Chapter 16
The Prison Experience: Living in and Leaving Prison
When Were Prisons Built?

25 before 1875

79 between 1875 - 1924

141 between 1925 - 1949

First built were Auburn and Elmira which are still used
Adjusting to Prison Life

Finding a coping style

Loner

Joining a gang or group

Hustling to maintain some power

Being politically savvy
The “New” Inmate Culture

Black Power movement

Black and Latin inmates more organized

Racial polarity and tension is a dominant force

Groups form because of:

Religious or political affiliations

To combat discrimination

Previous street gang membership
Women in Prison: Female Institutions

Few institutions built before 1960

Four built between 1930 - 1950

Thirty-four built during 1980s
Women in Prison: The Nature of Institutions

Overcrowding

Smaller than male institutions

Many are minimum security

Some similar to college dorms

Many lack treatment programs
Female Inmates

Female inmates are:

Young

Minority group members

Unmarried

Undereducated

Either unemployed or underemployed

Have had a troubled family lives

Are more likely than males to be convicted of a non-violent crime and be
incarcerated for a low-level involvement in a drug crime

Display psychological problems including serious psychopathology

Likely to have had a substance abuse problem
Women in Prison: The Female Subculture

Nonviolent to staff

Lack anti-authority inmate social code

Direct anger inward


Self-mutilation (“carving”)
Make-believe families
Institutional Treatment Programs: General Types

Individual therapy

Group therapy

Educational training

Vocational training
Special-Needs Inmates


Variety of problems:

Mental problems

Physical disability problems

Infectious diseases

Elderly
Special treatment programs and facilities may be needed
Elderly Inmates

A study of elderly inmates found:

The proportion of state and federal inmates 55 years of age and older is
steadily increasing. Those over 75 will increase if current sentencing
strategies remain in place.

Most were unmarried white males with children who did not graduate
from high school.

Most were likely to be incarcerated for violent crime, often against a
family member.

They are more likely to report one or more chronic health problems.

Most states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons have implemented
limited provisions to accommodate older inmates with special needs.
Education and Vocational Programs

First programs were educational

Most common opportunity is for a GED or HS diploma

Some provide college level education

Problems of delivery require innovative approaches to educational
programs
Basic Prison Industries

Food services

Maintenance

Laundry

Agriculture
Criticisms of Vocational Programs

Inmates have trouble finding work after release

Training equipment is second-hand

Real purpose is prison upkeep and maintenance, not prisoner
preparation

Unions and others resent prison labor being dumped into the labor
pool after release
Work Release

May supplement training/education

May live in institution at night, work in community during day

Some live and work in the community

Some community-based facilities also operate as a pre-release
center

While some critics want to end work release, the program is
supported by the ACLU
Prison Industries

Contract system

Convict lease system

State Use Model
Demise of Prison Industries

Organized labor unions oppose forced labor (unfair competition)

Sumners-Ashurst Act (1940): federal offense to transport interstate
commerce goods made in prison for private use
Prison Rules: Violation Penalties

Loss of good time

Solitary confinement

Suspension of privileges

Transfer to more secure facility
Treatment Problems

Lack of funds, facilities and qualified personnel

Duality of correctional officers’ role
Inmate Conflict

Inmate violence (inmate against inmate)

Average 70 incidents/year/institution

Homosexual rape

Non-sexual assault (shake down)

Prison riots (90% of all riots have taken place since 1952)
Causes of Prison Violence

Inmates are violence prone

Prisons convert people to violence - “survival mentality”

Prison mismanagement

Overcrowding
Collective Violence in Prison

There are two distinctive theories of the cause of collective violence:

The inmate-balance theory suggests that riots and other forms of
collective action occur when prison officials make an abrupt effort
to take control of the prison and limit freedoms.

The administrative-control theory of collective violence suggests
that it is explained by prison management, lack of strong security,
and inadequate control by prison officials.
Contemporary Technocorrections

Ground penetrating radar

Heartbeat monitoring

Satellite monitoring

Pulsed radar

Sticky shocker

Backscatter imaging system for concealed weapons

Body scanning screening system
Contemporary Technocorrections (cont.)

Personal health status monitor

All-in-one drug detection spray

Radar vital signs monitor/radar flashlight

Personal alarm location system

Others not yet in use include:

Angel chip

Noninvasive body cavity scanner (MRI)

Noninvasive drug detection
Hands-off Doctrine

The judicial policy of not interfering in the administrative affairs of
prisons

Justifications include:

Correctional administration was a technical matter best left to
experts rather than the courts

Society as a whole was apathetic to what went on in prisons

Prisoners’ complaints involved privileges rather than rights
Prisoner Rights: Access to Courts and Legal Services

Inmates are entitled to have legal materials available

Inmates are entitled to have assistance in drawing up and filing
complaints
Important Cases About the Access to Courts
and Legal Services

DeMallory v. Cullen (1988) – An untrained inmate paralegal is not
equivalent alternative to law library access.

Lindquist v. Idaho State Board of Corrections (1985) – Seven inmate
law clerks for a prison population of 950 was sufficient because they
had a great deal of experience.

Smith v. Wade (1983) – An inmate who has been raped can have
access to the state court to sue.

Bounds v. Smith (1977) – State correctional systems are obligated to
provide inmates with either adequate law libraries or the help of
people trained in the law.
Important Cases in the Freedom of Press and Expression

Turner v. Safley (1987) – Prisoners do not have the right to receive mail
from one another.

Ramos v. Lamm (1980) – The institutional policy of refusing to deliver mail
in a language other than English is unconstitutional.

Procunier v. Martinez (1974) - Censorship of a prisoner’s mail is justified
only when:

(A) There exists substantial government interest in maintaining the
censorship to further prison security, order, and rehabilitation, and

(B) The restrictions are not greater or more stringent than is demanded
by security precautions.

Nolan v. Fitzpatrick (1971) – Prisoners may correspond with newspapers
unless their letters discuss escape plans or contain contraband or otherwise
objectionable material.
Prisoner Rights: Freedom of Religion

First Amendment protection

Inmates have the right to assemble and pray

Religious symbols and practices may be restricted if they interfere
with security

Special privileges can be denied
Important Cases About the Freedom of Religion

Mumin v. Phelps (1988) – Inmates can be denied special privileges
to attend religious services if there is a legitimate penological
interest.

O’Lone v. Estate of Shabazz (1987) – Prison officials can assign
inmates work schedules that make it impossible for them to attend
religious services as long as no reasonable alternative exists.

Rahman v. Stephenson (1986) – A prisoner’s rights are not violated if
the administration refuses to use the prisoner’s religious name on
official records.
Prisoner Rights: Medical Rights

Past policy was to restrict medical rights through the “exceptional
circumstances doctrine”

Estelle v. Gamble

Use deliberate indifference standard to mandate inmate’s right to
medical care
Prisoner Rights: Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Degrades human dignity

More severe than the offense

Shocks the conscience

Is deliberately indifferent to a person’s safety and well-being

Punishes people because of their status, such as race, religion, and
mental state

Is in flagrant disregard of due process of law, such as punishment
that is capriciously applied
Parole

The most common means of release from prison

Approximately 15% serve the full sentence

Very few get commutations

Almost 7,000 escape each year
Parole Boards

Usually independent state agency

Members are appointed

Usually no professional statutory qualifications for membership
Primary Functions of Parole Boards

To select and place prisoners on parole

To supervise parolees in the community

To determine when parole is complete and discharge parolees

To determine if parole revocation should take place
Parole Hearings

Discretionary parole is made at a parole hearing.

Inmates rights at the hearing vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Information considered by the parole board in making its decision includes:

Police reports of the crime

Presentence investigation report

Psychological testing and scores developed by prison mental health
professionals

Institutional reports of disciplinary actions, treatment and adjustment

Letters may be solicited from inmate’s family and friends

Victims may appear and make statements about losses they have
suffered
Conditions of Parole

Rules fall into two categories:

General rules required of all parolees

Specific rules applied to an individual case

Rules may prohibit some types of behavior and demand others

Violation of rules may lead to parole being revoked
Recidivism: A Traditional Measure of ParoleEffectiveness

What is recidivism? The definition can vary. Is it:

Those who commit another crime of any kind?

Those who commit the same type of crime?

Those whocommit crime within a certain time period?
The Problems of Re-entry

The very nature of the prison experience may cause problems:

Dehumanizing

Separation from family and friends
Lifelong personal deficits

Return to neighborhoods and social interaction with others that
prompted law-violating behavior in the first place

The Fortune Society helps prisoners break the cycle of incarceration.