keep people out of jail
Reentry: process of integrating offenders back into the community
Newest “thing”: transitioning offenders back to community successfully
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5.6: Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
Reentry Programs for Jails
Rethinking about how to keep people out of jail.
Reentry: The process of integrating offenders back into the community after release from jail or prison.
Newest “thing” in jails today (as well as prisons) is transitioning offenders back to the community successfully.
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Innovations in Jails (11 of 14)
Reentry Programs for Jails
Wodahl, Boman, and Garland (2015): community sanctions as effective as jail
Reentry programs must recognize problems of individual inmates
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5.6: Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
Reentry Programs for Jails
Wodahl, Boman, and Garland (2015) find community sanctions can be just as effective as the use of jail at a lower cost.
Reentry programs must recognize the problems of individual inmates: mental or physical illness, joblessness, or homelessness.
Address them systematically in collaboration with client and community.
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Innovations in Jails (12 of 14)
Reentry Programs for Jails
Primary reentry needs of inmates
Women’s and men’s reentry needs differ
Jail personnel should engage in collaborative arrangements
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5.6: Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
Reentry Programs for Jails
Freudenberg, Mosely, Labriola, and Murrill (as cited by Freudenberg, 2006) studied New York City jails and found the primary reentry needs of inmates were.
For adult women: housing, substance abuse treatment, financial support.
For adult men: employment, education, and housing.
For male adolescents: employment, education, and financial support.
Reentry is a complex process, and Spjeldnes, Jung, and Yamatani (2014) argue that women’s and men’s reentry needs may differ.
Found that more women than men reported chemical dependency and mental health needs and that the women were more likely to value treatment programming.
Bookman et al. (2005) argue jail personnel should expect to engage in collaborative arrangements with community agencies if they hope to succeed in reentry process, much like community jails.
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Innovations in Jails (13 of 14)
Release on Recognizance and Bail Programs for Jails
Since the 1980s calls for low-level offenders be released on recognizance (ROR)
Single night in jail costs $75 to $150 and wreaks havoc on lives of people jailed
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5.6: Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
Release on Recognizance and Bail Programs for Jails
Since the 1980s (at least) some have called that low-level offenders and those unlikely to abscond should be released on recognizance (ROR) into the community without bail.
Due to the inability of the poor to pay bail or fines, we have in effect returned to the era of the “poorhouse.”
A single night in jail costs the taxpayer $75 to $150 and wreaks havoc on the lives of people who are jailed.
May lead to loss of jobs.
Disrupts families and community connections.
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Innovations in Jails (14 of 14)
Release on Recognizance and Bail Programs for Jails
Bail Project: pay bail for low-level inmates with insufficient funds
Vera Institute of Justice advocates for ROR and bail reform
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5.6: Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
Release on Recognizance and Bail Programs for Jails
Bail Project operates in select cities to pay bail for low-level inmates with insufficient funds.
Vera Institute of Justice advocates for ROR and bail reform, suggesting that bail as it currently stands is punitive and coercive due to injustices “baked into the process.”
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