scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question

Showing papers on "Prison published in 1982"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: One of the most distressing and troublesome aspects of the operation of the criminal justice system in the United States is the severe disproportionality between blacks and whites in the composition of prison populations.
Abstract: One of the most distressing and troublesome aspects of the operation of the criminal justice system in the United States is the severe disproportionality between blacks and whites in the composition of prison populations. Although blacks comprise roughly one-eighth of the population, they represent about one-half of the prison population. Thus, the race-specific incarceration rates (the ratio of prisoners to population within each racial group) are grossly disproportionate. This disproportionality has been a source of major concern, largely because it suggests the possibility of gross injustice in the criminal justice system. The racial differences in imprisonment are reflected in Table 1, which presents demographic-specific incarceration rates (in units of prisoners per 100,000 persons within each indicated demographic group) in state prisons (not including federal prisons or local jails) for blacks and whites and their total.1 This table highlights the great sensitivity of in-

337 citations


Book
01 Dec 1982
TL;DR: In this paper, the primary constituents of stress in prison, and how can it be ameliorated, are discussed and the specific conditions that create stress, from the initial loss of freedom, to overcrowding, victimization, and riots.
Abstract: What are the primary constituents of stress in prison, and how can it be ameliorated? The specific conditions that create stress -- from the initial loss of freedom, to overcrowding, victimization and riots -- are described and analyzed. The effects of prison on specific populations: women, minorities, adolescents, and parolees, are also researched. Recommendations for long-term policy are made for maximizing the environmental resources of the prison, and improving classification and treatment. '...highly recommended for all professional and academic libraries. It is suitable for both upper-division undergraduate and graduate students in the areas of stress, psychology, penology, sociology, and criminal justice.' -- Choice, July/August 1983 '...the specific conclusions and policy recommendations of the research in this volume will clearly be of interest to an international readership. The social worker, in particular, will be usefully informed of the behavioural consequences amongst inmates (and, to a lesser extent, staff) of recent changes in prison conditions such as overcrowding...the strengths of this text lie...in its detailed ethnography of prison experience, and its practical recommendations to prison staff, psychologists and social workers, concerning how most effectively to alleviate the excess of suffering which current policies and physical conditions enforced on prisoners. ' -- The International Journal of Social Work '...the book is a successful scholarly discussion of the "pains of imprisonment" and, like all good scholarship, leads the reader to consider future directions and practical applications of current knowledge.' -- Contemporary Psychology, Vol 29 No 7, 1984

138 citations


Book
01 Jan 1982
TL;DR: The authors describes the courage, the fear, and the anguish of women who hold their families together, trying to make a home in Brewster Place, a rotting tenement on a dead-end street.
Abstract: Once the home of poor Irish and Italian immigrants, Brewster Place, a rotting tenement on a dead-end street, now shelters black families. This novel portrays the courage, the fear, and the anguish of some of the women there who hold their families together, trying to make a home. Among them are: Mattie Michael, the matriarch who loses her son to prison; Etta Mae Johnson who tries to trade the 'high life' for marriage with a local preacher; Kiswana Browne who leaves her middle-class family to organize a tenant's union.

124 citations


Book
01 Jan 1982
TL;DR: In this article, the uncoupling of architecture and reform is discussed in the context of penitentiaries and reformed prisons, with a focus on the model of the model prison.
Abstract: List of illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Another world, yet the same 2 From correction to reformation from dungeon to cell 3 Gaol fever 4 Penitentiaries and reformed prisons 5 A way of obtaining power 6 Classification, inspection and labour 7 Architecture against communication 8 The Model Prison 9 The uncoupling of architecture and reform 10 Architecture limited and unlimited Notes Index

120 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report how punitive and aggressive attitudes of male and female prison guards changed over the first critical six months on the job, and explain the divergent trends.
Abstract: The degree and direction of attitudinal change among prison guards across their careers is a question relevant to both prison theory and policy. This study reports how punitive and aggressive attitudes of male and female prison guards changed over the first critical six months on the job. Male guards became more, and female guards became less, punitive and aggressive. Explanations for these divergent trends are presented.

94 citations


BookDOI
TL;DR: The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Patricia O'Brien traces the creation and development of a modern prison system in nineteenth-century France. The study has three principal areas of concern: prisons and their populations; the organizing principles of the system, including occupational and educational programs for rehabilitation; and the extension of punishment outside the prison walls.Originally published in 1982.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

82 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a review of the research literature on alternatives to incarcera tion suggests that their promise of reducing the prison population has remained largely unmet, and that the non-incarcerative options were transformed, serving criminal justice system values and goals other than reducing imprisonment.
Abstract: A careful review of the research literature on alternatives to incarcera tion suggests that their promise of reducing the prison population has remained largely unmet. For each of the reform strategies reviewed, the nonincarcerative options were transformed, serving criminal jus tice system values and goals other than reducing imprisonment. Sen tencing alternatives, such as restitution and community service, were found to enhance the sanctions of probation and fines instead of re placing incarceration. Similarly, postincarceration release programs, such as work release and work furlough, often escalated the level of control over clients and served primarily to control populations within prison systems. Increasing the availability of community correctional facilities has not reduced populations in secure confinement. Com munity correction legislation appears less likely to reduce incarcera tion than to change the location of imprisonment from the state in stitutions to county jails. Moreover, initial decli...

80 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article described sources of occupational stress in the prison officer's job and investigated their relationships with tedium, defined as a general experience of physical, emotional, and attitudi....
Abstract: This study describes sources of occupational stress in the prison officer's job and investigates their relationships with tedium—defined as a general experience of physical, emotional, and attitudi...

79 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper reviewed the institutional careers of several "disturbed disruptive" inmates and discussed some treatment-relevant links between disturbed behavior and disruptive behavior that emerge from such scrutiny, including bus therapy.
Abstract: Among least understood prison inmates are the “disturbed disruptive” inmates (DDIs)—those who simultaneously pose disciplinary and mental health problems. Such inmates are at times viewed as “disruptive” by mental health staff and as “disturbed” by custody personnel. They are also disproportionately subjected to “bus therapy” because no special programs are available for them.This article reviews the institutional careers of several “DDIs,” and it discusses some treatment-relevant links between disturbed behavior and disruptive behavior that emerge from such scrutiny.

58 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The 1980 riot at the Penitentiary of New Mexico was the most brutal in U.S. penal history, involving extreme violence and fragmentation among inmates as discussed by the authors. Yet the prison was not always violent and disorderly, and the explanation of this change in the level of disorder is important for understanding the predisposing factors of the riot.
Abstract: The 1980 riot at the Penitentiary of New Mexico was the most brutal in U.S. penal history, involving extreme violence and fragmentation among inmates. Yet the prison was not always violent and disorderly. The prison in the early 1970s was relatively calm; after 1975 it became increasingly violent and disorderly. The explanation of this change in the level of disorder is important for understanding the predisposing factors of the riot. This case study of the New Mexico prison offers insights into recent changes in inmate relations, insofar as the history of the New Mexico prison from 1970 to 1980 parallels the general shift in U.S. prisons from inmate solidarity in the late 1960s to increasing violence and fragmentation among inmates during the 1970s.

53 citations


Book
01 Feb 1982
TL;DR: Parisi as mentioned in this paper compiled a volume of original essays about coping with stress in prison, which cover such topics as the causes of stress, who suffers most, how prisoners deal with the stress, and how institutions can alleviate it.
Abstract: Parisi has compiled a volume of original essays about coping with stress in prison. They cover such topics as the causes of the stress; who suffers most; how prisoners deal with the stress; and how institutions can alleviate it. The book reviews prisoners' strategies for survival - from withdrawal to aggressive rebellion, organized strikes, and explosive riots - and how grievance procedures, sentencing and parole policies can either contribute to, or reduce, stress. 'This volume is both easy to read and well organized. The papers selected for inclusion were appropriate. The reader who has a novice interest in this topic will find this volume to be a valued addition. Correctional students, policy makers, and educators will find this volume interesting and worthwhile.' - "The Police Chief", February 1984.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The review of the literature suggests that programs will be most likely to succeed if they are intensive, if they can establish an alternative community within the prison, and if they offer post-release services to inmates.
Abstract: The paper reviews research studies on the effectiveness of prison education programs. Such programs are common in prisons, but there have been relatively few evaluative studies carried out. The research which has been done is not conclusive. Most evaluations have shown that inmates make substantial improvements in learning, but this does not necessarily have an impact on rates of post-release employment and recidivism. The review of the literature suggests that programs will be most likely to succeed if they are intensive, if they can establish an alternative community within the prison, and if they offer post-release services to inmates.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of inadequate health and mental health services on the lives of women in prisons is explored, and separation problems encountered by the woman prisoner and her family are examined.
Abstract: This article assembles data that identify some problems experienced by women incarcerated in prisons in the United States. Inequalities in occupational and educational programs offered in women's prisons in comparison with those offered in prisons for men are discussed. The impact of inadequate health and mental health services on the lives of these women is explored, and separation problems encountered by the woman prisoner and her family are examined. Some recommendations for change are suggested.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article examined the distribution of types of infractions committed and dispositions received in disciplinary infraction proceedings in a state prison system, and identified variables related to different disposition outcomes, including the offender's age and marital status at admission, the inmate's overall disciplinary record, and the type of infraction charged.
Abstract: Much research in the past decade has focused on decision making at various stages of the criminal justice process, but decisions made within prisons have been examined relatively little. This study investigates dispositional decisions in disciplinary infraction proceedings in a state prison system. It examines the distribution of types of infractions committed and dispositions received, and identifies variables related to different disposition outcomes. Four variables are significantly related to dispositional outcome: the inmate's age and marital status at admission, the inmate's overall disciplinary record, and the type of infraction charged. Although the findings varied across infraction categories, inmates who were young, never married, or had six or more infractions during the current sentence received more severe dispositions. The relationship between seriousness of the infraction and severity of disposition was significant but not strong enough to imply a scaling of penalties relative to the harm p...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In 1976, the Howard League for Penal Reform established a prestigious Working Party on the Dangerous Offender, under the chairmanship of Mrs. Jean Floud, the Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge, and the final report of this Working Party was published in the autumn of 1981.
Abstract: In 1976, the Howard League for Penal Reform established a prestigious Working Party on the Dangerous Offender, under the chairmanship of Mrs. Jean Floud, the Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge. The final report of this Working Party was published in the autumn of 1981 (Floud and Young, 1981)1 and is without any doubt a document ofmaj or importance both academically and in policy terms. It is important from the outset to see the Floud Report in the context of three earlier British reports which have focused upon the topic of dangerous ness (Scottish Council on Crime, 1975, Chap. 4, section 2; Home Office, 1975, Chap. 4; Advisory Council on the Penal System, 1978, Chap. 10), because major shifts have taken place since 1975 in the nature of the dan gerousness debate in Britain. The Scottish Council on Crime ( 1975) proposed a new and indeterminate custodial sentence (a " public protection order ") as one of a range of measures which it believed " offered some real prospect of securing, in the shorter term, a reduction in the incidence of serious crimes of violence " (para. 73) ; the public protection order would be widely available, since defendants would be eligible if currently convicted of any crime of violence, however minor (including threats of violence and even breach of the peace when including violent threats), provided that they were also assessed as dangerous, and that there was some evidence of (but not necessarily a conviction for) past recent violence or threats. The Butler Committee on Mentally Abnormal Offenders in England and Wales, which also reported in 1975, was concerned with what it saw as a " serious defect in society's defences which ought to be made good " as regards mentally abnormal offenders who were released at the end of a determinate prison term but still considered dangerous by prison medical officers; the Com mittee proposed a new and indeterminate " reviewable sentence " to repair the perceived deficiency (Home Office, 1975). The offences minimally qualifying defendants for the reviewable sentence were more restrictive than those suggested by the Scottish Council, but one could still qualify if assessed as dangerous on a single conviction of rape or arson, or a current offence of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place plus a past conviction for endangering railway passengers (Appendix 4). The proposals of these two committees prompted one of us to enter the

Book
15 Feb 1982
TL;DR: In this paper, Sherman and Hawkins present an important new book about prisons and punishment in America by Michael Sherman and Gordon Hawkins, which is a serious and enlightened and concerned attempt to fuse liberal and conservative attitudes and values to achieve a breakthrough in American penal policy.
Abstract: "For a few decades American prisons were the wonder of the world. [However] early hopes that a prison regime could be a powerful means of reforming most convicts have been abandoned, and prisons are seen even by some of those who think we need more of them as savage repositories, to be shunned or veiled rather than admired. This sad history is drawn with great insight and learning in [this] important new book about prisons and punishment in America by Michael Sherman and Gordon Hawkins. . . . The views of these professionals must be taken seriously." Graham Hughes, "New York Review of Books" "This is a serious and enlightened and concerned attempt to fuse liberal and conservative attitudes and values to achieve a breakthrough in American penal policy." "Congressional Staff Journal ""

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article conducted a study on women in British open prisons and concluded that women in British prisons for women operate in much the same way as do those in America, and American findings are sometimes used to suggest that imprisoned women inevitably adapt in particular ways.
Abstract: Almost all sociological research on women in prison has been carried out in America. Although some British research has described the so cial characteristics of female prisoners, there are, for example, no stud ies comparable to those from America on the life and experiences of women inside prisons. As a result, it is frequently assumed that Brit ish prisons for women operate in much the same way as do those in America, and American findings are sometimes used to suggest that imprisoned women inevitably adapt in particular ways. The present study, undertaken in one British open prison, is summarized with di rect reference to American studies.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that there is some relation between officially recorded institutional infractions and post-release infractions, once controls for a priori risk are established, and that some post-sentencing information may be related to behavior after prison.
Abstract: It is argued widely that an inmate's behavior while in prison is not related to his or her behavior after release. This putative lack of a relation is a point set forth in debates about discretionary release from prison by parole boards. This article reviews the empirical status of the prison behavior and release performance controversy and offers new data from the federal jurisdiction. The results indicate that there is some relation between officially recorded institutional infractions and post-release infractions, once controls for a priori risk are established. The fact that some post-sentencing information may be related to behavior after prison raises difficult policy issues that are not addressed by the common assertion of no relationship. Among these issues are the propriety and fairness of predictive judgments per se, the proper locus of authority for release decision making, and alternative uses of predictive information in corrections. The findings here suggest that more intensive study of the relation between prison behavior and release performance is required.



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The practice of conjugal association in United States prisons has been come a controversial issue among policy makers in correction as mentioned in this paper, and the long debate in the literature over the merits of such programs has been reviewed.
Abstract: The practice of conjugal association in United States prisons has be come a controversial issue among policy makers in correction. Seven states now have programs allowing families to visit inmates in private, and to engage in sexual activity with their spouses on prison grounds. This paper describes conjugal association programs now operating in United States prisons and reviews the long debate in the literature over the merits of such programs.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a new perspec tive for the administration of prison systems containing long-term prisoners is offered, assuming that removal from society is perceived by most prisoners as the principal punishment inherent in incarceration.
Abstract: Long-term prisoners present correctional policy makers with for midable problems. These problems are rooted in the varied member ship of the population of long-term prisoners and in the seriousness of crimes for which these offenders are imprisoned. A new perspec tive for the administration of prison systems containing such inmates is offered. In terms of the loss associated with imprisonment, it is assumed that removal from society is perceived by most prisoners as the principal punishment inherent in incarceration. Since this pun ishment bears most heavily on long-term prisoners, special efforts must be made to ameliorate the secondary sanctions that accompany imprisonment.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, crime supply functions are reestimated using data corrected for victim underreporting, and the effects on the rates of robbery, burglary, larceny, and auto theft of increases in prison admission rates and prison sentence lengths remain negative.



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Eisikovits and Baizerman as discussed by the authors provided a qualitative examination of how youth, given indeterminate sentences, did their time in either a juvenile facility or in an adult prison.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study by Eisikovits and Baizerman was to provide a qualitative examination of how youth, given indeterminate sentences, did their time in either a juvenile facility or in an adult prison. METHODOLOGY: The researchers employed a non-experimental ethnographic study of a non-probability sample of all of the 43 youth who were given indeterminate sentences to either a juvenile facility or to an adult prison in a large midwestern state. A "violent youth" was defined as an individual who had committed at least one of the following crimes: homicide, manslaughter or attempted homicide; assault; armed robbery; or criminal sexual conduct or rape. Serious injury may or may not have been inflicted upon the victim, but the offender must have been under the age of 18 and under State Department of Corrections supervision at the time of the study. Data collection involved intensive, face-to-face interviews with the subjects over the four-month study period. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: The authors found that for youth in the adult prison, most of their time was spent trying to survive from day to day. Survival involved becoming part of the inmate culture, by learning about the norms, language and people that were all part of the group. Information about what was happening inside the prison was considered a source of power; however, contact with outside sources, such as social workers, was looked upon as a violation of the inmate code. The youth had to come to terms not only with the authority of the correctional staff, but also with the authoritative hierarchy that existed amongst the inmates. They had to learn about the physical confines of space within the prison, and about the more abstract notion of bargaining space with other people. Youth had to find their own place, their own role within the inmate society, and had to learn to fit in with the others. This entailed competition on physical or intellectual levels, to gain power through sheer size or through being smart. To fit in, individuals had to stay within their own racial groups - there was no interracial socialization within the prison walls. The authors conclude that for youths to settle down within an adult prison, they must become violent youth. For individuals who had been sentenced to a juvenile facility, the concern with daily survival was not as prevalent. Life was not perceived as dangerous in this facility, and all offenders were about the same age. Committment offense was not used as an identifying factor - behavior within the facility was of primary concern, so youth concentrated upon being released as soon as possible. These efforts included learning how to respond to treatment, to appear as though change had taken place. By appearing to respond favorably to their treatment, individuals could shorten their indeterminate sentences. It was within the peer group that one's changed behavior was identified and assessed for validity - the better one could play the treatment game within the group, the fewer the external controls that were exercised to try to induce change. The authors suggested that youth in the juvenile facilities spent most of their time trying to make time short and determinate, and to achieve an early release. For those in the adult prison, life was concerned with physical survival to the point that the goal of release was often forgotten, and life consisted only of the present. For those in the juvenile facility, becoming more cynical and manipulating might have lowered the perceived likelihood of future capture so that they would be likely to recidivate. For the youth in the adult prison, violence had become a way of life, the individuals had become violent youth, and recidivism would be likely because the youth had little to lose. The authors concluded that both sets of youth were punished, but in different ways. Those in the adult prison learned that fear and power were important; youth in the juvenile facility learned that manipulation was of primary use. The mundane life in the institution prevented any treatment success, and turned the inmates into the very type of people that society did not want them to be. The authors finished with the observation that neither the adult prison nor the juvenile facility punished the youth well or was successful at treating them. EVALUATION: This paper represents an informative insight into the thoughts and feelings of the violent adolescent doing time in either a juvenile facility or in an adult prison. The small sample size precludes much generalization, but the qualitative nature of the study provides some in-depth and interesting findings. A section on the nature of the interviews would have been helpful, as would have a more thorough discussion of the implications of the findings for policy and treatment planning. The authors seemed to be have won the trust of the youth - it is a shame that they did not report further upon the inmates' thoughts and feelings about life within institution walls. The number of youths in the study needs to be clarified - at first we are told of 43 subjects, but only 36 are said to be in either facility. There is definitely a mistake somewhere here. Despite these limitations, the study provides an excellent basis for further research, whilst acting as an important stepping stone in the re-examination of policy in the area of the young offender. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) Language: en

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The author contends that the Georgia court erred in not distinguishing the motivation of the prisoner--to manipulate the prison system--from that of patients who refuse treatment.
Abstract: KIE: Force feeding of hunger-striking prisoners is discussed in the context of three 1982 state appellate court decisions involving the right to refuse treatment. The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted a prisoner's argument; courts in New York and West Virginia found a compelling state interest that justified force feeding, as did an earlier Massachusetts decision that rejected a prisoner's refusal of renal dialysis. The author contends that the Georgia court erred in not distinguishing the motivation of the prisoner--to manipulate the prison system--from that of patients who refuse treatment.



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In Ireland's prison service, prison doctors became entangled in the controversies which surrounded these Irish political prisoners, because the doctors could mitigate ordinary regimen or special punishments for reasons of health.
Abstract: IN 1839, Dr. Henry Maunsell addressed the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland on what he termed \"political medicine\". He chided \"the leading medical men of the day [for] having abandoned the higher and more honourable walks of their professions to pursue, exclusively, the less exacted, though more profitable trade of the empirical curing of disease\".1 If governmental attempts to provide clean water, cure the sick, help the insane, and reform the criminal were to succeed, Maunsell felt that the best of Ireland's doctors had to be employed in government service. But government service in nineteenth-century Ireland frequently meant involvement in political issues to the detriment of professional reputations. Nowhere was this more true than in Ireland's prison service. Continuing protests for land reform, religious equality, franchise extension, and self-government dominated Ireland's history. To Nationalists, each governmental department bore witness to English injustice, the failure to meet these demands. The Irish prison system was no exception. Indeed, prison administrators had custody of many critics of governmental policy whose protests exceeded legal limits. These critics, deeming their offences political, not criminal, argued for a special status as prisoners. Prison doctors became entangled in the controversies which surrounded these Irish political prisoners, because the doctors could mitigate ordinary regimen or special punishments for reasons of health. Convinced that a prison doctor had been unfair or even cruel towards political prisoners by allowing them to undergo ordinary regimen, Irish leaders and their followers undercut the doctor's reputation and his practice. For the other side, when the Government saw a doctor exempting political prisoners from regulations, it could arrange for his removal and deny him other posts. Irish prison doctors were truly men in the middle. Before centralization in 1877/78, Irish prisons were not organized into a system.2