scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Topic

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.


Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
28 Aug 2003-BMJ
TL;DR: Understanding of how the prison environment influences the mental health of prisoners and prison staff is increased to inform prison policy makers and managers, and the primary care trusts who are beginning to work in partnership with prisons to improve the mentalhealth of prisoners.
Abstract: Objective To increase understanding of how the prison environment influences the mental health of prisoners and prison staff. Design Qualitative study with focus groups. Setting A local prison in southern England. Participants Prisoners and prison staff. Results Prisoners reported that long periods of isolation with little mental stimulus contributed to poor mental health and led to intense feelings of anger, frustration, and anxiety. Prisoners said they misused drugs to relieve the long hours of tedium. Most focus groups identified negative relationships between staff and prisoners as an important issue affecting stress levels of staff and prisoners. Staff groups described a “circle of stress,” whereby the prison culture, organisation, and staff shortages caused high staff stress levels, resulting in staff sickness, which in turn caused greater stress for remaining staff. Staff shortages also affected prisoners, who would be locked up for longer periods of time, the ensuing frustration would then be released on staff, aggravating the situation still further. Insufficient staff also affected control and monitoring of bullying and reduced the amount of time in which prisoners were able to maintain contact with their families. Conclusions Greater consideration should be given to understanding the wider environmental and organisational factors that contribute to poor mental health in prisons. This information can be used to inform prison policy makers and managers, and the primary care trusts who are beginning to work in partnership with prisons to improve the mental health of prisoners.

182 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results of a survey of public attitudes about appropriate length of prison sentences for convicted offenders are reported in this article, which suggests the feasibility of generating consensus on a proportional, just deserts sentencing schedule, but difficulty in establishing the "constant of proportionality."
Abstract: The results of a survey of public attitudes about appropriate length of prison sentences for convicted offenders are reported. Two main questions are addressed: 1) degree of consensus within the population about appropriate sentences for different offenses and 2) the relationship between the desired sentences expressed by the public and the actual time served by offenders in prison. The analysis suggests considerable agreement across various demographic groups on the relative severity of sentences to be imposed for different offenses, but disagreement over the absolute magnitude of these sentences. These results suggest the feasibility of generating consensus on a proportional, just deserts sentencing schedule, but difficulty in establishing the "constant of proportionality." The sentences desired by the public are found to be consistently more severe than sentences actually imposed, suggesting the need for greater public awareness of current imprisonment practices so that expectations of the determinate sentencing schedules will be realistic and consistent with limited prison capacity.

182 citations

Book
01 Jan 1991
TL;DR: Watkins and Watkins as discussed by the authors present a comprehensive assessment of the factors behind the growth and subsequent overcrowding of American prisons and reveal that explicit policy changes have had little influence on the increases in imprisonment in recent years and analyze whether it is possible to place limits effectively on prison population.
Abstract: Two of the nation's foremost criminal justice scholars present a comprehensive assessment of the factors behind the growth and subsequent overcrowding of American prisons. By critiquing the existing scholarship on prison scale from sociology and history to correctional forecasting and economics, they both reveal that explicit policy changes have had little influence on the increases in imprisonment in recent years and analyze whether it is possible to place limits effectively on prison population. ""The Scale of Imprisonment" has an exceptionally well designed literature review of interest to public policy, criminal justice, and public law scholars. Its careful review, analysis, and critique of research is stimulating and inventive." "American Political Science Review " "The authors fram our thoughts about the soaring use of imprisonment and stimulate our thinking about the best way we as criminologists can conduct rational analysis and provide meaningful advice." Susan Guarino-Ghezzi, "Journal of Quantitative Criminology " "Zimring and Hawkins bring a long tradition of excellent criminological scholarship to the seemingly intractable problems of prisons, prison overcrowding, and the need for alternative forms of punishment." J. C. Watkins, Jr., "Choice ""

182 citations

Book
29 Mar 2012
TL;DR: The behavior and attitudes of the Homosexuals in Prison are discussed in this paper, with a focus on the behavior, sexual orientation, and ethnicities of the inmates in Prison.
Abstract: 1 Introduction.- 1 Introduction.- I Institutional and Cultural Patterns.- 2 Nature of Prison Exploitation.- 3 Prison Setting and Sexual Scene.- 4 Behavior, Sexual Orientation, and Ethnicity.- II The Jockers, Punks, and Sissies.- 5 Male Sexual Relationships.- 6 The Punks in Prison.- 7 Behavior and Attitudes of the Homosexuals.- 8 Types of Homosexuals in Prison.- III Reactions to Sex in Prison.- 9 Inmate Attitudes Toward Homosexuality.- 10 Staff Attitudes Toward Homosexuality.- 11 Prison Policy, Programs, and Change.- Notes.- Appendix A: Questionnaires.- Appendix B: Tables.

181 citations


Network Information
Related Topics (5)
Mental health
183.7K papers, 4.3M citations
81% related
Politics
263.7K papers, 5.3M citations
81% related
Democracy
108.6K papers, 2.3M citations
79% related
Social change
61.1K papers, 1.7M citations
79% related
Social support
50.8K papers, 1.9M citations
77% related
Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20242
20231,347
20222,993
20211,071
20201,271
20191,247