1. Chapter 11 Prison Life, Inmate Rights, Release, and Recidivism

2. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-2 Chapter Objectives After completing this chapter, you should be able to do the following:  Distinguish between the deprivation and importation models of inmate society.  Explain how today’s inmate society differs from those of the past.  Identify some of the special features of life in women’s prisons.

3. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-3 Chapter Objectives  Describe the profile of correctional officers, and explain some of the issues that they face.  Identify prisoners’ rights, and relate how they were achieved.  List the two most common ways that inmates are released from prison, and compare those two ways in frequency of use.  Summarize what recidivism research reveals about the success of the prison in achieving deterrence and rehabilitation.

4. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-4 Living in Prison  When most people think of prisons, they usually imagine the big-house, maximum-security prison for men.  However, institutions are quite diverse.

5. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-5 Inmate Society  In his classic book, Asylums, Erving Goffman described prisons as total institutions.  Although prisons are certainly influenced by the outside world, they are also separated and closed off from that world.

6. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-6 Total Institutions  Total institution: an institutional setting in which persons sharing some characteristics are cut off from the wider society and expected to live according to institutional rules and procedures

7. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-7 Inmate Society  Central to the inmate society of traditional men’s prisons is the convict code, a constellation of values, norms, and roles that regulate the way inmates interact with one another and with prison staff.

8. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-8 Inmate Society  Principles of the convict code include:  Inmates should mind their own affairs and do their own time.  Inmates should not inform the staff about the illicit activities of other prisoners.  Inmates should be indifferent to staff and loyal to other convicts.  Conning and manipulation skills are valued, as are the ability to show strength, courage, and toughness.

9. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-9 Inmate Society  Two major theories of the origins of the inmate society have been advanced:  The deprivation model  The importation model

10. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-10 Inmate Society: The Deprivation Model  The deprivation model explains prison society as a reaction to the shared deprivation of prison life.

11. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-11 Inmate Society: The Deprivation Model  When an inmate enters prison for the first time, the inmate experiences prisonization, according to Donald Clemmer.  Prisonization: the process by which an inmate becomes socialized into the customs and principles of the inmate society  The longer inmates stay in prison, the more prisonized they become, and the more likely they will return to crime after their release.

12. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-12 Inmate Society: The Importation Model  The importation model is an alternative to the deprivation model.  Importation model: a theory that the inmate society is shaped by the attributes inmates bring with them when they enter prison

13. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-13 Inmate Society: The Importation Model  Inmates who were thieves and persistently associated with other thieves before going to prison bring the norms and values of thieves into the prison.  Generally law-abiding people will be more likely to be loyal to staff norms while in prison.

14. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-14 Inmate Society  Today’s inmate society is socially fragmented, disorganized, and unstable, because of:  Increasing racial heterogeneity  The racial polarization of modern prisoners  Court litigation  The rise and fall of rehabilitation  The increased politicalization of inmates

15. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-15 Violence and Victimization  There is more physical violence by inmates in today’s men’s prisons than there was in earlier periods.  Reasons for high rates of prison violence include:  Improper management and classification practices by staff  High levels of crowding and competition over resources  The young age of most inmates in many prisons  Increases in racial tensions and prison gang activity

16. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-16 Violence and Victimization  Common motives for physical violence in prison are:  To demonstrate power and dominance  To retaliate against a perceived wrong  To prevent the perpetrator from being victimized in the future

17. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-17 Violence and Victimization  A good deal of prison violence—but not all—has sexual overtones.  In addition:  Not all instances of sex in prison are violent.  Not all instances of sex in prison are homosexual.  Sexual encounters can involve both inmates and staff.

18. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-18 Violence and Victimization  Instances of prison sex can be further divided into three basic categories:  Consensual sex for gratification  Prostitution  Sexual assault

19. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-19 Violence and Victimization  Physical victimization is not the only or even the most frequent kind of victimization in prison.  Other kinds include:  Economic  Psychological  Social  These may be perpetrated by inmates or staff.

20. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-20 Violence and Victimization  Like all societies, the inmate society has an economy with a black-market component, known as the sub-rosa economy.

21. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-21 Violence and Victimization  Cigarettes often serve as the medium of exchange because currency is typically contraband.  One of the newest forms of prison contraband are cell phones.  The sub-rosa economy sets the stage for various kinds of economic victimization, including theft, robbery, fraud, extortion, and loan- sharking.

22. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-22 Violence and Victimization  Psychological victimization consists of subtle manipulation tactics and mind games that occur frequently in prison.  Staff members threaten to expose information from an inmate’s file.  Inmates threaten to tell superiors about staff corruption or failure to follow procedure.

23. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-23 Violence and Victimization  Social victimization involves prejudice or discrimination against a person because of:  Race  Age  Class background  Religious preference  Political position  Other factors

24. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-24 Inmate Coping and Adjustment  Prison life includes:  Pronounced deprivation of personal freedom and material goods  Loss of privacy  Competition for scarce resources  Greater insecurity, stress, and unpredictability

25. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-25 Inmate Coping and Adjustment  Prison life also encourages qualities counter to those required for functioning effectively in the free community, by:  Discouraging personal responsibility and independence  Creating excessive dependency on authority  Diminishing personal control over life events

26. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-26 Inmate Coping and Adjustment  Robert Johnson identifies two broad ways that inmates cope with imprisonment:  Entering the public domain  Entering the private culture

27. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-27 Inmate Coping and Adjustment  The inmates in the prison’s public domain are predatory and violent and seek power and status by dominating and victimizing others.  Most inmates enter the prison’s private culture.  These inmates find in the diverse environment of the institution a niche that will accommodate their needs, such as a job in the library to accommodate a person’s need for privacy and safety.

28. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-28 Inmate Coping and Adjustment  Inmates usually develop a prison lifestyle:  “Doing time”—getting out as soon as possible and avoiding hard time  “Jailing”—achieving positions of influence in the inmate society  “Gleaning”—trying to take advantage of the resources available for personal betterment

29. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-29 Life in Women’s Prisons  Life in women’s prisons is similar to life in men’s prisons in some respects, but there are also important differences.  Women’s prisons are usually not characterized by the levels of violence, interpersonal conflict, and interracial tension found in men’s institutions.  Women’s prisons are often less oppressive.

30. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-30 Life in Women’s Prisons  Female inmates are more likely to have children and to have been living with those children immediately before incarceration.  In some cases, very young children may live with their mothers in prison for a temporary period.  Some women lose custody of their children.  Often children live with other relatives and have little or no visitation.

31. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-31 Pseudofamilies and Homosexuality  A distinguishing feature of the inmate society in many women’s prisons in the presence of make-believe families, known as pseudofamilies.  Women adopt male and female family roles.  Kinship ties cut across racial lines.

32. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-32 Pseudofamilies and Homosexuality  Family activity and homosexual activity appear to be relatively independent of one another.  The majority of female inmates who participate in homosexuality were heterosexual before incarceration and will return to heterosexuality upon release.

33. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-33 Inmate Roles  Esther Heffernan identified three roles that women commonly adopt when adjusting to prison:  “Square”—women who were primarily noncriminals before imprisonment and tend toward conventional behavior in prison  “Life”—habitual offenders who continue to display antisocial and antiauthority behavior  “Cool”—sophisticated professional criminals who try to do easy time by manipulating other inmates and the staff to their own advantage

34. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-34 Correctional Officers  Research on prison staff remains sparse compared with research on inmates.  Most studies of prison staff have concentrated on guards or correctional officers, because:  They represent the majority of staff members in a prison.  They are responsible for the security of the institution.  They have the most frequent and closest contact with inmates.

35. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-35 Correctional Officers  Correctional officers face a number of conflicts in their work:  Boredom and stimulus overload  Role ambiguity and role strain—officers are expected to both supervise and counsel inmates  Lack of clear guidelines on how to exercise their discretion in dealing with inmates  Limits on their power, and the need to negotiate voluntary compliance from inmates

36. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-36 Correctional Officers  How do correctional officers respond to their roles and their work conditions?  Some become alienated and cynical and withdraw from their work.  Others become overly authoritarian and confrontational in a quest to control inmates by intimidation.  Others become corrupt.  Some adopt a human-services orientation toward their work.

37. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-37 Correctional Officers  Efforts are under way to transform prison work from a job into a profession, but there are problems and issues with such efforts:  Low pay combined with the nature and location of the work make recruiting difficult.  Lack of competition for jobs makes it difficult to impose restrictive criteria on applicants.  A backlash against affirmative action has resulted in tensions and resentment by white officers.  Training standards are not uniform across or even within jurisdictions.  Professionalization has been accompanied by unionism.

38. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-38

39. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-39 Inmate Rights and Prison Reform  Until the middle of the twentieth century, the courts followed a hands-off philosophy toward prison matters.  As a consequence, prisoners essentially had no civil rights.  With the growth of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, this changed.

40. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-40 Access to the Courts and Legal Services  The U.S. Supreme Court has granted inmates:  Unrestricted access to the federal courts  The ability to challenge in federal court not only the fact of their confinement but also the conditions under which they are confined  The conditions of confinement (Cooper v. Pate, 1964)

41. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-41 Access to the Courts and Legal Services  Prior to the Cooper decision, inmates had relied primarily on habeas corpus petitions to obtain access to the courts.  Habeas corpus: a court order requiring that a confined person be brought to court so that his or her claims can be heard  The Cooper decision in effect launched the prisoners’ rights movement by opening the door to new claims from prisoners.

42. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-42 Access to the Courts and Legal Services  However, by the 1990s, Congress had become exasperated with the flood of claims by prisoners challenging their conditions of confinement in the federal courts.  In response, it passed the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  The intent of the legislation was to restrict and discourage litigation by prison inmates.

43. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-43 Access to the Courts and Legal Services  To get their cases to court, prisoners need access to legal materials, and many of them need legal assistance from persons skilled in the law.  The U.S. Supreme Court has held that jailhouse lawyers must be permitted to assist other inmates, and that inmates are entitled to either an adequate law library or adequate legal assistance.

44. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-44 Procedural Due Process in Prison  Inmates can face disciplinary action for breaking prison rules.  The United States Supreme Court has held that they are entitled to due process, including:  A disciplinary hearing by an impartial body  Written notice of the charges within 24 hours  A written statement of the evidence relied on and the reasons for the disciplinary action  An opportunity to call witnesses and present documentary evidence, provided this does not jeopardize institutional security

45. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-45 First Amendment Rights  The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, press, assembly, petition, and religion.  The U.S. Supreme Court has made numerous decisions in this area.

46. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-46 Free Speech  The Supreme Court ruled that censorship (such as of a prisoner’s outgoing mail) is legal only if it furthers one or more of the following substantial government interests:  Security  Order  Rehabilitation

47. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-47 Religious Freedom  Inmates are free to practice either conventional or unconventional religions in prison, and prison officials are obligated to provide accommodations.  Restrictions may be imposed where prison officials can demonstrate convincingly that religious practices compromise security or are unreasonably expensive.

48. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-48 Eighth Amendment Rights  The Eighth Amendment outlaws the imposition of cruel and unusual punishment.  The courts have considered a number of issues under the umbrella of cruel and unusual punishment.

49. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-49 Medical Care  In 1976, the Supreme Court decided Estelle v. Gamble and ruled that inmates have a right to adequate medical care.  However, inmates claiming Eighth Amendment violations on medical grounds must demonstrate that prison officials have shown deliberate indifference to serious medical problems.

50. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-50 Staff Brutality  Brutality is normally considered a tort rather than a constitutional issue.  However, whipping and related forms of corporal punishment have been prohibited under the Eighth Amendment.  The Supreme Court also found that staff use of force against an inmate need not cause a significant physical injury to violate the amendment.

51. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-51 Total Prison Conditions  Totality-of-conditions cases involve claims that some combination of prison practices and conditions makes the prison, as a whole, unconstitutional.  In the case of Holt v. Sarver (1971), the entire Arkansas prison system was declared unconstitutional on grounds of totality of conditions and was ordered to implement a variety of changes.

52. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-52 Total Prison Conditions  Prisons have long had the right to provide only the minimal conditions necessary for human survival:  Food  Shelter  Clothing  Medical care to sustain life

53. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-53

54. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-54 Fourteenth Amendment Rights  The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees due process of law and equal protection under law.  The equal-protection clause protects against racial discrimination and gender discrimination.  However, the rights of female inmates remain underdeveloped.

55. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-55 The Limits of Litigation  The almost exclusive reliance on court intervention to reform the prison system during the last four decades has cost funds that could have been better spent to reform unacceptable practices in the first place.  Meanwhile, prison systems cannot address other problems because they are spending money to defend against other lawsuits.

56. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-56 The Limits of Litigation  Court litigation is an expensive way to reform prisons.  It is also very slow and piecemeal.  Transformation of prison systems can be chaotic and unstable.  Reforms may take years.  Successful cases usually have limited impact.

57. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-57 Release and Recidivism  Inmates may be released from prison in a number of ways, including:  Expiration of the maximum sentence  Commutation  Commutation: reduction of the original sentence given by executive authority, usually a state’s governor  Release at the discretion of a parole authority  Mandatory release

58. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-58 Release and Recidivism  One of the most common ways of release is parole.  Parole: the conditional release of prisoners before they have served their full sentences  In jurisdictions that permit parole release, eligibility for parole normally requires that inmates have served a given portion of their terms, minus time served in jail prior to imprisonment, and minus good time.  Good time: time subtracted from an inmate’s sentence for good behavior and other meritorious activities in prison.

59. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-59 Release and Recidivism  The other common release measure is mandatory release.  Mandatory release: a method of prison release under which an inmate is released after serving a legally required portion of his or her sentence, minus good-time credits.  Mandatory release is similar to parole in that persons let out under either arrangement ordinarily receive a period of community supervision by a parole officer.

60. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-60 Release and Recidivism  When inmates are released from correctional institutions, the hope is that they will not experience recidivism.  Recidivism: the return to illegal activity after release

61. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-61 Release and Recidivism  In 2010, the American Correctional Association (ACA) reported that recidivism rates may be declining.  The average recidivism rate for the 39 states that separated rates by gender was 38.9% for males and 29.4% for females, considerably lower than the 60%-plus rates of earlier studies.

62. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-62

63. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-63

64. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-64 Release and Recidivism  A study by Ben Crouch found that newly incarcerated offenders frequently express a preference for prison over probation.  Ironically, the public’s demand for more imprisonment may actually foster less deterrence and more prisoners.

65. Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11-65 Release and Recidivism  Lynne Goodstein demonstrated that the inmates who adjusted most successfully to prison had the most difficulty adjusting to life in the free community upon release.  In the end, imprisonment is a reactive response to the social problem of crime, and crime is interwoven with other social problems such as poverty, inequality, and racism.