Chapter 12
Prison Life:
Living In and Leaving Prison
Learning Objectives
 Discuss the problems of the adult
correctional system
 Know what is meant by the term of “total
institution”
 Be familiar with the problem of sexual
coercion in prison and what is being done to
help
 Chart the prisonization process and the
development of the inmate social code
 Compare the lives and cultures of male and
female inmates
Learning Objectives
 Be familiar with the different forms of
correctional treatment
 Discuss the world of correctional officers
 Understand the causes of prison violence
 Know what is meant by prisoners’ rights, and
discuss some key privileges that have been
granted to inmates
 Be knowledgeable about the parole process
and the problems of prisoner reentry
Men Imprisoned
 Total institutions:

Segregated

Under constant surveillance

Forced to obey strict official rules

Evaluated and assigned a classification

Isolated from friends and family
 Coping in Prison:

Inmates learn to adapt

Survival in prison may depend on one’s ability to
identify troubled inmates and avoid contact
Men Imprisoned
 Sexual Coercion:

A common belief of prison life is the threat of sexual
coercion, long considered routine in penal institutions

Difficult to measure incidents of rape as most go
unreported

Congress enacted the Prison Rape Reduction Act of
2003 establishing programs in the Department of
Justice with the intention of controlling sexual
violence in prisons
Men Imprisoned
 Inmate Social Code:

Experts believe that inmates have formed their own
set of norms and rules known as the inmate
subculture

A significant aspect of the inmate subculture is the
inmate social code

Inmate social code includes unwritten guidelines that
express values and attitudes

Represents the values of interpersonal relations in the
prison
Men Imprisoned
 Study of Inmate Life in Maximum-Security
from Donald Clemmer’s classic book The
Prison Community:

Identification of the prisonization process

Prison argot (language)

Inmate assimilation

Destructive effects
Men Imprisoned
 The New Inmate Culture:

The importation of outside values into inmate culture
has had a dramatic effect on prison life

Prison assimilation began to chance in the 1960s

Black power movement

Racial, religious and political groups now more cohesive

Powerful, racially homogeneous gangs enforce a code of
their own
Women Imprisoned
 Female Institutions:

The majority are smaller, non-secure institutions
similar to college dormitories and groups homes

Like male prisons, women’s prisons suffer from lack
of educational and vocational training, and
inadequate medical and social program treatment
Women Imprisoned
 Female Inmates:

Young (under 30), minority group members,
unmarried and undereducated (1/2 are dropouts), and
either underemployed or unemployed

75% of inmates have substance abuse problems

Most are mothers

Broken homes

Physical and sexual abuse violence
Women Imprisoned
 Adapting to the Female Institution:

Differ from male institutions

Less violent

The social code of male institutions does not exist in
female institutions

Women form make-believe (or pseudo) families
Correctional Treatment
Therapy
Educational
Programs
Vocational
Programs
Correctional Treatment
Anger
Faith
Drug
Behavi
or
Mod.
Therapy
(individual or
group)
Milieu
Aversi
on
HIV/AIDS
Cognitive
Skills
Reality
Correctional Treatment
 Educational Programs:

The first prison treatment programs were educational

A prison school at the Walnut Street jail was opened in
1784

Today, most institutions provide some type of educational
program

Most research indicates that participation in correctional
education is related to lower recidivism rates, and higher
post-release earning and employment rates.
Correctional Treatment
 Vocational Programs:

Vocational Training

Work Release

Private Prison Enterprise

Post Release Programs
 Can Rehabilitation Work?

Although promising, some of the most carefully
crafted treatment efforts have failed to show a
positive impact on inmates returning to the
community
Guarding the Institution
 Roles:

Supervise the interior and exterior of the prison

Monitor inmate behavior

Prevent escape
 Maintain order within the population
 Enforce institutional rules and policies
 Conduct searches for contraband
 Settle disputes between inmates
 Correctional officers must manage the stress of
working in a dangerous environment
Guarding the Institution
 Roles:

Controlling a prison is a complex task of balancing
the conservative goals of punishment against the
liberal goals of rehabilitation and treatment
 Maintain order and security
 Advocate humane treatment and rehabilitation
Correctional Treatment
 Female Correctional Officers:

Perform the same duties and tasks as male
correctional officers

Discipline has not suffered because of the inclusion
of women as C.O.s

Research has indicated that the presence of female
officers can have an important beneficial effect on
the guard-inmate working relationship
Prison Violence
 Conflict, violence, and brutality are part of
institutional life
 Violence can involve individual or group
conflict amongst inmates and between inmates
and staff
 Sexual assault is a common threat
 Politically driven prison riots:

More than 300 prison riots since 1774

90% of them since
Prison Violence
 What Causes Violence?

Factors related to prison administration, inmate
population characteristics, and the racial makeup of
inmates and staff can influence violence levels

Individual Violence

Collective Violence
Individual Violence
History of Violence
Age
Psychological Factors
Prison Conditions
Lack of dispute
mechanisms
Basic Survival
Collective Violence
Inmate Balance Theory
Administrative Control Theory
Prisoners’ Rights
 Before the early 1960s, on conviction all rights were
forfeited and inmates were considered civilly dead
 Hands-off doctrine
 Access to courts, legal services, and materials
 Freedom of the press and of expression
 Freedom of religion
 Medical rights
 Cruel and unusual punishment
 Racial segregation
 Overall prison conditions
Prisoners’ Rights
 Hands-Off Doctrine:

A judicial policy that the courts would only intervene
in correctional matters if there was a serious breach
of the Eighth Amendment

After the 1960s, the Civil rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 1983
had federal courts hearing and considering inmate
complaints about prison conditions – the hands-off
doctrine eroded
Prisoners’ Rights
 Substantive Rights – rights granted to inmates:

Access to Courts, Legal Services, and Materials

Freedom of the Press and of Expression

Freedom of Religion

Medical Rights

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Overall Prison Conditions
Leaving Prison
 Parole – Defined:

The planned community release and supervision of
incarcerated offenders before the expiration of their
full prison sentences
 Decision to parole is determined by statutory
requirement
 Discretionary parole (parole boards)
 Mandatory parole (release upon completion of
a predetermined percentage of term)
Leaving Prison
 Parole:

Functions of the parole board

Select and place prisoners on parole

Aid, supervise, and provide control of parolees in the
community

Determine when parole has been completed and the
parolee may be discharged

Whether parole should be revoked if
violations occur
Leaving Prison
 Parole Effectiveness:


Despite all of the efforts to treat released offenders,
most parolees fail

Rearrested within the first six months after release

45% re-incarcerated within 3 years of release
States differ in success/failure rates depending upon
correctional strategies
Leaving Prison
 The Problem of Re-entry:
 The psychological and economic problems that lead
offenders to recidivism are rarely addressed in prison
 The habitual personal deficits like drug abuse,
criminal behavior, antisocial personality, and family
dysfunction
 Inmates leave prison without savings and few
employment prospects
 Why Do People Fail on Parole?
 Economic problems
 Family problems
 Community problems
 Legal problems
Leaving Prison
 Improving Chances of re-entry:

On April 9, 2008 Second Chance Act signed into law:

Authorized various grants to government agencies
and nonprofit groups to provide a variety of services
including:

Employment assistance

Substance abuse treatment

Family programming

State correctional agencies have made an effort to help
inmates take advantage of these services