Prison

About: Prison is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 25120 publications have been published within this topic receiving 470474 citations. The topic is also known as: jail & gaol.

Examining the Effect of Incarceration and In-Prison Family Contact on Prisoners'Family Relationships:

Abstract: This article explores the effect of incarceration on relationships between prisoners and their family members, examining the extent to which in-prison contact with family may mediate the negative effect of incarceration on family relationships and support after release. Based on responses from 233 Chicago-bound male prisoners interviewed before and after their release from prison, the authors examine the extent to which the quality of relationships prior to prison is related to the frequency and type of family contact during prison, as well as the quality of family relationships and level of family support after release. Findings indicate that level and type of family contact typically mediate the effect of pre-prison relationship quality on both post-prison family relationship quality and support, but that in-prison contact can be a negative influence if intimate partner relationships are already poor.

The First Month Out: Post-Incarceration Experiences in New York City

Abstract: This article is excerpted from Marta Nelson, Perry Deess, and Charlotte Allen9s longer article of the same name published by the Vera Institute of Justice in 1999. The report is an account, issue by issue, of what the authors learned from participants about life in the first thirty days after getting out of prison or jail. Those first days and weeks appear to be critical, with arrest rates for released prisoners highest soon after release and declining over time. The study showed that the first month is not only a period of difficulties but also a period of opportunities to get people started on the path to employment, abstinence from drugs, good family relations, and crime-free living.

Mental disorders in Australian prisoners: A comparison with a community sample.

Abstract: Background: The plight of those with mental health problems and the possible role of prisons in "warehousing" these individuals has received considerable media and political attention. Prisoners are generally excluded from community-based surveys and to date no studies have compared prisoners to the community.Objective: The objective was to examine whether excess psychiatric morbidity exists in prisoners compared to the general community after adjusting for demographics.Method: Prison data were obtained from a consecutive sample of reception prisoners admitted into the state's correctional system in 2001 (n=916). Community data were obtained from the 1997 Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (n=8168). Mental health diagnoses were obtained using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and a number of other screening measures. Weighting was used in calculating the 12-month prevalence estimates to control for demographic differences between the two samples. Logistic regression a...

The Psychosocial Issues of Women Serving Time in Jail

Abstract: The United States imprisons a larger proportion of its population than any other industrialized nation, including South Africa and the former Soviet Union ("U.S. Expands Its Lead," 1992). In the United States, the rate of growth for female inmates has exceeded that for male inmates each year since 1981. From 1980 to 1989, the male inmate population increased by 112 percent, and the female population increased by 202 percent. However, women still represent a relatively small segment of the prison and jail populations (5.7 percent and 9.0 percent, respectively) (Stephan & Jankowski, 1991; U.S. Department of Justice, 1991). The majority of incarcerated women are sentenced for nonviolent offenses--crimes such as prostitution, fraud, or drug offenses (U.S. Department of Justice, 1991). Many of these female inmates come from impoverished backgrounds, are addicted to drugs or alcohol, and have emotional and mental health problems. In short, the crimes these women commit are often a reaction to negative life events, a response to a crisis or to prolonged disadvantage. Unfortunately, our society has paid little attention to the female inmate population. They have been seen as "expendable," "evil," "women gone bad," "not really 'women'," and "incapable of change." Yet, in truth, we know too little about women serving time. There have been a paltry number of clinical and research investigations of this population, and the services rendered to them have been woefully deficient. Literature Review A review of the literature reveals that female criminality remained a much-neglected area of research until the 1970s. This paucity of research stems from at least three factors. First, women tend to commit nonviolent crimes; therefore, they are not considered a significant threat to society. Second, women constitute only nine percent of the average daily adult population in local jails in the United States and thus represent only a small proportion of inmates (Stephan & Jankowski, 1991). Third, women have had unequal economic and political status and have therefore have had unequal access to both services and research (Rasche, 1974). As previously stated, the adult female inmate population has increased at a faster rate than the male inmate population. Arrests for offenses such as petty theft, passing bad checks, welfare fraud, driving while intoxicated, and prostitution have accounted for the increased rate of incarceration (Immarigeon & Chesney-Lind, 1992). Some information is available on the characteristics of this population of women. The American Correctional Association's 1987 National Survey of Women Offenders found that 57 percent are women of color, the majority are between 25 and 29 years of age, 62 percent are single parents of one to three minor children, and 60 percent have been welfare recipients (American Correctional Association, 1990). Jails have become a receiving facility for a host of disguised health, welfare, and social problem cases (Mattick, 1974). As the literature reflects, the critical social problems emerging in the 1980s and continuing into the 1990s, such as substance abuse, mental illness, family fragmentation, economic instability, and social isolation, have particular impact on incarcerated women. These problems are difficult to address during jail stays of frequently less than two months (American Correctional Association, 1990). Incarcerated women are reported to have extensive experience with both the criminal justice and the mental health services systems (Lamb & Grant, 1983). One-third to two-thirds of women newly admitted to jails suffer sufficient psychological distress to require mental health services (American Correctional Association, 1990; Guy, Platt, Zwerling, & Bullock, 1985; James, Gregory, Jones, & Rundell, 1985). Mood-altering drugs are prescribed two to three times more for women in jails than for men (National Coalition for Jail Reform, no date). …