Institutional Corrections

The Prison Experience

 Norms and Values  The inmate code ▪ Don’t interfere with inmate interests ▪ Don’t quarrel with fellow inmates ▪ Don’t exploit inmates ▪ Don’t trust the guards or the things they stand for

 Norms and Values  Fish  Prisonization  Contemporary inmate society ▪ Race ▪ Ethnicity ▪ Age

 Prison Subculture: Deprivation or Importation?  Pains of imprisonment ▪ Deprivation of liberty, autonomy, security, goods and services, and heterosexual relationships  Three subcultures ▪ Convict, thief, “straight”

 Adaptation  Adaptive Roles ▪ Doing time ▪ Gleaning ▪ Jailing ▪ Disorganized criminal

 The Prison Economy  Commissary ▪ Toiletries ▪ Tobacco ▪ Snacks  Underground economy ▪ Food ▪ Homemade wine ▪ Drugs ▪ Sex

 The Subculture of Women’s Prisons  Pseudofamilies  Homosexual roles  Less stable and less familial than in the past

 Male versus Female Subcultures  Women less violent than men  Women’s prisons less violent than men’s  Women more responsive to prison programs than men  Women’s security levels mixed, men’s not  Women less likely to segregate by race than men  Women form intimate relationships with staff

 Sexual Misconduct  Any behavior that is sexual in nature directed toward an inmate by an employee, official visitor, or agency representative  Includes ▪ Touching ▪ Threats ▪ Exposure

 Sexual Misconduct  Jeopardizes facility security  Creates stress and trauma for those involved  Exposes agency and staff to potential lawsuits  Creates a hostile work environment  Victimizes the vulnerable

 Mothers and Their Children  Over 60 percent of female inmates in state prisons are mothers of minor children  Lived with children prior to incarceration  Single parents  Prison nursery programs

 Classification of Prisoners  Treatment based on assessment of needs  Risk assessment  Treatment assessment  Predictive models  Equity based models

 Educational and Vocational Programs  Educational programs ▪ Reading, English, math ▪ GED ▪ Practical problems ▪ Lack of basic skills ▪ Attitudes not conducive to learning

 Educational and Vocational Programs  Vocational programs ▪ Job skills ▪ Problems ▪ Less-desirable jobs ▪ Obsolete or outdated equipment ▪ Outdated skills ▪ Women’s programs “stereotypical” jobs ▪ Lack of attitudes and habits necessary to keep a job ▪ Barred by felony convictions

 Prison Industries  Piece price system  Public account system  State-use system  Public works and ways system

 Rehabilitative Programs  Psychotherapy  Psychotropic medications  Reality therapy  Confrontation therapy  Transactional analysis  Cognitive skill building

 Medical Services  Inmates have right to medical treatment while incarcerated  Hepatitis C  HIV  Poverty  Aging

 Medical Services  Women inmates ▪ More serious medical problems ▪ Arthritis, asthma, cancer, heart problems, liver problems, hepatitis, and sexually transmitted disease ▪ Pregnancy ▪ High risk