Study Sheet for Penology Exam
The functions of criminal punishment. retribution; reaffirming the norms and consensus
(Durkheim); boundary maintenance; deterrence; incapacitation; defense of country,
community or individuals; reform, rehabilitation, retrain the individual; ensure power
of state, politicians or political groups and protect or enhance economy or economic
interests or control or eliminate threats (Marx); restoration of victim and/or community;
continual surveillance of and control over “deviants” (Foucault). The major forms of
punishment. The major types of punishment. deprivation of liberty; corporal punishment;
capital punishment; economism; property seizure and forfeiture; banishment; public
humiliation; forced labor; treatment and rehabilitation; intermediate sanctions such as
home confinement; restorative justice; restitution; vendetta; probation/reintegration;
diversion. Sentencing issues: sentencing guidelines and their main variables;
determinate and indeterminate sentencing; truth in sentencing; mandatory sentencing;
habitual offender laws; drug laws and zero tolerance; the politicization of crime.
Strategies for reducing overcrowding in prisons.
Notes and Bartollas chp. 4.
American colonial punishments and prisons; how are they different from today’s sentencing and
imprisonment? Eighteenth and nineteenth century “reformers:” Humanism, Panopticism; Irish
Mark System. The early penitentiary, The basic assumptions of the Quaker penitentiary system
and the Auburn penitentiary system , Elam Lynds’s policy toward inmates. Brockway and
Elmira, the classification systems. Early forms of prisoner labor and the beginnings of
community based corrections. The Texas prison system (O.B. Ellis) and Stateville (J. Ragen)
before the 1970’s. Main differences between the 1950’s Texas prisons and today’s prison.
Heel stringing, trusty shooters, building tenders,.
Ruiz v. Estelle; Cooper v. Pate.
Treatment and use of prisoners. The shift from the patriarchal prison.
Early forms of punishment and early prisons and reformatories. The medical model, surgeries,
Martinson’s critique of rehabilitation, and what did work in prison.
Bartollas, chps. 2 & 3 and Hallinan chps. 2,3, 5 & 6.
Race and gender in prison: the chivalry hypothesis--typicality, selective chivalry and differential
discretion; the liberation hypothesis; multiple marginality; the “familied” hypothesis.
racial discrimination in sentencing, the threat hypothesis, contextual racial discrimination;
differential racial crime rates; economic inequality and crime, parole and probation violators.
Bartollas, chp. 18
The main populations in local jails: pretrial, trial, convicted, transfers, protective custody, pre
parolees, those awaiting transfer. Common offenses.
Forms of release from jail, ROR, types of bail and bond, supervised release.
Types of supervision in jails: linear intermittent, indirect podular, direct or podular direct/ new
gerneration prisons.
Main administration/funding of jails: local, state, regional, state subsidy, private.
Federal jail differences. Reasons for overcrowding in jails.
Mentally ill in jails. Physical and sexual victimization in jails.
Bartollas, chp. 9.
The Rest of Hallinan’s book.
The advantages and disadvantages of having a prison in a small community.
Chunkers, frequent flyers, electic thorazine, pickets, highriders.
The extent of the school system in the Texas prisons and its main challenges.
The aftermath of the Attica riot and unintended effect Martinson’s “What Works? publication.
The Groves case as an illustration of types of law, trial convictions, and sentencing.
The roles of testosterone, plastic surgery, psychotherapy and bibliotherapy in prisons.
Joe Boy’s trial as an indication of problems that arise in the location of prisons.
The impact of gangs in prison.
The impact of law and order campaigns and the Willie Horton case on prisons and the
relationship of inmates and guards. Holding jiggers. Gladiator days and the conditions at
Corcoran prison.
The conditions at a supermax prison such as Pelican Bay and the long term effects on prisoners.
The most effective treatment programs and Grady Mitchell as the poster inmate at Washington
State Reformatory.
The main private employers in prison and main types of work.
The ACA conference and private industries hawking various products and services.
Advantages and disadvantages of private prisons. Conflicts of interest such as vitapro.
The dynamics of the rodeo and other job activities in prison. The dilemmas of inmate work.
Wallens Ridge as an example of the politics and economics of prisons.
Rehabilitation in prison, and oxymoron?
Changing forms of prisons, the federal system, crowding in state prisons and high/low
incarcerations rates by state. Types of prison by security level. Supermax again (Pelican Bay)
and specialty institutions. Humane prisons.
Bartollas, chp. 10
Correctional management styles: autocratic (patriarchal), bureaucratic) corporate management,
shared powers; Texas control Michigan responsibility and California consensual mode.
Characteristics of the innovative warden.
Bifurcation of the prison staff.
Types of correctional officers, and types of middle management officers.
Dothard v Rawlins and Gunther v Iowa Men’s Reformatory.
Difference between male and female correctional officers.
Conflicting demands of the role. Best approach to the role.
Bartollas, chp. 11.
New Jack
Why is he at Sing Sing. The layout at Sing Sing and cell block design. Double clothing, OIC,
OJT, SHU, keeplock.
Basic training, three C’s, the prison culture and its effects, co’s as dentists of law enforcement.
Gladiator school, uses of deadly force, can he shoot?.
People skills training and irony associated with it.
Institutional denial of the morality of the job. Reasons for military like discipline and constant
denial of inmate requests. CERT team, stress training, mob training. Willingness to torture.
What is the script for what to do on the job? The chaos of the corridor. Porters, passes, tickets
and red dots. Prohibitions. The Dance Hall.
The contrast between co Wickersham and co Smith.
The usefulness of simple civility.
Prison as a microcosm of what? Why the stereotypical attitudes of guards and inmates?
High stakes behind petty conflicts? Contraband. Conflicting styles of co’s.
The futility of filing reports and issuing tickets.
His dreams.