1. Prison Life: Living in and Leaving Prison
Chapter Fourteen
Prison Life: Living in and Leaving Prison

2. Learning Objectives
Discuss the problems of the adult correctional system
Explain the term total institution
Explain the “prisonization” process and the development of the inmate social code
Compare the lives and cultures of male and female inmates
Discuss the causes of prison violence

3. Learning Objectives
Discuss the different forms of correctional treatment
Describe the world of correctional officers
Explain what is meant by prisoners’ rights, an discuss some key privileges that have been granted to inmates
Describe the problems of prisoner reentry

4. Men Imprisoned Total Institutions Segregated from the outside world
Constant scrutiny and surveillance
Forced to obey strict official rules
Limited personal possessions
Human functions curtailed
“No-frills” policy vs. a “rehabilitative” philosophy
Learning Objective 2

5. Men Imprisoned Living in Prison
Stripped, searched, assigned living quarters
Deprivation of liberty, goods and services, heterosexual relationships, autonomy, and security
Overcrowded prisons are filled with young, aggressive men who are responsible for majority of inmate-on-inmate assaults
Learning Objective 2

6. Men Imprisoned Adjusting to Prison
Variety of attitude and behavior changes as their sentence unfolds
Many inmates learn to adapt to the prison routine
Some inmates routinely violate institutional rules
Learning Objective 2
Living in prison is a total experience. Personal privacy and freedom are quickly stripped away in today’s overcrowded institutions. Here, an inmate sits in a cage at the California Institution for Men state prison in Chino, California. Cages are used for prisoners waiting for medical appointments, counseling, or permanent cells. The Supreme Court has ordered California to release more than 30,000 inmates or take other steps to ease overcrowding in its prisons to prevent “needless suffering and death.” California’s 33 adult prisons were designed to hold about 80,000 inmates but contained about 145,000 before the court order.

7. Men Imprisoned
Inmate subculture is the loosely defined culture that pervades prisons and has its own norms, rules, and language
Elements of the Inmate Social Code
Don’t interfere with inmates’ interests
Don’t lose your head
Don’t exploit inmates
Be tough and don’t lose your dignity
Don’t be a sucker
Learning Objective 3

8. Thinking Point Men Imprisoned
How might the existence of an inmate social code impact one’s likelihood of successful reentry into the community after their release?
Can we expect an individual to simply turn on and off these characteristics depending on their physical location (in or out of prison)?
Learning Objective 3

9. Women Imprisoned Female Institutions Smaller than male institutions
Non-secure
Lack of adequate training for inmates
Counseling by laypeople
Lack of parenting programs
Lack of job training
Learning Objective 4

10. Female Inmates Young Minorities Unmarried Parents Undereducated
Unemployed or underemployed
Troubled family lives
Physical/sexual abuse
Substance abuse
Health issues
Mental health issues
Suicide
Learning Objective 4

11. Women Imprisoned Adapting to the Female Institution
Different from male institutions
Less danger to staff
Less violent behavior
Less aggressive sexual behavior
More social support both internal and external
Learning Objective 4

12. Women Imprisoned Adapting to the Female Institution
Anger is directed inward instead of outward
Depression
Make believe family substitute family groups with a faux father, mother, and siblings
Learning Objective 4
Many incarcerated women are mothers, and keeping them in contact with their children is considered important for their rehabilitation. Alicia Stenzel stands with her child at the fence of the Indiana Women’s Prison (IWP), where she is currently incarcerated. Her child’s visit is made possible by the Family Preservation Program. The program has expanded to include the Wee Ones Nursery, which enables eligible offenders who deliver while incarcerated at IWP to reside with their infant at the facility for up to18 months or until the mother’s earliest possible release date, whichever is sooner.

13. Prison Violence Individual Violence Collective Violence
History of prior violence
Psychological malady
Prison conditions
Lack of dispute resolution mechanisms
Basic survival
Collective Violence
Inmate-balance theory
Administrative-control theory
Prison overcrowding theory
Learning Objective 5

14. Prison Violence Sexual Violence
Young males may be raped and kept as sexual slaves by older, more aggressive inmates
Weaker inmates may agree to such arrangements for protection
Difficult to get an accurate reading of the true incidence of prison rape
Learning Objective 5

15. Prison Violence What factors lead to sexual victimization?
White inmates are attacked more than any other race
Victims are generally younger than their assailants
Mentally ill or intellectually impaired inmates are more likely to be victimized
Cellblocks with solid cell fronts may contribute to sexual assault
In women’s prisons, sexual assault may be at the hands of correctional officers
Learning Objective 5

16. Thinking Point Prison Violence
How does our understanding of sexual victimization in prison compare and contrast to our understanding of sexual victimization outside of prison?
Do some of the same reasons exist for not reporting?
Are some of the reasons different?
How can these differences be explained?
Learning Objective 5

17. Correctional Rehabilitation
Individual and group counseling
May involve anger management or cognitive behavior therapy
Faith based programs
Drug treatment programs
Treating the AIDS-infected inmate
Learning Objective 6

18. Correctional Rehabilitation
Participation in these programs has benefits both in and out of prisons
More than 40 states have attempted to implement work release or furlough programs
Learning Objective 6

19. Correctional Rehabilitation
Educational and Vocational Programs
Work release
Allows inmates to be released during the day to work in the community, returning to prison at night
Furlough
Allows inmates to leave the institution for vocational or educational training, for employment, or to maintain family ties
Private prison enterprise
Post-release programs
Learning Objective 6

20. Correctional Rehabilitation
Can Rehabilitation Work?
Rehabilitation does work
Elements of successful programs
Teach interpersonal skills
Provide individual counseling
Make use of behavior modification techniques
Use cognitive-behavioral therapy
Stress improving moral reasoning
Combine in-prison therapeutic communities with follow-up community treatment
Learning Objective 6

21. Thinking Point Correctional Rehabilitation
If you were in charge of a prison, what type(s) of rehabilitation programs would you implement?
Why and how do you think these programs would be useful?
Do you think the general public believes such programs in prisons are a good use of the taxpayer’s money? Why or why not?
Learning Objective 6

22. Guarding the Institution
Guarding the institution is a complex task
Roles of correctional officers include:
Supervision of inmates
Sit on disciplinary boards
Escort inmates to/from court
Greatest problem is the conflict between security and treatment
Learning Objective 7

23. Guarding the Institution
Female Correctional Officers
Little difference in behavior or use of aggressive tactics
Discipline has not suffered
Beneficial effect
Assignment to male institutions may boost career
Learning Objective 7

24. Prisoners’ Rights The hands-off doctrine
The legal practice of allowing prison administrators a free hand in running the institution, even if correctional practices violate inmates’ constitutional rights
The hands-off doctrine ended with the onset of the prisoners’ rights movement in the 1960s
Learning Objective 8

25. Prisoners’ Rights Substantive Rights
Access to courts, legal services, and materials
Freedom of the press and of expression
Freedom of religion
Medical rights
Cruel and unusual punishment
Physical abuse
Racial segregation
Overall prison conditions
Learning Objective 8

26. Leaving Prison Parole The parole board’s primary functions:
The early release of a prisoner from imprisonment subject to conditions set by correctional authorities
The parole board’s primary functions:
Select and place prisoners on parole
Aid, supervise, and provide continuing control of parolees in the community
Determine when the parole function is completed and to discharge parolees
Determine whether parole should be revoked if violations of conditions occur
Learning Objective 9

27. Leaving Prison Parole Hearings
Review of cases differs across jurisdictions
Factors that are considered are the inmate’s crime, their institutional record, and their willingness to accept responsibility
Inmates rights vary across jurisdictions
No federal right to legal representation
Exclusionary rule does not apply
Learning Objective 9

28. Leaving Prison Problems of Reentry Prison experience
Supervision on the outside
Personal deficits
Economic deficits
Employment helps
Marriage and family deficits
Community deficits
Learning Objective 9

29. Leaving Prison Risks of Reentry Inadequate treatment Lack of savings
Lack of employment prospects
Women face special challenges
Effect on communities
Learning Objective 9

30. Leaving Prison Risks of Reentry Improving chances on reentry
Offender notification forums
Reentry courts
Community based interventions
Legal restrictions
Learning Objective 9