Prison Life: Living in and Leaving Prison

1. Chapter 14 Prison Life: Living in and Leaving Prison

2. Men Imprisoned • Total Institutions • Segregated from the outside world • Constant scrutiny and surveillance • Forced to obey strict official rules • Limited personal possessions • Human functions curtailed • “No-frills” policy vs. a “rehabilitative” philosophy

3. Men Imprisoned • Living in Prison • Stripped, searched, shorn, assigned living quarters • Deprivation of liberty, goods and services, heterosexual relationships, autonomy, and security • Overcrowded prisons are filled with young, aggressive men who are responsible for majority of inmate-on-inmate assaults

4. Men Imprisoned • Adjusting to Prison • Variety of attitude and behavior changes as their sentence unfolds • Many inmates learn to adapt to the prison routine • Some inmates routinely violate institutional rules

5. Men Imprisoned • Inmate subculture is the loosely defined culture that pervades prisons and has its own norms, rules, and language • Elements of the Inmate Social Code • Don’t interfere with inmates’ interests • Don’t lose your head • Don’t exploit inmates • Be tough and don’t lose your dignity • Don’t be a sucker

6. Thinking Point • Men Imprisoned • How might the existence of an inmate social code impact one’s likelihood of successful reentry into the community after their release? • Can we expect an individual to simply turn on and off these characteristics depending on their physical location (in or out of prison)?

7. Men Imprisoned • Prisonization is assimilation into the separate culture of the prison • In the new inmate culture, African American and Latino inmates are much more cohesively organized than whites

8. Women Imprisoned • Female Institutions • Smaller than male institutions • Non-secure • Lack of adequate training for inmates • Counseling by laypeople • Lack of parenting programs • Lack of job training

9. Female Inmates • Young • Minorities • Unmarried • Parents • Undereducated • Unemployed or underemployed • Troubled family lives • Physical/sexual abuse • Substance abuse • Health issues • Mental health issues • Suicide

10. Women Imprisoned • Adapting to the Female Institution • Different from male institutions • Less danger to staff • Less violent behavior • Less aggressive sexual behavior • More social support both internal and external

11. Women Imprisoned • Adapting to the Female Institution • Anger is directed inward instead of outward • Depression • Make believe family substitute family groups with a faux father, mother, and siblings

12. Prison Violence • Individual Violence • History of prior violence • Psychological malady • Prison conditions • Lack of dispute resolution mechanisms • Basic survival • Collective Violence • Inmate-balance theory • Administrative-control theory • Prison overcrowding theory

13. Prison Violence • Sexual Violence • Young males may be raped and kept as sexual slaves by older, more aggressive inmates • Weaker inmates may agree to such arrangements for protection • Difficult to get an accurate reading of the true incidence of prison rape

14. Prison Violence • What factors lead to sexual victimization? • White inmates are attacked more than any other race • Victims are generally younger than their assailants • Mentally ill or intellectually impaired inmates are more likely to be victimized • Cellblocks with solid cell fronts may contribute to sexual assault • In women’s prisons, sexual assault may be at the hands of correctional officers

15. Prison Violence • Sexual Violence • Reasons for not reporting • Embarrassment • Personal matter • Fear of harassment • Retaliation from perpetrator • Don’t want to be put in safekeeping

16. Thinking Point • Prison Violence • How does our understanding of sexual victimization in prison compare and contrast to our understanding of sexual victimization outside of prison? • Do some of the same reasons exist for not reporting? • Are some of the reasons different? • What are some of the explanations for this?

17. Correctional Rehabilitation • Individual and group counseling • May involve anger management or cognitive behavior therapy • Faith based programs • Drug treatment programs • Frequently a 12-step program

18. Correctional Rehabilitation • Participation in these programs has benefits both in and out of prisons • Educational and Vocational Programs • Vocational training • Clothing and textiles • Corporate services • Electronics • Fleet management/vehicular components • Industrial products • Office furniture

19. Correctional Rehabilitation • Educational and Vocational Programs • Work release • Allows inmates to be released during the day to work in the community, returning to prison at night • Furlough • Allows inmates to leave the institution for vocational or educational training, for employment, or to maintain family ties • Private prison enterprise • Post-release programs

20. Correctional Rehabilitation • Can Rehabilitation Work? • Rehabilitation does work • Elements of successful programs • Teach interpersonal skills • Provide individual counseling • Make use of behavior modification techniques • Use cognitive-behavioral therapy • Stress improving moral reasoning • Combine in-prison therapeutic communities with follow-up community treatment

21. Thinking Point • Correctional Rehabilitation • If you were in charge of a prison, what type(s) of rehabilitation programs would you implement? • Why do you think these programs would be useful? • Do you think the general public believes such programs in prisons are a good use of the taxpayer’s money?

22. Guarding the Institution • Guarding the institution is a complex task • Roles of correctional officers include: • Supervision of inmates • Sit on disciplinary boards • Escort inmates to/from court • Greatest problem is the conflict between security and treatment

23. Guarding the Institution • Female Correctional Officers • Little difference in behavior or use of aggressive tactics • Discipline has not suffered • Beneficial effect • Assignment to male institutions may boost career

24. Prisoners’ Rights • The hands-off doctrine • The legal practice of allowing prison administrators a free hand in running the institution, even if correctional practices violate inmates’ constitutional rights • The hands-off doctrine ended with the onset of the prisoners’ rights movement in the 1960s

25. Prisoners’ Rights • Substantive Rights • Access to courts, legal services, and materials • Freedom of the press and of expression • Freedom of religion • Medical rights • Cruel and unusual punishment • Physical abuse • Racial segregation • Overall prison conditions

26. Leaving Prison • Parole • The early release of a prisoner from imprisonment subject to conditions set by correctional authorities • The parole board’s primary functions: • Select and place prisoners on parole • Aid, supervise, and provide continuing control of parolees in the community • Determine when the parole function is completed and to discharge parolees • Determine whether parole should be revoked if violations of conditions occur

27. National Estimates of Parole Entries and Exits

28. Leaving Prison • Parole Hearings • Review of cases differs across jurisdictions • Factors that are considered are the inmate’s crime, their institutional record, and their willingness to accept responsibility • Inmates rights vary across jurisdictions • No federal right to legal representation • Exclusionary rule does not apply

29. Leaving Prison • Risks of Reentry • Many are ill prepared for life in conventional society • For women, nearly half are either reconvicted or reincarcerated soon after parole release • Having a history of drug abuse is particularly harmful

30. Leaving Prison • Risks of Reentry • At the federal and state levels a number of initiatives have been taken to help prepare inmates for reentry • Offender notification forums • Reentry courts • Community based interventions • Legal restrictions on former inmates