Showing papers on "Prison published in 1973"

Interpersonal dynamics in a simulated prison.

Abstract: : Interpersonal dynamics in a prison environment were studied experimentally by designing a functional simulation of a prison in which subjects role-played prisoners and guards for an extended period of time. To assess the power of the social forces on the emergent behavior in this situation, alternative explanations in terms of pre-existing dispositions were eliminated through subject selection. Many of the subjects ceased distinguishing between prison role and their prior self-identities. When this occurred, a sample of normal, healthy American college students fractionated into a group of prison guards who seemed to derive pleasure from insulting, threatening, humiliating, and dehumanizing their peers--those who by chance selection had been assigned to the 'prisoner' role. The typical prisoner syndrome was one of passivity, dependency depression, helplessness, and self- deprecation.

Race, Socioeconomic Status and Sentencing in the Juvenile Justice System

Abstract: ministration of justice has long been of theoretical and empirical interest to criminologists. Although many theoretical works assume that such discrimination exists, Terry has pointed out that this assumption has been made ".. . even though empirical research dealing with these issues is relatively sparse and poorly conceived." 1 For example, Lemert states that "Members of minority groups, migrants, and persons with limited economic means are often the. .. scapegoats of the frustrated police in our local communities." 2 Clinard makes a similar assumption: "It is a generally established fact that the Negroes, as well as Spanish speaking peoples, on the whole, are arrested, tried, convicted, and returned to prison more often than others who commit comparable offenses." 3 Sutherland and Cressey, without data, assert:

Kind and usual punishment: the prison business

Abstract: Our prison system has an extensive, tedious path to tread before it can catch up with the nation's conscience. Scholarly studies and in vestigations have revealed that prison practices run counter to what most persons insist must be the benchmark of a viable, civilized process. When asked, expert and layman alike agree that rehabilitation is the critical goal of the incaraceration experience imposed upon those who have been convicted of running afoul of the law. It is argued that correction, rather than retribution, punishment and deterrence must be society's philosophical rationalization for treatment of its criminals. Regrettably, reality is not marked by the premises inherent in rehabilita tion doctrine. Truth is at odds with aspiration. Too few steps have been taken to bridge the gap between the goals which are sought and what is actually taking place. The less stalwart have good reason to deride those who speak of progress in reshaping our prisons. There is good reason to contend that pronouncements which proclaim that reformers are making progress must be relegated to nothing more than idle dreaming at best and, perhaps more accurately, dangerous fantasy. The drive for change, if subjected to severe scrutiny, may be found to be nothing more than debilitating, unrealized Utopian ideology. A quest for improvement invariably has an ephemeral life span. Once a summons for change is announced, one can argue, the search is dissipated. The status quo remains unchanged after the angry voices become quiet. A current, realistic appraisal warrants a measure of optimism, dampen ed by an expression of grave concern that even though important steps are now being taken to reshape the prison milieu, unless the rate of progress is substantially accelerated, i.e., increased in exponential rather than arithmetical terms, a study conducted a half century from now will disclose that society still has not achieved a humane, beneficient prison system. More time and effort must be directed toward thinking in non-prison terms. Prisons alone do not offer a promise of unequalled success. A great deal must be done, and done promptly, to revise a penal system which is typically a staging area for future criminal behavior. Unfortunately, today's prisons are often barren warehouses of human shame, where demeaning experiences and brutali ty engender antisocial, destructive, antiauthoritarian attitudes. Those aspects of prison life which not only nourish hate and hostility but also

The Economics of Crime and Punishment

Abstract: A¢Â€ÂœThe Economics of Crime and PunishmentA¢Â€Â contains the proceedings of a conference, held in the summer of 1972, thatA‚ explored the uses and limits of economics in the understanding and prevention of crime.

Prisonization or Resocialization?: A Study of External Factors Associated with the Impact of Imprisonment

Abstract: This report focuses on data obtained from 276 adult male felons who were inmates in a maximum-security penitentiary in 1971. The general intent of the larger study of which this essay is a part was to test the viability of two available explanations of the impact of confinement. One of these models, often referred to as the "deprivation model," provides a restrictive perspective by virtue of its unusually heavy emphasis on intra-institutional processes and influences. A more recent approach, the "importa tion model," accepts the importance of such intra-institutional variables, but also points to the importance of variables that originate outside the context of the prison and, in many cases, cannot be directly manipulated by correctional officials. The specific variables reported in this pa per include measures of social class of origin, social class of attainment, preprison involvement in criminality, extent of contact with the larger society during confinement, and the inmates' perceptions of their post...

Mad or bad?—the enduring dilemma

Abstract: It is over thirty years since Penrose (1939) compared the statistics on crime, imprisonment and mental illness from fourteen European countries and found a negative correlation between the proportion of people within a nation placed in mental hospitals and the proportion held in prison. In addition, using sentencing statistics and official returns on homicide, he reported that the amount of crime in a community (particularly crime involving violence) was positively related to the proportion of the community sentenced to prison. Juxtaposing crime, imprisonment and mental hos pitalisation rates, Penrose finally suggested that the evidence he had marshalled was consistent with the notion that the provision of facilities for mentally ill people lessened the incidence of crime, and, as a consequence, the numbers of people in prison were reduced. This connection rested upon his assumption that " insanity and mental deficiency are predisposing causes of crime."

A Psychosocial Description of Penitentiary Inmates

Abstract: Indepth analyses of family, social, and demographic characteristics, antisocial behaviors, and psychological dimensions of a biracial sample of male and female inmates housed predominantly on prison farms in the State of Louisiana showed inmates to be minimally educated, young adults originating from the lower socioeconomic strata of large metropolitan areas and serving sentences for generally under ten years. Women, characteristically a more homogeneous group than their male counterparts, were most frequently incarcerated for narcotic offenses or homicide and seemed to be serving shorter sentences for the same felony convictions as men. A number of important racial differences, particularly within the male sample, suggest the need for closer scrutiny of the handling of the black inmate, who represents a probably neglected and specifically overlooked group in the prison environment.

Suicide Attempts in the District of Columbia Prison System

Abstract: Studies of 46 attempted suicides at two correctional institutions maintained by the District of Columbia Department of Corrections indicate that a jail for inmates awaiting trial or sentencing had a suicide attempt rate of 3.2 per cent, while a reformatory for, long-term inmates had a suicide attempt rate of 1.4 per cent. Attempters at the jail have more disciplinary problems and are facing more serious offenses than a non-suicidal control group. The lethality of the attempt increases with the seriousness of the offense. The reformatory attempters have been incarcerated for shorter periods of time and have shorter minimum sentences than controls at that institution, and the lethality of the attempt increases when there is a history of previous attempts. The reformatory attempters are more apt to have a history of alcoholism than the jail attempt group. Three types of attempters are delineated: 1) depressives make up the greatest numbers, particularly at the jail; 2) manipulative attempts can occur at any ...

Can comprehensive mental healthcare be provided in an overcrowded prison system

Abstract: This article deals with the efforts made in a 15-month period to provide mental health services in a large, antiquated, overcrowded prison system. The role of altered public sentiment engendered by...

Comparison of self-esteem of prison and non-prison groups.

Abstract: 2 prison groups made up of newly arrived prisoners and maxinum security prisoners, and 2 non-prison groups made up of psychology students from the University of Montana and rural church members were given a self-concept inventory. Self-esteem was defined in terms of the discrepancy between scores on the actual-self and ideal-self measures. The greater the discrepancy, the lower the self-esteem. The maximum security prisoners had the lowest self-esteem, the rural church group had the highest self-esteem, and the other groups fell in between. A positive correlation was found between self-esteem and time in prison. The greater the time in prison, the lower self-esteem scores.

Private Enterprise in a Prison The Free Market Economy of La Mesa Penitenciaria

Abstract: As illustrated by La Mesa Penitenciaria, near Tijuana in the state of Baja California, the strongest and most pervasive feature of life in the Mexican prison is not the formal administration but the prison's private enterprise economy.

Psychiatric morbidity and treatment of prison inmates.

Abstract: The failure to provide adequate treatment for persons committed to mental institutions has recently received considerable attention. The doctrine of “the right to treatment” has been judicially expressed in the now famous Rouse v. Cameron decision (373F 2d 451), (D.C. Cir., 1966). Rouse was sent to St. Elizabeth Hospital in the District of Columbia after he was found not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity. Three years later he sought release stating that he was not receiving adequate treatment to which he was entitled. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals stated that the possibility of ”indefinite commitment without treatment of one who has been found not criminally responsible may be so inhuman as to be cruel and unusual punishment.” A great deal of legal literature has been devoted to this issue.

Law and Order and the Criminal Justice System

Abstract: The sharp increase in drug-related crimes on the streets of our cities in the past few years has made the phrase "law and order" a household refrain. Every candidate running for public office promises to curb "street crime" 1 by restoring "law and order" in the community. To most of these public office seekers, as well as those already in office, the key to such restoration is greatly increased prison terms, including life sentences, for those involved in the illegal sale of narcotics and for those illegal narcotics users who commit violent crimes. And the crux of these harsh new proposals is that such prison terms should be mandatory. In addition, these proposals would deny persons convicted of narcotics offenses the usual opportunity for parole.2 Some state legislative proposals have gone so far as to prohibit plea bargaining in such cases.' In short, retribution and deterrence, a theory of severe mandatory punishment for law violators, as opposed to any other theory or program for curbing the sale of drugs and decreasing drug-related crimes, has seized the day. The only certain consequence of this oversimplified approach to a multifaceted problem is that the judge alone, of all those involved in the administration of criminal justice, would be entirely stripped of his or her discretion in dealing with narcotics sellers and narcotics-related offenders.4

A proposal for a trial of family therapy and conjugal visits in prison.

Abstract: Book reviewed in this article: Any plan for conjugal visits has to be acceptable both to the general public and to prison officials. This paper examines the existing objections to conjugal visits in prison, and proposes that they be introduced together with family therapy as components of an overall rehabilitative effort.