Corrections The Essentials Fourth Edition by Mary K. Store and Anthony Walsh

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corrections the essentials

Written by former practitioners who are experts in
the field, Corrections: The Essentials, addresses
the most important topics in corrections in a
brief yet comprehensive format. Authors Mary
K. Stohr and Anthony Walsh introduce students
to the history and development of correctional
institutions while offering a unique perspective
on ethics and special populations. The Fourth
Edition provides insights into the future of
corrections, as well as updated coverage of the
most important issues impacting the field today.
FOURTH EDITION
Cover Photo: © iStock.com/naphtalina
MARY K. STOHR | ANTHONY WALSH
Stohr_Corrections_Essentials_4e_pbk.indd 1 10/12/20 2:52 PM

Corrections
Fourth Edition
Mary K. Stohr: To my dad and mom, the late Robert (Stanley) Stohr and Elizabeth (Betty) Stohr.
They were so skilled and loving when “correcting” and guiding their own eight children (I was third)
that much of what I know about love, forgiveness, and life comes from them. I will be forever grateful for the
gift they were as parents. I would also like to dedicate this to my husband, Craig Hemmens, and our daughter,
Emily Rose Stohr-Gillmore, for their love and support; I could do nothing well without them.
Anthony Walsh: To my drop-dead gorgeous wife, Grace; my sons, Robert and Michael; my stepdaughters,
Heidi and Kasey; my grandchildren, Robbie, Ryan, Mikey, Randy, Christopher, Ashlyn, Morgan, Stevie,
Vivien, and Frankie; and my great-grandchildren, Kaelyn, Logan, Keagan, Brayden, Caleb, and Luke.
I also want to dedicate this to Mary and her husband, Craig. We have been colleagues, friends,
and coauthors for so many years that I don’t know what I’ll do without them
now that they have moved to Washington and to greener pastures.
Sara Miller McCune founded SAGE Publishing in 1965 to support

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Corrections
The Essentials
Fourth Edition
Mary K. Stohr
Washington State University
Anthony Walsh
Boise State University
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B 1/I 1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area Names: Stohr, Mary K., author. | Walsh, Anthony, 1941- author.
Mathura Road, New Delhi 110 044 Title: Corrections : the essentials / Mary K. Stohr, Washington State University,
India Anthony Walsh, Boise State University.
Description: Fourth edition. | Thousand Oaks, California : SAGE, [2022] |
SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte. Ltd. Includes bibliographical references and index.
18 Cross Street #10-10/11/12
Identifiers: LCCN 2020039942 | ISBN 978-1-5443-9877-8 (paperback ; alk. paper) |
China Square Central ISBN 978-1-5443-9882-2 | ISBN 978-1-5443-9878-5 (epub) |
Singapore 048423 ISBN 978-1-5443-9880-8 (epub) | ISBN 978-1-5443-9879-2 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Corrections—United States. | Criminal justice,
Administration of—United States. | Punishment—United States.
Classification: LCC HV9275 .C6333 2022 | DDC 365/.973—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020039942
Acquisitions Editor: Jessica Miller This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Editorial Assistant: Sarah Wilson
Content Development Editors:
Laura Kearns and Darcy Scelsi
Copy Editor: Jim Kelly
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Brief Contents
Preface xvi
About the Authors xix
Chapter 1 • The Philosophical and Ideological

Underpinnings of Corrections 1
Chapter 2 • Early Corrections: From Ancient Times to
Correctional Institutions 25
Chapter 3 • Ethics and Corrections 61
Chapter 4 • Sentencing: The Application of
Punishment 79
Chapter 5 • Jails and Detention Centers 107
Chapter 6 • Community Corrections: Probation and
Intermediary Sanctions 139
Chapter 7 • Prisons and the Correctional Client 163
Chapter 8 • The Corrections Experience for Staff 193
Chapter 9 • Community Corrections: Parole and
Prisoner Reentry 217
Chapter 10 • Women and Corrections 243
Chapter 11 • People of Color and Corrections 269
Chapter 12 • Juveniles and Corrections 293
Chapter 13 • Legal Issues in Corrections and the
Death Penalty 315
Chapter 14 • Correctional Programming and Treatment 345
Chapter 15 • Corrections in the 21st Century 369
Answers to Test Your Knowledge 385

Glossary 391
References 399
Index 422
Detailed Contents
Preface xvi
About the Authors xix
Chapter 1 • The Philosophical and Ideological

Underpinnings of Corrections 1
Test Your Knowledge 1
Learning Objectives 1
Introduction: What Is Corrections? 2
From Arrest to Punishment 3
The Theoretical Underpinnings of Corrections 3
A Short History of Correctional Punishment 4
The Emergence of the Classical School 5
The Emergence of Positivism: Should Punishment
Fit the Offender or the Offense? 6
The Function of Punishment 7
PERSPECTIVE FROM A PRACTITIONER:
Robert Bayer, Prison Warden 8
The Philosophical Assumptions Behind Justifications for Punishment 9
The Major Punishment Justifications 10
Retribution 10
Deterrence 11
Incapacitation 13
Selective Incapacitation 14
Rehabilitation 15
Reintegration 16
The Due Process and Crime Control Models and Cultural Comparisons 16
COMPARATIVE CORRECTIONS: The Four Legal
Traditions and Why They Are Useful to Know 17
IN FOCUS 1.1: Is the United States Hard or Soft on Crime? 19
Summary 20
Key Terms 21
Discussion Questions 22
Chapter 2 • Early Corrections: From Ancient Times to

Correctional Institutions 25
Introduction: The Evolving Practice of Corrections and the Grand Reforms 26
Themes: Truths That Underlie Correctional Practice 27
Early Punishments in Westernized Countries 30
The First Jails 31
IN FOCUS 2.1: The Tower of London 32
Galley Slavery 33
Poverty and Bridewells, Debtors’ Prisons,
and Houses of Correction 33
Transportation 34
Enlightenment—Paradigm Shift 35
John Howard 36
IN FOCUS 2.2: Modern-Day John Howard—Dr. Ken Kerle 37
Bentham and Beccaria 37
William Penn 39
Colonial Jails and Prisons 39
Early Modern Prisons 41
The Walnut Street Jail 41
The Pennsylvania Prison Model (Separate System) 42
Auburn, Sing Sing, and the New York (Congregate) System 44
IN FOCUS 2.3: Lewis E. Lawes’s Observations on Sing Sing’s
History and Discipline 47
Early Prisons and Jails Not Reformed 48
Prisons: “The Shame of Another Generation” 48
Dorothea Dix’s Evaluation of Prisons and Jails 49
The Failure of Reform Is Noted 50
The Renewed Promise of Reform 51
The 1870 American Prison Congress 51
Elmira 51
The Creation of Probation and Parole 52
American Corrections in the 20th and 21st Centuries 52
Southern and Northern Prisons and the Contract and
Lease Systems 52
Industrial Prisons 53
Correctional Institutions or Warehouse Prisons? 53
Themes That Prevail in Correctional History 55
PERSPECTIVE FROM A PRACTITIONER: Pat Mahoney,
Alcatraz Corrections Officer 56
Summary 56
Key Terms 58
Chapter 3 • Ethics and Corrections 61

Introduction: To Do the Right Thing! 62
Defining Ethics: What Is Right (and Wrong)? 62
IN FOCUS 3.1: A Lack of Ethics: Florida’s Youth Services
International Private Prisons for Youth 63
Ethical Foundation for Professional Practice 64
Ethical Formalism 65
POLICY AND RESEARCH: Inmate with a Mental Illness Dies at Rikers 65
Utilitarianism 66
Religious Perspective 66
Natural Law 66
Ethics of Virtue 66
Ethics of Care 67
Egoism 67
Why People Behave Unethically 67
Official Deviance 67
Noble Cause Corruption 68
Subculture 69
IN FOCUS 3.2: Subcultural Values of Probation and Parole Officers 70
How to Prevent Unethical Behavior and Promote Ethical Work Practices 70
IN FOCUS 3.3: The Abuse of Solitary Confinement in Florida 72
War on Drugs = Attack on Ethics? 73
Summary 75
Key Terms 76
Chapter 4 • Sentencing: The Application of Punishment 79

Introduction: What Is Sentencing? 80
Types of Sentences: Indeterminate, Determinate, and Mandatory 81
Habitual Offender Statutes 83
Other Types of Sentences: Shock, Split, and Noncustodial Sentences 84
Victim Impact Statements 84
Problem-Solving Courts 85
Drug Courts 86
Sentencing Disparity, Legitimate and Illegitimate 89
Structuring Sentencing: The Presentence Investigation Report 92
IN FOCUS 4.1: Example of a PSI 93
PSI Controversies 94
PERSPECTIVE FROM A PRACTITIONER: Laura Kiehl, Presentence Investigator 95
Structured Sentencing: Sentencing Guidelines 96
IN FOCUS 4.2: Policy Statement of the American
Correctional Association Regarding Sentencing 101
The Future of Sentencing Guidelines 102
COMPARATIVE CORRECTIONS: Sentencing in Comparison Countries 103
Summary 104
Key Terms 105
Chapter 5 • Jails and Detention Centers 107

Introduction: The Community Institution 108
Jail Types 108
Jail Inmates and Their Processing 109
Trends in Jail Populations 110
Overcrowding 110
Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Juveniles 112
People Living in Poverty and People with Mental Illnesses 114
POLICY AND RESEARCH: High Schools in Jails 115
Jails and Immigrants 118
Brian Cole, County Corrections Director 119
IN FOCUS 5.1: An Account of Suicide, Mental Health,
and the Need for Increased Mental Health Services 121
Medical Problems 122
Older Inmates 122
Female Inmates 122
Juvenile Inmates 122
The Right to Medical Care 123
Jails and the Novel Coronavirus 123
Substance Abuse and Jails 124
Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails 125
Suicides 125
Gangs 128
Sexual Violence 128
IN FOCUS 5.2: Prison Rape Elimination Act Controversy 130
Innovations in Jails 130
New-Generation, or Podular, Direct Supervision Jails 130
Community Jails 131
Coequal Staffing 133
Reentry Programs for Jails 133
Release on Recognizance and Bail Programs for Jails 134
Summary 135
Key Terms 135
Chapter 6 • Community Corrections: Probation and

Intermediary Sanctions 139
Introduction: The Origins of Probation 140
Number and Demographic Characteristics of
Offenders on Probation 141
Why Do We Need Community Corrections? 143
The Probation Officer Role and Models of Probation Supervision 145
Brian Fallock, Probation and Parole Officer 146
Models of Probation Supervision 147
Probation Violations and Graduated Sanctions 149
Probation Officer Stress 151
Engaging the Community to Prevent Recidivism 152
COMPARATIVE CORRECTIONS: Community Corrections
in the United Kingdom 153
Intermediate Sanctions 154
Work Release 155
Intensive Supervision Probation 155
Shock Probation and Parole and Boot Camps 157
Victim–Offender Reconciliation Programs 158
IN FOCUS 6.1: Community Supervision and Recidivism 159
Summary 160
Key Terms 161
Chapter 7 • Prisons and the Correctional Client 163
Introduction: The State of Prisons 164
Prison Organizations 165
Classification 165
Prison Types and Levels 165
Prison Value? 170
Attributes of a Prison That Shape the Experience 170
Total Institutions, Mortification, Importation, and Prisonization 170
Pains of Imprisonment 171
The Prison Subculture 173
Gangs and the Prison Subculture 174
Violence 176
Why Prisons Are Violent 176
The Amount of Violence 176
Sexual Assaults 176
Rioting 178
IN FOCUS 7.1: Alabama Prisons Violate the Constitution 179
Strategies to Reduce Violence 181
PERSPECTIVE FROM A PRACTITIONER: Michael Klein, Correctional Officer 184
Older People and People with Physical and Mental Illnesses 184
LGBTQ+ Inmates 186
Immigration Prisons 188
Summary 188
Key Terms 189
Chapter 8 • The Corrections Experience for Staff 193

Introduction: What Is a Profession? 194
The State of the Work in Correctional Institutions and Programs 195
Growth in Staff and Clients or Inmates 195
Perceived Benefits of Correctional Work 198
Collective Bargaining 199
Why Require More Education and Training? 200
Stanford Prison Experiment 200
Abu Ghraib 201
Ethics 202
IN FOCUS 8.1: ACA Code of Ethics 203
Correctional Work Is Little Understood 203
Individual-Level Factors That Affect the Correctional Workplace 204
PERSPECTIVE FROM A PRACTITIONER: Michael Klein,
Correctional Officer 205
Race or Ethnicity and Gender 205
Age 207
Prior Military Service 207
Correctional Roles 207
The Role Defined 207
Street-Level Bureaucrats 208
Hack Versus Human Service 209
The Subculture and Socialization 209
Subcultural Values 210
Staff Interactions With Inmates 210
The Defects of Total Power 210
The Correctional Role When Supervising Children 211
POLICY AND RESEARCH: Staff Stress, Burnout, and Turnover 212
Abuse of Power 213
Use of Force 213
Summary 214
Key Terms 215
Chapter 9 • Community Corrections:

Parole and Prisoner Reentry 217
Introduction: What Is Parole? 218
Brief History of Parole 218
The Modern Parole System 220
Parolee Recidivism 221
IN FOCUS 9.1: Example of Parole Conditions 223
Parole Boards 226
PERSPECTIVE FROM A PRACTITIONER: Lisa Growette Bostaph,
Parole Commissioner 227
What Goes In Must Come Out: Prisoner Reentry Into
the Community 228
The Impact of Imprisonment and Reentry on Communities 229
What Makes for a Successful Reentry? 230
Determining Parole “Success” 231
Parole Violations and Graduated Sanctions 232
Halfway Houses 232
House Arrest, Electronic Monitoring, and
Global Positioning Systems 235
COMPARATIVE CORRECTIONS: Chinese Community Corrections 236
Concluding Remarks on Reentry and Recidivism 237
Legal Issues in Parole 238
Summary 240
Key Terms 241
Chapter 10 • Women and Corrections 243

Introduction: Women and Corrections 244
The History of Women in Prisons 244
Race in Early Prisons 245
Discipline in Women’s Prisons 246
Hiring of Female Matrons 246
Houses of Refuge for Girls and Boys 247
Growth in Numbers of Women and Girls 248
Current Figures on the Number of Women and Girls
in Corrections 248
Female Correctional Clients 249
Female Staff 249
Feminism 251
Females in Corrections: Needs, Programming, Abuse,
and Adjustment 252
Needs and Programming 252
IN FOCUS 10.1: Orange Is the New Black (or Not) 255
Abuse 255
Adjustment, Misconduct, and Pseudo-Families 257
Female Correctional Officers 259
Overcoming Employment Obstacles 259
PERSPECTIVE FROM A PRACTITIONER: Kay Heinrich,
Correctional Program Manager 260
Current Status 262
Summary 265
Key Terms 265
Chapter 11 • People of Color and Corrections 269

Introduction: People of Color and Corrections 270
Defining Race, Ethnicity, Disparity, and Discrimination 270
A Legacy of Racism 271
Black Americans 272
IN FOCUS 11.1: The Scottsboro Case 273
IN FOCUS 11.2: Fourteen Examples of Racism in the
Criminal Justice System 274
Native Americans 276
Hispanics, or Latinx 277
Asian Americans 278
POLICY AND RESEARCH: Documented Lynchings of
Mexican Americans 279
The Connection Between Class and Race or Ethnicity 280
People of Color: Policies and Practices That Have Resulted in
Increased Incarceration 281
The Drug War: The New Jim Crow? 281
Crack Versus Powder Cocaine 283
IN FOCUS 11.3: Harsh Justice and the Scott Sisters 284
Racial Profiling and Driving While Black or Brown 285
People of Color: Adjustment to Incarceration 286
Victimization by Race and Ethnicity 287
Probation or Prison? 287
PERSPECTIVE FROM A PRACTITIONER: James Watkins,
Classification Counselor 287
People of Color Working in Corrections 289
Summary 290
Key Terms 291
Chapter 12 • Juveniles and Corrections 293
Introduction: Delinquency and Status Offending 294
The Extent of Delinquency 294
The Juvenile Brain and Juvenile Behavior 295
History and Philosophy of Juvenile Justice 298
Childhood in the United States 299
The Beginning of the Juvenile Courts 299
Processing Juvenile Offenders 300
Juveniles Waived to Criminal Court 301
Extending Due Process to Juveniles 302
Juveniles and the Death Penalty 304
Juvenile Community Corrections 305
PERSPECTIVE FROM A PRACTITIONER: Skyler Brouwer,
Juvenile Probation Officer 308
Intensive Probation 309
Residential and Institutional Juvenile Corrections 310
COMPARATIVE CORRECTIONS: Juvenile Justice Philosophies 311
Summary 312
Key Terms 313
Chapter 13 • Legal Issues in Corrections and

the Death Penalty 315
Introduction: The History of Law in Corrections 316
The Rule of Law 316
The Hands-Off Period: 1866–1963 317
The Prisoners’ Rights Period: 1964–1978 318
The Deference Period: 1997 to Present 319
Application of the Amendments to the Constitution to
Convicted Felons 320
First Amendment 320
Fourth Amendment 321
IN FOCUS 13.1: Any Complaints This Morning? 322
Eighth Amendment 324
Fourteenth Amendment 325
Curtailing Prisoner Petitions 325
The Death Penalty and Public Opinion 327
Methods of Execution Used in the United States 329
Legal Challenges to the Death Penalty 329
Does the Death Penalty Deter? 331
Financial Costs and the Death Penalty 332
Disparity in Death Sentences 333
The Issue of the Victim’s Race 334
Women and the Death Penalty 335
The Death Penalty and Mental Disability 336
The Death Penalty and Mental Illness 337
COMPARATIVE CORRECTIONS: The Death Penalty in
China and Saudi Arabia 338
The Innocence Revolution 339
PERSPECTIVE FROM A PRACTITIONER: Ginny Hatch,
Investigator for Idaho Innocence Project 340
Summary 341
Key Terms 343
Chapter 14 • Correctional Programming and Treatment 345

Introduction: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of Rehabilitation 346
IN FOCUS 14.1: The American Correctional Association’s
1870 Declaration on Treatment 347
The Shift From “Nothing Works” to “What Works?” 347
Evidence-Based Practices 348
Risk, Needs, and Responsivity (RNR) Model 350
Offenders’ Risks and Needs 350
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy 352
Substance Abuse Programming 353
Drug Treatment With Swift Consequences for Failure:
Hawaii’s HOPE Program 355
Therapeutic Communities 355
PERSPECTIVE FROM A PRACTITIONER: Margaret Jackson,
Drug Treatment Specialist 356
Pharmacological Treatment 358
Anger Management 358
Sex Offenders and Their Treatment 359
Offenders with Mental Illnesses 361
COMPARATIVE CORRECTIONS: Offender Treatment 364
Summary 365
Key Terms 365
Chapter 15 • Corrections in the 21st Century 369

Introduction: Learning From the Past So That We Have
Hope for the Future 370
Punitive Policies Yield Overuse of Corrections 370
Decarceration 373
Explanations for the Decline in the Use of Incarceration 373
The Recession and Decreased Use of Incarceration 374
Implications of Decarceration and the Need for a
Plan of Action 375
Penal Help Versus Penal Harm 375
Professionalization 376
Corrections Is a Relationship Business 376
Privatization 377
The Profit Motive in Corrections 377
The Walnut Grove Correctional Facility 378
Idaho’s Own Private Prison 379
The Extent of Privatization and Its Problems 380
Concluding Thoughts 381
Summary 382
Key Terms 382

Glossary 391
References 399
Index 422
Preface
T
here are plenty of excellent corrections books available for use, but we think this
particular book fills a niche for professors and students in that it is comprehensive
and relatively inexpensive. These twin ideas became our goals and guided our
development and writing of this textbook. We wanted to cover the most interesting and
compelling information currently available on all aspects of corrections while also keeping
the page limit within reason and the book published as a paperback. We hope readers will
find this work both informative and accessible.
The information in this textbook is what you might expect from major texts. However,
beyond the facts, figures, and concepts commonly contained in textbooks, this book also
showcases the history and research on a number of aspects of corrections. In the interest
of brevity, and in response to reviewers’ suggestions, we did condense two chapters on
history into one (albeit a long one!), but it still provides a historical perspective and
framework for all that follows in corrections. We also condensed the two chapters on legal
issues and capital punishment into one. We also believe that the presentation of research
findings from academic, government, and journalistic sources, which were updated
where appropriate, provides the context for understanding policy decisions and their
consequences, both past and present.
Other special features of the book, which are designed to develop perspective, include
brief comparative corrections sections in a number of chapters that highlight what other
countries are doing in terms of correctional operation. This glimpse of corrections inter-
nationally is meant to provide readers with another way of viewing correctional practice
in the United States while also giving them some insight into how alternative practices
might work. In many of the chapters, we also include practitioner perspective sections on
the topics discussed in those chapters; doing so allows us to learn how policy and theory
get translated into practice in the field. In each chapter, we include ethical dilemmas that
challenge students to think critically about the material and acknowledge the complexities
of the correction system.
This book can serve as a primary text for an undergraduate course in corrections or as
a supplemental text for a graduate course. The areas covered are comparable with those in
other major texts, with the exceptions noted above regarding the inclusion of enhanced
research, comparative perspectives, and the ethical dilemmas. Undergraduates, we hope,
will find this book informative and enlivening. Graduate students might use it as an intro-
duction, overview, and backdrop for other, more specialized books or articles. Discussion
questions appear at the end of each chapter and might be used by both types of students to
spur thought about, and critique of, corrections.
Structure of the Book

The structure of the book is much like that found in other textbooks on corrections. We
begin with an overview of corrections and some key concepts. We include a chapter on
history, then follow the flow of the corrections system, from sentencing, to jails, to proba-
tion, to prisons. We include a chapter on ethics in corrections, as the third chapter, to pre-
pare students to review operations and institutional and individual actions through that
xvi
Preface xvii
kind of lens. We then stop and examine the correctional experience for staff after exam-
ining the experience for inmates and probationers in the preceding chapters. We finish
the system description with a discussion of parole and reentry. In the three chapters that
follow, we address the reality for women, people of color, and juveniles in corrections. We
then focus attention on legal issues, capital punishment, and correctional programming
and treatment. We end with a look to the future of corrections and what developments we
might expect during the coming years.
New to This Edition

In this fourth edition of Corrections: The Essentials, we have combined the historical
content into one chapter. We have also combined the legal issues and death penalty con-
tent into one chapter, and we have updated the coverage of ethical considerations, special
populations, and the effect of immigration policies to provide students with the context
for understanding policy decisions and their consequences, both past and present. We
also provide more coverage of disparities in sentencing and drug courts as a means of
encouraging students to think critically about U.S. drug policies and the effectiveness
of those policies. In fact, all chapters have been thoroughly updated to reflect the most
current data, facts, figures, and research available, thus helping students understand the
world of corrections today.
Digital Resources
At SAGE we know your time is valuable. To improve efficiency and effectiveness in teaching
your classes and to help engage your students, we cultivate an impressive array of tools and
resources for review, study, and further exploration, keeping both instructors and students
on the cutting edge of teaching and learning. Please visit the product page for this book at
us.sagepub.com to access those materials. Learning and teaching has never been easier!
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank executive editor Jessica Miller. We have worked with her on
this edition and other corrections texts since Jerry Westby’s retirement and have appre-
ciated her support and patience with us as we updated the book for this fourth edition.
We also would like to thank our development editors, Laura Kirkhuff and Darcy Scelsi,
who helped shepherd the book through the revision process. Our copy editor, Jim
Kelly, ensured that the sentences were clean, the spelling was correct, and every missing
reference was found.
We would also like to acknowledge each other. We were colleagues at Boise State
University for many years, the last several (before Mary moved to Missouri State in 2011
and then to Washington State in 2013) with offices right next door to each other. We each
have come to appreciate the work and perspectives of the other. This work was a true col-
laboration between us and reflects our shared belief in the possibilities for decency and
justice as that is elaborated on by social institutions and their workers and by individuals
willing to change.
We are also grateful to the reviewers who took the time to review early drafts of our work
and who provided us with helpful suggestions for improving the chapters and the book
as a whole. There is no doubt that their comments made the book much better than it would
have otherwise been.
xviii CORRECTIONS
Heartfelt thanks go to the following experts consulted on the first, second, third, and
now fourth editions:
Reviewers of the Fourth Edition

Samantha L. Carlo, Miami Dade College; Elizabeth L. Grossi; Dr. Paul “P. K.” Klenowki,
Clarion University of Pennsylvania; Michael A. McQuiston, Las Positas College;
Christopher James Utecht, College of Lake County; and Haley Zettler, University of
North Texas.
Reviewers of the Third Edition

Samantha L. Carlo, Miami Dade College; Michael S. Caudy, University of Texas at San
Antonio; Erin Graybill Ellis, Texas Woman’s University; Barbara Peat, University of Texas
at El Paso; Jo Ann M. Short, Northern Virginia Community College; and Karin J. Storm,
Brandman University.
Reviewers of the Second Edition

Andy Bain, University of Mount Union (Ohio); Nikki Banks, Grand Rapids Community
College; Lisa M. Carter, Florida Southern College; Meghan E. Hollis, Michigan State
University; Jennifer L. Lanterman, University of Nevada, Reno; Joe Marinello, James
Kane Record, California University of Pennsylvania; Joel L. Carr, Texas A&M University–
Kingsville; and Caryn E. Saxon, Missouri State University.
Reviewers of the First Edition

Deborah Baskin, California State University, Los Angeles; Laura Hansen, University of
Massachusetts, Boston; George Costanza, University of South Alabama; Jessie Krienert,
Illinois State University; Sheree Morgan, St. Cloud State University; Mario Paparozzi,
University of North Carolina, Pembroke; Marie Griffin, Arizona State University; and
Robert Homant, University of Detroit.
About the Authors
Mary K. Stohr is a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology

at Washington State University. She received a PhD (1990) in political science from
Washington State University, with specializations in criminal justice and public
administration. Many moons ago, and before she earned her graduate degrees, she
worked as a correctional officer and then as a counselor in an adult male prison in
Washington State. Professor Stohr has published more than 100 academic works in the
areas of correctional organizations and operation, correctional personnel, inmate needs
and assessment, program evaluation, gender, policing, victimization, and drug policy
outcomes. Books coauthored with others include The American Prison (with Cullen and
Jonson); Corrections: The Essentials (with Walsh); Correctional Assessment, Casework
and Counseling (with Walsh); Corrections: A Text Reader (with Walsh and Hemmens);
Criminal Justice Management: Theory and Practice in Justice-Centered Organizations
(with Collins); and The Prison Experience (with Hemmens). She was the executive director
of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) for 5 years, received the Fellows
Award from ACJS in 2018, received the Founders Award in 2009, and is a cofounder of
the Corrections and Minorities and Women Sections of ACJS.
Anthony Walsh, is a professor of criminology at Boise State University. He received

his PhD from Bowling Green State University at the ripe old age of 43. He has field expe-
rience in law enforcement and corrections and is the author of more than 150 journal
articles and book chapters and 41 books, including Biology and Criminology; Feminist
Criminology Through a Biosocial Lens; Law, Justice, and Society (with Hemmens);
Correctional Assessment, Casework, and Counseling (with Stohr); The Neurobiology of
Criminal Behavior: Gene-Brain-Culture Interaction (with Bolen, Ashgate); Corrections: The
Essentials (with Stohr); The Science Wars: The Politics of Gender and Race; Criminological
Theory: Assessing Philosophical Assumptions; Biosociology: Bridging the Biology-Sociology
Divide; Criminology: The Essentials (with Jorgensen); and Answering Atheists: How Science
Points to God and the Benefits of Christianity. His interests include biosocial criminology,
statistics, and criminal justice assessment and counseling.
xix
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1
The Philosophical and
Ideological Underpinnings
of Corrections
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Test your current knowledge of corrections by answering the
following questions as true or false. Check your answers on page 385 Upon completion of this chapter, the reader
after reading the chapter. should be able to:
1. Whatever we choose to call it, corrections is about 1.1 Describe the function of corrections and
punishment, and punishment is considered to require its philosophical underpinnings.
philosophical justification.
1.2 Differentiate between the classical
2. The strongest deterrent against crime is the severity of
punishment. and positivist schools in terms of their
respective stances on the function of
3. The fundamental principle of American justice is that
punishment should fit the crime; all other factors are irrelevant.
punishment.
4. As bad as it may sound, people feel pleasure when wrongdoers 1.3 Define and describe retribution,
are punished. deterrence, incapacitation, selective
5. The law assumes that people are rational and possess incapacitation, rehabilitation, and
freedom of choice. reintegration.
6. Philosophies of punishment depend quite a bit on concepts of 1.4 Explain the distinction between the
human nature. (Are we naturally good, bad, or just selfish?)
crime control and due process models.
7. Studies find that when criminals are punished they tend to be
deterred from crime.
8. The United States incarcerates people at a higher rate than any
other country in the world.
WHAT IS PUNISHME NT ?
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book The Scarlet Letter, first published in 1850 and read in high
school by generations of Americans thereafter, opens with the following words: “The
founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might
originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to
allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison”
(Hawthorne, 1850/2003, p. 1). Hawthorne was reminding us of two things we cannot
avoid—death and human moral fallibility—and that we must make provisions for both.
Of course, punishment is not all about prisons, given that other forms are available. In
Hawthorne’s novel, Hester Prynne is found guilty of adultery and of bearing a child out of
wedlock. While all too common today, in the novel’s setting, the 17th-century Massachusetts
Bay Colony, it was a major crime against “God and man.” The colony was a very close-knit
and homogeneous community, meaning that there was strong and widespread agreement
about the norms of acceptable behavior. Hester’s behavior was viewed as so outrageous
that among the various penalties discussed by women viewing her trial were branding with
hot irons and death “for the shame she has brought on us all.” However, she was sentenced
to what we might call community corrections today. She was to forever endure the scorn
of her community and to forever wear the badge of shame on her dress—an elaborately
embroidered letter A, branding her as an adulteress.
(Continued)
1
2 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
Such a reaction to Hester’s behavior was aimed just as much at onlookers as at Hester
herself—“This could happen to me too!” That is, the authorities not only wished to deter
Hester from such behavior in the future but also wished to dissuade all others from
similar behavior. Few people give much serious thought to why we need correctional
systems, what state punishment is, why we do it, and why the urge to punish wrongdoers
is universal and strong. How did such an urge get into us? What are the origins of
punishment? What would society be like without it? How do we justify imposing harm on
others, and what do our justifications assume about human nature? These are the issues
we explore in this chapter.
Introduction: What Is Corrections?

LO 1.1 Describe the function of corrections and its philosophical underpinnings.
As Hawthorne intimated in the opening vignette, the primary responsibility of any gov-
ernment is to protect its citizens from those who would harm them. The military protects
us from foreign threats, and the criminal justice system protects us from domestic threats
posed by criminals. The criminal justice system is divided into three major subsystems—the
police, the courts, and corrections—which we may call the catch ’em, convict ’em, and cor-
rect ’em trinity. Thus, corrections is a system embedded in a broader collection of protection
agencies, one that comes into play after the accused has been caught by law enforcement and
prosecuted and convicted by the courts.
Corrections: Functions carried Corrections is a generic term covering a variety of functions carried out by government
out by government and private
agencies having to do with
(and increasingly private) agencies having to do with the punishment, treatment, super-
the punishment, treatment, vision, and management of individuals who have been convicted or accused of criminal
supervision, and management of offenses. These functions are implemented in prisons, jails, and other secure institutions
individuals who have been accused
or convicted of criminal offenses. as well as in community-based correctional agencies such as probation and parole depart-
ments. Corrections is also the name we give to the field of academic study of the theories,
missions, policies, systems, programs, and personnel that implement those functions as well
as the behaviors and experiences of offenders. As the term implies, the correctional enter-
prise exists to “correct,” “amend,” or “put right” the attitudes and behavior of its “clientele.”
This is a difficult task because many offenders have a psychological, emotional, or financial
investment in their current lifestyle and have no intention of being “corrected” (Andrews &
Bonta, 2007; Walsh & Stohr, 2010).
Cynics think the correctional process should be called the “punishment process”
(Logan & Gaes, 1993) because the correctional enterprise is primarily about punishment—
which, as Hawthorne reminded us, is an unfortunate but necessary part of life. Earlier
Penology: Study of the scholars were more accurate in calling what we now call corrections penology, which means
processes and institutions
the study of the processes adopted for the punishment and prevention of crime. No matter
involved in the punishment
and prevention of crime. what we call our prisons, jails, and other systems of formal social control, we are compelling
people to do what they do not want to do, and they experience such arm twisting as punitive
regardless of what name we use.
When the grandparents of today’s college students were in their youth, few thought
of corrections as an issue of much importance. They certainly knew about prisons and
jails, but few had any inkling of what probation or parole was. This blissful ignorance was
a function of many things. The crime rate was much lower during the 1950s and early
1960s; thus, the correctional budget was a minor burden on their taxes, and fewer peo-
ple probably knew anyone who had been in “the joint.” Today the story is much different.
CHAPTER 1 The Philosophical and Ideological Underpinnings of Corrections 3
For instance, in 1963 the violent crime

rate was 168 per 100,000, and in 2018
it was 369, an increase of almost 120%
(Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2019).
In 1963 there were just under 300,000
people in prison in the United States, and
in 2018 there were just under 2.3 mil-
lion, an increase of 466% (Jones, 2018).
Much of this increase has been driven by
the war on drugs. Because illicit drug use
AdrianoK/Shutterstock.com
was extremely rare prior to the late 1960s,
there was no war on drugs. Indeed, the
only drugs familiar to folks in their prime
during the 1950s and 1960s were those
obtained at the drugstore by prescription.
Because of the increase in crime and
imprisonment, most people in the United Photo 1.1 A multilevel cellblock of a large American prison.
States probably know someone who is or
has been in prison or jail. One in 55 U.S. adults (almost 2%) was on probation or parole in
2016 (the most recent year for which data are available; Kaeble, 2018), and many more have
been in the past (Glaze & Herberman, 2013). In some neighborhoods, it is not uncommon
for nearly everyone to know many people under correctional supervision. For instance,
nearly 1 in 3 African American men in their 20s is under some form of correctional control,
and 1 in 6 has been to prison (Ismaili, 2015). The expenditures for corrections in 2017 for all
50 states were approximately $81 billion, with 88% going for prisons and jails and 12% for
probation and parole (Wagner & Rabuy, 2017).
From Arrest to Punishment

LO 1.2 Differentiate between the classical and positivist schools in terms of their
respective stances on the function of punishment.
Not everyone who commits a crime is punished, of course. Many crimes are not reported,
and even if they are, relatively few are solved. Figure 1.1 is based on data from the nation’s
75 largest counties and indicates the typical outcomes of 100 felony arrestees (Cohen
& Kyckelhahn, 2010). Only about two thirds of arrestees are prosecuted (sometimes
because of lack of evidence). Of those prosecuted, some are found not guilty and some
are convicted of lesser (misdemeanor) offenses after plea bargaining. This trip through
the crime funnel typically results in fewer than 50% of arrests ending with jail or prison
terms. The impact of the war on drugs is evident in that just over 37% of these arrests were
for drug-related crimes (Cohen & Kyckelhahn, 2010). Note that only 4 of the 69 arrests
resulted in actual trials, meaning that 94% of all felony prosecutions in the nation’s 75
most populous counties resulted in plea bargains in which lighter sentences were imposed
in exchange for guilty pleas.
The Theoretical Underpinnings of Corrections

Just as all theories of crime contain a view of human nature, so do all models of corrections.
Some thinkers (mostly influenced by sociology) assume human nature is socially con-
structed; that is, the human mind is basically a “blank slate” at birth and is subsequently
4 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 1.1 Typical Outcomes of 100 Felony Defendants in the 75 Largest Counties in the United States

Source: Cohen and Kyckelhahn (2010).
100 Felony Defendants 42 Detained 8 Diversion or Other Outcome
23 Dismissed
58 Released 69 Prosecuted
Pretrial Conviction and
Release Sentencing
68 Convicted
4 Trials 65 Guilty Pleas 56 Felony
11 Misdemeanor
24 Prison
1 Acquittal 3 Convictions 24 Jail
17 Probation
formed by cultural experiences. These individuals tend to see human nature as essentially
good and believe that people learn to be antisocial. If people are essentially good, then the
blame for criminal behavior must be located in the bad influences surrounding them.
Others (mostly influenced by evolutionary biology and the brain sciences) argue that
there is an innate human nature that evolved driven by the overwhelming concerns of all
living things—to survive and reproduce. These theorists do not deny that specific behav-
iors are learned, but they maintain that certain traits evolved in response to survival and
reproductive challenges faced by our species that bias our learning in certain directions.
Some of these traits, such as aggressiveness and low empathy, are useful in pursuing crimi-
nal goals (Quinsey, 2002; Walsh, 2019). This viewpoint also sees human nature as essentially
selfish (not “bad,” just self-centered) and maintains that people must learn to be prosocial
rather than antisocial through a socialization process that teaches us to value and respect
the rights and property of others and to develop an orientation toward wanting to do good.
Criminologist Gwynn Nettler (1984) said it most colorfully on behalf of this position: “If we
grow up ‘naturally,’ without cultivation, like weeds, we grow up like weeds—rank” (p. 313).
In other words, we learn to be good, not bad. Being bad is the default option if we do not
receive a prosocial rearing. The point we are making is that the assumptions about human
nature we hold influence our ideas about how we should treat the accused or convicted once
they enter the correctional system.
A Short History of Correctional Punishment

Punishment: The act of imposing Legal punishment may be defined as the state-authorized imposition of some form of
some unwanted burden, such as
a fine, probation, imprisonment,
deprivation—of liberty, resources, or even life—on a person justly convicted of a viola-
or death, on convicted persons tion of the criminal law. The earliest known written code of punishment was the ancient
in response to their crimes. Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, created circa 1780 BCE (the origin of “an eye for an eye,
a tooth for a tooth”). These laws codified the natural inclination of individuals harmed by
others to seek revenge, but they also recognized that personal revenge must be restrained if
society is not to be fractured by a cycle of tit-for-tat blood feuds. Blood feuds (revenge kill-
ings) perpetuate the injustice that “righteous” revenge was supposed to diminish. The law
seeks to contain uncontrolled vengeance by substituting controlled vengeance in the form of
third-party (state) punishment.
Controlled vengeance means that the state takes away the responsibility for punish-
ing wrongdoers from the individuals who were wronged and assumes it for itself. Early
state-controlled punishment, however, was typically as uncontrolled and vengeful as any
grieving parent might inflict on the murderer of their child. In many parts of the world, prior
to the 18th century, humans were considered born sinners because of the Christian legacy
of original sin. Cruel tortures used on criminals to literally “beat the devil out of them” were
justified by the need to save sinners’ souls. Earthly pain was temporary and certainly prefer-
able to an eternity of torment if sinners died unrepentant. Punishment was often barbaric
regardless of whether those ordering it bothered to justify it with such arguments or even
believed those arguments themselves.
The practice of brutal punishment and arbitrary legal codes began to wane with
the beginning of a period historians call the Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason. The Enlightenment: Period in history
when a major shift in the way
Enlightenment encompassed the period roughly between the late 17th century and the late people began to view the world
18th century and was essentially a major shift in the way people began to view the world and and their place in it occurred,
moving from a supernaturalistic
their place in it. It was also marked by a narrowing of the mental distance between people worldview to a naturalistic
and the expanding of circles of individuals considered to be “just like us.” and rational worldview.
The Emergence of the Classical School

Enlightenment ideas eventually led to a school of penology that has come to be known as the
Classical School. The leader of this school, Italian nobleman and professor of law Cesare Classical School: School
of penology/criminology that
Bonesana, Marchese di Beccaria (1738–1794), published what was to become the manifesto was a nonempirical mode of
for the reform of judicial and penal systems throughout Europe, Dei Delitti e Delle Pene (On inquiry similar to the philosophy
practiced by the classical
Crimes and Punishments) (Beccaria, 1764/1963). The book was a passionate plea to human- Greek philosophers—that is,
ize and rationalize the law and to make punishment just and reasonable. Beccaria (as he is “armchair philosophy.”
usually called) did not question the need for punishment, but he believed that laws should
be designed to preserve public safety and order, not to avenge crime. He also took issue with
the common practice of secret accusations, arguing that such practices led to general deceit
and alienation in society. He argued that accused persons should be able to confront their
accusers, to know the charges brought against them, and to be granted a public trial before
an impartial judge as soon as possible after arrest and indictment.
Beccaria argued that punishments should be proportionate to the harm done, should be
identical for identical crimes, and should be applied without reference to the social status of
either offender or victim. Beccaria (1764/1963) made no effort to plumb the depths of crim-
inal character or motivation, arguing that crime is simply the result of “the despotic spirit
which is in every man” (p. 12). He also argued that the tendency of “man” to give in to the
“despotic spirit” needed to be countered by the threat of punishment, which needed to be
certain, swift, and severe enough to outweigh any benefits offenders get from crime if they
are to be deterred from future crime. He elaborated on these three elements of punishment
as follows:
Certainty: “The certainty of punishment, even if it be moderate, will always make

a stronger impression than the fear of another which is more terrible but com-
bined with the hope of impunity” (p. 58).
Swiftness: “The more promptly and the more closely punishment follows upon the
commission of a crime, the more just and useful will it be” (p. 55).
6 CORRECTIONS
Severity: “For a punishment to attain its end,

the evil which it inflicts has only to exceed the
advantage derivable from the crime; in this
excess of evil one should include the . . . loss of
the good which the crime might have produced.
All beyond this is superfluous and for that reason
tyrannical” (p. 43).
Beccaria made clear that punishments must outweigh

any benefits offenders get from crime if they are to be
deterred from future crime. But such punishment should
be as certain and swift as possible if it is to have a lasting
impression on the criminal and to deter others.
Beccaria also asserted that to ensure a rational and fair
penal structure, punishments for specific crimes must be
Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
decreed by written criminal codes, and the discretionary

powers of judges must be severely limited. The judge’s task
was to determine guilt or innocence and then to impose
the legislatively prescribed punishment if the accused was
found guilty. Many of Beccaria’s recommended reforms
were implemented in a number of European countries
within his lifetime (Durant & Durant, 1967). Such radi-
cal change over such a short period of time, across many
Photo 1.2 Italian nobleman and professor of law Cesare Bonesana, different cultures, suggests that Beccaria’s rational reform
Marchese di Beccaria published what was to become the manifesto for the ideas tapped into and broadened the scope of emotions
reform of judicial and penal systems throughout Europe, Dei Delitti e Delle
Pene (On Crimes and Punishments) (Beccaria, 1764/1963). such as sympathy and empathy among the political and
intellectual elite of Enlightenment Europe. We tend to
feel empathy for those whom we view as “like us,” and this leads to sympathy, which may
lead to an active concern for their welfare. Thus, with cognition and emotion gelled into the
Enlightenment ideal of the basic unity and worth of humanity, justice became both more
refined and more diffuse (Walsh & Hemmens, 2014).
Another prominent figure was British lawyer and philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748–
1832). His major work, Principles of Morals and Legislation (Bentham, 1789/1948), is essen-
Principle of utility: tially a philosophy of social control based on the principle of utility, which posits that
The supposition that human action
should be judged moral or immoral
human actions should be judged as moral or immoral by their effects on the happiness of the
by its effects on the happiness of community. The proper function of the legislature is thus to make laws aimed at maximizing
the community and that the proper the pleasure and minimizing the pain of the largest number in society—“the greatest good
function of the legislature is to
make laws aimed at maximizing for the greatest number” (Bentham, 1789/1948, p. 151).
the pleasure and minimizing If legislators are to legislate according to the principle of utility, they must understand
the pain of the population—“the
greatest happiness for the human motivation, which for Bentham (1789/1948) was easily summed up: “Nature has
greatest number.” placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is
for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do”
(p. 125). This was essentially the Enlightenment concept of human nature, which was seen
as hedonistic, rational, and endowed with free will. The classical explanation of criminal
behavior and how to prevent it can be derived from these three assumptions.
The Emergence of Positivism: Should

Punishment Fit the Offender or the Offense?
Just as classicism arose from the 18th-century humanism of the Enlightenment, positiv-
ism arose from the 19th-century spirit of science. Classical thinkers were philosophers in
the manner of the thinkers of classical Greece (hence the term

classical), while positivists took on themselves the methods
of empirical science from which more “positive” conclusions
could be drawn (hence the term positivism). They were radical
empiricists who insisted that only things that can be observed
and measured should concern us. This being the case, they
believed that concepts underlying classical thought such as
rationality, free will, motivation, conscience, and human nature
should be ignored as pure speculation about the unseen and
immeasurable. An essential assumption of positivism is that
human actions have causes and that these causes are to be
found in the uniformities that typically precede those actions.
The search for causes of human behavior led positivists to dis-
miss the classical notion that humans are free agents who are
alone responsible for their actions.
Stock Montage/Getty Images

Early positivism went to extremes to espouse a hard form
of determinism such as that implied in the assertion that there
are “born criminals.” Nevertheless, positivism slowly moved
the criminal justice system away from a concentration on the
criminal act as the sole determinant of the type of punishment
to be meted out and toward an appraisal of the characteristics
and circumstances of the offender as an additional determi-
nant. Because human actions have causes that may be out of Photo 1.3 Jeremy Bentham’s major work, Principles of Morals
and Legislation (Bentham, 1789/1948), is essentially a philosophy
the actor’s control, the concept of legal responsibility was called of social control based on the principle of utility, which posits that
into question. For instance, Italian lawyer Raffaele Garofalo human actions should be judged as moral or immoral by their effect
on the happiness of the community.
(1851–1934) believed that because human action is often
evoked by circumstances beyond human control (e.g., temper-
ament, extreme poverty, intelligence, certain situations), the only thing to be considered at Positivists: Those who believe
sentencing was the offender’s “peculiarities,” or risk factors for crime. that human actions have
causes and that these causes
Garofalo’s (1885/1968) only concern for individualizing sentencing was the danger are to be found in the thoughts
offenders posed to society, and his proposed sentences ranged from execution for what and experiences that typically
precede those actions.
he called extreme criminals (whom we might call psychopaths today), to transportation to
penal colonies for impulsive criminals, to simply changing the law to deal with what he called
endemic criminals (those who commit what we might call victimless crimes today). German
criminal lawyer Franz von Liszt, on the other hand, campaigned for customized sentencing
according to the rehabilitative potential of offenders, which was to be based on what scien-
tists find out about the causes of crime (Sherman, 2005). Customized sentencing based on
both the seriousness of the crime and the history and characteristics of the criminal (thereby
satisfying both classicists and positivists) is routine in the United States today.
The Function of Punishment

Although most corrections scholars agree that punishment functions as a form of social
control, some view it as a barbaric throwback to precivilized times (Menninger, 1968). But
can you imagine a society in which punishment did not exist? What would such a soci-
ety be like? Could it survive? If you cannot realistically imagine such a society, you are not
alone, given that the desire to punish those who have harmed us or otherwise cheated on
the social contract is as old as the species itself. Punishment aimed at discouraging cheats
is observed in every social species of animal, leading evolutionary biologists to conclude
that punishment of cheats is a strategy designed by natural selection for the emergence and
maintenance of cooperative behavior (Alcock, 1998; Walsh, 2014). Cooperative behavior
8 CORRECTIONS
is important for all social species and is built on mutual trust, which is why violating that
trust evokes moral outrage and results in punitive sanctions. Brain imaging studies show
that when subjects punish cheats, they have significantly increased blood flow to areas of
the brain that respond to reward, suggesting that punishing those who have wronged us
provides both emotional relief and reward (de Quervain et al., 2004; Fehr & Gachter, 2002).
These studies imply that we are hardwired to “get even,” as suggested by the popular saying
“Vengeance is sweet.”
Sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) contended that punishment is functional
for society in that the rituals of punishment reaffirm the justness of the social norms and
allow citizens to express their moral outrage when others transgress those moral norms.
Durkheim also recognized that we can temper punishment with sympathy. He observed
that over the course of social evolution, humankind has moved from retributive justice
(characterized by cruel and vengeful punishments) to restitutive justice (characterized
Retributive justice: by reparation—“making amends”). Retributive justice is driven by the natural passion
A philosophy of punishment
driven by a passion for revenge.
for punitive revenge that “ceases only when exhausted . . . only after it has destroyed”
(Durkheim, 1893/1964, p. 86). Restitutive justice is driven by simple deterrence and is
Restitutive justice:
A philosophy of punishment driven more humanistic and tolerant, although it is still, “at least in part, a work of vengeance”
by simple deterrence and a need (pp. 88–89). For Durkheim, restitutive responses to wrongdoers offer a balance between
to repair the wrongs done.
calming moral outrage, on one hand, and exciting the emotions of empathy and sympathy,
on the other.
Perspective From a Practitioner

R O B E R T B AY E R , PR I S O N WA R D E N
Position: Former director of corrections and prison They must manage critical incidents that arise
warden; currently an adjunct professor and prison and have the overall responsibility to ensure that
consultant a positive work and living culture exists within the
facility. To accomplish all of these tasks, the warden
Location: Reno, Nevada typically will bring extensive experience to the job.
A warden is one of the highest level management
Education: BA and MA in English literature, State positions in a prison system and represents the
University of New York at Oswego; master of “boots on the ground” administrator for the
public administration and PhD in English/public entire system.
administration, University of Nevada, Reno
The qualities/characteristics that are most
The primary duties and responsibilities of a helpful for one in this career include:
prison warden are:
The ability to be both an administrator and a leader,
First, being responsible for one facility in a much with very thorough knowledge of how a prison
larger network of facilities. To some degree, a functions and the laws, policies, and procedures
warden can be considered the mayor of a city, and promulgated by the system; the ability to see the
the director or commissioner is the governor of the big picture of corrections and how the facility
state where the city is located, ensuring that facility functions within that picture; a comprehension
policies, procedures, and general orders are fine- of the budget process and calendar; and the
tuned for that specific facility within the guidelines ability to be politically sensitive, personable,
of the department. Additionally, the warden is approachable, intelligent, hardworking, and decisive
usually responsible for human resources, safety yet thoughtful. As a leader, the warden’s actions
and security operations, budget development and must reflect the best traditions of the agency
implementation, and the institution’s physical plant. and be completely ethical in his or her decisions
and actions. The warden should reflect all of the provide the opportunity for personal observation
attributes prized in a frontline employee—loyalty, of any issues. This is also a time to obtain firsthand
dedication, honesty, and reliability—and should feedback as to the morale, conditions, and
instill confidence in all levels of staff and inmates. security of the yard. Next are formally scheduled
Staff members want a warden who is steady under meetings with inmate families, employee group
pressure and not prone to swings in mood or representatives, other agency representatives, and
behavior. Ultimately, though staff members may so on. Time is also spent reviewing new policies,
perform an infinite variety of jobs in the facility reading inmate appeals and requests, responding
itself, they look to the warden to ensure that they to correspondence, and conducting any necessary
have the proper orders and resources needed to interviews of staff. Work continues after 5 p.m.
keep them safe day in and day out. Finally, the to complete paperwork, prepare court testimony,
warden must be a skilled communicator at all work on difficult personnel issues, and work on
levels, with good writing and verbal skills as well as budget execution and construction. Once a week,
effective listening skills. do a facility inspection, looking at sanitation and
security compliance, while focusing on a different
aspect of facility operations each week (such as fire
In general, a typical day for a
suppression readiness).
practitioner in this career would include:
Various functions, but the day should cover all My advice to someone either
three shifts to foster good communication. One wishing to study or now studying criminal
should be at the facility during each shift change
justice to become a practitioner in this
to ensure access to staff members as they leave
career field would be:
and enter the next shift, personally greeting or
chatting with the support staff before the workday Become a “triple threat” in the field: develop a solid
begins. An early-morning staff meeting with the understanding of operations, programs, and budget;
associate wardens and the maintenance supervisor know where you are going; and study leadership
is essential to review the last 24 hours of shift and become a leader. Try to find a competent
activities and develop a priority list of operational mentor in the field who will take an interest in your
issues that need resolution. Next, items in the in career and guide you on a path of experience and
basket are reviewed, delegated, or responded to, education that will facilitate achieving your goals.
and it is important to physically “walk the yard” The best administrators become leaders in our field,
(for about 2 hours) on a daily basis to make upper and to succeed one needs experience, training, and
management accessible to staff and inmates and to education.
The Philosophical Assumptions

Behind Justifications for Punishment
A philosophy of punishment involves defining the concept of punishment and the values,
attitudes, and beliefs contained in that definition as well as justifying the imposition of a
painful burden on someone. When we speak of justifying something, we typically mean that
we provide reasons for doing it both in terms of morality (“It’s the right thing to do”) and in
terms of the goals we wish to achieve (“Do this and we’ll get that”). In other words, we expect
that punishment will have favorable consequences that justify its application.
Legal scholars have traditionally identified four major objectives or justifications for the
practice of punishing criminals: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation.
Criminal justice scholars have recently added a fifth purpose to the list: reintegration. All
theories and systems of punishment are based on conceptions of basic human nature and,
thus, to a great extent on ideology. The view of human nature on which the law in every
country relies today is the same view enunciated by classical thinkers Beccaria and Bentham,
namely, that humans are hedonistic, rational, and possessors of free will. Hedonism: A doctrine maintaining
that all goals in life are means
Hedonism is a doctrine maintaining that all life goals are desirable only as means to the end of achieving pleasure
to the end of achieving pleasure or avoiding pain. It goes without saying that pleasure is and/or avoiding pain.
10 CORRECTIONS
intrinsically desirable and pain is intrinsically undesirable, and we all seek to maximize
the former and minimize the latter. We are assumed to pursue these goals in rational ways.
Rationality: The state of having Rationality is the state of having good sense and sound judgment. Rational sense and judg-
good sense and sound judgment on ment are based (ideally) on the evidence before us at any given time, and the rational per-
the basis of the evidence before us.
son revises their reasoning as new evidence arises. Rationality should not be confused with
morality, because its goal is self-interest, and self-interest is said to govern behavior whether
in conforming or deviant directions. Crime is rational (at least in the short run) if criminals
use reason and act purposely to gain desired ends. Thus, rationality is the quality of think-
ing and behaving in accordance with logic and reason such that one’s reality is an ordered
and intelligible system for achieving goals and solving problems. For the classical scholar, the
ultimate goal of any human activity is self-interest, and self-interest is assumed to govern our
behavior whether it takes us in prosocial or antisocial directions.
Hedonistic calculus: A method Hedonism and rationality are combined in the concept of the hedonistic calculus, a
by which individuals are assumed
method by which individuals are assumed to logically weigh the anticipated benefits of a
to logically weigh the anticipated
benefits of a given course of given course of action against its possible costs. If the balance of consequences of a contem-
action against its possible costs. plated action is thought to enhance pleasure and/or minimize pain, individuals will pursue
it; if it is not, they will not. If people miscalculate, as they frequently do, it is because they are
ignorant of the full range of consequences of a given course of action, not because they are
irrational or stupid.
The final assumption about human nature is that humans have free will that enables
them to purposely and deliberately choose to follow a calculated course of action. This is
not a radical free will position that views human will as unfettered by restraints but rather a
Human agency: The capacity of free will in line with the concept of human agency. The concept of human agency maintains
humans to make choices and their
responsibility to make moral ones
that humans have the capacity to make choices and the responsibility to make moral ones
regardless of internal or external regardless of internal or external constraints on their ability to do so. This is a form of free
constraints on their ability to do so. will that is compatible with determinism because it recognizes both the internal and external
constraints that limit our ability to do as we please. If we grant criminals the dignity of pos-
sessing agency so that they purposely weigh options before deciding on a course of action,
then they “can be held responsible for that choice and can be legitimately punished” (Clarke
& Cornish, 2001, p. 25). It is only with the concept of agency that we can justifiably assign
praise and blame to individual actions.
The Major Punishment Justifications

LO 1.3 Define and describe retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, selective
incapacitation, rehabilitation, and reintegration.
Even though we assume that most people agree society has a right and duty to punish those
who harm it, because punishment involves the state’s depriving individuals of life or liberty,
it has always been assumed that it is in need of ethical justification. Punishment justifica-
tions rise and fall in popularity with the ideology of the times, but there are five that have
been dominant in the United States over the past century: retribution, deterrence, incapaci-
tation, rehabilitation, and reintegration. We start with the most ancient—retribution.
Retribution
Retribution is a “just deserts” model demanding that punishment match as closely as pos-
Retribution: A philosophy of
punishment demanding that sible the degree of harm criminals have inflicted on their victims—what they justly deserve.
criminals’ punishments match Those who commit minor crimes deserve minor punishments, and those who commit more
the degree of harm the criminals
have inflicted on their victims—that
serious crimes deserve more severe punishments. This is the most honestly stated justifica-
is, what they justly deserve. tion for punishment because it both taps into our most primitive punitive urges and posits
no secondary purpose for it such as rehabilitation or deterrence. In other words, it does not
require any favorable consequence to justify it except to maintain that justice has been served.
Logan and Gaes (1993) went so far as to claim that only retributive punishment “is an affir-
mation of the autonomy, responsibility, and dignity of the individual” (p. 252). By holding
offenders responsible and blameworthy for their actions, we are treating them as free moral
agents, not as mindless rag dolls pushed here and there by negative environmental forces.
California is among the states that have explicitly embraced this justification in their criminal
code (California Penal Code Sec. 1170a): “The Legislature finds and declares that the purpose
of imprisonment for a crime is punishment” (as cited in Barker, 2006, p. 12).
In his dissenting opinion in a famous death penalty case (Furman v. Georgia, 1972) in
which the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated Georgia’s death penalty statute, Justice Potter
Stewart noted the “naturalness” of retribution and why the state, rather than individuals,
must assume the retributive role:
I cannot agree that retribution is a constitutionally impermissible ingredient in

the imposition of punishment. The instinct for retribution is part of the nature of
man, and channeling that instinct in the administration of criminal justice serves
an important purpose in promoting the stability of a society governed by law.
When people begin to believe that organized society is unwilling or unable to
impose upon criminal offenders the punishment they “deserve,” then there are
sown the seeds of anarchy—of self-help, vigilante justice, and lynch law.
Deterrence
The principle behind deterrence is that people are discouraged from crime by the threat Deterrence: A philosophy
of punishment aimed at the
of punishment. Deterrence may be either specific or general. Specific deterrence refers to prevention of crime by the
the effect of punishment on the future behavior of persons who experience it. For specific threat of punishment.
deterrence to work, it is necessary that a previously punished person make a conscious con- Specific deterrence:
nection between an intended criminal act and the punishment suffered as a result of similar The supposed effect of punishment
on the future behavior of persons
acts committed in the past. Unfortunately, it is not always clear that such connections are who experience the punishment.
made or, if they are, have the desired effect. This is either because memories of the previ-
ous consequences were insufficiently potent or because they were discounted. The trouble
is that short-term rewards (such as the fruits of a crime) are easier to appreciate than long-
term consequences (punishment that may never come), and there is a tendency to abandon
consideration of the latter when confronted with temptation unless a person has a well-
developed conscience and is future oriented. The weak of conscience and the present ori-
ented tend to consistently discount long-term consequences in favor of short-term rewards.
Committing further crimes after being punished is called recidivism, which is a lot Recidivism: When an ex-offender
more common than rehabilitation among ex-inmates. Recidivism refers only to crimes com- commits further crimes.
mitted after release from prison and does not apply to crimes committed while incarcerated.
Nationwide in the United States, about 33% of released prisoners recidivate within the first
6 months after release, 44% within the first year, 54% by the second year, and 67.5% by the
third year (Robinson, 2005, p. 222), and these are just the ones who are caught (these figures
are not updated annually, but there has been hardly any deviation over the years). Among
those who do desist, a number of them cite the fear of additional punishment as a big fac-
tor (Wright, 1999). A systematic review of criminal recidivism rates worldwide found that
although there were problems dealing with the different ways different countries defined
recidivism (some by arrest, some by conviction only, and some only by reincarceration),
the longer ex-inmates are free, the more likely they will reoffend. The study with the longest
follow-up period was conducted in the United Kingdom and found that after 9 years, 78% of
released offenders had reoffended (Yukhnenko, Sridhar, & Fazel, 2019).
12 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 1.2 Percentage of Crimes Cleared by Arrest or Exceptional Means* in 2018

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (2019).
*A crime cleared by “exceptional means” occurs when the police have a strong suspect but something beyond their control precludes a physical arrest (e.g., death of
suspect).
Murder and
62.3
Nonnegligent Manslaughter
Rape (Revised Definition) 33.4
Robbery 30.4
Aggravated Assault 52.5
Burglary 13.9
Larceny-Theft 18.9
Motor Vehicle Theft 13.8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Violent Crime Property Crime
As Beccaria insisted, for punishment to positively affect future behavior, there must be
a relatively high degree of certainty that punishment will follow a criminal act, the pun-
ishment must be administered very soon after the act, and it must be painful. The most
important of these is certainty, but as we see from Figure 1.2, showing clearance rates for
major crimes in 2018, the probability of being arrested is very low, especially for property
crimes, and one in three murderers get away with it—so much for certainty. Factoring
out the immorality of the enterprise, burglary appears to be a rational career option for
a capable criminal.
If a person is caught, the wheels of justice grind very slowly. Typically, many months
pass between the act and the imposition of punishment—so much for swiftness. This leaves
the law with severity as the only element it can realistically manipulate (it can increase or
decrease statutory penalties almost at will), but it is unfortunately the least effective element
(Reynolds, 1998). Studies from the United States and the United Kingdom find substantial
negative correlations (as one factor goes up, the other goes down) between the likelihood of
conviction (a measure of certainty) and crime rates, but they find much weaker correlations
in the same direction for the severity of punishment; that is, increased severity leads to lower
offending rates (Langan & Farrington, 1998).
Contrast effect: The effect of
punishment on future behavior The effect of punishment on future behavior also depends on the contrast effect,
depending on how much the defined as the contrast or comparison between the possible punishment for a given crime
punishment and the usual life
experience of the person being
and the usual life experience of the person who may be punished. For people with little
punished differ or contrast. to lose, arrest and punishment may be perceived as merely an inconvenient occupational
hazard. But for those who enjoy a loving family and the security of a valued career, the
prospect of incarceration is a nightmarish contrast. Like so many other things in life,
deterrence works least for those who need it the most (Austin & Irwin, 2001).
General deterrence: The General deterrence refers to the preventive effect of the threat of punishment on the
presumed preventive effect
of the threat of punishment
general population; thus, it is aimed at potential offenders. Punishing offenders serves as
on the general population. an example to the rest of us of what may happen if we violate the law, as we noted in the
opening vignette. As Radzinowicz and King (1979) put it, “People are not sent to prison
primarily for their own good, or even in the hope that they will be cured of crime. . . . It is
used as a warning and deterrent to others” (p. 296). The threat of punishment for law vio-
lators deters a large but unknown number of individuals who might commit crimes if no
such system existed.
Are we putting too much faith in the ability of criminals and would-be criminals to cal-
culate the costs and benefits of engaging in crime? Although many violent crimes are com-
mitted in the heat of passion or under the influence of mind-altering substances, there is
evidence underscoring the classical idea that individuals do (subconsciously at least) cal-
culate the ratio of expected pleasures to possible pains when contemplating their actions.
Becker (1997) dismissed the idea that criminals lack the knowledge and foresight to take
punitive probabilities into consideration when deciding whether to continue committing
crimes. He stated, “Interviews of young people in high crime areas who do engage in crime
show an amazing understanding of what punishments are, what young people can get away
with, how to behave when going before a judge” (p. 20). Of course, incentives and disincen-
tives to law-abiding or criminal behavior are perceived differently because of the contrast
effect and ingrained habits: “Law abiding people habitually ignore criminal opportunities.
Law breakers habitually discount the risk of punishment. Neither calculates” (van den Haag,
2003). This does not mean that criminals are impervious to realistic threats of punishment.
Deterrence theorists do not view people as calculating machines doing their mental
math before engaging in any activity. They are simply saying that behavior is governed by
its consequences. Our rational calculations are both subjective and bounded; we do not all
make the same calculations or arrive at the same game plan when pursuing the same goals.
Think how the contrast effect would influence the calculations of a zero-income, 19-year-
old high school dropout with a drug problem as opposed to a 45-year-old married man with
two children and a $90,000 annual income. We all make calculations with less than perfect
knowledge and with different mind-sets, different temperaments, and different cognitive
abilities, but to say that criminals do not make such calculations is to strip them of their
humanity and to make them pawns of fate.
Some reviews of deterrence research indicate that legal sanctions do have a “substan-
tial deterrent effect” (Nagin, 1998, p. 16; see also Wright, 1999), and some researchers
have claimed that increased incarceration rates account for about 25% of the variance in
the decline in violent crime over the past decade or so (Rosenfeld, 2000; Spelman, 2000).
Paternoster (2010) cited studies demonstrating that 20% to 30% of the decrease in crime
from its peak during the early 1990s is attributable to the approximately 52% increase in
the imprisonment rate. He stated, “There is a general consensus that the decline in crime
is, at least in part, due to more and longer prison sentences, with much of the contro-
versy being over how much of an effect” (p. 801). Of course, this leaves 70% to 75% of
the decrease to be explained by other factors. Unfortunately, even for the 30% figure, we
cannot determine whether we are witnessing a deterrent effect (i.e., has crime declined
because more would-be criminals have perceived a greater punitive threat?) or an inca-
pacitation effect (i.e., has crime declined because more violent people are behind bars
and, thus, not at liberty to commit violent crimes on the outside?). Of course, it does not
need to be one or the other given that both effects may be operating. Society benefits from
crime reduction regardless of why it occurs.
Incapacitation
Incapacitation refers to the inability of criminals to victimize people outside prison walls Incapacitation: A philosophy
while they are locked up. Its rationale is summarized in Wilson’s (1975) remark, “Wicked of punishment that refers to the
inability of criminals to victimize
people exist. Nothing avails except to set them apart from innocent people” (p. 391). The people outside prison walls
incapacitation justification probably originated with Enrico Ferri’s concept of social defense. while they are locked up.
14 CORRECTIONS
For Ferri (1897/1917), to determine punishment, notions of culpability, moral responsibil-

ity, and intent were secondary to an assessment of offenders’ strength of resistance to crimi-
nal impulses, with the express purpose of averting future danger to society. He believed that
moral insensibility and lack of foresight, underscored by low intelligence, were criminals’
most marked characteristics. For Ferri, the purpose of punishment is not to deter or rehabil-
itate but rather to defend society from criminal predation. The characteristics of criminals
prevented them from basing their behavior on rational calculus principles, so how could
their behavior be deterred?
Incapacitation obviously “works” while criminals are incarcerated. Currie (1999) stated
that in 1995 there were 135,000 inmates in prison whose most serious crime was robbery
and that each robber on average commits five robberies per year. Had these robbers been left
on the streets, they would have been responsible for an additional 135,000 × 5, or 675,000,
robberies on top of the 580,000 actual robberies reported to the police in 1995. Further evi-
dence was provided by a “natural experiment” when the Italian government released one
third (about 22,000) of Italy’s prison inmates with 3 years or less left to serve on their sen-
tences in 2006. This pardon resulted from budgetary concerns and prison overcrowding
concerns. Buonanno and Raphael’s (2013) analysis of released convicts found that the inca-
pacitation effect was between 14 and 18 crimes committed per year (only theft and robbery
arrests were included in the analysis) after release. In other words, the released offenders
committed an average of about 16 robberies or thefts per year after release. The estimated
saving of the collective pardon was 245 million euros (about $316 million), and the esti-
mated crime cost was between 466 million and 2.2 billion euros (between about $606 mil-
lion and $2.9 billion). Obviously, the pardons, while saving the prison system a substantial
amount of money, cost Italian society as a whole dearly.
The incapacitation issue has produced some lively debates about the relative costs and
benefits to society of incarceration. Attempts to estimate these have proved to be difficult
and controversial. In 1987, economist Edwin Zedlewski used national crime data to calcu-
late that the typical offender committed 187 crimes a year, and the typical crime exacted
$2,300 in property losses or in physical injuries and human suffering. Multiplying these
figures, Zedlewski (1987) estimated that the typical imprisoned felon was responsible for
$430,000 in monetary costs to society for each year of freedom. He then divided that figure
by the annual cost of incarceration in 1977 ($25,000) and concluded that the social benefits
of imprisonment outweighed the costs by 17 to 1.
Zedlewski’s (1987) findings were severely criticized, including a critical article by sup-
porters of incarceration who argued that the typical offender commits 15 crimes in a year
rather than 187 (DiIulio & Piehl, 1991), which reduces the benefit/cost ratio to 1.38 to 1
from 17 to 1. These different estimates of criminal activity are the result of Zedlewski’s
using the mean number (arithmetic average) of crimes per year and DiIulio and Piehl’s
using the median number (a measure of the “typical” in which half of criminals com-
mit fewer than 15 crimes and half commit more). Using the mean inflates the typical by
including in the calculation crimes committed by the most highly criminally involved
offenders. Using only the dollar costs to estimate the social costs of crime, of course,
ignores the tremendous physical and emotional cost to victims as well as other important
considerations (Walker, 2001).
Selective Incapacitation
Selective incapacitation:
A punishment strategy that This brings up the idea of selective incapacitation, which is a punishment strategy that
reserves prison largely for a reserves prison largely for a select group of offenders composed primarily of violent repeat
distinct group of offenders
composed primarily of
offenders but may also include other types of incorrigible offenders. Birth cohort studies (a
violent repeat offenders. cohort is a group composed of subjects having something in common, such as being born
within a given time frame or in a particular place) from a number of different locations find
that about 6% to 10% of offenders commit the majority of all crimes. For instance, in the
1945 birth cohort studies of Wolfgang, Figlio, and Sellin (1972), 6.3% of the 9,945 cohort
members committed 71% of the murders, 73% of the rapes, and 82% of the robberies
attributed to members of the cohort.
Saving prison space mostly for high-rate violent offenders better protects the com-
munity and saves it money. The problem with this strategy, however, involves identify-
ing high-rate violent offenders before they become high-rate violent offenders; identifying
them after the fact is easy. Generally speaking, individuals who begin committing pred-
atory delinquent acts before they reach puberty are the ones who will continue to com-
mit crimes across the life course (DeLisi, 2005; Moffitt & Walsh, 2003). The incapacitation
effect is more starkly driven home by a study of the offenses of 39 convicted murderers
committed after they had served their time for murder and were released from prison.
Between 1996 and 2000, they had 122 arrests for serious violent crimes (including 7 addi-
tional murders), 218 arrests for serious property crimes, and 863 other arrests among
them (DeLisi, 2005, p. 165).
What would be the dollar costs saved had these 39 murderers not been released? The
total social cost of a single murder has been estimated at $8,982,907, and the average cost
of other “serious violent crimes” (rape, aggravated assault, and robbery) has been estimated
at $130,035 (McCollister, French, & Fang, 2010). The 7 murders ($62,880,349) and 115
other serious violent crimes ($14,954,063) yield a total of $77,834,412, or $15,566,882 per
year over the 5-year period, and that is without adding in the 218 arrests for serious property
crimes and the 863 other arrests. Of course, the biggest loss of all is the grief suffered by the
survivors of murder victims.
None of these authors was arguing for an increase in gross incarceration of low-rate or
low-seriousness offenders. As we increase incarceration more and more, we quickly skim
off the 5% to 10% of serious offenders and begin to incarcerate offenders who would best
be dealt with within the community. In monetary (and other social cost) terms, we have a
situation that economists call “the law of diminishing returns.” In essence, this means that
while we may get a big bang for our buck at first (incarcerating the most serious criminals),
the bang quickly diminishes to a whimper and even turns to a net loss as we continue to reel
in minor offenders.
The problem is predicting which offenders should be selectively incapacitated. Although
there are a number of excellent prediction scales in use today to assist us in estimating who
will and who will not become a high-rate offender, the risk of too many false positives (pre-
dicting that someone will become a high-rate offender when in fact they will not) is always
present (Piquero & Blumstein, 2007). However, incarceration decisions are not made on
predictions about the future; rather, they are made on knowledge of past behavior—the past
is prologue, as Shakespeare said.
Rehabilitation
The term rehabilitation means to restore or return to constructive or healthy activity. Rehabilitation: A philosophy
of punishment aimed at
Whereas deterrence and incapacitation are justified mainly on classical grounds, rehabilita- “curing” criminals of their
tion is primarily a positivist concept. The rehabilitative goal is based on a medical model that antisocial behavior.
used to view criminal behavior as a moral sickness requiring treatment. Today this model
views criminality in terms of “faulty thinking” and views criminals as in need of “program-
ming” rather than “treatment.” The goal of rehabilitation is to change offenders’ attitudes so
they come to accept that their behavior was wrong, not to deter them by the threat of fur-
ther punishment. We defer further discussion of rehabilitation until Chapter 4, devoted to
correctional treatment and rehabilitation.
16 CORRECTIONS
Reintegration
Reintegration: A philosophy The goal of reintegration is to use the time criminals are under correctional supervision
of punishment that aims to
use the time criminals are
to prepare them to reenter (or reintegrate with) the free community as well equipped to
under correctional supervision do so as possible. In effect, reintegration is not much different from rehabilitation, but
to prepare them to reenter it is more pragmatic, focusing on concrete programs such as job training rather than
the free community as well
equipped to do so as possible. attitude change. There are many challenges associated with this process, so much so
that, like rehabilitation, it warrants a chapter to itself and will be discussed in detail in the
context of parole.
Table 1.1 provides a summary of the key elements (justification, strategy, focus of
perspective, and image of offenders) of the five punishment philosophies or perspectives
discussed. The commonality that they all share to various extents is, of course, the preven-
tion of crime.
TABLE 1.1 Summary of Key Elements of Different Correctional Perspectives
RETRIBUTION DETERRENCE INCAPACITATION REHABILITATION REINTEGRATION

Justification Moral Prevention of Risk control Offenders have Offenders have
further crime correctable correctable
Just deserts Community
deficiencies deficiencies
protection
Strategy None: offenders Make punishment Offenders cannot Treatment to Concrete

simply deserve to more certain, swift, offend while in reduce offenders’ programming to make
be punished and severe prison inclination to for successful reentry
reoffend into society
Focus of The offense and Actual and Actual offenders Needs of offenders Needs of offenders
perspective just deserts potential offenders
Image of Free agents Rational beings Not to be trusted but Good people who Ordinary folks who
offenders whose humanity who engage in to be constrained have gone astray require and will
we affirm by cost/benefit and will respond to respond to concrete
holding them calculations treatment help
accountable
The Due Process and Crime Control

Models and Cultural Comparisons
LO 1.4 Explain the distinction between the crime control and due process models.
A useful way of grounding our discussion of the different correctional systems in different
countries is to see how they stack up in terms of Packer’s (1964/1997) crime control versus
due process models of criminal justice. Packer proposed two “ideal-type” models (pure
types that exaggerate differences), reflecting different value choices undergirding the opera-
tion of the criminal justice system.
The major tension between these two models is the emphasis on justice for an offended
community and justice for those who offend against it. Equally moral individuals and cul-
tures can hold very different conceptions of justice, with some placing an emphasis on jus-
tice for the offended community and others placing an emphasis on justice for those who
offend against it.
Comparative Corrections
T H E F O U R L E G A L TR A D ITI O N S A N D W H Y T H E Y A R E U S E F U L TO K N OW
Some chapters in this book have a box providing a Wales; the other two countries of the United
comparative perspective on topics discussed from Kingdom, Scotland and Northern Ireland, have
correctional systems in other countries. There are separate correctional systems), France, China, and
many advantages to studying a familiar subject from Saudi Arabia. These countries were chosen because
a different vantage point. The great philosopher each best illustrates its respective family of law.
Aristotle once said that if you know only your own The common law originated many centuries ago in
culture, you don’t know your own culture. How England—the country with which the United States
true that is: We always need something different shares the heritage of law, language, and culture—
to compare with something familiar in order to and has slowly evolved over the centuries. We focus
really understand the familiar. After all, we cannot on France to examine the civil law tradition because
know what “up,” “tall,” “no,” and “true” mean without modern civil (or code) law began under Napoleon
knowing what “down,” “short,” “yes,” and “false” in 1804. China was chosen because it is the largest
mean. Of course, other countries’ correctional socialist legal system in the world. Finally, Saudi
systems have many things in common with ours— Arabia was chosen to illustrate the Islamic legal
they all have jails and prisons—but their goals tradition because the Koran (Islam’s holy book)
and practices may depart significantly from ours. functions as the Saudi Arabian constitution (Walsh
Knowledge of systems other than our own provides & Hemmens, 2014). The civil, socialist, and Islamic
us with a new understanding and appreciation of legal traditions are all code systems, which are
our own and will better equip us to identify both the systems that come “ready-made” rather than systems
strengths and weaknesses of the American system. that evolved slowly, as did the common law. Judges
Our aim is to examine a representative country of in code countries cannot “make law” by precedent
each of the four main families of law in the world as they can in common law countries. Rather, they
today: common, civil or code, Islamic, and socialist. are supposed to act uniformly in accordance with
the criminal code, and consequently there is less
The countries we primarily (but not exclusively) judicial oversight of the correctional system in those
focus on are the United Kingdom (England and countries.
The first model is the crime control model. This model emphasizes community pro- Crime control model: A model
of law that emphasizes community
tection from criminals and stresses that civil liberties can have real meaning only in a safe, protection from criminals and
well-ordered society. To achieve such a society, it is necessary to suppress criminal activity stresses that civil liberties can
swiftly, efficiently, and with finality, and this demands a well-oiled criminal justice system have real meaning only in a
safe, well-ordered society.
in which cases are handled informally and uniformly in “assembly line” fashion. Police offi-
cers must arrest suspects, prosecutors must prosecute them, and judges must sentence them
“uncluttered with ceremonious rituals that do not advance the progress of the case” (Packer,
1964/1997, p. 4). To achieve finality, the occasions for challenging the process (appeals) must
be kept to a minimum. The assumption is that such a process will more efficiently screen out
the innocent and that those who are not screened out may be considered “probably guilty.”
Packer (1964/1997) did not want us to think of a presumption of guilt as the conceptual
opposite of the presumption of innocence; rather, “reduced to its barest essentials and when
operating at its most successful pitch,” the crime control model consists of two elements:
“(a) an administrative fact-finding process leading to the exoneration of the suspect, or to
(b) the entry of a plea of guilty” (p. 5).
The due process model is the second model. Rather than a system run like an assembly Due process model:
line, the due process model is more like an obstacle course in which impediments to car- A model of law that stresses
the accused’s rights more than
rying the accused’s case further are encountered at every stage of processing. Police offi- the rights of the community.
cers must obtain warrants when possible and must not interrogate a suspect without the
suspect’s consent, evidence may be suppressed, and various motions may be filed that may
18 CORRECTIONS
free a factually guilty person. These and other obstacles are placed in the way to ensure that
evidence is obtained in a legal manner. If the person is convicted, they may file numerous
appeals, and it may take years to gain closure of the case. The due process model is more
concerned with the integrity of the legal process than with its efficiency and with legal guilt
rather than whether the accused is factually guilty. Factual guilt translates into legal guilt
only if the evidence used to determine it was obtained in a procedurally correct fashion.
Which model do you prefer, and which model do you think best exemplifies the ideals of
justice? It may be correct to say that under a crime control model more innocent people may
be convicted, but that depends on which country we are talking about and how far along the
continuum it goes in its practices. It is also true that under a due process model more (fac-
tually) guilty people will be set free, but again that depends on the country and the extent to
which the model is “pure.” In the first instance the individual has been unjustly victimized,
and in the second instance the community has been unjustly victimized. It is clear that both
models have their faults as well as their strengths. The danger of a runaway crime control
model is a return to the days when due process was nonexistent, and the danger of a run-
away due process model is that truth and justice may get lost in a maze of legal ritualism. But
remember these are ideal-type models that do not exist in their “pure” form anywhere in the
world; rather, all criminal justice systems lie on a continuum between the crime control and
due process extremes.
Packer’s models are more about the processes followed in the police and prosecution legs
of criminal justice (the catch ’em and convict ’em legs), but they also apply to the third leg
(the correct ’em leg) of the criminal justice system. While it may be true that there is less
public concern for the rights of convicted criminals than for the rights of accused criminals,
and while it is also true that convicted criminals have fewer rights than law-abiding folks,
the criminal justice model followed by the police and the courts in a given nation is also the
model followed by its correctional system.
Figure 1.3 places the countries to be primarily discussed on a due process–crime con-
trol continuum according to the degree to which they emphasize one model or the other.
Terrill (2013) noted that the United States, the United Kingdom, and France “vacillate
between the two models, but they are more sensitive to due process issues, [while China and
Saudi Arabia] favor the crime control model and often show little regard for the due pro-
cess model” (p. 15). Overall, the United States is closer to a pure due process model than our
comparative nations, and Saudi Arabia is the closest to a pure crime control model.
FIGURE 1.3 Situating Comparative Countries on the Due Process–Crime

Control Continuum and on Their Democracy Scores
(Numbers Under Flags)
Source: Based on data from the Economist Intelligence Unit (2019).
United Kingdom USA France China Saudi Arabia

Due Crime
Process Control
8.53 7.96 7.80 3.08 1.93
In Focus 1.1
I S T H E U N IT E D S TAT E S H A R D O R S O F T O N C R I M E ?
A frequently heard criticism of the criminal justice rate more than 6 times lower than the U.S. rate, it is
system in the United States to which we can apply the world’s leader in the proportion of its criminals
the comparative perspective is that the United it executes each year. Furthermore, punishment in
States is soft on crime. If we define hardness or some fundamentalist Islamic countries, such as
softness on crime in terms of incarceration rates, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan under the Taliban,
the accompanying figure indicating incarceration has often included barbaric corporal punishments
rates per 100,000 for our comparison countries and for offenses considered relatively minor in the West.
certain other countries in 2015 conveys the opposite Drinkers of alcohol may get 60 lashes, robbers may
message. The retention of the death penalty by the have an alternate-side hand and foot amputated,
United States, which has been eschewed by other and women accused of “wifely disobedience” may
“civilized” nations, also belies the contention that we be subjected to corporal punishment (Walsh &
are soft on crime. Only Russia, with a rate of 445 per Hemmens, 2014).
100,000, comes close to the American incarceration
rate, and the closest any Western nations come Another problem is that crime rates are calculated
to the U.S. rate are England and Wales, with a per 100,000 citizens, which is not the same as the
rate nearly 5 times lower. Comparisons among rate per 100,000 criminals. If the United States has
nations on this question are typically made using more criminals than these other countries, then
only Western democratic nations, leading to the perhaps the greater incarceration rate is justified.
conclusion that the United States is hard on crime. No one knows how many criminals any country has,
But if we are to make valid comparisons, we cannot but we can get a rough estimate from a country’s
cherry-pick our countries to arrive at a conclusion crime rates—that is, the incarceration rate per 1,000
that fits our ideology. recorded crimes. For instance, the U.S. homicide rate
is about 5 times that of England and Wales, which
If we define hardness and softness in terms of roughly matches the 5 times greater incarceration
alternative punishments or the conditions of rate in the United States. However, when it comes to
confinement, then the United States is soft on property crimes, Americans are about in the middle
crime relative to many countries—although a better of the pack of nations in terms of the probability of
description would be more humane. For instance, being victimized, yet burglars serve an average of
although China is shown as having an incarceration 16.2 months in prison in the United States, compared
FIGURE 1.4 2015 Incarceration Rates per 100,000 Population for Comparative

Countries and Selected Other Countries
Source: Adapted from figures provided by Walmsley (2016).
Japan 48
France 95
Canada 106
China 119
England and Wales 148
Saudi Arabia 161
Chile 247
Russia 445
United States 698
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
(Continued)
20 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
with 6.8 months in Britain and 5.3 months in Canada crime (and because of our retention of the death
(Mauer, 2005). On this measure, the United States is penalty, some would even say barbaric); compared
more on the crime control end of the due process– with countries most distant from Anglo-American
crime control continuum than France or England ideals, we are soft on crime, and for that we should
and Wales. Does this mean the United States is too be grateful.
hard, or Britain and Canada are too soft, on crime?
From a crime control perspective, these nations can All societies develop rules for ensuring
be seen as excessively soft on crime at the expense peace, order, predictability, and cultural survival
of rising crime rates, although crime has fallen in and provide sanctions for those who do not follow
those countries since the 1990s, just as it has in the them. These rules and the sanctions suffered by
United States (Baumer & Wolff, 2014). those accused and convicted of breaking them
may differ significantly from society to society
So is the United States softer or harder on crime because they reflect a particular culture’s history
than other countries? The answer obviously depends and its current social, political, and economic
on how we conceptualize and measure the concepts practices, philosophies, and ideals. This chapter
of hardness and softness and with which countries briefly introduces you to correctional practices
we compare ourselves. Compared with countries used in four societies other than the
that share our democratic ideals, we are tough on United States.
What are the criteria we used for placing our four countries on this continuum? One way
of attempting to measure the degree to which a society has a due process versus a crime con-
trol model is the degree to which it respects the ideals of democracy. The numbers beneath
the respective flags represent each country’s “democracy score” on a scale of 1 to 10 accord-
ing to the Economist Intelligence Unit (2019). This score is based on 63 different factors,
such as public political participation and respect for civil rights, and their scores support
our ordering of countries in the figure. We should note that on a world scale, neither the
United Kingdom nor Saudi Arabia occupies the top or bottom place. Norway had the high-
est democracy score (9.87), and North Korea had the lowest (1.08), in 2018. The French sys-
tem probably represents the “right” balance between the rights of the accused (due process)
and the protection of society (crime control); others may disagree with this assessment.
SUMMARY
LO 1.1 Describe the function of corrections and its moved to more restitutive forms of punishment that,
philosophical underpinnings. while serving to tone down the community’s moral
outrage, tempers it with sympathy.
• Corrections is a social function designed to hold,
punish, supervise, deter, and possibly rehabilitate the LO 1.2 Differentiate between the classical and positivist
accused or convicted. Corrections is also the study of schools in terms of their respective stances on the function
these functions. of punishment.
• Although it is natural to want to exact revenge ourselves
when people do us wrong, the state has taken over this • Much of the credit for the shift away from
responsibility for punishment to prevent endless retributive punishment must go to the Classical
tit-for-tat feuds. Over social evolution, the state has School of criminology, which was imbued with the
humanistic spirit of the Enlightenment. The view of the conditions of punishment and the conditions of
human nature (hedonistic, rational, and possessing everyday life.
free will) held by thinkers of the time was that
• Incapacitation means that the accused and convicted
punishment should primarily be used for deterrent
cannot commit further crimes (if they did so in the
purposes, that it should only just exceed the gains
first place) against the innocent while incarcerated.
of crime, and that it should apply equally to all who
Incapacitation works only while offenders are behind
have committed the same crime regardless of any
bars, but we should be more selective about who we
individual differences.
incarcerate.
• Opposing classical notions of punishment are
• Rehabilitation centers on efforts to socialize offenders in
those of the positivists, who rose to prominence
prosocial directions while they are under correctional
during the 19th century and who were influenced
supervision so that they will not commit further crimes.
by the spirit of science. Positivists rejected the
philosophical underpinnings regarding human • Reintegration involves efforts to provide offenders with
nature of the classicists and declared that punishment concrete skills they can use that will give them a stake in
should fit the offender rather than the crime. conformity.
LO 1.3 Define and describe retribution, deterrence, LO 1.4 Explain the distinction between the crime control
incapacitation, selective incapacitation, rehabilitation, and and due process models.
reintegration.
• Throughout this book, we will offer comparative
• The objectives of punishment are retribution, perspectives on corrections from other countries,
deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and focusing primarily on the United Kingdom, France,
reintegration, all of which have come in and out of favor China, and Saudi Arabia. These countries best
over the years. exemplify their respective legal traditions and are
situated quite far apart on Packer’s crime control–due
• Retribution is simply just deserts—getting the process model of criminal justice.
punishment one deserves with no other
justification needed. • The United States leads the world in the proportion
of its citizens in prison. Whether this is indicative of
• Deterrence is the assumption that the threat of hardness on crime (more prison time for more people)
punishment causes people not to commit crimes. or softness on crime (imprisonment as an alternative
We identified two kinds of deterrence: specific and to execution or mutilation) depends on how we view
general. The effects of deterrence on potential offenders hardness versus softness and with which countries we
depend to a great extent on the contrast between compare the United States.
KEY TERMS
Classical School 5 Hedonistic calculus 10 Rehabilitation 15
Contrast effect 12 Human agency 10 Reintegration 16
Corrections 2 Incapacitation 13 Restitutive justice 8
Crime control model 17 Penology 2 Retribution 10
Deterrence 11 Positivists 7 Retributive justice 8
Due process model 17 Principle of utility 6 Selective incapacitation 14
Enlightenment 5 Punishment 4 Specific deterrence 11
General deterrence 12 Rationality 10
Hedonism 9 Recidivism 11
22 CORRECTIONS
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Discuss the implications for a society that decides Garofalo’s idea of individualized justice based on the
to eliminate all sorts of punishment in favor of danger the offender poses to society or von Liszt’s idea
forgiveness. of individualized justice based on the rehabilitative
potential of the offender?
2. Why do we take pleasure in the punishment of
wrongdoers? Is it a good or bad thing that we take 5. Which justification for punishment do you favor?
pleasure in punishment? What evolutionary purpose Is it the one you think “works” best in terms of
does punishment serve? preventing crime, or do you favor it because it fits
your ideology?
3. Discuss the assumptions about human nature held
by the classical thinkers. Are we rational, seekers of 6. What is your position on the issue of hardness versus
pleasure, and free moral agents? If so, does it make softness relating to the U.S. stance on crime? We are
sense to try to rehabilitate criminals? tougher than other democracies. Is that acceptable
to you? We are also softer than more authoritarian
4. Discuss the assumptions underlying positivism in countries. Is that acceptable to you also? Why or
terms of the treatment of offenders. Do they support why not?
Bigflick/Shutterstock.com
© Mary K. Stohr
2 Early Corrections
From Ancient Times to
Correctional Institutions

Test your current knowledge of correctional history by answering the Upon completion of this chapter, the reader
following questions. Check your answers on page 385 after reading should be able to:
the chapter.
1. The kind of punishment one received for wronging others 2.1 Explain the evolution of corrections and
in ancient civilizations often depended on the wealth and correctional institutions.
status of the offended party and of the offender. (True or 2.2 Compare the different types of
false?)
corrections used historically.
2. Galley slavery ended when the technological innovation of sails
was used to propel ships. (True or false?) 2.3 Identify some of the key Enlightenment
thinkers, their ideas, and how they
3. The concept of the panopticon, devised by Jeremy Bentham,
included the ingenious combination of labor and money to changed corrections.
improve conditions of prisons. (True or false?) 2.4 Identify the housing and punishments
4. William Penn’s great law was based on Quaker principles and used in prisons and jails in colonial
deemphasized the use of corporal and capital punishment. times.
(True or false?)
2.5 Evaluate the two predominant prison
5. What are the main differences between the Pennsylvania
systems of the early 1800s and their
prison system and the New York prison system?
strengths and weaknesses.
6. The Auburn Prison featured complete separation from other
inmates. (True or false?) 2.6 Summarize what the social critics
7. To maintain control in the early years at the Auburn and
(Beaumont, Tocqueville, and Dix) thought
Sing Sing prisons, liberal use of “the lash,” along with other of early prisons and why.
methods, was required. (True or false?) 2.7 Explain why reform of prisons and jails
8. The 1870 American Prison Congress was held to celebrate the was needed and how those reform
successes of prisons. (True or false?) efforts worked out.
9. To be termed a correctional institution, a prison should have 2.8 Assess where we are today in America
some rehabilitation programming for inmates. (True or false?)
in terms of prison types and how we got
there.
2.9 Describe the prevailing themes in
correctional history.
JIM CROW TREATM ENT IN PRISONS
A Black Folsom Prison inmate named W. Mills complained about the racial segregation of
prison jobs in the 1940s in a letter to the Governor’s Investigating Committee in 1943. “Our
servitude here is limited to inferior work. The only work that is given to Negroes is such as
porter work, digging in the ground and breaking rock or whatever else the white inmates
don’t want to do.” Among the most powerful testimonies offered to racial segregation in the
California prison system came from Wesley Robert Wells, a Black prisoner who contested
the conditions of prison during Jim Crow, and whose death sentence for throwing an ashtray
(Continued)
25
26 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
at a guard became a rallying point for civil rights and radical labor advocates in the 1950s.
Wells explained that racism abounded in the California prison system when he arrived there
in 1928. “There was a lot of jimcrow [sic] stuff in Quentin in those days—just like there is
now, and if you objected you were a marked number. . . . I was young and I held my head up.
I didn’t take no stuff from prisoner, stoolie, or guard. As a result, I got it bad. I got the strap,
the rubber hose, the club, the curses” (Blue, 2012, pp. 66–67).
Introduction: The Evolving Practice

of Corrections and the Grand Reforms
LO 2.1 Explain the evolution of corrections and correctional institutions.
The history of corrections is riddled with the best of intentions and the worst of abuses.
Correctional practices and facilities (e.g., galley slavery, transportation, jails and prisons,
community corrections) were created, in part, to remove the “riffraff ”—both poor and
criminal—from urban streets or at least to control and shape them. Prisons and commu-
nity corrections were also created to avoid the use of more violent or coercive responses
to such folk. In this chapter, the focus is on exploring the history of the Western world’s
correctional operations and then American corrections specifically and the recurring
themes that run through this history and define it (see Figure 2.1). We also review the attri-
butes of the seminal prison models of the early 1800s, known as the Pennsylvania prison
system (including the Walnut Street Jail and the Western and Eastern Pennsylvania prisons)
and the New York prison system (including the Auburn and Sing Sing prisons). We include
the eyewitness accounts of the operation of such systems in their early years, as these are
provided by Gustave de Beaumont, Alexis de Tocqueville, and Dorothea Dix.
Out of these two systems, the rampart for all American and many European prisons was
constructed. As it became clear that neither prison model accomplished its multifaceted goals
and that its operation was so distorted and horrific for inmates, changes were gradually made
as new reform efforts ensued. The Elmira Prison in New York was perhaps the most ambi-
tious of these efforts, in the latter part of the 1800s, which, in turn, set the stage for the later
Correctional institutions: development of correctional institutions. Although the implementation of the reform ide-
Institutions (prisons) that carefully
classify inmates into treatment
als at Elmira is much critiqued, it certainly was much more humane than the convict-leas-
programs that address their ing system that operated at that time in the South. Folsom Prison in California in the 1940s,
needs and perceived deficiencies. as described by inmate Wells, with its racial segregation, men laboring in rock quarries for
They are also intended to be
places where inmates can earn lack of better work, and little programming, is representative of the Big Houses that preceded
“good time” and eventual parole. more concentrated efforts at rehabilitation that came with correctional institutions of the
Correctional institutions use the
medical model to treat inmates, 1960s and 1970s. (More about these topics will be presented later in the chapter.)
who are believed to be “sick” and What does become crystal clear from this review of the history of corrections in the
in need of a treatment regimen,
provided by the prison, that
United States is that there are several themes running through it. One such theme, of course,
will address that sickness and is the cyclical need for reform itself—but to what purpose is not always clear.
hopefully “cure” the inmates so
they might become productive
It is somewhat ironic that one of the best early analyses of themes and practices in
members of society. (This term American prisons and jails was completed by two French visitors to the United States—
originally applied only to prisons Gustave de Beaumont and Alexis de Tocqueville—who experienced the virtual birthing
but now can refer to jails as well.)
of prisons themselves while the country was in its relative infancy, in 1831 (Beaumont &
Tocqueville, 1833/1964). Tocqueville, as a 26-year-old French magistrate, brought along his
friend Beaumont, supposedly to study America’s newly minted prisons for 9 months. They
ended up also observing the workings of its law, its government and political system, and
its race relations, among other things (Damrosch, 2010; Tocqueville and Goldhammer,
CHAPTER 2 Early Corrections 27
1835/2004). The irony is that as outsiders and social critics, Beaumont and Tocqueville
could so clearly see what others, namely Americans, who were thought to have “invented
prisons” and who worked in them, were blind to. In this chapter, we will try to “see” what
those early French visitors observed about Western—and specifically American—
correctional operations.
Few visitors to the United States—or residents for that matter—explored or commented
on the early correctional experience for women, Dorothea Dix being a notable exception.
(There will be more about her and her observations about the state of corrections in 1845.)
Yet some of the themes that run through the practice of corrections apply to women and
girls as well—but with a twist. Women have always represented only a small fraction of the
correctional population in both prisons and jails, and the history of their experience with
incarceration, as shaped by societal expectations of and for them, can be wholly different
from that of men. As literal outsiders to what was the “norm” for inmates of prisons and jails
and as a group whose rights and abilities were legally and socially controlled on the outside
more than those of men and boys, women’s experience in corrections history is worth study-
ing and will be more fully explored in Chapter 10.
What is clear from the history of Western corrections is that what was intended when
prisons, jails, and reformatories were conceived and how they actually operated, then and
now, were and are often two very different things (Rothman, 1980). As social critics our-
selves, we can use the history of corrections to identify a series of “themes” that run through
correctional practice, even up to today. Such themes will reinforce the tried, yet true, maxim
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (Santayana, 1905,
p. 284). Too often, we do not know or understand our history of corrections, and as a
consequence, we are forever repeating it.
Themes: Truths That Underlie Correctional Practice

There are some themes that have been almost eerily constant, vis-à-vis corrections, over
the decades and even centuries. Some of them are obvious, such as the influence that
money—or its lack—exerts over virtually all correctional policy decisions. Political senti-
ments and the desire to make changes also have had tremendous influence over the shape
of corrections in the past. Other themes are less apparent but no less potent in their effect on
correctional operations. For instance, there appears to be an evolving sense of compassion or
humanity that, though not always clear in the short term, in practice, or in policy or statute,
has underpinned reform-based decisions about corrections and its operation, at least in the-
ory, throughout its history in the United States. The creation of the prison, with a philosophy
of penitence (hence the penitentiary), was a grand reform itself, and as such, it represented,
in theory at least, a major improvement over the brutality of punishment that characterized
early English and European law and practice (Orland, 1995).
Some social critics do note, however, that the prison and the expanded use of other such
social institutions also served as a social control mechanism to remove punishment from pub-
lic view while making the state appear more just (Foucault, 1979; Welch, 2004). This is not to
argue that such grand reforms in their idealistic form, such as prisons, were not primarily con-
structed out of the need to control, but rather, there were philanthropic, religious, and other
forces aligned that also influenced their creation and design, if not so much their eventual and
practical operation (Hirsch, 1992). Also of note, the social control function becomes most
apparent when less powerful populations, such as people living in poverty, people of color,
young people, and women and girls, are involved, as will be discussed in the following chapters.
Other than the influence of money and politics and a sense of greater compassion and
humanity in correctional operation, the following themes are also apparent in corrections
28 CORRECTIONS
� FIGURE 2.1 Key Events in Corrections: Ancient Times to 1789

Ancient Times
Ancient Egyptian, Grecian,
and Roman jails existed as 1553 AD
the first type of correctional Fifth Century First bridewell, or
facility; both major and minor Galley slavery was used by workhouse and
crimes could be punished seafaring nations until the poorhouse, developed
severely 18th century in England
1080 1606
1553
Middle Ages 1080 AD 1606 AD

(5th to the 15th century): The White Tower First official American
Early forms of jails and prisons was completed jail built in Jamestown,
existed in sheriffs’ houses (jails), inside the Tower Virginia
castle keeps, dungeons, of London
and monasteries
1764 AD 1775 AD
Cesare Beccaria wrote On John Howard wrote The State
1607 AD Crimes and Punishments, of the Prisons in England and
Transportation first proposing that punishment Wales, With Preliminary
used as a correctional should be swift, appropriately Observations, and an Account
sanction severe, and certain of Some Foreign Prisons,
advocating for prison reform
1692 1773 1789

1607 1764 1775
1789 AD
1692 AD 1773 AD Jeremy Bentham proposed
William Penn instituted Newgate Prison in the building of a special
his Great Law, which Simsbury, Connecticut, type of prison, the panoption
de-emphasized the opened
use of corporal and
capital punishment
1826 1831
Western Tocqueville and
Pennsylvania Beaumont visit
Prison opens the United States 1845 1865 to the Early
and comment on Dorothea Dix 20th Century
1790 1818 early prisons and visits early prisons Contract and
Walnut Street Auburn Prison, corrections in and comments lease System
Jail opens New York, opens general on their value Enacted
1840 1870
1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1850 1860 1880
1797 1826 1829 1842 1876

Newgate Prison Sing Sing Prison, Eastern Charles Dickens Elmira
in New York New York, opens Pennsylvania visits Eastern Reformatory
City opens Prison opens Pennsylvania opens
Prison
1870
American Prison
Congress first
meets and writes
their Declaration
of Principles
1990s to the Present Day:

Era of penal help
1960 to the (in which rehabilitation
1930 to 1950s Present Day and evidence-based
Late 19th Century to Big House Correctional practices are emphasized
the Early 20th Century prisons era institutions for correctional institutions
Industrial prisons era and community corrections)
1980
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1990 2000
1957 1980s to the 2008

1925
Transportation no Present Day Decarceration
Stateville Prison,
longer used as a Era of penal harm (in of jails and
Illinois, opens
correctional which punishment and prisons begins
sanction deterrence through harsh slowly
sentences were predominant).
Warehouse prisons and the
war on drugs began then
and continue to this day
30 CORRECTIONS
history: the question of how to use labor and technology (which are hard to decouple from
monetary considerations); a decided religious influence; the intersection of class, race, age,
and gender in shaping one’s experience in corrections; architecture as it is intermingled with
supervision; methods of control; overcrowding; and, finally, the fact that good intentions do
not always translate into effective practice. Although far from exhaustive, this list contains
some of the most salient issues that become apparent streams of influence as one reviews
the history of corrections. As discussed in Chapter 1, some of the larger philosophical (and
political) issues, such as conceptions of right and wrong and whether it is best to engage in
retribution or rehabilitation (or both, or neither, along with incapacitation, deterrence, and
reintegration) using correctional sanctions, are also clearly associated with correctional
change and operation.
Early Punishments in Westernized Countries

LO 2.2 Compare the different types of corrections used historically.
Human beings, throughout recorded history, have devised ingenious ways to punish their
kind for real or perceived transgressions. Among tribal groups and in more developed civ-
ilizations, such punishment might include, among other tortures, whipping, branding,
mutilation, drowning, suffocation, executions, and banishment (which, in remote areas,
was tantamount to a death sentence). The extent of the punishment often depended on the
wealth and status of the offended party and the offender. Those accused or found guilty who
were richer were often allowed to make amends by recompensing the victim or their family,
whereas those who were poorer and of lesser status were likely to suffer some sort of bodily
punishment. Whatever the approach and for whatever reason, some sort of punishment was
often called for as a means of balancing the scales of justice, whether to appease a god or gods
or later Lady Justice.
As David Garland (1990) recounted, “Ancient societies and ‘primitive’ social groups
often invested the penal process with a wholly religious meaning, so that punishment was
understood as a necessary sacrifice to an aggrieved deity” (p. 203). As urbanization took
hold, however, and transgressions were less tolerated among an increasingly diverse people,
the ancients and their governing bodies were more likely to designate a structure as appro-
priate for holding people. For the most part, such buildings or other means of confining
people were often used to ensure that the accused was held over for trial or sometimes just
for punishment (Orland, 1975, p. 13). Fines, mutilation, drawing and quartering, and cap-
ital punishment were popular ways to handle those accused or convicted of crimes (Harris,
1973; Orland, 1975).
Although mutilation ultimately disappeared from English law, the brutality of

Anglo-Saxon criminal punishment continued unabated into the eighteenth cen-
tury. In the thirteenth century, offenders were commonly broken on the wheel for
treason. A 1530 act authorized poisoners to be boiled alive. Burning was the pen-
alty for high treason and heresy, as well as for murder of a husband by a wife or of
a master by a servant. Unlike the punishment of boiling, that of burning remained
lawful in England until 1790. In practice, and as a kindness, women were stran-
gled before they were burned. The right hand was taken off for aggravated murder.
Ordinary hangings were frequent, and drawing and quartering, where the hanged
offender was publicly disemboweled and his still-beating heart held up to a cheer-
ing multitude, was not uncommon.
In addition, until the mid-19th century, English law permitted a variety of “sum-
mary” punishments. Both men and women (the latter until 1817) were flagellated
in public for minor offenses. For more serious misdemeanors, there was the pillory,
which was not abolished in England until 1837. With his face protruding though
its beams and his hands through the holes, the offender was helpless. Sometimes,
he was nailed through the ears to the framework of the pillory with the hair of his
head and beard shaved; occasionally, he was branded. Thereafter, some offenders
were carried back to prison to endure additional tortures. (Orland, 1975, p. 15)
The First Jails

Jails were the first type of correctional facility to develop, and in some form, they have
existed for several thousand years. Whether pits, dungeons, or caves were used or the detain-
ees were tied to trees, ancient peoples all had ways of holding accused criminals until judge-
ments were made or implemented (Irwin, 1985; Mattick, 1974; Zupan, 1991).
According to Johnston (2009), punishment is referenced in a work written in 2000 BCE
and edited by Confucius. The Old Testament of the Bible refers to the use of imprisonment
from 2040 to 164 BC in Egypt, as well as in ancient Assyria and Babylon. Ancient Greece and
Rome reserved harsher physical punishments for enslaved people, whereas citizens might be
subjected to fines, exile, imprisonment, death, or some combination of these (Harris, 1973).
Ancient Roman society was a slave system. To punish wrongdoers, capitis dimi-
nutio maxima—the forfeiture of citizenship—was used. Criminals became penal
slaves. Doomed men were sent to hard labor in the Carrara marble quarries, metal
mines, and sulphur pits. The most common punishment was whipping—and in
the case of free men, it was accompanied by the shaving of the head, for the shorn
head was the mark of the slave. (Harris, 1973, p. 14)
Early versions of gaols (or jails) and prisons existed in English castle keeps and dun-
geons and Catholic monasteries. These prisons and jails (not always distinguishable in form
or function) held political adversaries and common folk, either as a way to punish them
or incapacitate them or to hold them over for judgment by a secular or religious authority.
Sometimes, people might be held as a means of extorting a fine (Johnston, 2009). The use of
these early forms of jail was reportedly widespread in England, even a thousand years ago.
By the ninth century, Alfred the Great had legally mandated that imprisonment might be
used to punish (Irwin, 1985). King Henry II, in 1166, required that where no gaols existed
in English counties, they should be built (Zupan, 1991) “in walled towns and royal cas-
tles” (Orland, 1975, pp. 15–16), but only for the purpose of holding the accused for trial. In
Elizabethan England, innkeepers made a profit by using their facilities as gaols.
Such imprisonment in these or other gaols was paid for by the prisoners or through
their work. Those who were wealthy could pay for more comfortable accommodations
while incarcerated. “When the Marquis de Sade was confined in the Bastille, he brought his
own furnishings and paintings, his library, a live-in valet, and two dogs. His wife brought
him gourmet food” (Johnston, 2009, p. 12S). The Catholic Church maintained its own jails
and prison-like facilities across the European continent, administered by bishops or other
church officials.
In fact, the Catholic Church’s influence on the development of westernized corrections
was intense in the Middle Ages (medieval Europe from the 5th to the 15th centuries) and
might be felt even today. As a means of shoring up its power base vis-à-vis feudal and medi-
eval lords and kings, the Catholic Church maintained not only its own forms of prisons
and jails but also its own ecclesiastical courts (Garland, 1990). Although proscribed from
drawing blood, except during the Inquisition, the church often turned its charges over to
secular authorities for physical punishment. But while in their care and in their monaster-
ies for punishment, the Catholic Church required “solitude, reduced diet, and reflection,
32 CORRECTIONS
In Focus 2.1
T H E TOW E R O F L O N D O N
© Mary K. Stohr
© Mary K. Stohr
Photo 2.1 The infamous White Tower inside the Tower of Photo 2.2 Side view of the Tower of London as it appears
London complex. today.
There are few international iconic prison images married at the tower; executed there 3 years later, in
as prominent as that of the Tower of London, 1526; and buried there under its chapel. The young
located on the River Thames in the center of Princess Elizabeth (Anne’s daughter) was also held
London, England. Begun after 1066, when William at the tower by her half sister, Queen Mary I, until
the Conqueror captured the Saxon city of London Elizabeth attained the throne as Elizabeth I. Sir
in the Norman invasion, the centerpiece of this Thomas More spent a year (1534) imprisoned in the
castle complex, the White Tower, was completed in tower before his execution, and Sir Walter Raleigh
roughly 1080 (Impey & Parnell, 2011). The Tower of spent 13 years (1603–1616) imprisoned in the tower;
London today has a number of buildings, including both men were imprisoned for allegedly committing
the White Tower, along with several towers and treason. Notably, William Penn, discussed in other
gates on its double walls. At one time, it included parts of this book, was imprisoned at the tower for 7
a moat, which has since been filled in. Sited in old months in 1668–1669 for pamphleteering about his
London, today it is surrounded by modern buildings Quaker religion. Their incarceration in the tower,
and near-ancient structures alike. Over the centuries, as well as many others of rank and wealth, was not
it has been added to by various kings and used to as hard as it would have been if they had been sent
defend the city, as a royal palace and a symbol of to public prisons of the time—and even sometimes
power for royalty, as a mint for royal coinage, as included luxurious accommodations and servants.
an armory, as a treasury for the royal jewels, as a Torture did happen at the tower (the use of the rack
conservator of the King’s Court’s records, as a kind and manacles, etc.), but its use was relatively rare, as
of zoo for exotic animals gifted to the royalty, as a at times, though not always, it had to be sanctioned
tourist attraction for centuries, and, for our purposes, by a special council. Executions occurred inside the
as a prison and a place of execution. walls of the Tower of London, but most occurred on
nearby Tower Hill or elsewhere near the complex.
Its role as a prison began early in 1100, lasting until
the 1820s, and then it was a prison again during
World War II (Impey & Parnell, 2011). For the most Discussion Questions
part, there were no separate prison quarters for
1. Why do you think the Tower of London has
its mostly exalted prisoners, other than a shed
survived so long?
constructed in 1687 for prison soldiers. Therefore,
political and other prisoners were accommodated 2. If you were going to be held in a prison or jail,
in whatever quarters were available. For instance, would you prefer the “tower” or more modern
Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, was correctional institutions? Justify your answer.
sometimes for extended periods of time” (Johnston, 2009, p. 14S). Centuries later, the first
prisons in the United States and Europe, then heavily influenced by Quakers and Protestant
denominations in the states, copied the Catholics’ monastic emphasis on silence, placing
prisoners in small, austere rooms where their penitence might be reflected upon—practices
and architecture that, to some extent, still resonate today.
Galley Slavery
Another form of “corrections,” galley slavery, was used sparingly by the ancient Greeks and Galley slavery: A sentence
forcing the convict to work
Romans but more regularly in the late Middle Ages in Europe and England, and it stayed in as a rower on a ship.
use until roughly the 1700s. Under Elizabeth I, in 1602, a sentence to galley servitude was
decreed as an alternative to the death sentence (Orland, 1975). Pope Pius VI (who was pope
from 1775 to 1799) also reportedly used it (Johnston, 2009, p. 12S). Galley slavery was used
as a sentence for crimes as a means of removing poor people from the streets. It also served
the purpose of providing the requisite labor—rowing—needed to propel ships for seafar-
ing nations interested in engagement in trade and warfare. For instance, galley slaves were
reportedly used by Columbus (Johnston, 2009). The enslaved people were required to row
the boat until they collapsed from exhaustion, hunger, or disease; often, they sat in their
own excrement (Welch, 2004). Under Pius VI, galley slaves were entitled to bread each day,
and their sentences ranged from 3 years to life (Johnston, 2009). Although we do not have
detailed records of how such a sentence was carried out, and we can be sure that its imple-
mentation varied to some degree from vessel to vessel, the reports that do exist indicate that
galley slavery was essentially a sentence to death. Galley slavery ended when the labor was
no longer needed on ships because of the technological development of sails.
Poverty and Bridewells, Debtors’

Prisons, and Houses of Correction
However, galley slavery could absorb only a small number of poor people, who began to
congregate in towns and cities in the Middle Ages. Feudalism—and the order it imposed—
was disintegrating; wars (particularly the Crusades prosecuted by the Catholic Church)
and intermittent plagues did claim thousands of lives, but populations were stabilizing and
increasing, and there were not enough jobs, housing, or food for people living in poverty.
As the cities became more urbanized and as more and more poor people congregated in
them, governmental entities responded in an increasingly severe fashion to poor people’s
demands for resources (Irwin, 1985). These responses were manifested in the harsh repres-
sion of dissent, increased use of death sentences and other punishments as deterrence and
spectacle, the increased use of jailing to guarantee the appearance of the accused at trial, the
development of poorhouses or bridewells and debtors’ prisons, and the use of “transporta-
tion,” discussed later (Foucault, 1979; Irwin, 1985).
Eighteenth-century England saw the number of crimes subject to capital punishment
increase to as many as 225, for such offenses as rioting over wages or food (the Riot Act) or
for “blacking” one’s face so as to be camouflaged when killing deer in the king’s or a lord’s for-
est (the Black Act) (Ignatieff, 1978, p. 16). New laws regarding forgery resulted in two thirds
of those convicted of it being executed. Rather than impose the most serious sentence for
many of these crimes, however, judges would often opt for the use of transportation, whip-
ping, or branding. Juries would also balk at imposing the death sentence for a relatively
minor offense and so would sometimes value property that was stolen at less than it was
34 CORRECTIONS
worth in order to ensure a lesser sentence

for the defendant. In the latter part of the
1700s, a sentence of imprisonment might
be used in lieu of, or in addition to, these
other punishments.
Bridewells, or buildings constructed
to hold and whip “beggars, prostitutes,
and nightwalkers” (Orland, 1975, p. 16)
and later to serve as places of detention,
filled this need; their use began in London
in 1553 (Kerle, 2003). The name came from
the first such institution, which was devel-
oped at Bishop Ridley’s place at St. Bridget’s
Well; all subsequent similar facilities were
known as bridewells.
Public domain
Bridewells were also workhouses, used

as leverage to extract fines or repayment
of debt or the labor to replace them. Such
Photo 2.3 Drawing of the inside of a bridewell in London (1808–1811). Bridewells helped facilities did not separate people by gender
criminalize social problems, like poverty. or age or criminal and noncriminal status,
nor were their inmates fed and clothed
Bridewells: Workhouses properly, and sanitary conditions were not maintained. As a consequence of these circum-
constructed to hold and whip
or otherwise punish “beggars,
stances, bridewells were dangerous and diseased places where if one could not pay a “fee”
prostitutes, and nightwalkers” and for food, clothing, or release, the inmate—and possibly their family—might be doomed
later to serve as places of detention. (Orland, 1975; Pugh, 1968). The use of bridewells spread throughout Europe and the British
colonies, as it provided a means of removing poor people and displaced people from the
streets while also making a profit (Kerle, 2003). Such a profit was made by the wardens,
keepers, and gaolers—the administrators of bridewells, houses of correction (each county
in England was authorized to build one in 1609), and gaols—who, though unpaid, lobbied
for the job, as it was so lucrative. They made money by extracting it from their inmates. If an
inmate could not pay, they might be left to starve in filth or be tortured or murdered by the
keeper for nonpayment (Orland, 1975, p. 17).
Notably, being sent to debtors’ prison was something that still occurred even after the
American Revolution. In fact, James Wilson, a signer of the Constitution (and reportedly
one of its main architects) and a Supreme Court justice, was imprisoned in such a place twice
while serving on the Court. He had speculated on land to the west and lost a fortune in the
process (Davis, 2008).
Transportation
Yet another means of “corrections” that was in use by Europeans for roughly 350 years,
Transportation: A sentence from the founding of the Virginia Colony in 1607, was transportation (Feeley, 1991).
exiling convicts and transporting Also used to rid cities and towns of people who were chronically poor or people who
them to a penal colony.
were criminally inclined, transportation, as with bridewells and gaols, involved a form
of privatized corrections, whereby those sentenced to transportation were sold to a ship’s
captain. He would, in turn, sell their labor as indentured servants, usually to do agricul-
tural work, to colonials in America (Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia were partially popu-
lated through this method) and to white settlers in Australia. Transportation ended in the
American colonies with the Revolutionary War but was practiced by France to populate
Devil’s Island in French Guiana until 1953 (Welch, 2004). In America, transportation pro-
vided needed labor to colonies desperate for it. It is believed that about 50,000 convicts were
deposited on American shores from English gaols. If they survived their servitude, which
ranged from 1 to 5 years, they became free and might be given tools or even land to make
their way in the New World (Orland, 1975, p. 18).
One of the most well-documented penal colonies was Norfolk Island, 1,000 miles off Norfolk Island: An English
penal colony, 1,000 miles off
the Australian coast. Established in 1788 as a place designated for prisoners from England the Australian coast, regarded
and Australia, it was regarded as a brutal and violent island prison where inmates were as a brutal and violent island
poorly fed, clothed, and housed and were mistreated by staff and their fellow inmates prison where inmates were
poorly fed, clothed, and housed
(Morris, 2002). Morris (2002), in his semifictional account of efforts by Alexander and were mistreated by staff
Maconochie to reform Norfolk, noted that Maconochie, a former naval captain, asked to and their fellow inmates.
be transferred to Norfolk, usually an undesirable placement, so he could put into practice

some ideas he had about prison reform. He served as the warden there from 1840 to 1844.
What was true in this story was that “in four years, Maconochie transformed what was one
of the most brutal convict settlements in history into a controlled, stable, and productive
environment that achieved such success that upon release his prisoners came to be called
‘Maconochie’s Gentlemen’” (Morris, 2002, book jacket). Maconochie’s ideas included the
belief that inmates should be rewarded for good behavior through a system of marks, which
could lead to privileges and early release; that they should be treated with respect; and that
they should be adequately fed and housed. Such revolutionary ideas, for their time, elic-
ited alarm from Maconochie’s superiors, and he was removed from his position after only
4 years. His ideas, however, were adopted decades later when the concepts of good time
and parole were developed in Ireland and the United States. In addition, his ideas about
adequately feeding and clothing inmates were held in common by reformers who came
before him, such as John Howard and William Penn, and those who came after him, such as
Dorothea Dix.
Enlightenment—Paradigm Shift
LO 2.3 Identify some of the key Enlightenment thinkers, their ideas, and how they
changed corrections.
As noted in Chapter 1, the Enlightenment period, lasting roughly from the 17th through
the 18th centuries in England, Europe, and America, spelled major changes in thought
about crime and corrections. But then, it was a time of paradigmatic shifts in many aspects
of the Western experience, as societies became more secular and open. Becoming a more
secular culture meant that there was more focus on humans on Earth, rather than in the
afterlife, and as a consequence, the arts, sciences, and philosophy flourished. In such peri-
ods of human history, creativity manifests itself in innovations in all areas of experience;
the orthodoxy in thought and practice is often challenged and sometimes overthrown
in favor of new ideas and even radical ways of doing things (Davis, 2008). Whether in the
sciences with the Englishman Isaac Newton (1643–1727), philosophy and rationality with
the Englishwoman Anne Viscountess Conway (1631–1679), feminist philosophy with the
Englishwoman Damaris Cudworth Masham (1659–1708), philosophy and history with
the Scotsman David Hume (1711–1776), literature and philosophy with the Frenchman
Voltaire (1694–1778), literature and philosophy with the Briton Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–
1797), or the Founding Fathers of the United States (e.g., Samuel Adams, James Madison,
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson), new ideas and beliefs were proposed
and explored in every sphere of the intellectual enterprise (Duran, 1996; Frankel, 1996).
Certainly, the writings of John Locke (1632–1704) and his conception of liberty and human
rights provided the philosophical underpinnings for the Declaration of Independence,
as penned by Thomas Jefferson. As a result of the Enlightenment, the French Revolution,
beginning in 1789, was also about rejecting one form of government—the absolute
monarchy—for something that was to be more democratic and liberty based.
36 CORRECTIONS
Ethical Issue
W H AT WO U L D YO U D O ?
You are a Tory Loyalist (to the Crown of England, prisoners comfortable. Because of the distraction of
King George III) in the Connecticut colony in 1777. the war, however, security is not as tight as it might
Because you are an outspoken critic of the American be, and you see an opportunity to escape. What do
Revolution, you are imprisoned in the Newgate you think you would do? If you escaped, would you
Prison in Simsbury, Connecticut, for the duration try to fight on the side of England? What will be the
of the war. Provisions in the prison are horrid, with consequences for your family (you have a wife and
minimal food and dark, dank conditions in the mine four children at home) and your family business
shaft; however, the people guarding you are decent (you are a tea manufacturer) should you do this?
and do what they can to make you and the other What do you think John Locke would recommend?
Such changes in worldviews or paradigms—as Thomas Kuhn (1962) explained in his

well-known work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, which discusses nonlinear shifts
in scientific theory—usually come after evidence mounts, and the holes in old ways of
perceiving become all too apparent. The old theory simply cannot accommodate the new
evidence. Those who experienced the Enlightenment period, much like reformers and
activists of the Progressive Era (1880s to 1920s), the civil rights era (1950s and 1960s), the
women’s movement (1970s), and the LGBTQ+ and #MeToo movements (1990s and 2010s)
in the United States that were to follow centuries later, experienced a paradigm shift regard-
ing crime and justice. To some it may have appeared as if, like with Spock in an episode of
the original Star Trek television show, magic spores had fundamentally reshaped thought
and suffused it with kind regard, if not love, for others. In actuality, humans seemed to real-
ize that change in crime policy and practice was called for, and they set about devising ways
to accomplish it.
John Howard
John Howard (1726–1790) was one such person who acted as a change agent. As a sheriff
of Bedford in England and as a man who had personally experienced incarceration as a
prisoner of war himself (held captive by French privateers), he was enlightened enough to
“see” that gaols in England and Europe should be different, and he spent the remainder of
his life trying to reform them (Howard, 1775/2000; Johnston, 2009). Howard’s genius was
his main insight regarding corrections: that corrections should not be privatized in the sense
that jailers were “paid” by inmates a fee for their food, clothing, and housing (an inhumane
and often illogical practice, as most who were incarcerated were desperately poor, a circum-
stance that explained the incarceration of many in the first place). Howard believed that the
state or government had a responsibility to provide sanitary and separate conditions and
decent food and water for those they incarcerated. His message of reform included these
central tenets:
1. The fee system for jails should be ended.

2. Inmates should be separated by gender and offense. (Single celling would be
optimal.)
3. Inmates should be provided with sanitary conditions and clean and healthful food
and water.
4. Staff should serve as a moral model for inmates.

5. Jails and prisons should have a set of standards and be independently inspected to
ensure these standards are maintained.
His humanity was apparent, in that he promoted these ideas in England and all over the
European continent during his lifetime. He was able to do so because he inherited money
from his father, his sister, and his grandmother and used it to improve the lives of the tenants
on his land and the inmates in correctional facilities. His major written work, The State of
the Prisons in England and Wales, With Preliminary Observations, and an Account of Some
Foreign Prisons (Howard, 1775/2000), detailed the horror that was experienced in the filthy
and torturous gaols of England and Europe, noting that despite the fact that there were 200
crimes for which capital punishment might be prescribed, far more inmates died from dis-
eases contracted while incarcerated.
Howard (1775/2000) found that gaol fever was widespread in all kinds of correc-
tional institutions of the time: bridewells, gaols, debtors’ prisons, and houses of correc-
tion. Moreover, there was little food or work to be had in many of these facilities. Ironically,
Howard eventually died from typhus, also known as gaol fever, after touring several jails and
prisons in Eastern Europe, specifically the prisons of tsarist Russia.
In Focus 2.2
M O D E R N - DAY J O H N H OWA R D — D R . K E N K E R L E
The Corrections Section of the Academy of Criminal by encouraging the publication of scholars’ work in
Justice Sciences (ACJS) established the John American Jails magazine and their presentations
Howard Award in 2009 and gave the first one to at the American Jails Association meetings and by
a modern-day John Howard, Ken Kerle (retired urging practitioners to attend ACJS meetings. Kerle
managing editor of American Jails magazine). Kerle (2003) also published a book on jails titled Exploring
has spent much of his adult life trying to improve Jail Operations.
jail standards, both in the United States and abroad.
As part of that effort, he has visited hundreds of Discussion Question
jails in this country and around the world. He has
advised countless jail managers about how they 1. Knowing how much the old and the new John
might improve their operations. He has increased Howards of this world accomplish, what are the
the transmission of information and the level of things that hold you back from becoming such
discussion between academicians and practitioners a person yourself?
Bentham and Beccaria

As mentioned in Chapter 1, the philosophers and reformers Jeremy Bentham (1748–
1832) in England and Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794) in Italy, separately but both during
the Enlightenment period, decried the harsh punishment meted out for relatively minor
offenses in their respective countries and, as a consequence, emphasized certainty over the
severity and celerity components of the deterrence theory they independently developed.
Beccaria (1764/1963), in his classic work On Crimes and Punishments, wrote,
In order that punishment should not be an act of violence perpetrated by one

or many upon a private citizen, it is essential that it should be public, speedy,
38 CORRECTIONS
necessary, the minimum possible in the given circumstances, proportionate to the

crime, and determined by the law. (p. 113)
He argued that knowledge, as that provided by the sciences and enlightenment, was the only
effective antidote to “foul-mouthed ignorance” (p. 105).
Bentham (1789/1969) also proposed, in his Plan of Construction of a Panopticon
Penitentiary House—though the funding of it was not approved by King George III—the
building of a special type of prison. As per Bentham, the building of a private prison-like
Panopticon: A prison design structure—the panopticon, which he would operate—that ingeniously melded the ideas of
in which multitiered cells are
built around a hub so that
improved supervision with architecture (because of its rounded, open, and unobstructed
correctional staff can view all views) would greatly enhance the supervision of inmates. Such a recognition of the bene-
inmates without being observed. fits of some architectural styles as complementary to enhanced supervision was indeed pre-
scient, as it presaged modern jail and prison architecture. His proposed panopticon would
be circular, with two tiers of cells on the outside and a guard tower in its center, with the
central area also topped by a large skylight. The skylight and the correct angling of the tower
were to ensure that the guard was able to observe all inmate behavior in the cells, though
because of a difference of level and the use of blinds, the keeper would be invisible to the
inmates. A chapel would also be located in the center of the rounded structure. The cells
were to be airy and large enough to accommodate the whole lives of the inmates in that
the cells were to “serve all purposes: work, sleep, meals, punishment, devotion” (Bentham,
1811/2003, p. 194). Somehow, Bentham noted in his plan, without elaboration, that men
and women were to be invisible to each other. He did not call for complete separation of all
inmates, however, which becomes important when discussing the Pennsylvania and New
York prisons, but he did assert that the groups of inmates allowed to interact should be small,
including only two to four persons (Bentham, 1811/2003, p. 195).
As an avowed admirer of John Howard, Bentham proposed that his panopticon peni-
tentiary would include all of the reforms proposed by Howard and many more. Bentham
(1811/2003) promised that inmates would be well fed, fully clothed, supplied with beds, sup-
plied with warmth and light, kept from “strong or spirituous liquors” (p. 199), have their spiri-
tual and medical needs fulfilled, be provided
with opportunities for labor and educa-
tion (“to convert the prison into a school”
[p. 199]), “share in the produce” (p. 200) to
incentivize the labor, be taught trades so
that they could survive once released, and
be helped to save for old age (pp. 199–200).
He would also personally pay a fine for
every escape, insure inmates’ lives to pre-
Underwood Archives/Contributor/Getty Images
vent their deaths, and submit regular reports

to the Court of the King’s Bench on the sta-
tus of the prison’s operation (pp. 199–200).
Moreover, he proposed that the prison
would be open in many respects, not just
to dignitaries but to regular citizens, and
daily, as a means of preventing abuse that
might occur in secret. Bentham also rec-
ommended the construction of his prisons
on a large scale across England, such that
Photo 2.4 Stateville Prison in Illinois was built as a panopticon, with rounded architecture one would be built every 30 miles, or a good
and a central tower for officers. Panopticons were devised to enhance the supervision of
inmates but may have been more effective at enhancing the observation of officers by
day’s walk by a man. He planned, as he wrote
inmates. in his 1830 diatribe against King George III,
wryly titled “History of the War Between Jeremy Bentham and George the Third—by One of
the Belligerents,” that “but for George the Third, all the prisoners in England would, years ago,
have been under my management. But for George the Third, all the paupers in the country
would, long ago, have been under my management” (Bentham, 1811/2003, p. 195).
William Penn
William Penn (1644–1718), a prominent Pennsylvania Colony governor and Quaker, was
similarly influenced by Enlightenment thinking (though with the Quaker influence, his
views were not so secular). Much like Bentham and Beccaria, Penn was not a fan of the harsh
punishments, even executions, for relatively minor offenses that were meted out during his
lifetime. While in England and as a result of his defense of religious freedom and practice,
he was incarcerated in the local jails on more than one occasion—and even in the Tower
of London in 1669—for his promotion of the Quaker religion and defiance of the English
Crown. He was freed only because of his wealth and connections (Penn, 1679/1981). As a
consequence, when he had the power to change the law and its protections and reduce the
severity of punishments, he did so. Many years later (in 1682), in Pennsylvania, he proposed
and instituted his Great Law, which was based on Quaker principles and deemphasized the Great Law: William Penn’s idea,
use of corporal and capital punishment for all crimes but the most serious (Clear, Cole, & based on Quaker principles,
deemphasized the use of corporal
Reisig, 2011; Johnston, 2009; Zupan, 1991). His reforms substituted fines and jail time for and capital punishment for all
corporal punishment. He promoted Pennsylvania as a haven for Quakers, who were per- crimes but the most serious.
secuted in England and Europe generally, and for a number of other religious minorities
(Penn, 1679/1981). His ideas about juries, civil liberties, religious freedom, and the necessity
of amending constitutions—so they are adaptable to changing times—influenced a number
of American revolutionaries, including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine.
Many of Penn’s contemporaries were not of the same frame of mind, however, and after
his death, the Great Law was repealed, and harsher punishments were again instituted in
Pennsylvania, much as they existed in the rest of the colonies (Johnston, 2009; Welch, 2004).
But the mark of his influence lived on in the development of some of America’s first prisons.
Much like Howard and Bentham, Penn was interested in reforming corrections, but he
was particularly influenced by his Quaker sentiments regarding nonviolence and the value
of quiet contemplation. The early American prisons known as the Pennsylvania model
prisons—the Walnut Street Jail (1790) in Philadelphia, Western Pennsylvania Prison (1826)
in Pittsburgh, and Eastern Pennsylvania Prison (1829) in Philadelphia—incorporated these
ideas (Johnston, 2009). Even the New York prison system (Auburn and Sing Sing), often
juxtaposed with Pennsylvania prisons on the basis of popular depiction by historians (see
Beaumont and Tocqueville, 1833/1964), included contemplation time for inmates and a
plan for single cells for inmates that reflected the same belief in the need for some solitude.
Colonial Jails and Prisons

LO 2.4 Identify the housing and punishments used in prisons and jails in colonial times.
The first jail in America was built in Jamestown, Virginia, soon after the colony’s found-
ing in 1606 (Burns, 1975; Zupan, 1991). Massachusetts built a jail in Boston in 1635, and
Maryland built a jail for the colony in 1662 (Roberts, 1997). The oldest standing jail in the
United States was built in the late 1600s and is located in Barnstable, Massachusetts (Library
of Congress, 2010). It was used by the sheriff to hold both men and women, along with his
family, in upstairs, basement, and barn rooms. Men and women were held in this and other
jails like it, mostly before they were tried for both serious and minor offenses, as punishment
for offenses, or to ensure that they were present for their own executions.
40 CORRECTIONS
Such an arrangement as this—holding people in homes, inns, or other structures that

were not originally designated or constructed as jails—was not uncommon in early colo-
nial towns (Goldfarb, 1975; Irwin, 1985; Kerle, 2003). As in England, inmates of these
early and colonial jails were required to pay a “fee” for their upkeep (the same fee system
that John Howard opposed). Those who were wealthier could more easily buy their way out
of incarceration, or if that was not possible because of the nature of the offense, they could
at least ensure that they had more luxurious accommodations (Zupan, 1991). Even when
jailers were paid a certain amount to feed and clothe inmates, they might be disinclined to
do so, being that what they saved by not taking care of their charges they were able to keep
(Zupan, 1991). As a result, inmates of early American jails were sometimes malnourished or
starving. Moreover, in the larger facilities, they were crammed into unsanitary rooms, often
without regard to separation by age, gender, or offense, conditions that also led to disease
and early death. Nonetheless, Irwin (1985) did note that generally Americans fared better in
colonial jails than their English and European cousins did in their own, as the arrangements
were less formal and restrictive in the American jails and were more like rooming houses.
As white people migrated across North America, the early western jails were much like
their earlier eastern and colonial cousins, with makeshift structures and cobbled-together
supervision serving as a means of holding the accused over for trial (Moynihan, 2002). In
post–Civil War midwestern cities, disconnected outlaw gangs (such as the Jesse James gang)
were treated in a harsh manner. Some communities even built rotary jails, which were like
human squirrel cages. Inside a secure building, these rotating steel cages, segmented into
small “pie-shaped cells,” were secured to the floor and could be spun at will by the sheriff
(Goldfarb, 1975, p. 11).
Of course, without prisons in existence per se (we will discuss the versions of such insti-
tutions that did exist shortly), most punishments for crimes constituted relatively short
terms in jails; public shaming (as in the stocks); physical punishments, such as flogging or
the pillory; or banishment. Executions were also carried out, usually but not always for the
most horrific of crimes, such as murder or rape, though in colonial America, many more
crimes qualified for this punishment (Zupan, 1991). As in Europe and England at this time,
Newgate Prison (Simsbury,
Connecticut): An early colonial those who were poorer or enslaved were more likely to experience the harshest punishments
prison (1773–1827) that started (Irwin, 1985; Zupan, 1991). Similar to Europe and England in this era, jails also held people
as a copper mine. Many of its
inmates would work the mine with mental illnesses along with debtors, drifters, transients, the inebriated, runaway slaves
during the day and sleep in it at or servants, and the criminally involved (usually pretrial) (Cornelius, 2007).
night. During the Revolutionary
War, some Loyalists to the
Although the Walnut Street Jail, a portion of which was converted to a prison, is often cited
English Crown were held here. as the first prison in the world, there were, as this recounting of history demonstrates, many
precursors that were arguably “prisons” as
well. One such facility, which also illustrates
the makeshift nature of early prisons, was
Newgate Prison in Simsbury, Connecticut
(named after the Newgate Prison in
London). According to Phelps (1860/1996),
this early colonial prison started as a cop-
per mine, and during its 54 years of opera-
Wikimedia Commons, public domain
tion (from 1773 to 1827), some 800 inmates

passed through its doors. The mine was
originally worked in 1705, and one third of
the taxes it paid to the town of Simsbury at
that time was used to support Yale College
(p. 15). “Burglary, robbery, and counterfeit-
ing were punished for the first offense with
imprisonment not exceeding ten years;
Photo 2.5 Newgate Prison, a working copper mine, served as an early colonial prison. second offence for life” (p. 26). Later,
those loyal to the English Crown during the American Revolution—or Tories—were held at
Newgate as well. Punishments by the “keeper of the prison” could range from shackles and
fetters as restraints to “moderate whipping, not to exceed ten stripes” (p. 26). The inmates of
Newgate Prison were held—stored, really—in the bowels of the mine during the evening (by
themselves and with no supervision) and during the day were forced to work the mine or were
allowed to come to the surface to labor around the facility and in the community. Over the
course of the history of this facility, there were several escapes, a number of riots, and the burning
of the topside buildings by its inmates. Early versions of prisons also existed in other countries.
Early Modern Prisons

LO 2.5 Evaluate the two predominant prison systems of the early 1800s and their
strengths and weaknesses.
The early American prisons were known as the Pennsylvania model prisons—the Walnut
Street Jail (1790) in Philadelphia, Western Pennsylvania Prison (1826) in Pittsburgh, and
Eastern Pennsylvania Prison (1829) in Philadelphia—as well as the New York prison system
(Auburn and Sing Sing).
The Walnut Street Jail

The Walnut Street Jail was originally constructed in 1773 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Walnut Street Jail: Originally
and operated as a typical local jail of the time: holding pretrial detainees and minor offend- constructed in 1773 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
ers; failing to separate by gender, age, or offense; using the fee system, which penalized and remodeled in 1790 into the
people living in poverty and led to the near starvation of some; and offering better accom- first full-fledged prison. The fee
system was dropped; inmates
modations and even access to liquor and sex to those who could pay for it (Zupan, 1991). It were adequately clothed and fed,
was remodeled, however, in 1790 and reconceptualized so that many correctional scholars, regardless of their ability to pay;
and they were separated by gender
though not all, regard it as the first prison. and offense. However, because of
The remodeled cell house was a frame construction and was built for the inmates of the problems in implementation, by
1816, the prison was reportedly
“prison” section of the jail, with separate cells for each inmate. On the basis of the reforms that operating no better than before
John Howard (and later Bentham and Fry) had envisioned for English and European jails, the reform and remodel.
several reforms were instituted in this prison: The fee system was dropped, inmates were ade-
quately clothed and fed regardless of their ability to pay, and they were separated by gender
and offense. Children were not incarcerated in the prison, and debtors were separated from
convicted felons. Although inmates were to live in isolated cells (to avoid “contaminating” one
another), some work requirements brought them together. In addition, medical care was pro-
vided, and attendance at religious services
was required. The availability of alcohol and
I. N. Phelps Stokes, Collection of American Historical Prints

access to members of the opposite sex and
prostitutes was stopped.
The impetus for this philosophical
change came from the reform efforts of
the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating
the Miseries of Public Prisons (or the
Philadelphia Prison Society, currently
known as the Pennsylvania Prison Society),
led by Dr. Benjamin Rush, who was a phy-
sician, reformer, statesman, and signatory
of the Declaration of Independence. Rush
agitated for laws to improve the jail’s condi-
tions of confinement and a different belief
about correctional institutions—namely, Photo 2.6 Drawing of the Walnut Street Jail (circa 1799).
42 CORRECTIONS
that they could be used to reform their inmates (Nagel, 1973; Roberts, 1997). Ideally, the
Walnut Street Jail was to operate on the basis of the religious beliefs of the Quakers, with
their emphasis on the reflective study of the Bible and abhorrence of violence, which was
so prevalent in other correctional entities. In 1789, the General Assembly of Pennsylvania
enacted legislation based on these recommendations, and the Pennsylvania system was born
(Nagel, 1973).
The Walnut Street Jail, as a prison, was also an entity with a philosophy of penitence,
which, it was hoped, would lead to reform and redemption. This philosophy was combined
with an architectural arrangement shaped to facilitate it by ensuring that inmates were
mostly in solitary cells. As John W. Roberts (1997) aptly noted, the reason the Walnut Street
Jail’s new wing was the first real prison, as opposed to the other prisons such as Newgate of
Connecticut that preceded it or some of the early European prisons, was “because it carried
out incarceration as punishment, implemented a rudimentary classification system, fea-
tured individual cells, and was intended to provide a place for offenders to do penance—
hence the term ‘penitentiary’” (p. 26).
But in reality, the Walnut Street Jail soon became crowded, reportedly housing four
times its capacity. As Johnston (2010) noted, “At one point 30 to 40 inmates were sleeping
on blankets on the floor of rooms [which were] 18 feet square” (p. 13). Moreover, the institu-
tional industry buildings that provided work for inmates burned down, leading to idleness,
and by 1816, the Walnut Street Jail (prison) was little different from what it had been before
the reforms (Harris, 1973; Zupan, 1991).
As Beaumont and Tocqueville (1833/1964) commented in 1831, after visiting and ana-
lyzing several prisons and jails in the United States, the implementation of the Walnut Street
Jail had “two principal faults: it corrupted by contamination those who worked together. It
corrupted by indolence, the individuals who were plunged into solitude” (p. 38).
The Pennsylvania Prison Model (Separate System)

The Western Pennsylvania Prison (1821) was built in Pittsburgh, followed by the Eastern
Pennsylvania Prison (1829) in Philadelphia, which was to replace the Walnut Street Jail
(Nagel, 1973). The Western Pennsylvania Prison, built 8 years before Eastern, is little
remarked upon or studied in comparison with Eastern. It was devised to operate in a sol-
itary and separate fashion for inmates. Even labor was to be prohibited, as it was thought
that this might interfere with the ability of the criminal to reflect and feel remorse for their
crime (Hirsch, 1992). Despite the lessons learned from Auburn Prison (part of the New
York system, which we will describe further on)—namely, that complete separation without
labor can be injurious to the person and expensive for the state to maintain, a point made
by Tocqueville and Beaumont—Western Pennsylvania Prison was built to hold inmates in
complete solitary confinement (hence the use of the term separate system), with no labor,
for the full span of their sentences. However, as Beaumont and Tocqueville (1833/1964)
remarked about Western Pennsylvania Prison, reducing all communication and thus con-
tamination, in the authors’ view, was almost impossible at this prison.
As a consequence of these problems of architecture and operation, the Western
Pennsylvania Prison was abandoned as a model, and the Eastern Pennsylvania Prison came
Pennsylvania prison system: to epitomize the Pennsylvania prison system, as opposed to the New York system of build-
Prisons that emphasized silence ing and operating prisons. At Eastern Pennsylvania Prison, known as “Cherry Hill” for
and isolated inmates in their
cells, restricting their contact much of its 150 years of operation, the idea that inmates could be contaminated or corrupted
with others. They reinforced by their fellow inmates was officially embraced.
the need for penitence.
Eastern Pennsylvania Prison was designed and built by the architect John Haviland, a
relative newcomer from England. It cost three quarters of a million dollars to build, which
was an incredible expenditure for the time. It was the largest building in America in the
1820s (Alosi, 2008; Orland, 1975). The prison itself was huge, with seven massive stone
spokes of cells radiating off of a central

rotunda, as on a wheel. A 30-foot wall was
constructed around the outside perime-
ter of the prison, thus physically and sym-
bolically reinforcing the separation of the
prison and its inhabitants from their com-
munity (Nagel, 1973). The cells were built
large (15 by 7.5 feet with 12-foot ceilings),
and those on the lowest tier had their own
Mike Graham/Flickr
small outside exercise yard attached, so
that inmates could do virtually everything
in their cells (Harris, 1973; Orland, 1975).
The cells had both hot water and flushing
toilets; the prison was reportedly the first Photo 2.7 Eastern Pennsylvania Prison was the largest building in America in the 1820s.
public building in the country to have such (Lithograph, circa 1855.)
amenities. There were 400 solitary cells
in this prison (Orland, 1975). At first, inmates were not to work, but that dictate was later
changed, and they were allowed to work in their cells (Harris, 1973).
The only contact inmates were to have with the outside was with the clergy and some
vocational teachers: “The reading of the Scriptures would furnish the offender with the
moral guidance necessary for reform” (Nagel, 1973, p. 7). They had no access to visitors
or letters or newspapers. Even their exercise yards were surrounded by a high stone fence.
When they were brought into the prison and were taken for showers or to see the doctor,
they had to wear a mask or a draped hood so as to maintain their anonymity and to pre-
vent them from figuring out a way to escape (Alosi, 2008). As to how else they could occupy
their time, “they made shoes, wove and dyed cloth products, caned chairs, and rolled cigars.
Those products were sold to defray prison costs” (Roberts, 1997, p. 33).
The stated purpose of the solitary confinement was to achieve reform or rehabilitation.
Quakers believed that God resides in everyone, and for a person to reach God, they must
reflect. Silence is required for self-reflection, the Quakers thought. The Quakers also believed
that as God was in everyone, all were equal and were deserving of respect (Alosi, 2008).
Solitary confinement, as a practical matter, remained in existence at Eastern
Pennsylvania Prison until after the Civil War but was not formally ended until 1913 (Alosi,
2008). When it was rigorously applied, there are indications that it drove inmates insane. In
fact—and tellingly—most of the European countries that copied the Eastern Pennsylvania
model and its architecture did not isolate the inmates for this reason. Moreover, at a min-
imum, solitary confinement debilitated people by making them incapable of dealing with
other people. For instance, the wardens’ journals for Eastern in the early years indicate that
it was not uncommon for an inmate to be released and then to ask to be reinstated at Eastern
because they did not know how to live freely. Some inmates, once released, would actually sit
on the curb outside the prison, as they said they no longer understood the outside world or
how to function in it (Alosi, 2008).
Although the separation of inmates under the Pennsylvania system was to be complete,
there are indications that it was not. In testimony before a special investigation by a joint
committee of the houses of the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1834 (before the whole prison
was even completed), it was noted that a number of male and female inmates (there were a
small number of female inmates housed separately at Eastern) were used for maintenance,
cleaning, and cooking at the facility and roamed freely around it, speaking and interacting
with one another and with staff (Johnston, 2010). Moreover, there were indications from
this testimony that inmates were tortured to maintain discipline: One had died of blood
loss from the iron gag put in his mouth, and another went insane after buckets of cold water
were poured on his head repeatedly. It was alleged that food and supplies meant for inmates
44 CORRECTIONS
were given to guards or community members by the prison cook (who was a wife of one of
the guards). There were also indications of the use and abuse of alcohol by staff and inmates
and of sexual improprieties involving the warden and his clerk, some male inmates, and the
female cook. Although ultimately charges against the warden and his clerk related to these
improprieties were dropped, the cook was blamed, and the guards who testified about the
scandal (the whistleblowers) were fired.
In addition to these problems of implementation at Eastern, a debate raged among
prison experts regarding the value of separation. As a result of the experiment with Western
Pennsylvania Prison and its early use at Eastern Pennsylvania Prison and Auburn Prison,
the idea of total separation was under siege. As mentioned, it was observed that for those
truly subjected to it, solitary confinement and separation caused serious psychological
problems for some inmates. Despite these problems, about 300 prisons worldwide copied
the Eastern Pennsylvania model, and tens of thousands of people did time there, including
the 1920s gangster Al Capone. It was a famous prison worldwide because of its philosophy,
its architecture, and its huge size. It even became a tourist attraction in the 19th century, to
the extent that famous English author Charles Dickens noted it as one of the two sights he
wanted to see when visiting the United States (the other was Niagara Falls) (Alosi, 2008).
It turns out, after a visit of a few hours and talking to inmates, keepers, and the warden,
Dickens was far from impressed with its operation.
Ethical Issue
You are a new pastor in the Eastern Pennsylvania inmates speak to or even look at Mr. Dickens (as
Prison when Charles Dickens, the celebrated they have been instructed not to under penalty of
English author, visits the prison in 1842. Your confinement in a segregation cell for months, with
position is tenuous at the prison, and you have only food and water). In the course of your rounds,
been told that it is dependent on your meticulous you note that Dickens routinely and secretively—
adherence to the rule of silence for inmates. presumably to protect inmates from punishment—
Although you are not a proponent of this kind attempts to engage inmates in conversation. In a
of control of inmates, the warden has made it few instances, you have overheard inmates whisper
clear to you that your livelihood and that of your responses to his queries. You cannot be sure that
family (you have eight children) depends on a guard has not also observed this behavior and
your complete compliance. For some reason, Mr. has seen you in the vicinity when it occurred.
Dickens chooses to visit inmate cells and observe What would you do? Would you report the offense?
them while they work making shoes or weaving. Would you ask Dickens to stop speaking to
You have been instructed to report whether inmates (or would you just ask for his autograph)?
Auburn, Sing Sing, and

the New York (Congregate) System
New York prison system: The New York prison system was preferred over the Pennsylvania system and was cop-
Prisons included congregate work ied extensively by American prison builders, in part because it disavowed the solitary con-
and eating arrangements but
silent and separate housing. finement that Dickens and others lamented in the Pennsylvania prisons. Beaumont and
Tocqueville (1833/1964) commented that the use of solitary confinement as normal prac-
tice for all inmates was ended at Auburn because it drove inmates insane. But it is not that
the builders and planners of the Auburn Prison in New York learned from the Pennsylvania
system; rather, they learned from their own dalliance with solitary confinement. At first, the
inmates of Auburn were housed in solitary confinement in their cells, a practice that was
abandoned by 1822 because it led to men-

tal anguish and insanity for inmates, and
it hampered the efficient production of
goods that can only be done in the con-
gregate. By 1822, a total of 5 prisoners had
died, 1 had gone insane, and the remaining
26 were pardoned by the governor of New
York, as their mental faculties had deterio-
rated to such a great extent (Harris, 1973,
p. 73). The governor ordered that inmates
be allowed to leave their cells and work
© Philip Scalia/Alamy
during the day, and in 1824, a legislative
committee recommended the repeal of the
solitary confinement laws (Harris, 1973).
Beaumont and Tocqueville (1833/
1964) supported the practice of maintain-
ing the solitude of inmates at night and Photo 2.8 Auburn Prison, officially opened in 1818, is still in operation today, though its
name has changed to Auburn Correctional Institution.
their silence during the day as they worked,
as they believed, along with the Quakers of
Pennsylvania, that solitude and silence led to reflection and reformation and also reduced
cross-contamination of inmates. As to labor, they claimed, “It fatigues the body and relieves
the soul” (p. 57), along with supplementing the income of the state to support the prison.
Auburn Prison’s cornerstone was laid in 1816, the institution received its first inmates in
1817, and it officially opened in 1818, but it was not finished until 1819 (Harris, 1973). Elam
Lynds (1784–1855), a strict disciplinarian and former Army captain, was its first warden in
1821. Auburn has been in existence ever since (204 years at the time of this writing, in 2020),
though its name was changed to Auburn Correctional Institution in 1970.
Auburn’s cells were built back to back, with corridors on each side. The prison has
always had a Gothic appearance, and its elaborate front and massive walls have been main-
tained up until today, with towers and a fortress façade. Auburn Prison has a storied his-
tory that spans from the virtual beginning of prisons in the United States to the present
day. As was already noted, Beaumont and Tocqueville visited it and recommended it over
the Pennsylvania prisons. Auburn opened with a solitary confinement system, which was
very quickly abandoned and replaced with the congregate but silent system, which formally
lasted until the beginning of the 20th century. It was the progenitor of such widely adopted
practices as the lockstep walk for inmates, the striped prison uniform and the classification
system that went hand in hand with it, and the well-known ball and chain. Warden Lynds
believed in strict obedience on the part of inmates and the use of the whip by staff to ensure it
(Clear et al., 2011). Under his regime, inmates were forbidden to talk or even to glance at one
another during work or meals. Solitary confinement and flogging were used for punishing
and controlling inmates. As noted in the foregoing, except for a few years at the beginning
of Auburn’s history, inmates were single-celled at night, and the cells were quite small, even
coffin-like (7 × 7 × 3.5 feet). During the day, the inmates worked together, though silently, in
factories and shops (Roberts, 1997).
The small cells, like those at Auburn, were cheaper to build, and prisons could house
more inmates in the same amount of space than prisons with larger cells. Also, congregate
work allowed the more efficient production of more products, and thus, more profit could
be made (Roberts, 1997). However, putting all of these inmates together in one place pre-
sented some difficulties in terms of control and management. This is why the control tech-
niques represented by the use of the lash, solitary confinement, marching in lockstep, and
the requirement of silence came into play. As Roberts (1997) noted, “Ironically, whereas
the penitentiary concept was developed as a humane alternative to corporal punishment,
46 CORRECTIONS
corporal punishment returned as a device

to manage inmates in penitentiaries based
on the Auburn System” (p. 44).
Sing Sing Prison was modeled after
Auburn architecturally in that the cells
were small, and there were congre-
gate areas for group work by inmates,
but its cellblocks were tiered and very
long. Inmate management and opera-
tions exactly mirrored the Auburn pro-
tocols. In fact, Sing Sing was built by
Auburn inmates under the supervision of
Peter Greenberg
Auburn’s Warden Lynds.

The prison was built on the Hudson
River, near the towns of Ossining and
Mount Pleasant (and for many years, the
Photo 2.9 Sing Sing Prison, modeled after Auburn Prison, was built by inmates from Auburn prison was referred to as Mount Pleasant),
Prison in 1825.
from locally quarried stone. Products pro-
duced at the prison could be transported
to local towns via the river. Inmates sent there would refer to it as being sent “up the river,”
as it is 30 miles north of New York City (Conover, 2001). Its name derives from the Native
American phrase Sint Sinks, which came from the older term ossine ossine and, aptly, means
“stone upon stone” (Lawes, 1932, p. 68).
Warden Lynds picked 100 men from Auburn Prison to build Sing Sing in 1825. The
story of its construction, in silence, as relayed by Lewis Lawes (1932), a later warden of Sing
Sing, goes like this:
Captain Lynds, then the foremost penologist of the day, was insistent, to the point
of hysteria, on silence as the backbone of prison administration. “It is the duty of
convicts to preserve an unbroken silence,” was the first rule he laid down. “They
are not to exchange a word with each other under any pretense whatever; not to
communicate any intelligence to each other in writing. They are not to exchange
looks, wink, laugh, or motion to each other. They must not sing, whistle, dance,
run, jump, or do anything which has a tendency in the least degree to disturb the
harmony or contravene to disturb the rules and regulations of the prison.” . . . The
sea gulls in the broad river, darting in large flocks here and there on the water,
chirped raucously at these strange creatures sweating at their tasks in silence.
Stone upon stone. (pp. 72–73)
Once the prison was constructed, it was noticed that with some effort, inmates could
communicate between the closely aligned cells, but nothing was done to rebuild the cells.
Moreover, as the inmates from New York City’s old Newgate Prison were moved to Sing Sing
right away and so were additional inmates from Auburn, the prison was full at 800 inmates
by 1830 (Lawes, 1932).
Prison labor in the early years of prisons (before the Civil War) was contract labor and
subject to abuse. Contractors would pay a set amount for inmates’ labor and then would
make sure they got the most work out of them, cutting costs where they could and brib-
ing wardens and keepers when they needed to. Eventually, such contracts were ended, as
the cheap labor made prison-produced goods too competitive with products made by free
workers (Conover, 2001).
When one thinks about old prisons, those castle-like fortress prisons, the images of
Auburn and Sing Sing inmates and prisons come to mind, even unknowingly. So many U.S.
prisons copied the New York design and operation of these prisons that even if one is not
thinking of Auburn or Sing Sing per se, one is likely imagining a copy of them. By the time
Beaumont and Tocqueville (1833/1964) visited the United States in 1831, they reported
that Auburn Prison had already been copied in prisons built in Massachusetts, Maryland,
Tennessee, Kentucky, Maine, and Vermont.
It was not just the physical structure or the silent but congregate inmate management
that was copied, however, from Auburn and Sing Sing, but the inmate discipline system as
well. Orland (1975) summarized the Connecticut prison regulations of the 1830s, which
were borrowed from the New York model:
Inmates were exhorted to be “industrious, submissive, and obedient;” to “labor

diligently in silence”; they were forbidden to “write or receive a letter” or to com-
municate in any manner “with or to persons” without the warden’s permission;
they were prohibited from engaging in conversation “with another prisoner”
without permission or to “speak to, or look at, visitors.” (p. 26)
In Focus 2.3
L E W I S E . L AW E S’S O B S E RVATI O N S O N S I N G S I N G’S H I S TO RY A N D D I S C I P L I N E
In 1920, Lawes began his tenure as warden of Sing noting that by 1845, an outside accountant found
Sing, and he later commented on how the severity that the prison held 20 fewer female and 33 fewer
of prison discipline had waxed and waned at this male inmates than it had officially on the books,
prison over the years. At first, it was very severe, with that $32,000 was missing, and that there was no
the use of the cat-o’-nine-tails whip: “It was made explanation as to where these people were or
of long strips of leather, attached to a stout wooden where the money had gone (Lawes, 1932, p. 82).
handle, and was not infrequently wired at the tips. The warden’s and other official reports indicated
The ‘cat’ preferred its victim barebacked” (Lawes, that inmates were poorly fed and that diseases
1932, pp. 74–75). Under a warden, in 1840, however, were rampant at Sing Sing. By 1859, some of
the cat was retired, and inmates could have a few Sing Sing’s small cells had become doubles
visits and letters. A Sunday school and library were to accommodate the overcrowding, and the
constructed, and the warden walked among the punishments got worse. By 1904, the official report
men. Within a few years, though, a new warden was was that the prison was in a disgraceful condition.
appointed with a new political party in power, and Lawes (1932) wrote, “Such was the Sing Sing of
all of the reforms were abandoned, and the cat was the Nineteenth Century. A hopeless, oppressive,
resurrected. A few years later, when a reportedly barren spot. Escapes were frequent, attempts at
insane inmate was literally whipped to death, the escape almost daily occurrences. Suicides were
public was outraged, and the use of the lash declined common” (p. 88).
for men and was prohibited for women. The prison
discipline was consequently softened, and this cycle
Discussion Questions
continued for the rest of the 1800s, from severe to
soft discipline. Lawes maintained, after reviewing 1. Why is total control in prisons almost
all of the wardens’ reports since the opening of Sing impossible to achieve?
Sing, that escapes were highest during times of
severe punishment, despite the risks inmates took 2. What does it take to achieve close to total
should they be caught. control?
3. Do you think prisons of today should be
He also observed that the prison had problems operated in the way that Sing Sing was in its
with management and control in other ways, early days? Why, or why not?
48 CORRECTIONS
Early Prisons and Jails Not Reformed

LO 2.6 Summarize what the social critics (Beaumont, Tocqueville, and Dix) thought of
early prisons and why.
Lest one be left with the impression that all prisons and jails in the early 1800s in America
were reformed, we should emphasize that this was not the case. Beaumont and Tocqueville
(1833/1964) commented, for instance, on the fact that New Jersey prisons, right across the
river from the reformist New York system, were vice ridden and that Ohio prisons, though
ruled by a humanitarian law, were “barbarous,” with half of the inmates in irons and “the
rest plunged into an infected dungeon” (p. 49). But in New Orleans, they found the worst,
with inmates incarcerated with hogs. “In locking up criminals, nobody thinks of rendering
them better, but only of taming their malice; they are put in chains like ferocious beasts; and
instead of being corrected, they are rendered brutal” (p. 49).
As to jails, Beaumont and Tocqueville (1833/1964) noted no reforms at all. Inmates
who were presumed innocent or, if guilty, had generally committed much less serious
offenses than those sent to prison were incarcerated in facilities far worse in construction
and operation than prisons, even in states where prison reform had occurred. In colo-
nial times, inmates in American jails were kept in house-like facilities and were allowed
much more freedom, albeit with few amenities that they did not pay for themselves. Dix
(1843/1967) described many jails, particularly those that did not separate inmates, as
“free school[s] of vice.” However, as the institutionalization movement began for prisons,
jails copied their large, locked-up, and controlled atmosphere, without any philosophy of
reform to guide their construction or operation (Goldfarb, 1975). By midcentury, some
jails had used the silent or separate systems popular in prisons, but most were merely con-
gregate and poorly managed holding facilities (Dix, 1843/1967). Such facilities on the East
Coast, by the latter quarter of the 1800s, were old, crowded, and full of the “corruptions”
the new prisons were designed to prevent (Goldfarb, 1975). In the end, Beaumont and
Tocqueville (1833/1964) blamed the lack of reform of prisons in some states and the fail-
ure to reform jails hardly at all on the fact that there were independent state and local gov-
ernments who handled crime and criminals differently: “These shocking contradictions
proceed chiefly from the want of unison in the various parts of government in the United
States” (p. 49).
Prisons: “The Shame of Another Generation”

The creation of prisons was a grand reform, promoted by principled people who were
appalled at the brutality of discipline wielded against those in their communities. Prisons
were an exciting development supported by Enlightenment ideals of humanity and the
promise of reformation. They were developed over centuries, in fits and starts, and had their
genesis in other modes of depriving people of liberty (e.g., galley slavery, transportation,
jails, bridewells, houses of corrections, and early versions of prisons), but they were meant to
be much better—so much better—than these.
It is not clear whether the problems arose for prisons in their implementation or in their
basic conceptualization. In societies in which people who are poor and dispossessed exist
among institutions in which law and practice serve to maintain their status, is it any wonder
that prisons, as a social institution that reflects the values and beliefs of that society, would
serve to reinforce this status? All indications are that most prisons, even those that were
lauded as the most progressive in an earlier age of reform, were, by the mid-19th century,
regarded as violent and degrading places for their inmates and staff.
Dorothea Dix’s Evaluation of Prisons and Jails

Dorothea Dix was a humanitarian, a teacher, and a penal and insane asylum reformer who,
after 4 years of studying prisons, jails, and almshouses in northeastern and midwestern
states, wrote the book Remarks on Prisons and Prison Discipline in the United States, in 1843
(reprinted in 1845 and 1967). The data for her book were assembled from multiple observa-
tions at prisons; conversations and correspondence with staff, wardens, and inmates in pris-
ons; and a review of prisons’ annual reports.
Dix tended to prefer the Pennsylvania model over the New York model because she
thought that inmates benefited from separation from others. However, she forcefully argued
that both prison models that had promised so much in terms of reform for inmates were, in
fact, abject failures in that regard. She found these and most prisons to be understaffed, over-
crowded, and run by inept leaders who changed much too often. She noted that at Sing Sing,
about 1,200 lashes, using the cat-o’-nine-tails, were administered every month to about 200
men, an amount she thought too severe, though she believed that the use of the lash, espe-
cially in understaffed and overcrowded prisons like Sing Sing and Auburn, was necessary
to maintain order (Dix, 1843/1967). In contrast, at Eastern Pennsylvania Prison, she com-
mented that punishments included mostly solitary confinement in darkened cells, which, to
her, appeared to lead to changes in the behavior of recalcitrant inmates. Dix argued, as far as
inmate discipline goes, “Man is not made better by being degraded; he is seldom restrained
from crime by harsh measures” (p. 4).
Thus, Dix argued against the long sentences for minor offenses that she found in prisons
of the day (e.g., Richmond, Virginia; Columbus, Ohio; Concord, Massachusetts; Providence,
Rhode Island) and the disparity in sentencing from place to place. She thought not only
that such sentences were unjust but that they led to insubordination by inmates and staff
who recognized the arbitrary nature of the justice system. On the other hand, in her study
of prisons, she found that the pardoning power was used too often, and this again led, she
thought, to less trust in the just and fair nature of the system and to insubordination among
its inmates.
Dix also remarked on the quality and availability of food and water for inmates in early
correctional facilities. She found the food to be adequate in most places, except Sing Sing,
where there was no place to dine at the time of the second edition of her book (1845), and
the water inadequate in most places, except the Pennsylvania prisons, where it was piped
into all of the cells. Her comments on the health, heating, clothing, cleanliness, and sanity
of inmates also were detailed, by institution, and indicated that though there were recurrent
problems with these issues in prisons of the time, some prisons (e.g., Eastern Pennsylvania
Prison) did more than others to alleviate miseries by changing the diet, providing adequate
clothing, and making warm water for washing available to inmates.
Dix did not find that more inmates were deemed “insane” in Pennsylvania-modeled
prisons on the basis of her data—or at least not more than one might expect, even in the
Pennsylvania prisons. Given the history of the separate system’s being linked to insanity,
she was sensitive to this topic. However, by 1845, when she published the second edition
of her book, inmates at Eastern were not as “separate” from others as they had been, both
formally and informally, and this might explain the relative paucity of insanity cases in
her data. By this time, inmates were allowed to speak to their keepers (guards) and attend
church and school.
Dix also explored the moral and religious instruction provided at the several state pris-
ons and county prisons (jails) that she visited. Except for Eastern Pennsylvania Prison, she
found them all deficient in this respect and that the provisions of such services were severely
lacking in the jails.
50 CORRECTIONS
Dix studied a peculiar practice of the early prisons: allowing visitors to pay to be spec-
tators at the prisons. Adults were generally charged 25 cents, and children were half price at
some facilities. In Auburn, in 1842, the prison made $1,692.75 from visitors; in Columbus,
Ohio, in 1844, the prison made $1,038.78; and Dix documented five other prisons that
allowed the same practice, a practice she thought should be “dispensed with” as it “would
not aid the moral and reforming influences of the prisons” (p. 43). Of course, this fascination
with watching inmates continues today, with reality-based television shows filmed in pris-
ons and jails.
Finally, Dix tried to explore the idea of recidivism or, as she termed it, reform. Prisons
did not keep records. In most respects and in all of these areas, she concluded from her study
of several prisons that Eastern Pennsylvania Prison was far superior to most prisons and that
Sing Sing Prison was far inferior, but she thought even Eastern Pennsylvania Prison was far
from perfect. Rather, she called for more focus on the morals and education of young people
and on preventing crime as a means of improving prisons and reducing their use—a call that
sounds very familiar today.
Ethical Issue
You are Dorothea Dix, the American humanitarian rather than reforming them. In the course of your
and penal and insane asylum reformer, and you visit to Sing Sing, where the lash is used for the
are visiting prisons and jails in the United States smallest offense, you notice that an emaciated
in the 1840s. The task you have set for yourself inmate steals a piece of bread off a tray. The warden,
is to document what appears to be working and though known for his harsh treatment of inmates,
what does not in the facilities you visit. You pride has treated you with every courtesy, and you know
yourself on maintaining high moral standards. that he would expect you to report this offense. What
You are not opposed to the use of the lash in would you do, and why? Do you think that your
some circumstances, but its overuse, you think, is decision is colored by the time period you live in?
counterproductive in that it turns men into “brutes” Why, or why not?
The Failure of Reform Is Noted

Dix’s writings foretold the difficulties of implementing real change, even if the proposal is
well intentioned. Simply put, prisons in the latter half of the 19th century were no longer
regarded as places of reform. As Rothman (1980) stated,
Every observer of American prisons and asylums in the closing decades of the
nineteenth century recognized that the pride of one generation had become
the shame of another. The institutions that had been intended to exemplify the
humanitarian advances of republican government were not merely inadequate
to the ideal, but were actually an embarrassment and a rebuke. Failure to do
good was one thing; a proclivity to do harm quite another—and yet the evidence
was incontrovertible that brutality and corruption were endemic to the institu-
tions. (p. 17)
Newspapers and state investigatory commissions, by the mid-19th century, were doc-
umenting the deficiencies of state prisons. Instead of the relatively controlled atmosphere
of the Pennsylvania or Auburn prisons of the 1830s, there was a great deal of laxity and
brutality (Rothman, 1980). Prisons were overcrowded and understaffed, torture was used
to gain compliance, and the presence of prison contractors led to corruption, such as paying
off wardens to look the other way as inmate labor was exploited or, alternatively, the wardens
and staff using inmates and their labor for their own illegal ends.
The Renewed Promise of Reform

LO 2.7 Explain why reform of prisons and jails was needed and how those reform efforts
worked out.
The 1870 American Prison Congress

The first major prison reform came approximately 50 years after the first New York and
Pennsylvania prisons were built, doubtless as a result of all of those calls for change. The
1870 American Prison Congress was held in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the express purpose of
trying to recapture some of the idealism promised with the creation of prisons (Rothman,
1980). Despite their promises of reform and attempts at preventing “contamination,” the
early prisons had become, by the 1860s, warehouses without hope or resources. All of the
themes mentioned at the beginning of this chapter—save the desire for reform, and that was
remedied with the next round of reforms to follow the congress—applied to the operation
of the 19th-century prisons: They were overcrowded, underfunded, brutal facilities where
too many inmates would spend time doing little that was productive or likely to prepare
them to reintegrate into the larger community.
Appropriately enough, then, the Declaration of Principles that emerged from the
American Prison Congress of 1870 was nothing short of revolutionary at the time and
provided a blueprint for prisons we see today (Rothman, 1980). Some of those principles
were concerned with the grand purpose of prisons—to achieve reform—while others
were related to their day-to-day operation (e.g., training of staff, eliminating contract labor,
treatment of the insane) (American Correctional Association, 1983).
Elmira
As a result of these principles, a spirit of reform in corrections again spurred action, and
the Elmira Reformatory was founded in 1876 in New York (Rothman, 1980). The refor- Elmira Reformatory: Founded
in 1876 in New York as a model
matory would encompass all of the rehabilitation focus and graduated reward system prison in response to calls for the
(termed the marks system because if one behaves, it is possible to earn marks that, in turn, reform of prisons from an earlier
entitle one to privileges). The marks system, as mentioned previously, was practiced by era, it aimed to encompass all
of the rehabilitation focus and
Maconochie and later by Crofton in Irish prisons and was promoted by reformers. Elmira graduated reward system that
was supposed to hire an educated and trained staff and to maintain uncrowded facilities reformers were agitating for.
(Orland, 1975). Marks system: A graduated
reward system for prisons in
Zebulon Brockway was appointed to head the reformatory, and he was intent on using which, if one behaves, it is
the ideas of Maconochie and Crofton to create a “model” prison (Harris, 1973, p. 85). He possible to earn “marks” that, in
persuaded the New York legislature to pass a bill creating the indeterminate sentence, which turn, entitle one to privileges.
would be administered by a board rather than the courts. He planned for the reformatory to
handle only younger men (ages 16 to 30), as he expected that they might be more amenable
to change. He planned to create a college at Elmira that would educate inmates from ele-
mentary school through college. He also sought to create an industrial training school that
would equip inmates with technical abilities. In addition, he focused on the physical training
of inmates, including much marching but also the use of massages and steam baths (Harris,
1973). The marks system had a three-pronged purpose: to discipline, to encourage reform,
and to justify good time, in order to reduce the sentence of the offender. Brockway did not
want to resort to the use of the lash.
52 CORRECTIONS
Much lauded around the world and visited by dignitaries, the Elmira Reformatory and
Brockway’s management of it led to the creation of good time, the indeterminate sentence
(defined in Chapter 4), a focus on programming to address inmate deficiencies, and the
promotion of probation and parole. “After Brockway, specialized treatment, classification of
prisoners, social rehabilitation and self-government of one sort or another were introduced
into every level of the corrections system” (Harris, 1973, pp. 86–87).
Unfortunately and as before, this attempt at reform was thwarted when the funding was
not always forthcoming, and the inmates did not conform as they were expected to. The
staff, who were not the educated and trained professionals Brockway had envisioned, soon
resorted to violence to keep control. In fact, Brockway administered the lash himself on
many occasions (Rothman, 1980). It should not be forgotten, however, that even on its worst
day, the Elmira prison was likely no worse—and probably much more humane—than were
the old Auburn or Sing Sing prisons.
The Creation of Probation and Parole

Probation and parole, which we will cover in Chapters 6 and 9, were developed in the first
half of the 19th century, and their use spread widely across the United States in the early
20th century. The idea behind both was that programming and assistance in the community
while supervising offenders could reduce the use of incarceration and help offenders transi-
tion more smoothly back into the community. Doubtless, the intent was good, but the exe-
cution of this reform was less than satisfactory; however, it did represent an improvement
over the correctional practices that preceded it (Rothman, 1980).
American Corrections in
the 20th and 21st Centuries
LO 2.8 Assess where we are today in America in terms of prison types and how we got
there.
Southern and Northern Prisons

and the Contract and Lease Systems
Southern prisons, because of the institution of slavery, developed on a different trajectory
from that of other prisons. As indicated by Young’s (2001) research, prisons in the South
were little used before the Civil War. In agriculturally based societies, labor is prized and
needed in the fields, and slave labor had served as a basis for the southern economy. Once
slavery was abolished with the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, southern states,
in the Reconstruction period following the Civil War, began incarcerating more people, par-
ticularly formerly enslaved people, and re-creating a slave society in the corrections system.
As Oshinsky (1996) documents, for Mississippi prisons, Black people were picked up and
imprisoned for relatively minor offenses and forced to work like enslaved people on prison
plantations or on plantations of southern farmers.
In the North, Midwest, and, later, the West, prisons were built somewhat on the Auburn
model, but for the most part, corrections officials abandoned the attempt to completely
silence inmates. It was no longer emphasized, as maintaining such silence required a large
staff and constant vigilance, and these were usually not available in the understaffed and
overcrowded facilities (Jacobs, 1977). Inmates in such prisons worked in larger groups
under private or public employers, and order was maintained with the lash or other innova-
tions in discipline (see also Lawes, 1932, regarding the management of Sing Sing). Although
there was no pretense of high-minded reform going on in these prisons, their conditions
and the accommodations of inmates were thought to be far superior to those provided in
southern prisons of the time. Conditions under both the contract and lease systems could Contract and lease systems:
Systems devised by prisons
be horrible but were likely worse under the southern lease system, where contractors were to hire out inmates’ labor to
often responsible for both housing and feeding inmates. Such contractors had little incen- farmers or other contractors.
tive for feeding or taking care of inmates, as the supply of labor from the prison was almost
inexhaustible.
Industrial Prisons
The contract system morphed into industrial prisons in the latter part of the 19th century
and first few decades of the 20th century in several states. Inmates were employed either
by outside contractors or by the state to engage in the large-scale production of goods for
sale on the open market or to produce goods for the state itself. Eventually, as the strength of
unions increased and particularly as the Depression struck in 1930, the sale of cheap, prison-
made goods was restricted by several state and federal laws, limiting the production of goods
in prisons to just products the state or nonprofits might be able to use.
Correctional Institutions or Warehouse Prisons?

In his classic book, Stateville: The Penitentiary in Mass Society, James Jacobs (1977)
described the operation of and environmental influences on Stateville Prison in Illinois. It Stateville Prison: Built in
Illinois as a panopticon in 1925
was built as a panopticon in 1925 in reaction to the deplorable conditions of the old Joliet, in reaction to the deplorable
Illinois, prison, built in 1860. Joliet was overcrowded, and Stateville Prison was built to conditions of the old Joliet,
relieve that overcrowding, but by 1935, Stateville itself was full, at 4,000 inmates, and the Illinois, prison, built in 1860.
population at Joliet had not been reduced at all.

In a reformist state such as Illinois at the time (juvenile court reform began there, and it
was one of the first states to initiate civil service reforms), Stateville was conceived as a place
where inmates would be carefully classified into treatment programs that would address
their needs and perceived deficiencies and where they could earn good time and eventual
parole. Inmates were believed to be “sick,” and a treatment regimen provided by the prison
would address that sickness and hopefully “cure” them so that they might become pro-
ductive members of society. Thus, correctional institutions would use the medical model Medical model: Rehabilitation
model that assumes criminals
to treat inmates. Even though it was built as a maximum-security prison, Stateville’s con-
are sick and need treatment.
ception fit the definition of a correctional institution, where inmates were not to be merely
warehoused but corrected and treated. However, though inmates in the Illinois system were
classified, and good time was available for those who adhered to the rules, there was little
programming available, the prison was crowded, it was understaffed, and the staff who were
employed were ill trained (Jacobs, 1977). Moreover, the first 10 years of operation were filled
with disorganized management and violent attacks on staff and inmates in a prison con-
trolled by Irish and Italian gangs.
In essence and despite the intent to create a correctional institution, Stateville became
what is termed a Big House prison. These, according to Irwin (2005), are fortress stone or Big House prisons: Fortress
stone or concrete prisons, usually
concrete prisons, usually maximum security, whose attributes include “isolation, routine, and maximum security, whose
monotony” (p. 32). Strict security and rule enforcement, at least formally, and a regimenta- attributes include isolation, routine,
tion in schedule are other hallmarks of such facilities. The convict code, or the rules inmates and monotony. Strict security and
rule enforcement, at least formally,
live by vis-à-vis the institution and staff, is clear-cut: “1. Do not inform; 2. Do not openly and a regimented schedule are
interact or cooperate with the guards or the administration; 3. Do your own time” (p. 33). other hallmarks of such facilities.
The next 25 years of Stateville Prison (1936–1961) were marked by the authoritarian Convict code: Informal
rules inmates live by vis-à-vis
control of one warden (Ragen), the isolation of staff and inmates from the larger world, strict the institution and staff.
formal rule enforcement, and informal corruption of those rules. Some of the trappings
of a correctional institution were present (i.e., good time for good behavior and parole),
but inmates, for the most part, were merely warehoused, double- and triple-celled. Those
54 CORRECTIONS
inmates who were favored by staff and the

warden were given better housing and
a whole array of privileges. Corruption
seethed under the surface, with the
relaxation of rules for tougher inmates,
black-market trade by both staff and
inmates, and the warden turning his head
when beatings of inmates by staff occurred.
By the mid-1950s, Ragen, who had been
appointed director of corrections for the
state in 1941, was redefining its purpose as
one of rehabilitation (Jacobs, 1977). So that
his prisons would appear to be at the fore-
front of the move to a rehabilitative focus,
the numbers of inmates in school and in
vocational programming did increase,
Public domain
though staff, under the guise of providing

vocational training, were able to use the
inmate labor to repair their appliances and
Photo 2.10 The prison yard of Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville in the 1870s. Huntsville cars free of charge.
is an example of a Big House prison.
By the 1960s, Stateville and other
Illinois prisons, much like the rest of the
country, were under pressure internally by more career-oriented professionals interested
in management of prisons and externally by greater racial consciousness and an emerging
inmates’ rights movement. Eventually, such prisons had to open their doors to other ideas
and perspectives and sometimes the press, as well as court-mandated legal review of their
practices (Jacobs, 1977).
The 1960s through the 1990s saw a boom in prison building across the country, most
of the medium- and minimum-security variety, which were more likely to classify inmates
according to both security and treatment needs, institute rehabilitative programming
(although the amount and value of this have varied from state to state and by time period),
and use good time and parole (except in those states that abolished it as part of a determi-
nate-sentencing schema; see Chapter 4). Thus, by the 1960s and 1970s, the ideal of a cor-
rectional institution had been more fully realized in many parts of the country and in some
prisons. However, the extent to which it truly was realized is in doubt. Staff hired to work in
these prisons, other than the few treatment staff, tended to have only a GED or high school
diploma and were not paid a professional wage. The prisons were understaffed. Also, they
often were crowded, and educational and other treatment programs, even work programs,
were limited. Good time was usually given, though inmates could lose it. They did not, in
fact, earn it; rather, they did time and got it. Parole was typically poorly supervised, and by
the 1970s and through the 1980s and early 1990s, several states and the federal government
had eliminated it as they moved to determinate sentencing (see Chapter 4).
By the mid-1970s, a conservative mood regarding crime had gripped the country, and
skepticism had developed about the value of rehabilitative programming. The media and
politicians played on the fear of crime, and although overall street crime has been decreasing
Warehouse prisons: Large since the early 1980s in the United States, and violent crime has been decreasing since the
prisons, of any security level, where mid-1990s, a prison-building boom ensued (Irwin, 2005). Prisons of the 1980s, 1990s, and
inmates’ lives and movement
are severely restricted and rule into the 2000s reflect all of these earlier trends and influences. The maximum- and super-
bound. There is no pretense maximum-security prisons of today (and possibly some medium- and minimum-security
of rehabilitation; punishment,
incapacitation, and deterrence
prisons) are merely warehouse prisons, where inmates’ lives and movement are severely
are the only justifications. restricted and rule bound. There is no pretense of rehabilitation in warehouse prisons;
punishment and incapacitation are the only justifications for such places. The more hard-
ened and dangerous prisoners are supposed to be sent there, and their severe punishment is
to serve as a deterrent to others in lesser security prisons.
These lesser security prisons, the medium- and minimum-security prisons, which com-
pose roughly two thirds of all prisons, do still have the trappings of rehabilitation program-
ming, though it is limited in scope and funding, and they usually afford good time and even
parole. (Most states still have a version of these.) They, too, are often crowded and under-
staffed, and their staff are not as educated or well paid as one might wish. However, such
prisons do approximate the original ideal of a correctional institution.
The rest of this book will be focused primarily on the correctional institution model as
it is often imperfectly implemented in the United States. There are some who argue (e.g.,
Irwin, 2005) that the rehabilitative ideal is not realized in prisons and, instead, that pro-
gramming is too often used to control inmates rather than to help locate another life path
that does not involve crime. Correctional institutions intended to rehabilitate instead end
up warehousing the “dangerous classes” (Irwin, 2005) or people living in poverty and peo-
ple of color. Of course, our history of corrections would lead us to be skeptical of any easy
claims to rehabilitative change. (For a fuller discussion of rehabilitative programming, see
Chapter 14.) As will be explored in this book, too often a plan, though well intentioned,
is inadequately conceived and executed, and as a result, nothing changes, or worse, we
achieve precisely the opposite results.
Themes That Prevail in Correctional History

LO 2.9 Describe the prevailing themes in correctional history.
There are several themes that are interwoven throughout the history and current opera-
tion of corrections in the United States. The overriding one, of course, has been money.
Operating a correctional institution or a program is a costly undertaking, and from the
first, those engaged in this business have had to concern themselves with how to fund it. Of
course, the availability of funding for correctional initiatives is shaped by the political sen-
timents of the time. Not surprisingly, schemes to fund correctional operations often have
included ways to use inmate labor. Complementary themes that have shaped how money
might be made and spent and how inmates or clients might be treated have included
a move to greater compassion and humanity in correctional operations; the influence
that the demographics of inmates themselves have played (e.g., race, class, gender); reli-
gious sentiments about punishment and justice; architecture, as it aligns with supervision;
the pressure that crowding places on correctional programs and institutions; and the fact
that though reforms might be well intentioned, they do not always lead to effective or just
practice. Again, this list of themes is not exhaustive, but it does include some of the prevail-
ing influences that span correctional history in the United States and that require the atten-
tion of each successive generation.
In the following chapters, we will see such themes and the history of corrections, as
detailed here, dealt with again and again. However, although we continue to repeat both
the mistakes and successes of the past, that does not mean we cannot make and have not
made any progress in corrections. There is no question that, on the whole, the vast majority
of jails and prisons in this country are much better than were those for much of the past 200
years, though the unprecedented use of correctional sanctions in the United States would
be regarded by some as overly harsh and thus a regressive trend. The themes presented here
represent ongoing questions (e.g., how much money or compassion or religious influence is
the “right” amount), and as such, we are constantly called upon to address them.
56 CORRECTIONS

PAT M A H O N E Y, A L CATR A Z C O R R E C TI O N S O F F I C E R
Position: Corrections officer and boat captain cells to visiting attorneys, the barbershop, showers,
meals, and work locations. The hours were always
Location: Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary
busy. Boredom was not ever a factor. Everyone
had things to do at all times. The tower guards
How long were you a corrections officer on were the least active but had regular duties and
Alcatraz? communication with others. Tower guards also
watched the bay and occasionally saw a boat in
From 1956 to 1963, so seven years—the best seven
distress, so they became a primary communicator to
years of my career. Alcatraz was a special place,
the Coast Guard for boats around Alcatraz.
from the guards to the convicts.
Life on the Rock was fun when not on duty. We had
What were the primary duties and a social hall, two bowling lanes, commissary for
responsibilities of a corrections officer on food, a playground for the kids, a handball court,
Alcatraz? and regular family dinners. About every three
There were about 15 positions, from tower, to weeks, we had an island-wide dinner for all guards
kitchen, to garbage truck, to prison industries, and families at the social hall. The view from the
supporting food and water deliveries, and island was always tremendous. We looked right on
supervising convict efforts for clean up and all the downtown San Francisco.
other daily requirements. It was surprisingly busy.
Corrections officers also manned the gun gallery What would your advice to someone either
in the cell house. Roles were changed about every wishing to study or now studying criminal
three months. I was originally a corrections officer; justice to become a corrections officer be?
then, I was promoted to boat captain. I was also
always on call if any work had to be done. I also The key is to be honest. If convicts think for a
supervised a crew that did maintenance for the second that you are not honest, they will try to
actual prison. work you until you get fired or hurt. They can sense
if someone is not honest. It was an exciting role,
In general, what did a typical day for a meeting some of the best and worst of society at
Alcatraz. In prison, there are no weapons for the
corrections officer on Alcatraz include?
guards on the floor. All know this, so there is a
In the cell house, there were several in charge common respect. You need good people skills to
of convict teams that cleaned the cell house work with some who may have issues.
continuously. They supervised or conducted inmate
counts. They also had to get convicts from their Note: Written by Steve Mahoney (born on Alcatraz), as told by Pat Mahoney.
SUMMARY
LO 2.1 Explain the evolution of corrections and LO 2.2 Compare the different types of corrections used
correctional institutions. historically.
• Correctional institutions, as a type of prison, do exist in • Human beings have been inventive in their
a less than perfect form in the United States. development of punishments and ways to hold and keep
people.
• What is clear from the Western history of corrections
is that what was intended when prisons, jails, and • Jails were the first type of correctional facility to
reformatories were conceived and how they actually develop. They were often found in English castle keeps
operated, then and now, were and are often two very and dungeons and Catholic monasteries.
different things
• One overriding theme is the continued need for reform.
• Those accused or convicted of crimes who had more • The New York prison system did not use solitary
means were less likely to be treated harshly or punished confinement.
severely.
LO 2.6 Summarize what the social critics (Beaumont,
• Galley slavery was a form of corrections in which
Tocqueville, and Dix) thought of early prisons and why.
convicts were sentenced to work as rowers on ships.
Bridewells were places to hold and punish. Debtors’ • They were opposed to solitary confinement and
prisons were detention facilities for those who owed unsanitary living conditions.
money. Transportation was a form of corrections in
• They were opposed to brutality and humiliation and
which offenders were transported to penal colonies.
inequality in treatment of people living in poverty
LO 2.3 Identify some of the key Enlightenment thinkers, versus those with means.
their ideas, and how they changed corrections. • They felt that prisoners could be reformed and
educated.
• Sometimes, old worldviews (paradigms) are challenged
by new evidence and ideas, and they are then discarded LO 2.7 Explain why reform of prisons and jails was needed
for new paradigms. The Enlightenment period in and how those reform efforts worked out.
Europe was a time for rethinking old ideas and beliefs.
• The Elmira Reformatory arose out of a prison reform
• Bentham, Beccaria, Howard, and Penn were all
movement that occurred roughly 50 years after Auburn
especially influential in changing our ideas about crime,
Prison was built.
punishment, and corrections.
• Probation and parole came into being in the early half of
• Correctional reforms, whether meant to increase the
the 19th century.
use of humane treatment of inmates or to increase their
secure control, often led to unintended consequences.
LO 2.8 Assess where we are today in America in terms of
• Howard, Beaumont and Tocqueville, and Dix all prison types and how we got there.
conducted studies of corrections in their day and judged
the relative benefits of some practices and institutions • The southern and northern versions of prisons that
over others. followed the Civil War were not like Elmira and instead
were focused on using inmate labor for the production
LO 2.4 Identify the housing and punishments used in of goods for private contractors. This was a contract and
prisons and jails in colonial times. lease system.
• Industrial prisons housed prisoners who were
• The first jail in America was built in Jamestown,
employed to produce on a large scale goods for sale on
Virginia. However, often people were held in homes
open markets.
or inns. Inmates were required to pay a fee for their
upkeep. As expansion occurred, structures began to be • Stateville Prison, though conceived as a correctional
erected specifically to house convicts. institution with all that the term implies, for the most
part became a Big House prison.
LO 2.5 Evaluate the two predominant prison systems of
• Warehouse prisons severely restricted movements of
the early 1800s and their strengths and weaknesses.
prisoners and adhered to strict codes and rules.
• The Pennsylvania and the New York early prisons were
the models for most American prisons of the 19th LO 2.9 Describe the prevailing themes in correctional
century. history.
• The Western Pennsylvania Prison was operated as • These themes include money; greater compassion
solitary and separate confinement with no labor. The and humanity in corrections; the influence of inmate
Eastern Pennsylvania Prison was operated as solitary demographics; religious sentiments about punishment
confinement, and prisoners were to have no contact and justice; architecture, as it aligns with supervision;
with any outsiders or one another, but they could the pressure of overcrowding; and the fact that reforms
produce goods. do not always lead to effective or just practice.
58 CORRECTIONS
KEY TERMS
Big House prisons 53 Great Law 39 Pennsylvania prison system 42
Bridewells 34 Marks system 51 Stateville Prison 53
Contract and lease systems 53 Medical model 53 Transportation 34
Convict code 53 Newgate Prison 40 Walnut Street Jail 41
Correctional institutions 26 New York prison system 44 Warehouse prisons 54
Elmira Reformatory 51 Norfolk Island 35
Galley slavery 33 Panopticon 38
1. Identify examples of some themes that run throughout 5. Discuss the relative benefits and drawbacks of the
the history of corrections. What types of punishments Pennsylvania versus the New York model of early
tend to be used and for what types of crimes? What prisons. What did Beaumont and Tocqueville and Dix
sorts of issues influence the choice of actions taken think of them, and why? Which type of prison would
against offenders? you rather work in or be incarcerated in, and why?
2. How were people of different social classes treated in 6. What roles did Penn, Bentham, Beccaria, and Howard
early jails and bridewells? play in reforming the prisons and jails of their time?
Are the concerns they raised still valid today?
3. We know that transportation ended because of the
development of sails, which was an improvement 7. Note why there is often a disconnect between the
in technology. Can you think of other types of intentions of reformers and the ultimate operation of
correctional practices that have been developed, their reforms. Why is it difficult for theory to be put
improved upon, or stopped because of advances in into practice? How might we ensure that there is a truer
technology? implementation of reforms?
4. Several historical figures mentioned in this chapter 8. How are the themes that run through the history of
advanced ideas that were viewed as radical for their corrections represented in current practices? Why
day. Why do you think such ideas were eventually do these themes continue to have relevance for
adopted? Can you think of similar sorts of seemingly correctional operations over the centuries?
“radical” ideas for reforming corrections that might be
adopted in the future?
© Mary K. Stohr
© iStockphoto.com/unomat
3 Ethics and Corrections

Test your knowledge about ethics in corrections by answering the Upon completion of this chapter, the reader
following questions. Check your answers on pages 385–386 after
should be able to:
reading the chapter.
1. Ethics and morality are the same thing. (True or false?)

3.1 Explain the differences between ethics
and morality.
2. What is the difference between deontological and teleological
approaches to ethics? 3.2 Describe the different ethical
3. The ethical formalism framework includes the belief that there frameworks.
is a universal law that includes clear rights and wrongs. (True or
false?)
3.3 Analyze why people are motivated to
commit ethical violations.
4. Utilitarianism follows the principle that what is good is that
which results in the greatest utility for the greatest number. 3.4 Identify why corrections workers might
(True or false?) be prone to ethics violations and how
5. Most religions include a universal set of rights and wrongs. they might be prevented.
(True or false?)
3.5 Discuss the impact the war on drugs has
6. Noble cause corruption is the idea that it is okay to do the
in creating ethical challenges in the field
wrong thing if it is for the right reasons. (True or false?)
of corrections.
7. A correctional officer who engages in unethical behavior for
personal gain is practicing official deviance. (True or false?)
8. There are characteristics of correctional work that make it
more susceptible to ethical violations. (True or false?)
A NOVICE BOWS TO SUBCULTURAL PRESSURE
Mary K. Stohr
When I first started as a correctional officer at an adult male prison in Washington State, I
was the second woman hired (and the first was hired a month before me). I was relatively
well educated (two bachelor’s degrees) and had worked at all kinds of jobs since age 10,
but never in corrections. I was young (25), scared, and naive. My first reports were rejected
by my sergeant as too wordy, and I was thought to be too soft on the inmates (I called the
inmates Mr. this and Mr. that and treated them with courtesy). After about 4 weeks on the
job and in an effort to help me, a well-meaning sergeant took me aside and said, “Stohr,
I’m worried about you. I’m not sure you can do this job. You’ve got to learn to write better
[meaning less and in a more spare fashion—he might as well have said, ‘Just the facts,
ma’am’], and you’ve got to treat the inmates with less respect, or you aren’t going to make
it on this job.”
We were in a back area of the control room, and he pointed to an inmate at the control room
window—we’ll call him Mr. Smith. He said, “That man Smith, he’s a dirty baby raper [which I
took to mean that Smith was a child molester]. He’s been hanging around the window when
you’re here because you are too nice to him. You’ve got to treat him differently, or he’ll take
advantage of you.” Essentially, he said that I didn’t have to be mean (he wasn’t that kind of
man), but I shouldn’t be friendly either.
(Continued)
61
62 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
Well, I took this sergeant’s advice to heart, as I knew he was trying to help me, and
there were a few of the staff at the prison who wanted to see me and the other woman
fail. I also paid attention to his advice, as he was well respected and had welcomed me
to the job. (He was an uncle to the first woman hired.) I diligently studied the reports
of other officers and tried to imitate them. As a result, my reports were suddenly
accepted. But the thing I did that was small and that I regret was that I treated
Mr. Smith with less respect than he probably deserved; not that he wasn’t a child
molester (I read his file when I became a counselor and had access to it), but he was
still a human being, he was in my care, and how I acted was not professional. The
next time Mr. Smith came to the window for his meds, I did not meet his eyes; he
became Smith without the Mr., and I was quite abrupt with him. This kind of behavior
characterized most of our interactions from then on. The sympathetic sergeant
witnessed this and literally patted my back and said, “Stohr, you’ll be alright,” and that
was it; I was accepted into the subculture, at least by him, but I wasn’t entirely happy
about it or proud of myself.
Introduction: To Do the Right Thing!

LO 3.1 Explain the differences between ethics and morality.
As you likely gathered from Chapter 2 on the history of corrections, ethical abuses have
always been a problem for corrections workers. Their jobs are largely hidden from public
view, somewhat cloaked in secrecy, with enormous amounts of discretion, and they deal
with people in their care who have few rights and protections. Moreover, as we will discuss
throughout this book, these are jobs (e.g., correctional officers, sergeants, lieutenants, and
captains; probation and parole officers; correctional counselors; and numerous other posi-
tions) that do not always have professional status in terms of pay, training, experience, or
educational requirements (these problems are all particularly true for correctional officers,
less so for the other positions listed here) that would ensure that the best people are always
hired and that they use their discretion wisely. Therefore, unqualified people are sometimes
in these demanding correctional jobs, and because of this, they are more likely to make bad
and sometimes unethical choices.
It cannot be overemphasized, however, that the vast majority of correctional staff,
whether a correctional officer working in an adult facility or a probation officer working
with youth in the community, are ethical in their work practices—meaning that they do the
right thing. It is those few bad apples who leave a negative impression of corrections work
and workers. Luckily, there are things an organization and its managers and workers can do
to minimize abuse of power and resources by staff and to correct the misbehavior of some
staff. The development of codes of ethics, the professionalization of staff, and the routin-
ization of policies and procedures are all key to preventing ethical abuses. In this chapter,
we will review those efforts to reduce corruption and abuses in corrections, which might be
both unethical and illegal (see In Focus 3.1), but first, we will discuss what ethics are and are
not and the source of ethical and unethical behavior.
Defining Ethics: What Is Right (and Wrong)?

Ethics: The concepts and beliefs
about, and study of, right and
As mentioned in the foregoing, ethics are concepts and beliefs about, and the study of, what
wrong professional conduct. is right and wrong, and to be ethical is to practice in your work what is “right” behavior. But
CHAPTER 3 Ethics and Corrections 63
In Focus 3.1
A L AC K O F E T H I C S: F L O R I DA’S YO U T H S E RV I C E S
I N T E R N AT I O N A L PR I VAT E PR I S O N S F O R YO U T H
In Florida, all of the juvenile prisons in the state are concerned about the treatment of juveniles both
operated by private companies, and Youth Services inside and outside the state of Florida was that
International (YSI), a for-profit company owned by YSI supported the political campaigns of Florida’s
former hotelier James F. Slattery, operates about 9% and other states’ politicians with hefty donations.
of them (Kirkham, 2013). YSI also operates detention The company has donated more in Florida to
centers and boot camps. Slattery’s company has politicians than two of the largest companies in
been able to secure these contracts and many the state:
others in other states such as Georgia, Maryland,
Nevada, New York, and Texas, worth more than $100 [They donated] more than $400,000 to state
million for the Florida contracts alone, despite the candidates and committees over the last 15
fact that the Justice Department has investigated years, according to the HuffPost’s review.
complaints about them in several of these states. The recipient of the largest share of those
Auditors in Maryland found that YSI workers have dollars was the Florida Republican Party,
encouraged fighting between inmates, and staff which took in more than $276,000 in that
reportedly routinely fail to report “riots, assaults time. Former Florida Senate President Mike
and claims of sexual abuse” (Kirkham, 2013). A Haridopolos, an avid supporter of prison
Bureau of Justice Statistics report indicated that a privatization, received more than $15,000
YSI facility in Palm Beach, Florida, had the “highest from company executives during state and
rate of reported sexual assaults out of 36 facilities federal races. (Kirkham, 2013)
reviewed in Florida” (Kirkham, 2013). YSI had
only 9% of the state contracts for youth beds in According to sources cited in the article, margins
the state of Florida, but it had 15% of the cases of are narrow in the operation of correctional facilities
excessive force and injured youth (Kirkham, 2013). (in other words, there is not a lot of fat in publicly
Local public defender’s offices and the Southern operated prisons or jails), so if private prison
Poverty Law Center have complained about the companies want to make money for their owners
handling of youth and conditions at YSI facilities, and investors, it means they have to cut staff pay
with little response by the state. In an investigation or benefits, slash programming, or feed people less,
by a Huffington Post (now HuffPost) reporter, in and it appears that all three of these things are
which official records were reviewed and former happening at YSI facilities, indicating unethical
employees were interviewed, Kirkham (2013) found (if not illegal) behavior by politicians, company
the following: managers, and correctional officers on the line
(notably, as of 2016 the Department of Juvenile
Justice has reportedly severed ties with YSI, and a
• Staff underreported fights and assaults perusal of their website in 2020 [http://www.djj
to avoid scrutiny and the possible loss of .state.fl.us/programs-facilities/residential-facilities]
contracts. does not show YSI operating any correctional
• Staff abused youth in the facilities by facility for children).
hitting and choking them, sometimes to the
point of fracturing bones. Discussion Questions
• Turnover of staff was high.
1. On the basis of the narrative, what factors led to
• Food was restricted and prepared the abuses reported in the YSI facilities?
incorrectly or in an unsanitary manner, and
2. What steps can be taken to reduce the
youth were encouraged to gamble with
incidence of such abuses in similar facilities?
others to win their food portions.
3. How is staffing tied up in the nature and
amount of the abuse?
When the reporter asked why, with this dismal
record of care, YSI was continually offered Source: Based on Kirkham, C. (2013, October 22). Private prison empire rises
contracts, the answer he received from those despite startling record of juvenile abuse. Huffington Post, pp. 1–11.
64 CORRECTIONS
you might ask (rightly!), What is right behavior? In a larger sense, it is what is legal (what the
law is), and in an organizational sense, it is what is legal, too, but also what is allowed and
not allowed according to codes of ethics and policies and procedures of that workplace. So a
person could sexually harass others in the workplace (e.g., make negative comments about
them or undermine their work because of their gender), but this behavior, though unethical
and perhaps prohibited by the workplace code of ethics and policies and procedures, may
not rise to the level of illegal behavior.
Morality, we should note, is not the same as ethics, as it concerns what is right or wrong
in the personal sphere, whereas ethics is concerned with the professional sphere. People tend
to base their beliefs about what is right or wrong, ethical or unethical, and moral or immoral
on what they have learned from any number of sources. For instance, it is not difficult to
figure out the right thing to do in the case of the death of Jason Echevarria (as showcased in
the Policy and Research section), because what we have learned from our family, schools,
religious teachings, workplace policies, or other sources has helped us determine our own
sense of right and wrong in such instances.
Deontological ethical
Ethical Foundation for Professional Practice
systems: Systems concerned
with whether an act itself is good. LO 3.2 Describe the different ethical frameworks.
Teleological ethical systems:
Systems focused on whether the It is not clear how much of an ethical foundation most humans are born with, though it
consequences of an act are good. is clear that several institutions try to instill one in their members. The family is likely the
most influential social institution to inculcate ethics and morality.
Educational institutions, both K–12 schools and colleges, all in
some way or another and usually in many ways, discuss what is
right and wrong in many different situations. Diverse religions all
convey a sense of right and wrong, and a key concept emanating
from many of them is the Golden Rule, or “Do unto others as you
would have done unto you.” Other institutions—such as the mil-
itary, social and professional clubs, even kids’ sports teams, and,
of course, the work environment itself—all strive to instill a moral
or ethical framework in their members. The larger culture and
life experiences doubtless also contribute to one’s sense of right
and wrong.
Much of the research on ethics also reviews the theoreti-
cal bases for decisions involving ethics (Braswell, McCarthy, &
McCarthy, 1991; Pollock, 1994, 1998, 2010; Rohr, 1989; Solomon,
1996). The philosophical touchstones that are referenced as
guides to human decision making are ethical formalism, utilitar-
ianism, religion, natural law, the ethics of virtue, the ethics of care,
and egoism.
©iStockphoto.com/Easylight
Moral behavior is shaped by both deontological and teleolog-

ical ethical systems, and these touchstones are subsets of them.
Deontological ethical systems are concerned with whether an
act itself is good, and teleological ethical systems are focused
on the consequences of an act. If the an itself is moral or ethical,
then someone who is guided by a deontological framework is not
concerned about the consequences of the act. It is enough to just
Photo 3.1 A correctional officer opens a gate for an inmate. The
security of an institution relies on the vigilance of officers when
act in a moral fashion. Someone who is guided by a teleological
closing and locking gates. ethical system does not care so much about the rightness or the
wrongness of an act but about whether the consequences of the act are good. Pollock (1998,
2010) defined the ethical frameworks that derive from these ethical systems in her book
Ethics in Crime and Justice: Dilemmas and Decisions.
Ethical Formalism
Pollock (1998) defined ethical formalism as “what is good is that which conforms to Ethical formalism: Determines
morality on the basis of a
the categorical imperative” (p. 48). Under this system, there is the belief that there is a
universal law that includes
universal law that includes clear rights and wrongs. The philosopher Immanuel Kant clear rights and wrongs.
(1724–1804) noted that there is a categorical imperative requiring that each person act
as they would like all others to act (very much like the Golden Rule mentioned in the
foregoing). Kant also believed that people must seek to be guided by reason in their
decision making. Ethical formalism falls under a deontological system, as the focus is on
an act and its rightness (or wrongness), rather than on the consequences of the act and
their goodness (or badness). It is a position that does not account for gray areas: An act
is either right or it is wrong. So some acts, such as murder, lying, and stealing, are always
wrong, even when the end of these acts is good.
Policy and Research

I N M AT E W IT H A M E N TA L I L L N E S S D I E S AT R I K E R S
In a series of articles appearing in the New York from his mouth over the course of several hours.
Times, reporter Michael Schwirtz (2014a, 2014b) A correctional officer claimed that he responded
documented the abuse and neglect suffered by to Mr. Echevarria’s cries for help by reporting
inmates with mental illnesses incarcerated in the his health problems to his captain, who told the
Rikers Island jails. The Rikers Island jails are a correctional officer not to talk to him about this
complex of 10 jails on an island in the East River of again unless the inmate was dead. Despite this
New York City. Twenty officers from Rikers have warning, the correctional officer claimed that
been prosecuted for assaults on inmates in the past he reported to the captain twice more about the
5 years. In mid-March 2014, an inmate with a mental inmate’s distress and even tried to call for medical
illness died from being left in an overheated cell at assistance at least once but was prevented from
Rikers. But the particular subject of these articles is doing so by the captain. Both the captain and the
a 25-year-old inmate named Jason Echevarria, who officer came off their shifts without getting any
was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He was placed medical assistance for the inmate. Mr. Echevarria
in a special mental health unit at Rikers because of was dead the next morning. The medical
his diagnosed mental illness and because he had examiner ruled that Mr. Echevarria’s death was a
behavioral problems when in the general population homicide. The captain was demoted to an officer
of the jail. He had a record of attempted suicides position, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of
while incarcerated at Rikers (Schwirtz, 2014a, 2014b). Investigation, and was prosecuted for violating the
civil rights of Mr. Echevarria. The officer was fired
Because there were problems with raw sewage and filed a wrongful termination suit, disputing the
coming out of toilets, on August 18, 2012, inmates captain’s claim that he was never told about
were given a packet of powdered detergent they Mr. Echevarria’s health crisis.
were to use to clean up their cells (Schwirtz, 2014a,
2014b). By policy, inmates were supposed to be
given detergent that was diluted by several gallons Discussion Questions
of water, but an inexperienced officer instead gave
the full packets to inmates. Echevarria swallowed 1. Why aren’t correctional facilities well suited to
the toxic detergent, and as a result, his tongue and handle people with mental illnesses
mouth skin were severely damaged as he vomited; 2. Rather than incarcerating people with mental
he experienced extreme pain and expelled blood illnesses, what should public policy be instead?
66 CORRECTIONS
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism: Determines Utilitarianism is defined as “what is good is that which results in the greatest utility for the
morality on the basis of how many
greatest number” (Pollock, 1998, p. 48). So morality is determined by how many people were
people were helped by an act.
helped by the act. The philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) believed that people will
do a “utilitarian calculus” regarding how much pleasure or pain a given act will garner, and
they will act on that to maximize pleasure. But when one’s pleasure conflicts with the greater
good for society, then one must bow to the greater good under a utilitarian perspective.
As utilitarianism is focused on the end—whether it is moral or immoral or ethical or
unethical—achieved by an act, it falls under the teleological system.
Religious Perspective
Religious perspective: People who use a religious perspective to guide their decisions believe “what is good is
A perspective that weighs
that which conforms to God’s will” (Pollock, 1998, p. 48). This is a perspective that weighs
what is right or wrong on the
basis of one’s religion. what is right or wrong on the basis of one’s religion and covers all facets of living and rela-
tionships with others. How one treats others, how one lives one’s life, and one’s under-
standing of the meaning of life itself are all influenced by this religious perspective. Under
this perspective, both the means and the ends are foci of interest and are perceived through
the lens of what one believes one’s god or gods would want. Most religions include a uni-
versal set of rights and wrongs, much like ethical formalism, and they have, as mentioned
already, a form of the categorical imperative or the Golden Rule. Although there is wide-
spread agreement across religions on some matters, there is much disagreement about
social practices, such as drinking alcohol, dancing, eating certain kinds of foods, exhibit-
ing certain behavior on holy days, and wearing clothing that may be deemed inappropri-
ate as well as the political and social status of women and other minority groups, such as
LGBTQ+ people.
Natural Law
Natural law: Adherents of this Adherents of an ethical framework based on natural law believe that “what is good is that
framework believe that what is
good is what is known to be so.
which is natural” (Pollock, 1998, p. 48). Behavior is or should be motivated by what is uni-
versally understood to be right and wrong. Using reason, all humans can figure these rights
and wrongs out. The major difference between a natural law believer and someone who is
guided by a religious perspective is that, in the latter case, the supreme being or beings are
the ones who determine what is right and wrong, whereas under a natural law perspective,
these rights and wrongs are just clear and knowable through reason. Under this perspective,
we know what truth and decency are, and so we just need to act on our natural inclination
in that direction. These natural laws about what is right and wrong are believed to be
cross-cultural and true over time; they are not relative to time or place. Moreover, out
of these natural laws flow natural rights, such as those accorded to citizens under the
Constitution of the United States.
Ethics of Virtue
Ethics of virtue: A framework Believers in the ethics of virtue think that “what is good is that which conforms to the
that emphasizes the virtue of
one’s character over actions.
golden mean [the middle ground between positions]” (Pollock, 1998, p. 48). Instead of
focusing on the nature of an action, the question here is whether a person is virtuous or
good. The end to be achieved is to live a good and moral life by performing virtuous acts.
Such virtues include “thriftiness, temperance, humility, industriousness, and honesty”
(Pollock, 1998, p. 43). Models of virtue provide examples for those interested in living with
integrity and according to a code of ethics.
Ethics of Care
Relatedly, an ethics of care is centered on good acts. It is a deontological perspective. Those Ethics of care: A framework
centered on good acts in
who subscribe to this framework believe that “what is good is that which meets the needs of which care of and concern
those concerned” (Pollock, 1998, p. 48). Under this perspective, care and concern for others for others are paramount.
are paramount. This is a perspective that is regarded as more “feminine,” as it is believed that
women, as a group, are more attuned to the needs of others. Carol Gilligan (1982) found in
her research on moral development that women’s perspective differs from men’s in this area.
Women are more likely to be concerned about the care of others as guiding how they behave.
Peacemaking and restorative justice are thought to derive from the ethics of care framework.
Egoism
The last ethical framework Pollock (1998) mentioned is one based on the individual—
namely, egoism. Under this framework, the needs of self are most important, so acting to Egoism: Needs of the self
are most important; acting to
satisfy one’s own wants and needs under this framework is acting ethically. As the act is the satisfy one’s own wants and
focus here, egoism falls under the deontological perspective. Even when acting on behalf of needs is acting ethically.
others, it is believed that one is acting out of enlightened egoism, or helping and caring for
others so they will do the same for you when you are in need of assistance.
Why People Behave Unethically

LO 3.3 Analyze why people are motivated to commit ethical violations.
Despite the influence of these ethical frameworks, there are several reasons why people
behave unethically. The most obvious and perhaps the most common reason is for personal
gain or out of selfishness. For instance, the owner of YSI, which managed private prisons for
juveniles in Florida, clearly benefited financially from cutting staff salaries and inmate food
(this has to be unethical, right?), and not surprisingly, the result was poorly operated and, at
times, dangerous facilities (see In Focus 3.1). The captain supervising the Rikers Island jail
mental health unit when Mr. Echevarria died, if he did what he is accused of—ignoring the
desperate health needs of an inmate—behaved both criminally and unethically for selfish
reasons: He did not want to be bothered (see the Policy and Research section). The remedy
for such a motivation is multifaceted and will be discussed momentarily.
Official Deviance
Another reason people in corrections might behave unethically is official deviance. Official Official deviance: When
deviance was defined by Lee and Visano (1994) as follows: officials act in a way that
benefits their organization but
violates laws or formal rules.
Actions taken by officials which violate the law and/or the formal rules of the
organization, but which are clearly oriented toward the needs and goals of the
organization, as perceived by the official, and thus fulfill certain informal rules of
the organization. (p. 203)
Lee and Visano (1994) studied officials’ behavior in both the United States and Canada,
and they found that many deviant acts by criminal justice actors are not committed for per-
sonal gain but are committed to help the organization or to be in compliance with subcul-
tural goals. If the subculture values secrecy and protection of fellow officers, as is true for
subcultures in corrections, then one might be called upon to lie, even on the witness stand
and under oath, to protect an officer when they are charged with wrongdoing (Stohr &
Collins, 2014). The important point here is that the organizational member who lies or
68 CORRECTIONS
Ethical Issue
You are a new manager (2 weeks on the job) of the ethical environment of the facility, though you
a public correctional institution (jail) that has already recognize that the staff subculture in the jail
experienced several ethical crises in the past year. is intransigent and resistant to change. What steps
Your jail has been sued twice successfully in the past would you take to transform this jail to accomplish
year for overcrowding and neglect of the mental the desired change? What resistance do you expect to
health needs of inmates. You were hired to “clean up” encounter, and how do you think it can be overcome?
engages in other acts of official deviance gains nothing from engaging in the deviance; it is
the organization or other organizational members who benefit. The penalty for organiza-
tional members who refuse to engage in official deviance might be shunning, harassment, or
even firing for unsubstantiated reasons. The remedies to reduce official deviance are noted
in the following (after the discussion of noble cause corruption).
Noble Cause Corruption

A third reason why criminal justice workers and corrections workers, in particular, might
engage in unethical behavior is that they are motivated by noble cause corruption. Crank
Noble cause: A profound and Caldero (2000) defined the noble cause for police officers as this:
moral commitment to make the
world a safer place to live.
Profound moral commitment to make the world a safer place to live. Put simply,
it is getting bad guys off the street. Police believe they’re on the side of angels and
their purpose in life is getting rid of bad guys. (p. 35)
Crank and Caldero (2000) identified two noble cause themes that explain police officer
behavior: “the smell of the victim’s blood” and “the tower” (p. 35). What they mean by the
smell of the victim’s blood is that police officers are motivated to act to protect and save vic-
tims. But in the course of trying to protect victims, they may step over an ethical line and
lie, plant evidence, or abuse force so as to catch the “bad guy” by whatever means. And it is
always the ends (e.g., catching the bad guy) that are more important than the means (e.g.,
acting professionally and ethically) with noble cause corruption.
What Crank and Caldero (2000) meant by “the tower” is that police officers, when con-
fronted with a shooter in a tower, will run to the tower (they will act in the face of danger)
when everyone else is running from it. Because they are inclined to run to the tower—meta-
phorically, at least—and also because their job requires that they act in dangerous situations,
they may cross the ethical and legal line by overreacting or making rash decisions. They will
“run to the tower” because they want to make things right. Crank and Caldero (2011) and
others (e.g., Bartollas & Hahn, 1999; O’Connor, 2001) have said that the police are motivated
by their desire to make the world right. They tend to see the world in black and white, and
when a suspect interferes with this perception, the police might engage in unethical behav-
ior because it is inspired by acting in the cause of “rightness.” The problem is that the police
are not always right, and they cannot always see what is right (as with all of us).
Noble cause corruption, as an explanation for unethical behavior by corrections work-
ers, makes a great deal of sense. One of the authors, when working in a male prison as an
officer many years ago, was told right away which inmates were in for “child molesting,”
though this information was supposedly

confidential between the counselors and
their clients (see the related story that
appears at the beginning of this chapter).
It was boldly stated that such inmates were
not to be treated with respect by staff and
were to be regarded with an additional
dose of suspicion. Interactions with other
TIM SLOAN/AFP via Getty Images

correctional professionals over the years,
in all kinds of correctional settings, rein-
forced this experience that correctional
staff are motivated in their actions by “the
victim’s blood,” especially when that victim
is a child.
People who are attracted to work in
corrections are also doers and people who Photo 3.2 Law enforcement and others involved with maintaining public safety often find
themselves running into dangerous situations.
want to make the world right. They will not
hesitate to “run to the tower” to accomplish
this feat either. We know of several stories of officers in federal prisons, state prisons, and
jails who were thrilled to be called to engage in the quelling of altercations in corrections.
These are stories of correctional staff who enthusiastically “ran to the tower” to “make the
world right,” but at least in a few of these cases, those officers admitted that more force by
staff was used to stop fights and put down disturbances than was strictly necessary. Once the
fists started flying, adrenaline took over, and the sense that force was being used to do good
made its use, even its excessive use, justified.
Noble cause corruption, as with official deviance and deviance for selfish ends, is all the
more likely to occur in environments where the behavior of actors is hidden and little super-
vised and the clients are powerless. These factors all accurately describe correctional envi-
ronments. Most correctional work is done in some isolation from the larger community, and
this is particularly true of prisons and jails. Even community correctional officers operate in
environments in which the interactions are personal, and their content is not documented.
Supervisors’ span of control is stretched, and they don’t always have adequate time to review
an individual actor’s behavior. Correctional clients are some of the most powerless people in
the United States. By law, they have very few rights and legal protections, and thus, they are
subject to the behavior of both ethical and unethical correctional personnel. Top all of these
organizational and individual characteristics off with the fact that correctional staff have a
great deal of discretion (defined here as the ability to make choices and to act or not act on Discretion: The ability to
make choices and to act
those choices), and there is only one more ingredient necessary to make the perfect admix- or not act on them.
ture for unethical behavior: the influence of a negative subculture.
Subculture
In fact, a key feature of correctional environments that would make staff and management
more prone to engage in unethical behavior is the presence of a strong negative subculture. Subculture: A subset of a larger
culture, with its own norms, values,
Subcultures are subsets of larger cultures with their own norms, values, beliefs, traditions, and beliefs, traditions, and history.
history. They can be positive in their promotion of prosocial values and support of their mem-
bers, but they can also be negative when they promote antisocial values and, in correctional
work (or police work, too), unethical behavior. In an ethics training course conducted by one
of the authors and a colleague for probation and parole managers, the participants identified
several barriers to ethical practice in their workplaces. Most of these barriers Kauffman (1988,
pp. 85–112) identified in his study of correctional officers, and Pollock (1994, p. 195) did so in
her text on ethics and the negative side of subcultures (see In Focus 3.2).
70 CORRECTIONS
In Focus 3.2
S U B C U LT U R A L VA L U E S O F PR O B ATI O N A N D PA R O L E O F F I C E R S
In ethics training exercises in 1994 and 1995, 8. Help your coworkers by completing your own
probation and parole managers in a western state work and by assisting them if they need it.
identified the subcultural values of the community 9. Since you aren’t paid much or appreciated
corrections officers they supervised (Stohr & Collins, by the public or the administration, don’t
2009). They were as follows: be a rate buster (i.e., don’t do more than the
minimal amount of work).
1. Always aid your coworker.
10. Handle your own work, and don’t allow
2. Never rat on coworkers. interference. (p. 63)
3. Always cover for a coworker in front of
clients. Discussion Questions
4. Always support the coworker over the client
1. Which of these subcultural values do you think
in a disagreement.
makes the workplace better for staff but can
5. Always support the decision of a coworker lead to unethical behavior?
regarding a client.
2. How might correctional managers and workers
6. Don’t be sympathetic toward clients. concerned about unethical behavior in the
Instead be cynical about them (to be workplace prevent some of the most destructive
otherwise is to be naive). of these values from being embraced in the
7. Probation or parole officers are the “us” workplace?
and everyone else is the “them,” including
administration, the media, and the rest of
the community.
How to Prevent Unethical

Behavior and Promote Ethical Work Practices
LO 3.4 Identify why corrections workers might be prone to ethics violations and how they
might be prevented.
As you can see, a few of these subcultural values are positive in that they provide support of
coworkers, but the ones that support coworkers can also lead to unethical behavior if the
coworkers are wrong or engaged in wrongdoing vis-à-vis their clients or the work. Supporting
coworkers, no matter what they do, can promote an unethical work environment. Most of the
managers at that ethics training session reported that unethical behavior was common on the
job and ranged from the routine, like rudeness to clients and their families, to the rare, like lying
on reports and verbal and physical abuse of clients. The subcultural values listed before, how-
ever, made it difficult for managers to address the unethical behaviors.
This is why the organizational and individual remedies to prevent unethical behavior,
whatever its motivation and despite the subculture, are multifaceted and include at least these:
1. Hire people who are less likely to be motivated by personal gain. To do this, correc-
tional organizations need well-developed selection processes, with extensive back-
ground checks on potential hires (Stohr & Collins, 2014).
2. Pay people a professional wage, as then they will be less likely to be tempted to
engage in unethical behavior for personal gain.
3. Encourage professional development of employees through further education,
training, and engagement in professional organizations, as employees who are
immersed in a professional and learning subculture are more likely to encourage
positive change in others and improve the workplace, and they may be less likely to
be tolerant of a workplace subculture that fosters unethical behavior.
4. Develop an ethics code with employee input, and review it regularly in the depart-
ment. By involving a cross-section of staff in the development of an ethics code,
more staff are likely to feel like they “own it” and therefore support it.
5. Require extensive training in ethics at the beginning of employment and through-
out an employee’s career. More and ongoing training will reinforce the need to
behave ethically, and it will undercut negative subcultural influences.
6. Supervise people sufficiently, and check up on what they are doing and how they
are doing it.
7. Provide support for positive changes in the workplace that will enhance the ability
of workers to do the job right. Sometimes staff will claim that they cannot act ethi-
cally because there are not enough resources (e.g., time or staff) to do so; by ensuring
there are enough resources—and this is hard to do in the public sector these days—
managers make it possible for employees to do the work the right and ethical way.
8. Discipline violators of ethics, and if the violation of the rules or law is serious
enough, fire them. Doing this will reinforce a positive subculture that is supportive
of ethical work practice.
9. Promote those who behave ethically, and include ethics-related measures in evalua-
tions. By doing this, managers will motivate all to support ethical practice.
10. Encourage whistle-blowing (the reporting of wrongdoing or problems in the work-
place), and make it possible for people to do so anonymously. Despite an ethical
manager and workers’ best efforts, there is sometimes illegal or unethical behavior
going on in the workplace, and because of the power of subcultures, correctional
workers need to be able to report this behavior without fear of reprisal.
11. Develop the means for all employ-
ees to provide input into the deci-
sions that are made by and for the
organization, as doing so is more
likely to be a check on manage-
ment; it uses the knowledge work-
ers have; instills ownership of the
work by those who do it; and leads
to greater job satisfaction, less
Mikael Karlsson/Alamy Stock Photo
turnover, and more commitment

to the job (Stohr & Collins, 2014).
12. Encourage involvement of out-
sider review and professional
engagement (have an oversight
board; support involvement in
professional organizations; and
provide access to researchers, Photo 3.3 Corrections officer interacting positively with an inmate.
72 CORRECTIONS
politicians, and the media), as more openness is more likely to reduce unethical
behavior and defuse the power of negative subcultures.
By using these remedies, the correctional manager and, where applicable, the correc-
tional worker are more likely to turn the subculture into a positive support system that pro-
motes ethical behavior. The remedies are also likely to increase professionalism and reduce
abuse of clients.
In Focus 3.3
T H E A B U S E O F S O L ITA RY C O N F I N E M E N T I N F L O R I DA
In March 2016, the Florida American Civil Liberties its water temperature at approximately 180
Union (ACLU) sent a letter to the U.S. Department degrees” (p. 4). Though his skin was literally
of Justice Civil Rights Division requesting a falling off of his bones when he was found
federal investigation into the overuse of solitary in the shower, the medical examiner ruled
confinement (also known as restricted housing and the death “accidental,” and no one has been
isolation) by the Florida Department of Corrections disciplined or fired as of March 2016.
(FDOC; Simon & Wetstein, 2016). They noted that Latandra Ellington died in 2014, alone in a
fully one in eight inmates in Florida prisons were solitary confinement cell, reportedly from
held in solitary confinement. They also found that heart disease. Her family claimed that she
the numbers revealed a potential racial bias for had no heart problems. “She had been placed
men and women and those diagnosed with mental there after she filed a complaint alleging that
illnesses in Florida prisons, as African Americans Sgt. Patrick Quercioli had engaged in sex
were overrepresented among those in solitary when with another prisoner, and threatened to kill
compared with the number of Black people in the Ellington” (p. 5). The family-sponsored autopsy
general population. They also found that about 23% found no heart disease “but found excessive
of those with mental illnesses in Florida prisons bruising, and a lethal level of Amlodipine, a
were kept in solitary confinement. Notably, much of blood pressure medication, in her system” (p. 5).
this information was obtained through Freedom of
Information Act requests, not provided voluntarily Yalex Tirado died in solitary confinement
by the FDOC. Finally, the ACLU detailed a number in 2014 in a prison for juveniles, with no
of cases, from several prisons, in which inmates with explanation for his death provided by the
mental illnesses and others placed in solitary died facility. “This is a prison where, as the Miami
because of neglect or outright torture by correctional Herald has reported, the sodomizing of inmates
staff. Some of those cases from the ACLU letter with broomsticks by other inmates has been
(Simon & Wetstein, 2016) are summarized here: common, and where nine guards have been
charged over the last two years with battery or
facilitating the entry of contraband” (p. 5).
Randall Jordan-Aparo died in 2010 “after
being gassed three times while in a solitary
According to a study by Yale Law School professors,
confinement cell” (p. 4). He had been ill and was
in 2015 Florida was not the state that used solitary
denied medical care despite the knowledge that
confinement most (it was ninth in the country, with
he had a rare blood disorder.
about 8% of its adult population in some form of
Rommell Johnson died in 2010 after being solitary confinement, and Louisiana was first with
gassed twice with chemical agents within a about 14%; Flagg, Tatusian, & Thompson, 2016, p. 1).
5-minute span of time. He was asthmatic, and
the medical examiner ruled that he died as a
result of the gassing, which brought on a fatal
asthma attack. Discussion Questions
Darren Rainey died in 2012 “when he was 1. How likely do you think it is that these deaths
tortured in a locked shower rigged to be and the abuse of solitary are isolated incidents
controlled by guards from the outside, with and not representative of regular practice in
these Florida prisons? What evidence do you they deserve? Do you think that the staff who
have to support your argument? witnessed these kinds of abuses but did not
report them should also be disciplined in some
2. If you had witnessed abuses such as these, what way? Why, or why not?
action, if any, would you have taken to stop them?
Source: Adapted from Simon, H., & Wetstein, S. (2016, March 11). Civil rights
3. If staff are found to be guilty in the deaths of groups call for federal investigation into solitary confinement abuse in Florida
these inmates, what punishments do you think prisons. Miami: ACLU of Florida
War on Drugs = Attack on Ethics?

LO 3.5 Discuss the impact the war on drugs has in creating ethical challenges in the field
of corrections.
Wars are a popular thing for politicians to wage. Wars on poverty, crime, and drugs were the
brainchildren of several presidents and carried on by others since the 1960s. The terminology
of war is powerful and connotes a level of serious attention to a topic that few other terms
convey. Campaigns, assaults, and offensives are waged in wars with some urgency behind
them. A war means that all available resources and attention will be devoted to that effort,
and those who do not agree, well, are like traitors to a righteous cause. Yet these political wars,
somewhat like wars waged with weaponry made of steel, are problematic, as they are fight-
ing social ills—poverty, crime, and substance abuse—which, though admittedly harmful,
are somewhat intractable and very complex and therefore require sustained effort and mul-
tifaceted solutions. Because of the nature of the problems, wars on them never seem to end
because the problems do not end. Though the Iraq War seemed never to end (lasting at least
8 years), consider that the war on drugs was first mentioned by President Nixon in 1971 and
has been waged by every president since. We currently spend at least $51 billion each year on
the war on drugs in this country, and that does not account for the millions who have passed
through correctional doors as enemy combatants in the war and the billions it has taken to
pay for their arrest, prosecution, and incarceration; nor does it account for the lost tax reve-
nue and disrupted families and lives the war has left in its wake (the collateral damage). Many
scholars, commentators, and even politicians now consider the war on drugs to be an abject
failure in that it has not reduced the supply
or use of illicit drugs, and instead, it has gal-
vanized the illegal drug trade and corrupted
government officials in this country and
in Mexico and Central and South America
(Cullen, Jonson, & Stohr, 2014). According
to the Drug Policy Alliance (2019a, 2019b),
an organization whose mission is to end the Gordon M. Grant / Alamy Stock Photo
war on drugs, the following outcomes have

resulted from the war on drugs:
• Amount spent annually in the

United States on the war on drugs:
more than $51 billion
• Number of people arrested in 2014
in the United States on nonviolent
drug charges: 1.56 million Photo 3.4 The war on drugs led to drug seizures like these.
74 CORRECTIONS
• Number of people arrested for marijuana law violations in 2014: 700,993

• Number of those charged with marijuana law violations who were arrested for
possession only: 619,809 (88%)
• Number of Americans incarcerated in 2014 in federal, state, and local prisons
and jails: 2,224,400, or 1 in every 111 adults, the highest incarceration rate in the
world
• Proportion of people incarcerated for drug offenses in state prison who are
Black or Hispanic, although these groups use and sell drugs at similar rates as
white people: 57%
• Number of people killed in Mexico’s drug war since 2006: more than 100,000
• Number of students who have lost federal financial aid eligibility because of drug
convictions: more than 200,000
• Number of people in the United States who died from drug overdoses in
2014: 47,055
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that syringe access pro-
grams lower the incidence of HIV infection among people who inject drugs by
80%. One third of all AIDS cases in the United States have been caused by syringe
sharing: 360,836 people. U.S. federal government support for syringe access pro-
grams is $0.00, thanks to a federal ban reinstated by Congress in 2011 that prohib-
its any federal assistance for them.
Other collateral effects of the drug war (Drug Policy Alliance, 2019b) include the follow-
ing (see also Figure 3.1):
• Nearly 80% of people in federal prison and almost 60% of people in state prison
for drug offenses are Black or Latinx.
• A 2015 report by Human Rights Watch found that deportations for drug posses-
sion offenses increased by 43% from 2007 to 2012.
• Simple marijuana possession was the fourth most common cause of deportation
for any offense in 2013 and the most common cause of deportation for drug law
violations. More than 13,000 people were deported in 2012 and 2013 just for mar-
ijuana possession.
• One in 13 Black people of voting age are denied the right to vote because of laws
that disenfranchise people with felony convictions.
• One in 9 Black children has an incarcerated parent, compared with 1 in 28 Latinx
children and 1 in 57 white children.
So the point is that the war on drugs has been a huge resource suck, which has distracted
our attention from drug treatment and real prevention, punished people with substance
use disorders, disproportionately incarcerated racial-ethnic minority group members, and
likely cost trillions of dollars over time. (It has been going on for 48 years at the time of this
writing.) More to the point, it has challenged the ethical behavior of corrections officials by
forcing them to overincarcerate some relatively minor offenders who got caught in its net
(notably, we have seen some retreat in this war as far as cannabis is concerned—several states
have legalized either, and sometimes both, its medical or recreational use).
Correctional workers in prisons, jails, and deten-

tion centers or working in probation and parole and FIGURE 3.1 Public Views on Drug Policy in the

even their managers have little to no control over United States
whom they are given to incarcerate or supervise Source: Pew Research Center (2014). Most recent data available.
in communities. But they are affected by the drug Note: Survey conducted February 14–23, 2014.
war because their facilities and caseloads have been
crowded by such offenders, which has made carry-
ing out their tasks very difficult and sometimes ethi- Don’t
Know,
cally challenging. They have been involved in drug 7%
monitoring and treatment to a much greater extent
than if the war had not been waged. They have had to
supervise people who—compared with robbers and Favor
Prosecuting
rapists—do not really merit the use of incarceration Drug Users,
and perhaps even community supervision. Therefore, 26%
we would add one more remedy to the list that will Favor
help organizations prevent unethical behavior, but Providing
Treatment,
this remedy must be understood by policy makers: 67%
Consider the likely outcomes of wars or other grand
schemes on the ethics of the actors or soldiers tasked
with carrying them out, and consider the larger social
impact of waging war on your own citizens.
Ethical Issue
You are a probation officer with a large caseload faced with “violating” a client on your caseload
of low-level drug offenders (mostly pot smokers). who was convicted of felony drug possession
Some may be addicted to marijuana, and others (there was enough to sell). In all other ways, this
may not, but you need to monitor them and ensure client has done well, in that she has made all the
that they attend programming and provide clean meetings, been employed, and attended drug
urinalysis (UA) samples. The department of programming. Would you write a violation on
corrections you work for is in transition, however, this offender? (Doing so may result in jail time
moving from more of a law enforcement focus to or a trip to prison.) Would it make any difference
a greater treatment orientation. They have given in your decision making if your client has two
you and other officers more leeway in decisions dependent children who will be placed in foster
about whether to violate (write up) offenders care should she be incarcerated? Why, or why not?
who commit minor offenses. One of the UAs you Which ethical framework do you think best fits the
take comes up dirty for marijuana, and you are decision you made?
SUMMARY
LO 3.1 Explain the differences between ethics and • Morality is not the same as ethics, as it concerns what
morality. is right or wrong in the personal sphere, whereas ethics
is concerned with the professional sphere.
• Ethics encompasses the concepts and beliefs about,
and study of, right and wrong professional conduct.
76 CORRECTIONS
LO 3.2 Describe the different ethical frameworks. of corrections work and the organization’s attendant
subcultures often create situations in which ethical
• Deontological ethical systems are concerned with dilemmas are common and their resolution difficult.
whether an act itself is good. Ethical formalism is a Moreover, the kinds of people hired in corrections
deontological ethical framework that determines work, those with a noble cause bent, are sometimes
morality on the basis of a universal law that includes more susceptible to engaging in ethical abuses, though
clear rights and wrongs. Ethics of care is another that is not their intent.
deontological framework centered on good acts in
which the care of and concern for others are paramount. LO 3.4 Identify why corrections workers might be prone to
Egoism places the needs of self as most important; ethics violations and how they might be prevented.
acting to satisfy one’s own wants and needs is
acting ethically. • To reduce or avoid unethical behavior, hire people
who are not motivated by personal gain, encourage
• Teleological ethical systems are focused on whether
professional development and ethics training,
the consequences of an act are good. Utilitarianism
provide proper supervision and support, discipline
is an ethical framework that determines morality
ethics violations, promote ethical behaviors and
on the basis of how many people were helped by an
interactions, and involve employees in decision
act. The religious perspective is another teleological
making.
framework that weighs what is right or wrong according
to one’s religion. Natural law is also from a teleological LO 3.5 Discuss the impact the war on drugs has in creating
viewpoint; adherents of this framework believe that ethical challenges in the field of corrections.
what is good is what is known to be so. Ethics of virtue is
a teleological framework that emphasizes the virtue of • The war on drugs has placed a strain on the judicial
one’s character over actions. and legal systems. Victims are placed in a system, and
charges are often disproportionate to the crimes. They
LO 3.3 Analyze why people are motivated to commit are often unable to get the help needed to get them out
ethical violations. of the system and overburden the resources, drawing
time and attention away from more violent criminal
• Ethical work practice is a messy business—sometimes
activity.
clear-cut but often fraught with anxiety. The nature
KEY TERMS
Deontological ethical systems 64 Ethics of care 67 Religious perspective 66
Discretion 69 Ethics of virtue 66 Subculture 69
Egoism 67 Natural law 66 Teleological ethical systems 64
Ethical formalism 65 Noble cause 68 Utilitarianism 66
Ethics 62 Official deviance 67
1. Where do we learn our sense of right and wrong? Why 3. What can organizations do to prevent noble cause
do you think that some sources are more powerful in corruption? Do you think you are a person who could
influencing people than others? be corrupted this way?
4. Which ethical framework best describes your feeling
2. What makes the correctional workplace more
about ethics? Why do you think this is applicable to
susceptible to unethical behaviors than most
you?
workplaces? If you were to work in corrections, how
would you make sure that you always made the “right 5. Discuss how the drug war has affected corrections and
decision”? how it has threatened the ethical practice of workers.
© iStockphoto.com/unomat
New Africa/Shutterstock.com
4 Sentencing
The Application of Punishment

Test your current knowledge of the criminal sentencing process Upon completion of this chapter, the reader
by answering the following questions as true or false. Check your should be able to:
answers on page 386 after reading the chapter.
4.1 Explain how modern sentencing engages
1. Basic principles of justice mandate that the criminal
justice system punish every person convicted of Aristotle’s notion of justice.
committing the same crime equally regardless of other 4.2 Describe the different types of
differences.
sentencing and their rationales.
2. The only concern at sentencing is the severity of the crime the
defendant has committed. 4.3 Identify other sentencing options and
3. Three-strikes laws allow states to possibly imprison for life a how they are applied.
person who has been convicted of a third felony. 4.4 Explain the role of problem-solving
4. If a person is convicted of two different crimes committed courts.
on two different occasions, they must be sentenced to
consecutive terms (one to be served after the other is 4.5 Assess the issues surrounding
completed) of probation or prison. sentencing disparity.
5. Because victims or their survivors can unfairly prejudice a 4.6 Identify the purpose of presentence
judge against a defendant, with the exception of death penalty
cases, victims or survivors cannot have any input into the
reports and sentencing guidelines
sentencing decision. as well as the contentious issues
surrounding them.
6. Except for statutory limitations, judges basically must decide
on appropriate sentences for convicted felons without any 4.7 Explain the purpose and use of
guidance or advice.
sentencing guidelines.
7. Black people and other racial-ethnic minorities are frequently
subjected to discriminatory sentencing. 4.8 State factors that may affect the future
implementation and use of sentencing
8. Separate courts exist for criminals with special problems such
as drug addiction. guidelines.
9. All states use guidelines to help judges make sentencing
decisions.
VINDICTIVE VERSUS SENSIBLE SENTENCING
“Jane” is a 30-year-old mother of three children aged 8, 6, and 4. Her husband recently
suffered a heart attack and died, leaving Jane with no money. Jane has only a 10th grade
education and cannot afford child care costs, so she was forced onto the welfare rolls.
When Christmas came around, she had no money to buy her children any presents, so
she took a temporary Christmas job at the local megastore, where she earned $1,200
over a 2-month period. Jane did not report this income to the welfare authorities as
required by law, and a welfare audit uncovered her crime. The terrified and deeply
ashamed Jane pleaded guilty to grand theft, which carries a possible sentence of 2 years
in prison, and was referred to the probation department for a presentence investigation
report (PSI).
(Continued)
79
80 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
“Jim” is a 32-year-old man with a lengthy record of thefts and other crimes committed since
he was 10 years old. Jim also pleaded guilty before the same judge on the same day and
was likewise referred for a PSI. Jim had stolen money and parts totaling $1,200 from an
auto parts store during one of his brief periods of employment.
These two cases point to a perennial debate about the appropriate sentence for
people who commit the same crime. Recall the classical and positivist schools of
thought discussed in Chapter 1. Although both positions are ultimately about the
role of punishment, the classical position maintains that punishment should fit the
crime and nothing else. That is, all people convicted of identical crimes should receive
identical sentences regardless of any differences they may have. The classical position
maintains that Jane and Jim freely chose to commit the crimes, and the fact that Jim
has a record and Jane does not is irrelevant. The positivist position is that punishment
should fit the offender and be appropriate to rehabilitation. Jane’s and Jim’s crimes
were motivated by very different considerations; they are very different people morally,
and blindly applying similar punishments to similar crimes without considering the
possible consequences is pure folly. Think about these two cases and your own position
on them as you read about the purpose of sentencing, the way sentencing guidelines
are structured, and the uses of the PSI.
Introduction: What Is Sentencing?

LO 4.1 Explain how modern sentencing engages Aristotle’s notion of justice.
Sentence: A punitive penalty Sentencing refers to a postconviction stage of the criminal justice process. A sentence is
ordered by the court after a
defendant has been convicted
the punitive penalty ordered by the court after a defendant has been convicted of a crime
of a crime either by a jury, by a by a jury, by a judge in a bench trial, or in a plea bargain. Sentencing typically occurs about
judge, or in a plea bargain. 30 days after conviction. The goals of sentencing are to implement one or more of the pun-
ishment philosophies discussed in Chapter 1: retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, or
rehabilitation. In some states juries may be entitled to pronounce sentences, but in most
states, and in federal court, sentencing is performed by a judge—except in death penalty
cases, in which it is the jury’s responsibility. The penalties meted out at sentencing can
include various forms of probation coupled with fines and restitution orders and/or treat-
ment orders, house arrest or electric monitoring, work release, jail time, prison time, or
the death penalty, all of which are discussed elsewhere in this book. The severity of the
penalty depends on the crime or crimes of which the defendant is convicted and the
extent of their criminal history, although other factors, both legitimate and illegitimate,
may also come into play.
It is a major concern of the American criminal justice system that punishments
Justice: A moral concept of received by defendants at sentencing should be consistent with justice. Justice is a moral
just or fair treatment consisting
concept that is difficult to define, but in essence it means that people must be treated in
of “treating equals equally and
unequals unequally according ways consistent with norms of fairness and in accordance with what they justly deserve
to relevant differences.” by virtue of their behavior. Perhaps the best definition was provided by the Greek phi-
losopher Aristotle many centuries ago: “Justice consists of treating equals equally and
unequals unequally according to relevant differences” (cited in Walsh & Stohr, 2010,
p. 133). In terms of sentencing, this means that those who have committed the same crime
and have similar criminal histories are considered legal “equals” and should be treated
equally. Those who have committed different crimes and have different criminal histo-
ries are considered legal “unequals” and therefore should be treated unequally; that is, one
should be treated either more leniently or more harshly than the other.
CHAPTER 4 Sentencing 81
You may ask what these “relevant

differences” are and who defines them.
Strictly speaking, the relevant differences
in sentencing should be limited to legally
relevant factors (crime seriousness and
prior record), but extralegal factors are
often also brought into play, such as gang
affiliation, a history of substance abuse,
and a person’s rehabilitative potential (as
Sergii Gnatiuk/Shutterstock.com
the opening vignette suggests). Depending
on what these factors are, justice is either
served or not served by adding them.
A judge who sentences a remorseful
mother—whose children would become
wards of the state if she were sent to
prison—to probation rather than to prison
is probably acting justly. This may be so Photo 4.1 Fairness in sentencing is often a difficult goal to attain, with many factors to
consider, such as the type of crime committed and the criminal history of the offender.
even if the same judge sentences to prison
an unremorseful single man who has
committed the same crime and has an identical criminal record as the mother and, thus, the
judge is treating legal equals unequally. On the other hand, if the judge sentences legal equals
unequally only because one defendant is a woman and the other is a man, or only because
one defendant is Black and the other is white, then the judge is not acting justly.
Types of Sentences: Indeterminate,

Determinate, and Mandatory
LO 4.2 Describe the different types of sentencing and their rationales.
The prison sentence a person receives can be indeterminate or determinate. An indeter- Indeterminate sentence:
minate sentence is one in which the actual number of years a person may serve is not A prison sentence consisting of a
range of years to be determined by
fixed but rather is a range of years, such as the person “shall be imprisoned for not less the convict’s behavior rather than
than 2 or 3 years to 10 years.” More serious crimes move both minimum and maximum one of a fixed number of years.
time periods upward. Indeterminate sentences were previously much more common than
they are today, but a number of states still retain this system. Indeterminate sentences fit
the positivist rehabilitation philosophy of punishment because they allow offenders to be
released after they have served their minimum period if they demonstrate to the parole
board’s satisfaction they have made efforts to turn their lives around. Such sentences are
tailored to the offender and aimed at rehabilitation rather than tailored to the crime and
designed to be strictly punitive.
The indeterminate sentencing model prevailed most strongly under the so-called med-
ical model, whereby offenders were considered “sick” and in need of a cure. Because some
criminals may be “sicker” than others, the time made available for the “cure” must be flex-
ible. Offenders who behaved themselves in prison and could demonstrate that they were
“reformed” could be rather quickly released; ill-behaved and stubborn offenders might need
to serve the upper boundary (10 years in the above example) and be released whether “reha-
bilitated” or not. It has been precisely because of its flexibility that indeterminate sentencing
has been accused of contributing to sentencing disparity. For instance, even if two offenders
receive the same sentence of “2 to 10 years,” one may serve only 2 years because they can
keep out of trouble and know how to play the rehabilitation/parole game, while the other,
82 CORRECTIONS
who does not play the game as well, may serve 2 or 3 more years. Supporters of the model,
however, will reply that it is not the judiciary that is at fault (after all, both offenders were
sentenced identically by judges); rather, it is the inmates themselves who caused the
discrepancy by their different behaviors while incarcerated.
Prisoners released from state prisons in 1996 had served an average of only 44% of their
sentences under predominantly indeterminate sentencing structures (Ditton & Wilson,
1999). Rising crime rates during the 1980s and early 1990s saw a groundswell of opposition
to what many saw as “mollycoddling” criminals, and there were many calls for longer sen-
Truth-in-sentencing laws: Laws tences. In response to public demands, most states enacted truth-in-sentencing laws. These
that require that there be a truthful,
laws require there be a truthful and realistic connection between the custodial sentences
realistic connection between the
sentences imposed on offenders imposed on offenders and the time they actually serve. They also mandate that inmates
and the time they actually serve. serve at least 85% of their sentences before becoming eligible for release. In addition, many
states restricted good time credit and/or parole eligibility under these laws.
Determinate sentences became more prevalent after the enactment of truth-in-sentenc-
Determinate sentence: ing laws. A determinate sentence means that convicted individuals are given a fixed num-
A prison sentence of a fixed
number of years that must be
ber of years they must serve rather than a range. Under a determinate sentencing structure,
served rather than a range. the maximum prison time for a given crime is set by the state legislature in state statutes.
This structure is more in tune with the classical notion that the purpose of punishment is to
deter and that all who commit the same crime must receive a fixed sentence. This does not
mean that everyone convicted of the same crime receives the same set penalty. For instance,
the maximum time for burglary may be set at 15 years, and a repeat offender may be
sentenced to the full 15 years. Another person who is a young first offender may receive
only 5 years. Whatever the sentence, offenders know under this sentencing structure
how much time they will need to serve. Longer and more determinate sentences satisfy
the urge for greater punishment for offenders and serve an incapacitation function.
However, time off for good behavior is still granted.
Mandatory sentence: A prison Another type of sentencing is mandatory sentencing, sometimes known as mandatory
sentence imposed for crimes minimum sentencing. Mandatory sentencing can exist in the context of both determinate
for which probation is not an
option, where the minimum and indeterminate sentencing structures and simply means that probation is not an option
time to be served is set by law. for some crimes, and the minimum time to be served is set by law. It is set by law because
legislative bodies in various states have decided that some crimes are just too serious for pro-
bation consideration (certain violent crimes) or have decided there is a particular problem,
such as drug trafficking or the use of a gun during the commission of a crime, that requires
mandatory imprisonment as a deterrent.
Prison sentences imposed for two separate crimes, whether they occurred during
the same incident (e.g., robbery and aggravated assault) or in different incidents (e.g.,
two separate burglaries), can be ordered to be served concurrently or consecutively.
Concurrent sentence: A concurrent sentence is one in which two separate sentences are served at the same
A sentence in which two time. If the robbery and aggravated assault crimes both carry sentences of 10 years, for
separate sentences may be
served at the same time. instance, the offender’s release date would be calculated on the basis of 10 years rather
Consecutive sentence: than 20 years. A consecutive sentence is one in which two or more sentences must be
A sentence in which two or served sequentially (one at a time). If the robber/aggravated assaulter received two
more sentences must be
served sequentially.
10-year sentences to be served consecutively, their release date would be based on 20
rather than 10 years. Therefore, consecutive sentences increase the time a person spends
in prison. The judge’s decision to impose concurrent or consecutive sentences for persons
convicted of two crimes may rest mainly on factors such as the seriousness of the crimes,
criminal history, plea bargain arrangements, and offender cooperation. Some have sug-
gested that judges may actually impose harsher sentences on those offenders with the
audacity to demand a trial rather than accept a plea bargain, because it makes extra work
for the judge. This philosophy has been expressed as the judge’s warning—“You take some
of my time and I’ll take some of yours” (Neubauer, 2008).
Habitual Offender Statutes

Habitual offender statutes (or “three-strikes-and-you’re-out” statutes) are derived from the Habitual offender statutes:
Statutes mandating that
same punitive atmosphere that led to truth-in-sentencing statutes. These statutes essentially
offenders with third felony
mean that offenders with third felony convictions may be sentenced to life imprisonment convictions be sentenced to
regardless of the nature of the third felony. This is a way of selectively incapacitating felons life imprisonment regardless of
the nature of the third felony.
only after they have demonstrated the inability to live by society’s rules. This all sounds fine
until we factor in the financial costs of these sentences. Few of us would be against the life-
time incarceration of seriously violent offenders, but many states include relatively minor
nonviolent crimes in their habitual offender statutes. For instance, the U.S. Supreme Court
upheld the life sentence of a felon under Texas’s habitual offender statute even though the
underlying felonies involved nothing more serious than obtaining a total of less than $230
over a 15-year period by false pretenses (fraudulent use of a credit card and writing bad
checks) in three separate incidents (Rummel v. Estelle, 1980). Very few of us would consider
this a just sentence, and apart from the disproportionate nature of the sentence, the cost to
the taxpayers of Texas of keeping Rummel in custody is many thousand times greater than
the $230 he fraudulently obtained.
Ethical Issue
You are a prosecutor in a state with a strict three- store. This amount is low enough to charge Billy with
strikes law. You have been assigned the case of a misdemeanor petty theft, but because he admitted
46-year-old Billy Banks, who has been arrested to entering the store with the express purpose of
and charged with burglary. Billy has two previous shoplifting, he was charged with a burglary, which
felony convictions—one for auto theft and a previous is defined as “the unlawful entry of a structure to
burglary conviction—although you know he has commit a felony or theft.” What are the pros and cons
committed many other crimes. Billy shoplifted of charging Billy under the three-strikes law? And
merchandise worth $145 from a local department with what crime would you charge him?
A life sentence still carries with it the possibility of parole, but some life sentences are
imposed as life without parole (LWOP). Such sentences may seem popular with the pub- Life without parole (LWOP):
A life sentence with the additional
lic at large until taxpayers get the bill. There were 206,268 serving LWOP and what the
condition that the person
Sentencing Project calls “near life” sentences in 2016 (The Sentencing Project, 2017). LWOP never be allowed parole.
sentences are usually imposed on those convicted of murder, but habitual property offend-
ers have also been given such sentences. Long-term incapacitation of violent and/or habitual
offenders is sound policy, but how much time is enough? In one large-scale study, only one
fifth of “lifers” who were released after long stays (15–30 years) in prison were rearrested
within 3 years, compared with two thirds of nonlifers who were released (Mauer, King, &
Young, 2004). Old age is the best “cure” for criminal behavior we have, so perhaps releasing
lifers after 20 to 30 years of imprisonment is both humane and fiscally responsible. Given the
ever increasing medical needs of people as they age, older inmates add a highly dispropor-
tionate financial burden on taxpayers.
84 CORRECTIONS
Other Types of Sentences:

Shock, Split, and Noncustodial Sentences
LO 4.3 Identify other sentencing options and how they are applied.
Judges have many sentencing options open to them besides straight imprisonment. The fact
is that more than 90% of sentences imposed in our criminal courts do not involve impris-
onment (Neubauer, 2008). One type of sentence that does include imprisonment is shock
Shock probation: A type of incarceration, also called shock probation. This type of sentence is used to literally shock
sentence aimed at shocking
offenders into going straight by exposing them to the reality of prison life for a short period,
offenders into going straight
by exposing them to the reality typically no more than 30 days, followed by probation. Shock probation is typically reserved
of prison life for a short period for young, first-time offenders who have committed relatively serious felonies but who are
followed by probation.
considered redeemable.
Split sentences: Sentences Split sentences are sentences that require felons to serve brief periods of confinement
that require convicted persons
in a county jail prior to probation placement. Jail time may need to be served all at once or
to serve brief periods of
confinement in a county jail spread over a certain period, such as every weekend in jail for the first year of probation
prior to probation placement. placement. This is designed to show offenders that jail is a place to stay away from and thus
to convince them that it would be a good idea to abide by all the conditions imposed by the
court. Another form of split sentence is work release, whereby a person is consigned to a
special portion of the jail on weekends and nights but is released to go to work during the
day. Thus, these mainly noncustodial sentences typically mean a probation sentence cou-
pled with certain conditions that must be followed in order to remain in the community. The
conditions may involve such things as paying fines, paying restitution, attending drug and/
or alcohol treatment programs, doing community service, remaining gainfully employed or
looking for work, and any number of other more specific conditions. These different non-
custodial sentences and probation conditions will be discussed more fully in the chapters on
probation, parole, and treatment.
Victim Impact Statements

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan created the President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime.
One of the outcomes of this was the inclusion of victim impact statements (VISs) at sentencing.
Victim impact statement: A victim impact statement allows persons directly affected by the crime (or victims’ sur-
A statement made by persons vivors in the case of murder) to inform the court of the personal and emotional harm they
directly affected by a crime (or
victims’ survivors in the case have suffered as a result of the defendant’s actions and, in some states, to make a sentencing
of murder) to inform the court recommendation. VISs are typically incorporated into PSIs written for the court by proba-
of the personal and emotional
harm they have suffered as a tion officers. The opportunity to provide input into the sentencing decision and the recog-
result of the defendant’s actions nition that the harm is suffered by individuals, not the state, is considered a valuable aid in
and, in some states, to make a
sentencing recommendation. the emotional recovery of victims and may even aid the rehabilitation of some defendants by
forcing them to confront the harm caused by their actions (Walsh, 1986).
VISs have been challenged as prejudicial and a return to a more conservative puni-
tive stance toward punishment because such statements can lead to sympathy for the vic-
tim and hostility toward the defendant (Paternoster & Deise, 2011). However, in Payne
v. Tennessee (1991), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of VIS testimony
in the sentencing phase of a trial, and all 50 states now include the use of VISs in the
form of written or oral statements at sentencing. But how influential are they in terms
of the actual sentence imposed? Overall, the evidence is ambiguous, although in capital
cases, in which juries rather than judges decide the sentences, they seem to be influential
(Paternoster & Deise, 2011). Research in noncapital cases tends to show that VISs actu-
ally have little effect on sentencing decisions after accounting for the effects of legally
relevant variables (seriousness of crime and prior record) (Walsh, 1986). This sometimes
leads to resentment and dissatisfaction with the sentencing process when victims (or
their survivors) believed their recommendations would carry more weight than they did
(Meredith & Paquette, 2001).
Problem-Solving Courts
LO 4.4 Explain the role of problem-solving courts.
Problem-solving courts are alternatives to traditional criminal courts that cannot ade- Problem-solving courts:
quately address the problems of offenders with special needs and other issues such as Alternatives to traditional criminal
courts that cannot adequately
drug, alcohol, domestic violence, and mental health problems. These courts originated address the problems of offenders
during the late 1980s to early 1990s in response to burgeoning rates of incarceration, the with special needs and other
issues such as alcoholism and
financial costs of incarceration, the realization that many offenders needed treatment mental health problems.
rather than jail or prison, and the woeful inability of the social services system to pro-
vide that treatment. The traditional criminal courts have long seen the same individuals
with the same problems recycle through them time after time. Problem-solving courts
are designed to address the underlying causes of a person’s antisocial behavior under
the assumption that it will cease or diminish with the alleged cause under control. These
courts largely suspend the adversarial approach to justice in the interests of achieving a
therapeutic outcome. In other words, the judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney are
supposed to work together collegially along with treatment specialists and supervising
probation or parole officers to achieve a common goal: the rehabilitation of the offender.
These courts thus promote outcomes aimed at benefiting offenders, victims, and society
as a whole by both saving jail and prison costs and minimizing the probability of reof-
fending. Problem-solving courts thus are novel responses to deal with problems that affect
the probability of further criminal behavior. According to the Bureau of Justice Assistance
(2013), problem-solving courts are characterized by the following:
• Focus on outcomes: Problem-solving courts are designed to provide positive case

outcomes for victims, society, and offenders (e.g., reducing recidivism, creating
safer communities).
• System change: Problem-solving courts promote reform in how the government

responds to problems such as drug addiction and mental illness.
• Judicial involvement: Judges take a more hands-on approach to addressing prob-

lems and changing behaviors of defendants.
• Collaboration: Problem-solving courts work with external parties to achieve cer-

tain goals (e.g., developing partnerships with mental health providers).
• Nontraditional roles: These courts and their personnel take on roles or processes
not common in traditional courts. For example, some problem-solving courts are
less adversarial than traditional criminal justice processing.
• Screening and assessment: Use of screening and assessment tools to identify appro-
priate individuals for these courts is common.
• Early identification of potential candidates: Use of screening and assessment tools

to determine a defendant’s eligibility for a problem-solving court usually occurs
early in a defendant’s involvement with criminal justice processing.
86 CORRECTIONS
Drug Courts
Drug courts are by far the most common form of problem-solving court in the United States.
In response to the growing drug problem, the first drug court was established in Miami-
Dade County, Florida, in 1989. Twenty years later, there were 2,037 drug courts active in all
50 states, growth that suggests there is much that is positive about drug courts (Mackin, Lucas,
Drug court: A special sentence for & Lambarth, 2010). A referral to a drug court requires the offender to be involved in an inten-
drug-related nonviolent offenders
who must then complete an
sive treatment program that lasts 2 years. Participants typically have pleaded guilty to non-
extensive drug treatment program. violent drug-related felony charges. Under the supervision of the judge, probation officers,
and other caseworkers, participants attend counseling groups and 12-step meetings, regularly
appear before a judge, and must submit to random urine testing. If a participant successfully
completes the program, in nearly all jurisdictions the criminal charges will be dismissed. The
U.S. Department of Justice (Ashcroft, Daniels, & Herraiz, 1997) provided the 10-component
model presented below for state and county agencies implementing their drug court systems:
1. Drug courts integrate alcohol and other drug treatment services with justice system
case processing.
2. Using a nonadversarial approach, prosecution and defense counsel promote public
safety while protecting participants’ due process rights.
3. Eligible participants are identified early and promptly placed in the drug court
program.
4. Drug courts provide access to a continuum of alcohol, drug, and other related treat-
ment and rehabilitation services.
5. Abstinence is monitored by frequent alcohol and other drug testing.
6. A coordinated strategy governs drug court responses to participants’ compliance.
7. Ongoing judicial interaction with each drug court participant is essential.
8. Monitoring and evaluation measure the achievement of program goals and gauge
effectiveness.
9. Continuing interdisciplinary education promotes effective drug court planning,
implementation, and operations.
10. Forging partnerships among drug courts, public agencies, and community-based
organizations generates local support and enhances drug court effectiveness.
The drug court processes from arrest to final outcome (either graduation or termina-
tion and incarceration) are graphically shown in Figure 4.1 from the Albany, New York, drug
court. The first stage of the process is a referral to the drug court, typically from an offend-
er’s attorney. With the receipt of the referral, members of the drug court team review the
applicant’s criminal history and police reports relevant to the current offense and other per-
tinent information. Violent offenders and offenders who have previously committed the
same offense or who have failed other treatment programs before will not be accepted into
most drug court programs. A standardized form containing all the gathered information is
sent to members of the drug court team for review at a weekly staff meeting. After reviewing
a case, members of a drug court team vote to accept or reject an offender’s application. If
the offender is accepted into a program, the case is referred to a probation officer, who then
performs a prescreening interview. The officer will listen to the defendant and observe his
or her behavior and attitudes in order to assess the level of desire to change their lifestyle.
The officer will provide a rundown of the drug court program and ascertain an offender’s
FIGURE 4.1 Case Flow From Arrest to Court Termination in the Albany, New York, Drug Court

Source: Adapted from Albany County Judicial Center, http://albanycountyda.com/Bureaus/RevJohnUMillerOR/CommunityProsecution/drugcourtprocess.aspx
Defendant is The Drug Court Process Defendant successfully

arrested or completes drug court
indicted on
sealed
indictment Defendant is Defendant
evaluated, file is participates and
reviewed and is monitored
discussed by team throughout Defendant
process returns to court
Defendant goes to Defendant

court, qualifies for accepts plea to
drug court, and felony and signs
agrees to drug court Defendant violates drug
participate contract as part court agreement and the
of plea case returns to
criminal court for sentencing
willingness to abide fully with the program’s guidelines in order to achieve sobriety. Most
offenders, it should be understood, lack the personal skills associated with success in any
endeavor, so the prospect of participating in an arduous treatment program in which they
will be held strictly accountable is often daunting to them. Offenders who, by their words
and actions, give the impression that they do not take responsibility for their behavior and
have no desire to change will not be accepted.
As a result of their frequent interactions during court appearances, it is expected that
participants will develop rapport with the judge, who speaks directly to them in an informal
way, asking about their progress and either exhorting them to try harder or praising their
accomplishments. The judge will also remind them of the obligation to remain drug free and
may impose sanctions for ongoing drug use or other behavior that impedes progress toward
sobriety. These sanctions may include jail time and/or dismissal from the program, in which
case the offender receives the agreed-on prison sentence. The judge will ultimately decide
the defendant’s fate—graduation or incarceration.
Graduation from drug court takes place with as much fanfare as a typical college grad-
uation ceremony. Commenting on the graduation of 54 drug, DUI (driving under the
influence), and veterans treatment court graduates recognized at a ceremony in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, Bland (2014) wrote,
Drug Court saved Clark Dagnall’s life. In return, the 26-year-old Sand Springs
resident took the stage at the program’s most recent graduation and promised to
pay it forward by helping others. “My goal is just to help the next addict,” he told
the crowd of graduates’ friends and family members. “Maybe I can get through to
somebody that nobody else could.”
Graduates received certificates of graduation for completing the nearly 2-year program.
Bland (2014) also wrote that the graduates who spoke at the ceremony were grateful for the
support and guidance they received in the program, and the drug court staff expressed their
88 CORRECTIONS
pride in the graduates. “‘We watch these

individuals transform and rise from the
ashes,’ said Lawrence Gilbert, Action Steps
Counseling program coordinator.”
AP Photo/The Evansville Courier & Press, Erin McCraken
Note the strong emphasis on inter-

agency cooperation, the provision of
services to participants, and the strict mon-
itoring of their behavior. In addition to sav-
ing states many millions of dollars in jail
and prison costs, drug courts appear to be
quite successful in reducing recidivism. For
instance, the Baltimore County Juvenile
Drug Court outcome analysis (Mackin
et al., 2010) estimated that the program
saved the county $8,762 per participant
over 24 months because of lower recidi-
Photo 4.2 A judge awards a graduation certificate for a drug court program.
vism rates and savings from incarceration.
Figure 4.2 provides an illustration of recid-
ivism outcomes for drug court graduates, participants who did not graduate, and a control
group consisting of juveniles who fit the criteria for participation. Note that while the likeli-
hood of rearrest increased for all groups over time, the graduates had a lower arrest rate at 24
months than the control group did at 6 months.
Roman’s (2013) study of drug courts in 29 different U.S. jurisdictions showed that drug
court participants were significantly less likely to test positive for drugs than other proba-
tioners (29% vs. 46%) and less likely to be rearrested (52% vs. 62%). Roman also noted that
the cost per drug court participant was significantly higher per year ($15,326) for drug court
participants than for comparison probationers ($7,191), but that was offset by lower costs
in other areas such as the costs of further crime and victimization. Overall, the net financial
FIGURE 4.2 Comparison of Rearrest Rates for Juvenile Drug Court Participants and Nonparticipants at

6 Through 24 Months After Admittance
Source: Mackin et al. (2010).
70%
60%
60%
Percent of Individuals With a
53%
50%
43% 41%
Rearrest
40%
31%
30% 27%
24%
20% 17% 16%
11%
10%
3% 3%
0%
6 12 18 24
Months Post-Admit Date
Graduates All Drug Court Participants Comparison Group

(Nonparticipants)
benefit per participant spread over all 29 jurisdictions in Roman’s study was $5,680 compared
with control probationers. If there were only 100 participants, this would amount to an aver-
age saving of $1.36 million over 2 years, which is the usual duration of such courts. This is
without even considering the emotional costs of criminal victimization. Other studies have
found that compared with traditional probation, drug courts reduce overall recidivism by
12.4% to 13.0% for drug-related recidivism (Mitchell, Wilson, Eggers, & MacKenzie, 2012).
A meta-analysis of 201 different studies (Sevigny, Fuleihan, & Ferdik, 2013) found that
drug courts reduce jail and prison incarceration by 32%. Putting this in a nationwide per-
spective, the researchers reported this results in 9,911 fewer incarcerations among the esti-
mated 52,777 annual drug court participants across the United States. However, these lower
incarceration rates were offset by the longer sentences imposed on participants who fail.
Nevertheless, in addition to saving the states many millions of dollars in jail and prison costs,
drug courts appear to be quite successful in reducing recidivism.
Sentencing Disparity,
Legitimate and Illegitimate
LO 4.5 Assess the issues surrounding sentencing disparity.
Sentencing disparity occurs when there is wide variation in sentences received by different Sentencing disparity: Wide
variation in sentences received
offenders. This disparity is legitimate if it is based on considerations such as crime serious- by different offenders that may
ness and/or prior record, but it is discriminatory if it is not. We think of sentencing disparity be legitimate or discriminatory.
as discriminatory if there are differences in punishment in cases in which no rational jus-
tification can be found for them. The biggest concern is racial discrimination. There is no
doubt that the American criminal justice system has a dark history of racial discrimination,
but does this indictment still apply?
African Americans receive harsher sentences on average than white or Asian American
offenders, a fact often seen as racist, but is it? Sentencing variation according to race is rea-
sonable and just if the group being more harshly punished commits more serious crimes and
does so more often than other groups, but it is discriminatory and unjust if that group does
not. All data sources show that African Americans commit more crime, especially violent
crime, than white people or Asians. For instance, the 2019 Uniform Crime Reports (Federal
Bureau of Investigation, 2019) show that African Americans were overrepresented in arrests
for all crimes, especially violent crime, in 2018 except for DUI.
But the question is whether this racial disproportionality in offending is sufficient to
account for the disparity in sentencing. One sentencing scholar concluded that it was not:
“Racial bias continues to pervade the U.S. criminal justice sentencing system [although] the
effects of this bias are somewhat hidden . . . or may even have less to do with the race of the
defendant than with the race of the victim” (Kansal, 2005, p. 17). Another scholar concluded
the opposite: “Although critics of American race relations may think otherwise, research on
sentencing has failed to show a definitive pattern of racial discrimination” (Siegel, 2006, p. 578).
Some found that the more stringent researchers are in taking into effect the legally relevant vari-
ables of crime seriousness and criminal record, the less likely they are to find racial discrimina-
tion (Siegel, 2006). A more recent study of over 322,000 cases by the United States Sentencing
Commission (2018), however, found that after controlling for a variety of relevant factors, Black
males received longer sentences than similarly situated white males, and that female offend-
ers of all races received shorter sentences than white male offenders. Different researchers thus
arrive at different conclusions, often as a result of the quality of data and ideology.
Sentencing research is complicated and typically reports average effects, among which
are multiple interacting variables hiding specifics. For instance, victim characteristics play
a role; if the victim is a child, is older, has a disability, or is female, the sentence is typically
90 CORRECTIONS
harsher (Hatch & Walsh, 2016). The extent to which victims participate in sentencing via vic-
tim impact statements also generally leads to harsher sentences (Haynes, 2011). Political ide-
ology also plays a role, with more conservative “law and order” jurisdictions sentencing more
harshly across the board (Ulmer, 2012). Wu and Walsh (2007) found that conservative pro-
bation officers recommended harsher sentences (regardless of race) than liberal officers and
that judges followed the recommendations of both sets of officers closely. A study of the sen-
tencing practices of 18 Ohio judges found that half of them took no extralegal facts into con-
sideration at all, 5 judges sentenced Black people more leniently, and 4 judges sentenced Black
people more harshly (Wooldredge, 2010). The harsh and lenient judges just cancel each other
out if researchers look only at the overall record of all judges and ignore individual judges.
One study of more than 46,000 federal defendants in 23 states found no evidence of
racial bias after controlling for crime seriousness and prior record (Wang & Mears, 2010),
although Jordan and Freiburger (2015) maintained that studies continue to show peo-
ple of color are sentenced more severely than white people. So, is there racial discrimina-
tion involved in sentencing? The short answer is that it depends on the quality of the data,
where you look, how hard you look, and even what you expect to find on the basis of your
assumptions.
Table 4.1 shows the average length in months of felony sentences in state courts in
2006 broken down by race and gender (Durose, Farole, & Rosenmerkel, 2010). You can
see that Black men have longer sentences than white men and that men have longer
TABLE 4.1 Average Length of Felony Sentences in 2006 by Offense, Race, and Gender (in Months)
MEAN MAXIMUM SENTENCE LENGTH FOR PERSONS WHO WERE:
WHITE BLACK
MOST SERIOUS CONVICTION OFFENSE MALE FEMALE MALE FEMALE

All offenses 40 25 45 25
Violent offenses 75 52 88 41
Murder/nonnegligent manslaughter 265 225 266 175
Sexual assault 115 72 125 32
Robbery 89 61 101 54
Aggravated assault 42 30 48 29
Other violence 43 55 41 17
Property offenses 31 22 35 23
Burglary 41 29 50 34
Larceny 24 17 23 19
Fraud/forgery 27 22 27 23
Drug offenses 31 22 36 22
Possession 21 17 25 15
Trafficking 39 26 40 27
Weapon offenses 34 24 34 24
Source: Durose et al. (2010).

sentences than women. Also note that for violent offenses, white women receive longer
sentences than Black women. However, no conclusions about racial or gender bias can
be drawn from the table, because it tells us nothing about how serious each of the crimes
was (some robberies, sexual assaults, and assaults are far more vicious than others, for
instance), nor does it tell us anything about the criminal histories of the men and women
represented in the table.
One of the biggest concerns in the sentencing disparity literature is the huge difference
in sentencing received by crack possession versus sentences imposed for possession of
powder cocaine. Of particular concern was the difference in sentencing imposed on those
who used or sold the cheaper crack cocaine, who tended to be racial-ethnic minority group
offenders, particularly African Americans, versus those who used or sold powder cocaine,
which tended to be more expensive and more likely used and trafficked by white offenders.
In 1988, Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which established a 100-to-1 quantity
ratio differential between powder and crack cocaine. That act also specified that simple pos-
session of crack cocaine was to be treated more seriously than simple possession of other
illegal drugs. According to a U.S. Sentencing Commission report to Congress in 1995, in
1986 Congress was reacting to media hype about how addictive crack was, with congressio-
nal members claiming that crack use was at “epidemic” levels, “crack babies” were severely
impaired, and crime related to crack use was out of control in some cities. African American
law professor Randall Kennedy informs us that the Congressional Black Caucus strongly
supported the legislation and actually pressed for even tougher penalties (Kennedy, 1998).
It is sensible to conclude that members of the Congressional Black Caucus were deeply
concerned about how crack was decimating Black communities across the country with
addiction and bloody turf wars over distribution territories. Nevertheless, at the time of
this 1995 report, the U.S. Sentencing Commission (1995) knew that “88.3 percent of the
offenders convicted in federal court for crack cocaine distribution in 1993 were Black and
7.1 percent were Hispanic,” and critics were concerned that instead of fair and evenhanded
sentences for all, the effect of the Anti-Drug Act was to be unfair and harsh in the sentencing
of racial minorities (p. 1).
Criticisms of the different treatment of people convicted of possession of pharmacolog-
ically identical drugs resulting in the increased incarceration of people of color for longer
periods of time mounted to the point at which Congress needed to do something. In 2009,
the Fair Sentencing Act was introduced and passed by Congress and signed into law by Fair Sentencing Act of 2010:
President Barack Obama on August 3, 2010. Under the act, the amount of crack cocaine sub- An act mandating that the amount
of crack cocaine subject to the
ject to the 5-year minimum sentence is increased from 5 to 28 grams, thereby reducing the 5-year minimum sentence be
100-to-1 ratio to an 18-to-1 ratio (28 grams of crack gets as much time as 500 grams of pow- increased from 5 to 28 grams,
thereby reducing the 100-to-1
der cocaine). Thus, there is still a large sentencing differential between possessors of crack ratio to an 18-to-1 ratio (28 grams
and possessors of powder cocaine. This ratio probably reflects lawmakers’ perceptions that of crack gets as much time as
500 grams of powder cocaine).
crack is more intimately related to violence (in territorial battles) and to a higher probability
of addiction than the powder variety (Leigey & Bachman, 2007).
Further efforts to make sentencing fairer and rehabilitative occurred on December 21,
2018, when President Trump signed into law the First Step Act. The act seeks to improve First Step Act: An act signed
by President Trump that seeks to
criminal justice outcomes such as reducing the federal prison population (the act applies improve criminal justice outcomes
only to the federal system) and creating rehabilitative mechanisms to maintain public safety. such as reducing the federal
A number of changes to the penalties for some federal offenses are made by the act, includ- prison population (the act applies
only to the federal system) and
ing the modification of mandatory minimum sentences for drug traffickers with prior drug creating rehabilitative mechanisms
convictions. It also increases the threshold for prior convictions that count toward triggering to maintain public safety.
higher mandatory minimums for repeat offenders, reducing the 20-year mandatory min-
imum for offenders with one prior conviction to a 15-year mandatory minimum. It also
reduces a life-in-prison mandatory sentence for offenders with two or more prior convic-
tions to a 25-year mandatory minimum.
92 CORRECTIONS
The First Step Act also makes the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act retroactive for currently
incarcerated offenders who received longer sentences for possession of crack cocaine than
they would have received if sentenced for possession of the same amount of powder cocaine
before the enactment of the Fair Sentencing Act. Furthermore, the act expands the safety
valve provision, allowing courts to sentence low-level, nonviolent drug offenders with minor
criminal histories to less than the required mandatory minimum for an offense. It also
calls for the greater use of halfway houses and home confinement for low-level and older
offenders (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2019) .
As with all legislation, there are supporters and detractors. Prisoners’ rights groups say
it doesn’t go far enough, and victims’ rights supporters say it goes too far. The latter group
point to the case of Joel Francisco, who was released under the act, tested positive for drugs
three times thereafter, and subsequently knifed a man to death in Rhode Island (Amaral &
Mulvaney, 2019). The First Step Act is not perfect; after all, it is called the “first step,” and
there is always a risk when violent offenders are released back onto the streets. The only way
to guarantee that reoffending doesn’t happen is to keep all inmates locked up for life, and the
United States is not about to engage in such a totalitarian policy.
Structuring Sentencing:
The Presentence Investigation Report
LO 4.6 Identify the purpose of presentence reports and sentencing guidelines as well as
the contentious issues surrounding them.
Presentence investigation To assist judges in sentencing, a presentence investigation report (PSI; or sometimes
report: Report written by the
probation officer informing the
PSIR) is commonly used. Some states mandate a PSI for all felony cases, some only in cer-
judge of various aspects of the tain felony cases, and others only at the request of the sentencing judge. There are few doc-
offense for which the defendant uments as important to the defendant as the PSI. It is used for many other purposes besides
is being sentenced as well as
providing information about sentencing, such as treatment planning, classification to supervision levels in probation
the defendant’s background and parole departments and prisons, and parole decisions (Walsh & Stohr, 2010). A PSI is
(educational, family, and
employment history), character, usually completed in 30 days or less so that the convicted individual can be sentenced in a
and criminal history. timely manner. PSIs are usually written by probation officers, informing the judge of vari-
ous aspects of the offense for which the defendant is being sentenced as well as information
about the defendant’s background (educational, family, and employment history), gang ties,
substance abuse, character, and criminal history. Because of plea bargaining, judges typi-
cally know very little about the circumstances of the offense or the offender. On the basis of
this information, officers make recommendations to the court regarding the sentence the
offender should receive. Because probation officers enjoy considerable discretionary power
relating to how their reports are crafted to be favorable or unfavorable to offenders, many
scholars view them as the agents who really determine the sentences that offenders receive
(Champion, 2005). Other researchers, however, suggest that the high rate of judicial agree-
ment with officer recommendations reflects an anticipatory effect, whereby officers become
adept at “second guessing” a judge’s likely sentence for a given case and recommend accord-
ingly (Durnescu, 2008).
In Focus 4.1 is an example of a (fictional) PSI containing the usual required information.
PSIs come in a variety of lengths, the shortest being a 1- or 2-page short-form report used
in misdemeanor cases or less serious “run-of-the-mill” felony cases. For serious or compli-
cated cases, we may see 10- to 15-page reports, although the trend is toward shorter reports.
The report given here is an example of a midrange report used for relatively serious crimes,
although the trend is for shorter, more concise reports focusing primarily on legally relevant
variables. This is, in effect, moving away from individualized justice.
In Focus 4.1
EXAMPLE OF A PSI
Gem County Adult rearrested her on 2/24/95 and placed her in the
Probation Department county jail, where she has been ever since.
Williamstown, Iowa 74812

Prior Record:
Name: Joan Place Judge: Franklin Riley
Indictment No.: CR 6742 Probation Officer: James Juvenile: None known
Smith Adult:
Age: 28 Attorney: William Paley 8-18-94 OPD Forgery, 5 counts, amended to one
Race: white count: present offense
Sex: female Offense: forgery 11-6-94 OPD Forgery, 3 counts, pending under
CR841234
Marital Status: divorced Conduct (IRC #2908)
two counts 2-5-95 OPD Forgery, pending
Above record reflects juvenile, OPD, BCI, and FBI
Circumstances of the Offense: record checks.
On 8/10/94, Mr. John Smith, security operative for
the Omaha Trust Company (OTC), reported to the Present Family Status:
police that the defendant cashed forged checks in
the amount of $917.00 at various OTC branch banks. The defendant is the fourth of five children born
These checks were drawn against the account of one to Ann and Frank Place. Her father passed away in
Mrs. Patricia DeValera, 4561 Black St. The defendant January of 1991. On 6/17/85, the defendant married
stole Mrs. DeValera’s checks while employed by one James Fillpot. Mr. Fillpot was described as a
her as a nurse’s aide. Mr. Smith also indicated that heavy drug abuser and is now serving a life sentence
the defendant cashed forged checks in the amount on an aggravated murder charge (he was convicted
of $575.00 on the account of Mr. Richard Blane, a of murdering the defendant’s alleged lover). The
former boyfriend of the defendant. The total loss to defendant divorced Mr. Fillpot shortly after his 1989
the Omaha Trust bank is $1,492.00. conviction, and shortly thereafter (6/89), she married
one Ralph Burke. Mr. Burke is an alcoholic with
an extensive criminal record. After an extremely
Defendant’s Version: abusive 2 years of marriage, the defendant’s second
The defendant’s written statement is reproduced marriage ended in divorce on 5/12/92. No children
verbatim below: “Took checks filled it out in amount were born to either of these marriages. At the time of
I needed for drugs and signed it, forged a name and her arrest, the defendant was living with her mother
cashed the checks in Aug. of 1994. No, I did not pay at the above listed address.
back the person. I was so drug dependent that I took
my boyfriends checks, Mrs. Devaleras checks too.
All I could live for at the time was heroin and alcohol Present Employment or Support:
(mainly beer). I’m sorry I did these things, normally I The defendant is unemployed at the present time
wouldn’t of forged the checks if I wouldn’t of needed and was existing on $76.00 in food stamps at the
drugs. All I could do was live for drugs. I’ve been time of her arrest. She receives no general relief
threw the withdrawals of drugs when I put myself monies. Her last period of employment was as a
in the treatment center on Wilson St.” It is noted nurse’s aide for Mrs. DeValera, one of the victims of
that the defendant places the blame for her criminal the present offense. This employment was for the
activity on her craving for heroin and alcohol. period encompassing March through August, 1993.
Her statements of remorse ring rather hollow in The defendant’s longest period of employment was
light of her new forgery arrest while undergoing with the Red Barron Restaurant, 3957 Laskar Rd., as
presentence investigation. She was arrested on this a waitress from March 1988 through November 1991.
new charge on 2/22/95 and released on $1,000 bond This employer has not responded to our request for
(10% allowed). Upon learning of this new arrest, I information as yet.
(Continued)
94 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
Health, Physical: Statutory Penalty:

The defendant describes her current physical health N.R.C. 2913.31
as “O.K.” She relates no significant hospitalizations,
Forgery “shall be imprisoned for a period of 6
diseases, or current health problems with the
months, 1 year, or 1 and one-half years and/or fined
exception of her substance abuse. Her substance
up to $2,500.”
abuse is quite extensive. She claims that she has
used anywhere from $20 to $300 per day on heroin.
Needle marks on her arms attest to her frequent Evaluative Summary:
usage. She also relates that she likes to consume Before the court is a 28-year-old woman facing
6 to 12 beers per night, which she claims that she her first felony conviction. However, she has
receives free from boyfriends. Her substance abuse numerous other forgery charges pending at this
goes back to her first marriage 13 years ago when time. There would seem to be little doubt that
Mr. Fillpot introduced her to heroin. Her second the genesis of her criminal activity is her severe
husband, Mr. Burke, got her heavily involved in abuse of alcohol and drugs. She also appears to
alcohol. She admits that she has experimented with possess a low concept of herself as indicated by
many other drugs, but states that heroin and beer her very poor choice of marriage partners, both
are her drugs of choice. This officer contacted the of whom were serious substance abusers and
Wilson Street Drug Rehabilitation Facility regarding both of whom were physically abusive to her. She
the defendant’s claimed attendance there. It appears appears to be intimately involved in the drug
that she did voluntarily admit herself there, but left subculture. I initiated the procedure to get the
after the first 15-day phase. I also made an effort to defendant admitted to the ROAD residential drug
get her into the ROAD drug rehabilitation program. treatment center. However, after conducting two
However, after two interviews with ROAD personnel, interviews with the defendant, personnel from the
the defendant was denied admission because they ROAD decided that her motivation for seeking
thought that her only motive for seeking admission treatment was her current legal difficulties and
was her current legal difficulties. thus her application was denied. They did indicate
that they would reconsider her application after
the disposition of the present offense. Therefore,
Health, Mental:
I recommend that the defendant be placed on
The defendant is a 1981 graduate of Borah High probation, ordered to pay complete restitution,
School. She graduated 287th out of a class of 348. and to pursue entry into the ROAD. It is also
She attained a cumulative GPA of 1.64 on a 4.0 recommended that she remain in the county jail
scale. Although no IQ information is available, the after sentencing to reinitiate her application
defendant impresses as functioning well within with ROAD.
the average range of intelligence as gauged by her
written and verbal statements. She did indicate that
she was easily led and that she does not think much Approved Respectfully Submitted
of herself. Her choice of marriage partners (both ___________________ ___________________
very abusive to her) and her current boyfriends give
the impression that she is attracted to men who will James F. Collins Joyce Williams
verify her low opinion of herself. Unit Supervisor Probation Officer
PSI Controversies
Although the PSI has generally been considered a positive aid to individualized justice, it is
not without its problems. Because the future of a defendant depends to a great extent on the
content of the report, the information contained therein should be reliable and objective. All
pertinent information must be verified by cross-checking with more than one source, and
those sources should be reliable. The officer must be careful in the terms they use to describe
the offender. The use of phrases such as “morally bankrupt” and “sweet young lady” may
reveal more about the officer’s attitudes and values than the defendant’s character.
If you were the subject of a PSI, would you like to see what was in it so that you could
challenge any erroneous information harmful to you contained in it? There have been
a number of arguments for and against allowing defendants and their attorneys access to
PSIs. It is feared that if victims and other informants from whom the investigating officer has
sought information know that the offender will see their comments, they will refuse to offer
their information; thus, the judge would not have complete information on which to make
the sentencing decision. However, 16 states currently require full disclosure; other states
require disclosure but erase information that may lead to retaliation, such as the officer’s rec-
ommendation and negative comments from informants. Despite objections and real con-
cerns about confidentiality, the trend is to allow defendants access to their PSIs. For instance,
in the federal system, Section 3552 of the U.S. Code states,
The court shall assure that a report filed pursuant to this section is disclosed to the
defendant, the counsel for the defendant, and the attorney for the Government at
least ten days prior to the date set for sentencing, unless this minimum period is
waived by the defendant. The court shall provide a copy of the presentence report
to the attorney for the Government to use in collecting an assessment, criminal
fine, forfeiture or restitution imposed.
In the federal system and in some state systems, probation and parole officers no longer
write PSIs. Rather, they merely complete sentencing guidelines and certain other assessment
tools and calculate the presumed sentence (Abadinsky, 2009). This and a number of other
factors may be signaling a move away from individualized justice (the idea that punishment
should be tailored to the individual and be consistent with rehabilitation) and back to the
classical idea discussed in Chapter 1 that the punishment should fit the crime and serve as a
retributive or deterrent factor.
Ethical Issue
You are a probation officer writing a PSI on 29-year- At the conclusion of the PSI interview, he shakes
old Robert Jackson, who was arrested for carrying a hands with you and passes on a $100 bill. Would you
concealed weapon. Robert is very concerned about report this attempted bribe and make matters worse
his arrest and fears going to jail, losing his job, and for Robert, or would you return the money with a
not being able to support his wife and two children. stern lecture and then forget about it?

L AU R A K I E H L , PR E S E N T E N C E I N V E S TI G ATO R
Position: Presentence investigator Education: BA in sociology, minor in English,

Boise State University; MA in criminal justice (in
Location: Boise, Idaho
progress)
(Continued)
96 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
The primary duties and responsibilities of a which I made defendants feel comfortable and feel
presentence investigator are: that they could trust me to tell their stories in a fair
and honest manner. An investigative mind is also
The goal of the presentence investigator is to beneficial, as learning to “dig” for information is
provide the court with a depiction of a criminal part of what makes this job fun and interesting on a
defendant once he or she has been found guilty of day-to-day basis.
a felony offense. My goal is not only to document
the defendant’s version of the crime he or she In general, a typical day for a presentence
committed but also to provide the court with an investigator includes:
outline of who that person is as an individual. This
information comes from a one-on-one interview My work days vary a great deal. We work a flexible
with the defendant as well as from collateral schedule and are required to be in the office only
contacts made with friends, family, employers, 20 hours per week. One reason for the flexible
educators, and medical professionals. With this schedule is our need to be at jails or prisons to
information, I prepare a PSI for the sentencing conduct interviews with defendants who are in
judge that contains information pertaining to the custody awaiting sentencing. We are also able to
instant offense, criminal history, family and social compose our reports at home or wherever we work
history, educational background, employment best. Some days I will start at the office, go to a
history, and medical and substance abuse history jail for an interview, and spend the rest of my day
and document the defendant’s goals for the future. writing at home with my dog sitting beside me.
I also provide the court with a recommendation Other days I will be in the office all day for out-of-
for sentencing. The recommendation includes my custody interviews and making collateral contacts.
perception of the criminal defendant on the basis Some days I have writer’s block and take the day
of my interactions with him or her as well as my off, knowing that I will be more productive on a
contacts with collateral sources. There are three different day. The flexibility has allowed me to be
main options for recommendations: probation, rider more productive on a day-to-day basis.
(retained jurisdiction, meaning that the offender
will spend a short time, typically 90 days, in prison My advice to someone either wishing to
followed by probation), and prison. Within the study, or now studying, criminal justice to
three recommendations, I add specific treatment become a practitioner in this career field
and programming guidelines that might benefit would be:
the defendant. The recommendations I make are
based on the defendant’s risk factors and criminal If you want to be a presentence investigator, hone
history combined with any additional concerning your writing skills. Ultimately, although this job
or protective factors I have determined through the is investigative in nature, the report should be
investigative process. the main focus and needs to be well written and
detailed. Reports can take between 10 and 12 hours
One of the most important traits for someone to (or more) to complete. Also, you cannot be afraid
have as a presentence investigator is a desire to to ask questions. I have heard some of the craziest
get to know people. The saying “You catch more stories from criminal defendants, some of which
flies with honey than with vinegar” goes a long were extremely uncomfortable to hear. Defendants
way in this line of work. The defendant has already willing to open up and provide details about their
been convicted, and therefore it is not the job of the lives need an investigator who is not afraid to keep
presentence investigator to interrogate. I find that asking questions. Be ready to be surprised on a
my best interviews, which have gained the most daily basis! This job is never boring and is different
information valuable to the court, were interviews in and challenging every day with every different case.
Structured Sentencing: Sentencing Guidelines

LO 4.7 Explain the purpose and use of sentencing guidelines.
We saw in Chapter 1 that a major concern of the Classical School of criminal justice
was to make the law more fair and equal by removing a great deal of judicial discretion
and providing standards set by the legislature for making punishment for equal crimes
standard. Prior to 1984, federal judges enjoyed nearly unlimited sentencing discre-
tion as long as they stayed within the statutory maximum penalties. This led to a lot
of criticism regarding sentencing disparities and moved Congress to establish the U.S. U.S. Sentencing Commission:
Sentencing Commission. This commission was charged with the task of creating man- A commission charged with creating
mandatory sentencing guidelines
datory sentencing guidelines to rein in judicial discretion (Reynolds, 2009). Sentencing to control judicial discretion.
guidelines are forms containing scales with a set of rules for numerically computing Sentencing guidelines:
sentences that offenders should receive on the basis of the crimes they committed and Scales for numerically computing
sentences that offenders
on their criminal records. should receive on the basis of
Guidelines are devised by federal or state sentencing commissions and provide classi- the crimes they committed and
fications of suggested punishments on the basis of an offender’s scores on those scales. on their criminal records.
Because guidelines are a set of rules and principles that are supposed to decide a defendant’s
sentence, they curtail the discretionary powers of judges, as was intended by Congress. Most
people view this as a good thing because unbridled discretion can lead to wide sentencing
disparities based only on a judge’s subjective evaluations and whims. At one extreme we
might get “hanging” judges, and at the other end we might get “bleeding heart” judges, so a
defendant’s fate may depend largely on the temperament or ideology of the judge by whom
they have the good luck or bad fortune to be sentenced.
Guidelines thus provide structured predictability to criminal sanctions by taking
Aristotle’s definition of justice (“treating equals equally and unequals unequally according
to relevant differences”) and assigning numbers to these relevant differences. The sample
guideline in Figure 4.3 illustrates how numbers are assigned to various aspects of a case
that are considered relevant to sentencing. The guidelines used by the federal government
and some states limit themselves to crime seriousness and prior record, whereas others are
more comprehensive and assign points not only for the statutory degree of seriousness of the
offense and prior record but also for the amount of harm done; whether the offender was on
bail, probation, or parole at the time; prior periods of incarceration; and a number of other
factors. These numbers are then applied to a grid at the point at which they intersect, which
contains the appropriate sentence.
Given the usefulness of guidelines, it is
unfortunate that not all states use them and
FIGURE 4.3 Continuum of State Sentencing Guidelines
that, among the states that do, they vary
Source: National Center for State Courts (2008).
greatly in quality. In 2008, the National Center
for State Courts (NCSC) (2008) evaluated the AL DE AK OR
guidelines in all 21 states that use them and OH DC UT MA KS
assigned them points on the basis of a number WI MO TN AR LA VA MD MI PA WA MN NC
of criteria. The most important of these crite- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
ria were whether the guidelines were volun-
More Voluntary More Mandatory
tary or mandatory, whether compelling and
substantial reasons were required for depar-
tures from guideline sentences, and whether
written reasons must be provided for any such departures. The NCSC then ranked each
state’s guidelines from most voluntary (judges need not follow them) to more mandatory
(there is a presumption that judges will abide by them). Figure 4.3 presents the NCSC’s
evaluation of the guidelines of the 21 states that had them in 2008 on a continuum from
most voluntary to most mandatory.
Although guidelines were mandatory in the federal system for many years after their
creation, currently they are only advisory. By mandatory, we mean that the sentences indi-
cated by the guidelines must be imposed unless there are compelling reasons for not follow-
ing them. Advisory guidelines are used simply to guide the judges’ decisions by providing
a uniform set of standards for them to consult if they wish. According to Lubitz and Ross
98 CORRECTIONS
(2001), sentencing guidelines have achieved a number of outcomes consistent with this
classical ideal and with Aristotle’s definition of justice. These outcomes include the following:
1. A reduction in sentencing disparity

2. More uniform and consistent sentencing
3. A more open and understandable sentencing process
4. Decreased punishment for certain categories of offenses and offenders and
increased punishment for others
5. Aid in prioritizing and allocating correctional resources
6. Provision of a rational basis for sentencing and increased judicial accountability
Figure 4.4 is a sentencing guideline that takes into consideration many more factors than
the seriousness of the offense and prior record and leaves quite a bit of room for subjective
judgment, especially in the culpability, mitigation, and credits section. How would you com-
plete this guideline for the Joan Place case outlined in our sample PSI (In Focus 4.1)? What
degree of culpability or mitigation would you assign her, and what credits would you give her?
FIGURE 4.4 Example of a Comprehensive Sentencing Guideline

Source: Ohio Bar Association.
FELONY SENTENCING WORKSHEET:

DEFENDANT’S NAME: ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– CASE NO.: ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
OFFENSE RATING DEFENSE RATING
1. Degree of Offense: 1. Prior Convictions:

Assess points for the one most serious Assess 2 points for each verified prior felony
offense or its equivalent for which offender conviction, any jurisdiction. Count adjudica-
is being sentenced, as follows: 1st degree tions of delinquency for felony as convictions.
felony = 4 points; 2nd degree felony = 3
Assess 1 point for each verified prior misde-
points; 3rd degree felony = 2 points; 4th
meanor conviction and jurisdiction. Count ad-
degree felony = 1point.
judications of delinquency for misdemeanor
as convictions. Do not count traffic or intox-
2. Multiple Offenses: ication offenses or disorderly conduct, dis-
turbing the peace, or equivalent offenses.
Assess 2 points if one or more of the follow-
ing applies: (A) Offender is being sentenced
2. Repeat Offenses:
for two or more offenses committed in
different incidents; (B) offender is currently Assess 2 points if present offense is offense
under a misdemeanor or felony sentence of violence, sex offense, theft offense, or
imposed by any court; or (C) present offense drug abuse offense, and offender has one
was committed while offender on probation or more prior convictions for same type of
or parole. offenses.
3. Actual or Potential Harm: 3. Prison Commitments:

Assess 2 points if one or more of the Assess 2 points if offender was committed
following applies: (A) Serious physical on one or more occasions to a penitentiary,
harm to a person was caused; (B) property reformatory, or equivalent institution in any
damage or loss of $300.00 or more was jurisdiction. Count commitments to state
caused; (C) there was a high risk of any youth commission or similar commitments in
such harm, damage, or loss, though not other jurisdictions.
caused; (D) the gain or potential gain from
theft offense(s) was $300 or more; or
(E) dangerous ordinance or a deadly weapon 4. Parole and Similar Violations:
was actually used in the incident, or its use
Assess 2 points if one or more of the
was attempted or threatened.
following applies: (A) Offender has previously
had probation or parole for misdemeanor
or felony revoked; (B) present offense
4. Culpability:
committed while offender on probation or
Assess 2 points if one or more of the parole; (C) present offense committed while
following applies: (A) Offender was engaging offender free on bail; or (D) present offense
in continuing criminal activity as a source of committed while offender in custody.
income or livelihood; (B) offense was part
of a continuing conspiracy to which offender
was a party; or (C) offense included shocking 5. Credits:
and deliberate cruelty in which offender
Deduct 1 point for each of the following
participated or acquiesced.
as applicable: (A) Offender has voluntarily
made bona fide, realistic arrangements
for at least partial restitution; (B) offender
5. Mitigation:
was age 25 or older at time of fir st
Deduct 1 point for each of the following, felony conviction; (C) offender has been
as applicable: (A) There was substantial substantially law abiding for at least 3
provocation, justification, or excuse for years; and (D) offender lives with his or her
offense; (B) victim induced or facilitated spouse or minor children or both and is
offense; (C) offense was committed in the either a breadwinner for the family or, if there
heat of anger; and (D) the property damaged, are minor children, a housewife.
lost, or stolen was restored or recovered
without significant cost to the victim. NET TOTAL = OFFENDER RATING
NET TOTAL = OFFENSE RATING
Indicated Sentence:
Circle the box on the chart where the offense and the offender ratings determined on the previous page intersect. This indicates a normal
sentencing package. If the indicated sentence appears too severe or too lenient for the particular case, do not hesitate to vary from the
indicated sentence. In that event, however, list the reasons for the variance in the space provided on the next page.
(Continued)
100 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 4.4 (Continued)

OFFENDER RATING
0-2 3-5 6-8 9-11 12 OR MORE
Impose one of three Impose one of three Impose one of three Impose one of two Impose highest
lowest minimum highest minimum highest minimum highest minimum minimum term.
6 OR MORE
terms terms terms terms. Make Make at least part of

at least part of multiple sentences
multiple sentences consecutive.
consecutive.
No probation No probation No probation No probation No probation
Impose one of three Impose one of three Impose one of three Impose one of three Impose one of two
lowest minimum lowest minimum highest minimum highest minimum highest minimum
terms terms terms terms terms. Make
at least part of
5
Some form of
multiple sentences
probation indicated
consecutive.
only with special
mitigation No probation No probation No probation No probation
Impose one of two Impose one of three Impose one of three Impose one of three Impose one of three
OFFENSE RATING
lowest minimum lowest minimum lowest minimum highest minimum highest minimum
terms terms terms terms terms
4
Some form of Some form of

probation indicated probation indicated
only with special
mitigation No probation No probation No probation
Impose one of two Impose one of two Impose one of three Impose one of three Impose one of three
lowest minimum lowest minimum lowest minimum lowest minimum highest minimum
terms terms terms terms terms
3
Some form of Some form of Some form of

probation indicated probation indicated probation indicated
only with special
mitigation No probation No probation
Impose lowest Impose one of two Impose one of two Impose one of three Impose one of three
minimum term lowest minimum lowest minimum lowest minimum lowest minimum
terms terms terms terms
0-2
Some form of Some form of Some form of Some form of

probation indicated probation indicated probation indicated probation indicated
only with special
mitigation No probation
In Focus 4.2
P O L I CY S TAT E M E N T O F T H E A M E R I CA N
C O R R E C TI O N A L A S S O C I ATI O N R E G A R D I N G S E N T E N C I N G
Because of changing sentencing policies the harm done to the victim, past criminal
(determinate, mandatory minimums, and history, the need to protect the public and
particularly the policies driven by the “war on the opportunity to provide programs for
drugs”), there has been a huge increase in the offenders as a means of reducing the risk for
prison population in the United States. According future crime;
to the American Correctional Association (ACA), G. Provide the framework to guide and control
sentencing policies should be aimed at controlling discretion according to established criteria
crime at the lowest cost to taxpayers, and offenders and within appropriate limits and allow for
should be placed in the least restrictive environment recognition of individual needs;
consistent with public safety. The ACA strongly
promotes and supports any policies that render H. Have as a major purpose restorative
sentencing fair and rational and has issued its 2009 justice — righting the harm done to the
official statement on sentencing policy, victim and the community. The restorative
reproduced below. focus should be both process and
substantively oriented. The victim or his or
her representative should be included in the
The American Correctional Association actively
“justice” process. The sentencing procedure
promotes the development of sentencing
should address the needs of the victim,
policies that should
including his or her need to be heard and, as
much as possible, to be and feel restored to
A. Be based on the principle of proportionality.
whole again;
The sentence imposed should be
commensurate with the seriousness of the I. Promote the use of community-based
crime and the harm done; programs whenever consistent with public
safety; and
B. Be impartial with regard to race, ethnicity
and economic status as to the discretion J. Be linked to the resources needed to
exercised in sentencing; implement the policy. The consequential
cost of various sanctions should be assessed.
C. Include a broad range of options for custody,
Sentencing policy should not be enacted
supervision and rehabilitation of offenders;
without the benefit of a fiscal-impact
D. Be purpose-driven. Policies must be based analysis. Resource allocations should be
on clearly articulated purposes. They should linked to sentencing policy so as to ensure
be grounded in knowledge of the relative adequate funding of all sanctions, including
effectiveness of the various sanctions total confinement and the broad range of
imposed in attempts to achieve these intermediate sanction and community-
purposes; based programs needed to implement those
E. Encourage the evaluation of sentencing policies
policy on an ongoing basis. The various
sanctions should be monitored to determine This Public Correctional Policy was unanimously
their relative effectiveness based on the ratified by the American Correctional Association
purpose(s) they are intended to have. Delegate Assembly at the Congress of Correction
Likewise, monitoring should take place to in St. Louis, Aug. 10, 1994. It was last reviewed and
ensure that the sanctions are not applied affirmed at the 2014 Winter Conference in Tampa,
based on race, ethnicity or economic status; FL, February 4, 2014.
F. Recognize that the criminal sentence must Source: Reprinted with permission of the American Correctional Association
be based on multiple criteria, including (Alexandria, VA).
102 CORRECTIONS
The Future of Sentencing Guidelines

LO 4.8 State factors that may affect the future implementation and use of sentencing
guidelines.
As useful as guidelines have proved to be for reducing sentencing disparity and curtailing
judicial discretion, their future format and function are by no means ensured. As men-
tioned above, the federal guidelines are now only “advisory,” meaning that judges can con-
sult them and follow them or not, which has opened the door once again to unwarranted
sentencing discrepancies that guidelines were supposed to rein in. The turnabout began
with the recognition of the separation of responsibilities of the trial judge and the trial
jury. The role of judges is to be finders of law; the role of juries is to be finders of facts. A
famous case based on that principle came before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005 (United
States v. Booker, 2005).
The circumstances of the case are that Freddie Booker was arrested in 2003 in posses-
sion of 92.5 grams of crack cocaine. He also admitted to police he had sold an additional
566 grams. A jury found Booker guilty of possession with intent to sell at least 50 grams,
for which the possible penalty ranged from 10 years to life. At sentencing, the judge
used additional information (the additional 566 grams and the fact that Booker had
obstructed justice) to sentence Booker to 30 years. Booker’s sentence would have been
21 years and 10 months on the basis of the facts presented to the jury and proved beyond
a reasonable doubt.
Booker appealed his sentence, arguing that his Sixth Amendment rights had been
violated by the judge “finding facts” when that is the proper role of the jury. An earlier
federal appeals court had ruled the facts of prior convictions are the only facts judges
can “find” as justification for increasing sentencing. In other words, anything other than
prior record that is used to increase a criminal penalty beyond what the guidelines call
for must be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The Supreme
Court agreed with Booker that his sentence violated the Sixth Amendment and sent the
case back to district court with instructions either to sentence Booker within the sen-
tencing range supported by the jury’s findings or to hold a sentencing hearing before a
jury (Bissonnette, 2006).
The remedial portion of the Supreme Court’s opinion (what can be done to prevent this
from happening again?) is much more controversial. The Court held that the guidelines
were to be advisory only and therefore no longer binding on judges. However, the Court
did require judges to “consult” the guidelines and take them into consideration, but there is
no way of ensuring that judges comply. John Ashcroft, the U.S. attorney general at the time,
called the decision “a retreat from justice,” and Congressman Tom Feeney decried that “the
extraordinary power to sentence” was now afforded to federal judges who are accountable
to no one and that the decision “flies in the face of the clear will of Congress” (Bissonnette,
2006, p. 1499). In fact, Booker was resentenced by the same judge to the same 30-year sen-
tence he originally received. Because the sentencing guidelines had then become merely
advisory, the judge did not need to further justify his sentence, because it was within the
range of the statutorily defined penalty. The Court’s ruling on guidelines currently applies
only to the federal system.
S E N T E N C I N G I N C O M PA R I S O N C O U N TR I E S
Sentencing in our four major comparison countries are continually under surveillance by the police
differs radically. The most brutal sentences are and under the informal control of neighborhood
handed out in Saudi Arabia. Sentences are fixed and committees.
unalterable for crimes called hudud crimes because
they are considered crimes against God as outlined Criminal detention is analogous to a jail sentence
in the Koran. These crimes (and their penalties) in the United States where offenders are sent to jail
are adultery (death), fornication (whipping—80 for a short time for committing relatively minor
lashes), false accusation of any of the foregoing crimes. Offenders may be granted permission to
crimes (whipping—100 lashes), alcohol consumption go home 1 or 2 days each month and may be paid
(whipping—varies; death is possible after a third for work, which makes the sentence like a work
offense), apostasy—conversion from Islam to some release sentence in the United States. Fixed-term
other faith (death), theft (amputation of hand), and imprisonment ranges from 6 months to 15 years, and
robbery (amputation of alternate-side hand and the step after that is life imprisonment. Individuals
foot). Saudi criminal courts are religious courts, and sentenced to fixed-term or life imprisonment are
judges have practically free rein in sentencing in subjected to long periods of hard labor as long as
non-hudud crimes and do not follow any uniform they are physically able. The most serious sentence
legalistic guidelines. is one of death; we will discuss this in a later chapter.
For crimes known as qisas crimes, the penalties are In 2008, the Chinese courts introduced sentencing
imposed in a literal “eye for an eye, and a tooth for a guidelines with the intention of introducing
tooth” fashion but can be forgiven on the payment uniformity in sentencing. These guidelines contain
of “blood money” to the victim or the victim’s the same criteria for determining sentences as do
survivors. For instance, a 14-year-old was sentenced American guidelines and are mandatory (judges
to be surgically paralyzed because he had stabbed must follow them). Curiously, for the harshest of
and paralyzed a companion in a fight. However, the sentences—life imprisonment and death—judges
boy’s mother was able to raise enough blood money retain full sentencing discretion (Chen, 2010).
to spare him that fate (Knowles, 2013). The least
serious crimes under Islamic law are called ta’zir Before its exit from the European Union (EU),
(rehabilitation) crimes, which include consumption the United Kingdom was bound by the EU
of pork, bribery, provocative dress, wifely Charter of Fundamental Rights, which demands
disobedience, and traffic offenses. Penalties for these “proportionality” in criminal sentencing (Albers
offenses are entirely discretionary and may include a et al., 2013). However, national governments retain
dressing down by the judge, a short prison sentence, a margin of discretion in such matters, and the
or some form of light corporal punishment, but United Kingdom now has full control over its own
sometimes a death sentence can be imposed penal policies. There are four types of sentences in
(Walsh & Hemmens, 2014). England and Wales: discharge, fines, probation, and
prison. Sentences depend on whether the offenses
China is definitely tough on crime, albeit more were indictable or summary offenses, which are
lenient than Saudi Arabia. Chinese sentences are analogous to the felony/misdemeanor distinction
classified as community control, criminal detention, in the United States. A convicted person may be
fixed-term imprisonment, life imprisonment, and discharged conditionally or absolutely for minor
the death penalty. Community control is imposed offenses if the court decides not to impose any
for minor offenses and is analogous to probation. punishment. Fines are the most common sentence
Offenders under control continue to work but imposed in magistrates’ courts (analogous to
(Continued)
104 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
municipal courts that deal with misdemeanors in délits are classified as “second-tier” crimes, they are
the United States). Prison sentences for serious very serious offenses, such as robbery, aggravated
offenses are of fixed terms from 1 year to life and assault, and sexual assault. Délits can become crimes
are passed down by the Crown Courts (analogous with aggravating circumstances. Contraventions are
to U.S. district courts). There is no death penalty in minor offenses tried in police courts and punishable
the United Kingdom. The courts in England and only by fines up to 3,000 euros (about $4,000). There
Wales use a grid-based guideline much like those is no death penalty in France.
in fashion in the United States, and Parliament has
mandated that the “courts ‘must follow’ definitive Because the termination of a French trial results
guidelines rather than merely ‘have regard to’ them” simultaneously in a verdict and a sentence, a PSI
(Roberts, 2011, p. 997). PSIs are also written for cases is not necessary. All the information typically
in which probation or prison is being considered. included in a PSI is already known to the sentencing
panel (typically, three professional judges and nine
According to the official French government website laypersons) because the investigatory process
(Service Public Française, 2013), offenses in France in France is more thorough than in the Anglo-
are divided into crimes, délits, and contraventions. American common law tradition; thus, the character
Crimes are the most serious offenses. They are of the defendant and all the relevant personal
tried in assize court with judges and juries and information regarding his or her background is
are punishable by 15 to 30 years in prison or, in well known (Walsh & Hemmens, 2014). Nor are there
exceptional cases, by life in prison. Examples of sentencing guidelines other than statutory
crimes are murder and rape. A délit is an offense penalties, leaving judges with excessive discretion
punishable by imprisonment from 2 months to 10 that can lead to serious inequalities in sentencing
years and is tried in a correctional court. Although (Padfield, 2011).
SUMMARY
LO 4.1 Explain how modern sentencing engages Aristotle’s LO 4.3 Identify other sentencing options and how they are
notion of justice. applied.
• Sentencing is a postconviction process in which • Judges have additional options for sentencing
the courts implement one or more of the punitive dependent upon the offender and circumstances related
philosophies: retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, to the crime. Shock probation is a type of sentence
or rehabilitation. Sentencing decisions should be in used to literally shock offenders into going straight
accordance with justice. by exposing them to the reality of prison life for a
short period, typically no more than 30 days, followed
LO 4.2 Describe the different types of sentencing and their by probation. Split sentences require felons to serve
rationales. brief periods of confinement in a county jail prior to
probation placement.
• There are three major sentencing models:
indeterminate (a range of possible years), determinate LO 4.4 Explain the role of problem-solving courts.
(a specific number of years), and mandatory (can
exist under either of the above models but means that • Problem-solving courts are alternatives to traditional
the person must be sent to prison; probation is not an criminal courts that cannot adequately address the
option). problems of offenders with special needs and other
issues such as drug, alcohol, domestic violence, and
• Truth-in-sentencing laws have led to longer sentences,
mental health problems.
a stronger move to determinate and mandatory
sentencing, and statutes such as habitual offender • Sentencing to a drug court is becoming increasingly
statutes. popular in the United States.
LO 4.5 Assess the issues surrounding sentencing disparity. LO 4.7 Explain the purpose and use of sentencing
guidelines.
• Sentencing disparity—sentences not accounted for
by legally relevant variables—is a major concern in • Sentencing guidelines are designed to eliminate
the criminal justice system. A big concern is whether sentencing disparity by submitting a person’s crime
African Americans’ more severe sentences are seriousness and prior record (in some states additional
accounted for by their greater involvement in crime information is included) to a scoring system. The
or by racism. The sentences imposed for crack versus person is then supposed to be sentenced the same way
powder cocaine possession have been a contentious as every other person who receives the same score.
issue because of racial differentials in the possession and
sale of crack versus cocaine. LO 4.8 State factors that may affect the future
implementation and use of sentencing guidelines.
LO 4.6 Identify the purpose of presentence reports and
sentencing guidelines as well as the contentious issues • Certain legal problems with sentencing under
surrounding them. guidelines moved the Supreme Court to rule that the
federal guidelines, which were previously mandatory,
• Efforts have been made to “individualize” justice were now to be merely advisory. This opened up the
by providing judges with presentence investigation door once again for wide levels of judicial discretion and
reports, written by probation officers, that contain many thus for sentencing disparity.
factors about the people the judges are to sentence. A
big controversy involving these reports is whether the
defense should be able to view them.
KEY TERMS
Concurrent sentence 82 Indeterminate sentence 81 Sentencing disparity 89
Consecutive sentence 82 Justice 80 Sentencing guidelines 97
Determinate sentence 82 Life without parole (LWOP) 83 Shock probation 84
Drug court 86 Mandatory sentence 82 Split sentences 84
Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 91 Presentence investigation report 92 Truth-in-sentencing laws 82
First Step Act 91 Problem-solving courts 85 U.S. Sentencing Commission 97
Habitual offender statutes 83 Sentence 80 Victim impact statement 84
1. Is it ever just, right, and moral to sentence equals in 5. What are the pros and cons of allowing the defense
terms of legally relevant variables unequally? Give an access to the presentence investigation report? Where
example. do you stand on the issue?
2. If you are being sentenced for a felony, would 6. Sentencing guidelines were designed to rein in
you prefer to know when your date for parole excessive judicial sentencing discretion, and most
consideration is to come, or would you prefer an criminal justice personnel consider this a very good
indeterminate sentence so that you could possibly thing. Why did the Supreme Court throw a wrench
“work your way out” and be released earlier? into the works by making the federal guidelines
advisory only?
3. What is your opinion of habitual offender statutes that
lock people up for life if convicted of a third felony?
4. What research strategy is required to assess the racial
sentencing disparity issue?
© iStockphoto.com/powerofforever
5 Jails and Detention
Centers

Test your current knowledge of jails by answering the following Upon completion of this chapter, the reader
questions as true or false. Check your answers on page 386 after should be able to:
5.1 Identify the origins of jails and types of
1. Most jails are operated by states.
jails in operation.
2. Jails for juveniles are usually referred to as detention centers.
3. Most inmates of adult jails have been convicted of crimes.
5.2 Explain how jails process individuals.
4. The drug war has disproportionately affected the number of 5.3 Assess how jails affect and are affected
people of color and women incarcerated in jails. by overcrowding, race, gender, age, and
5. Jails have become the most likely social institutions to hold special needs of their inmates.
people with mental illnesses in the United States.
5.4 Describe the various approaches jails
6. Incarcerated women tend to have fewer medical problems than take to address medical problems of
incarcerated men.
inmates.
7. Female staff in jails are more likely to be the perpetrators of
sexual victimization of male inmates than are male staff. 5.5 Discuss how jails manage sexual
violence, gangs, and suicides.
5.6 Explain the kinds of innovations
happening in jails and how they are
working out.
AN INMATE WITH A M ENTAL ILLNESS IN

THE DOÑA ANA COUNT Y JAIL, NEW MEXICO
Stephen Slevin, 59, was an inmate for 22 months in the Doña Ana County Jail in Las
Cruces, New Mexico (“$15.5 Million Settlement,” 2014, p. 20). He was first booked into
the jail on charges of driving while intoxicated and receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle
in August 2005 (a friend had let him borrow the car to drive across the country). He had
a history of suicide attempts and mental illness, so the jail officers in booking placed him
in an empty padded cell for 2 days before he was assessed by the mental health unit. He
was then eventually sent to solitary confinement, where he had no contact with a judge
or medical personnel for the next 18 months. It was noted that upon entering the jail, he
had been a well-nourished and healthy man with a mental illness. After the 18 months in
solitary confinement and a psychiatric evaluation, however, he smelled; had overgrown nails
and hair; was malnourished, at 133 pounds; and “complained of paranoia, hallucinations,
bed sores and untreated dental problems” (“$15.5 Million Settlement,” 2014, p. 21). Slevin
had pulled out his own infected tooth while incarcerated, as no dental care was provided
to him. A month after this evaluation, he was again placed in solitary confinement but was
finally released in June 2007 when the charges were dismissed. He sued in federal court,
alleging a violation of his civil rights and false imprisonment, and a federal jury agreed and
awarded him $22 million. When Doña Ana County appealed this decision, a federal judge
affirmed the punitive and compensatory damages in the original award. To avoid further
appeals by the county, however, Slevin settled with them and their insurer for $15 million
dollars in 2013 (“$15.5 Million Settlement,” 2014, p. 20).
107
108 CORRECTIONS
Introduction: The Community Institution

LO 5.1 Identify the origins of jails and types of jails in operation.
The American jail is a derivative of various modes of holding people for trial that have
existed in Western countries for centuries. Whether fashioned from caves, mines, or old
Jails: Local community houses or as separate buildings, jails were developed originally as a primary means of hold-
institutions that hold people who
are presumed innocent before ing the accused for trial, for execution, or in lieu of a fine. As noted in Chapter 2, jails were
trial, convicted people before they called gaols in the England of the Middle Ages and were operated by the shire reeve, or sher-
are sentenced, convicted minor
offenders who are sentenced for
iff, and his minions.
terms that are usually less than Jails have been in existence much longer than prisons, and their mission is much more
a year, juveniles (usually in their diverse, especially now. These days, jails are usually local and community institutions that
own detention centers, separated
from adults in adult jails, or before hold people who are presumed innocent before trial; they hold convicted offenders before
transport to juvenile facilities), they are sentenced; they hold more minor offenders who are sentenced for terms that are
women (usually separated from
men and sometimes in their own usually less than a year; they hold juveniles (usually in their own detention centers [jails] or
jails), and people for the state or separated from adults or before transport to juvenile facilities); they hold women (usually
federal authorities; they serve to
incapacitate, deter, rehabilitate, separated from men and sometimes in their own jails); they hold people for the state or fed-
punish, and reintegrate eral authorities (there are some exclusively federal jails); and depending on the particular
(depending on the particular jail
population being served and the
jail population being served and the capacity of any given facility, they serve to incapacitate,
capacity of the given facility). deter, rehabilitate, punish, and reintegrate.
Although described as correctional afterthoughts by scholars and despite their mul-
tifaceted and critical role in communities, jails have often received short shrift in terms of
monetary support and professional regard (Kerle, 1991, 2003, 2011; Thompson & Mays,
1991; Zupan, 1991). The vast majority of jails are operated by county sheriffs, whose pri-
mary focus has been law enforcement rather than corrections. As a result, jail facilities have
often been neglected, resulting in dilapidated structures, and jail staffs have had less training
and pay than probation and parole officers in communities or correctional staffs working
at the state or federal level in prisons. Jail staffs also often receive less pay and training than
deputy sheriffs working in the same organization (sheriff ’s office) as the jail. Research indi-
cates that many in the general public may even view jails as more punitive than prisons (see,
e.g., May, Applegate, Ruddell, & Wood, 2014). The late comic Rodney Dangerfield’s peren-
nial lament “[They] don’t get no respect” surely applies to jails more than perhaps any other
social institution.
In this chapter, we discuss how this forgotten social institution fulfills a vital community
role—one that includes all of the functions described in the preceding paragraph as well as
serving as a repository for people who are only nominally criminal and have nowhere else to
go (e.g., people experiencing homelessness or people with mental illnesses). The role of jails
also includes the holding of some state or federal inmates, as prisons are too full. In some
larger counties, the holding of longer-term sentenced inmates or those who have numerous
physical, mental, and substance abuse problems—not to mention educational deficits—has
led to more programming and treatment in jails. Part and parcel of this interest in treatment
is the emergence of community reentry programs, as will also be discussed in the chapter
on parole (see Chapter 9), as a means of preventing crime and addressing the multifaceted
needs of former jail inmates. In this chapter, these emerging trends will be explored, as will
the challenges jails face, but first, we will discuss the types of institutions that constitute jails.
Jail Types
The typical jail is operated by the sheriff of a county. However, some cities, states, and the fed-
eral government operate jails, and sometimes, multiple jurisdictions combine resources to
administer a jail that serves a region. Some counties have hired jail administrators to over-
see the operation of the jail, taking it out of the hands of the local sheriff. Jails for adults are
CHAPTER 5 Jails and Detention Centers 109
sometimes called detention centers, and jails

for juveniles are almost always referred to as
detention centers. Some Native American
tribes have their own jails, and many police
departments have short-term lockup facil-
ities to hold suspects or those accused of
crimes. Currently, there are about 2,850 jails
in the United States, and 79 jails are operated
by Native American tribes (Minton, 2014,
2015; Minton & Golinelli, 2014; Zeng, 2020,
p. 10). When a state or the federal govern-
ment (or another governmental entity) has
© Wikimedia/WhisperToMe
inmates for a jail but no facility of its own in
a given vicinity, the entity will typically ask
the county to hold that inmate. Counties
are usually more than willing to do this, as
they are paid a fee that often exceeds the cost
of holding inmates, which makes holding
inmates for other jurisdictions a money- Photo 5.1 Travis County Jail.
making enterprise.
Most jails are composed of one or two buildings in close proximity to each other. They
are usually operated somewhat close to a city or town center, except when located on res-
ervations or at military facilities. Larger jail jurisdictions (more than 1,000 inmates) will
often operate more than one jail. Some states, usually smaller ones, have combined jail or
prison systems (i.e., Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont;
Zeng, 2020, p. 10).
Many jails have adopted technological changes that have greatly enhanced their
ability to supervise and control inmates. The use of cameras, voice-operated and visual-
check-operated doors by a control center, electronic fingerprint machines, and even video
arraignments and visiting are revolutionizing the jail experience. Certainly, these changes
are making facilities more secure, but also, in the case of video visiting, they may make it
easier to maintain contact with the outside.
Jail Inmates and Their Processing

LO 5.2 Explain how jails process individuals.
Jails operate 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, as crime does not take a holiday. They hold all
kinds of inmates, from the serious convicted offender awaiting transport to a state or fed-
eral prisoner, down to the accused misdemeanant who cannot make bail. About 66% of jail
inmates have not been convicted of crimes for which they are being held; they are await-
ing court action (Zeng, 2020, p. 1). Jails receive inmates from local, state, federal, and tribal
police officers. In 2018, they processed 10.7 million inmates (down from a peak of 13.6 million
in 2008), with most inmates in and out within a few days or a week, some within hours,
though others might be held for more than a year, particularly if they are sentenced state or
federal inmates (Minton, 2010; Minton & Golinelli, 2014, p. 4; Zeng, 2020, p. 1). In 2018, the
average length of stay for inmates of jails was 25 days, but this varied widely from 11.2 days
for small jails (49 or fewer inmates) to 34.2 days for the largest jails (2,500 or more inmates;
Zeng, 2018, p. 6; 2020, p. 1). The average likely differs so much because the larger jails are
more likely to be holding state and federal inmates for trial or for part of their sentences to
jail or prison. Those sentenced are more likely to spend longer periods of time in the jails.
110 CORRECTIONS
Because of their complicated and diverse

role and as a means of keeping track of the
inmates they are responsible for holding, jails
will often follow a set procedure that is pre-
scribed by tradition, law, and practice. The
first part of the typical processing of an inmate
at a county or city jail is the delivery of the
arrestee to the facility by a law enforcement
Getty Images/AFP PHOTO/Jeff Haynes
officer. Many arrestees may be stressed, upset,

mentally disturbed, or intoxicated. In the lat-
ter case, the officer may choose to administer
a Breathalyzer test at the jail. If the arrestee is
injured, or in need of a blood test to determine
drug intoxication, or obviously ill (especially in
the era of COVID-19), the jail’s booking staff
may require that the arrestee be taken by law
Photo 5.2 A double-bunk jail cell. The pink interior paint is meant to soothe detainees. enforcement to the hospital to be checked out
or tested before they are admitted to the jail.
If the arrestee is not injured, the law enforcement officer will fill out the paperwork for
admittance of the arrestee to the facility. Usually, the arrestee is still with the officer when this is
occurring and often still in handcuffs. Once the required paperwork and processing are com-
pleted, the jail will accept the arrestee, search them, and begin its own paperwork for admitting
the arrestee. At this juncture and depending on the alleged offense, the arrestee may be allowed
to contact family and friends or a bail bondsman. The arrestee might be released directly into
the community if the alleged offense is minor (termed released on recognizance or ROR).
However, if the alleged offense is serious enough, the arrestee will need to await arraignment by
a judge to determine bail and, in the interim, might be booked into the jail.
During the booking process, jails will often strip-search—though not always—arrestees
(now inmates), take their property, and issue clothing and other essentials. If the new inmate
is intoxicated or belligerent, booking staff may place them in a special holding cell. In the
latter case, this might involve a padded room or a restraint chair. Once the inmate is sober
and calm, they are then classified and moved to a more permanent housing area in the jail.
Larger jails often keep new inmates in a separate area or cell before they place them in a gen-
eral housing unit so they can be observed and classified (on the basis of the inmate’s alleged
offense, alleged criminal coconspirators, criminal history, gang involvements, health, treat-
ment and other needs, etc.). In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, some jails (with local
judicial approval) have increased their ROR orders, relaxed bail requirements, or quaran-
tined all new inmates for a period of 14 days in designated living units (Sokol, 2020).
Trends in Jail Populations

LO 5.3 Assess how jails affect and are affected by overcrowding, race, gender, age, and
special needs of their inmates.
Today jails must address the challenges of overcrowding, race, gender, age, and special needs
of inmates within their populations. Here we will discuss the impacts of these trends.
Overcrowding: A phenomenon
that occurs when the number Overcrowding
of inmates exceeds the
physical capacity (the beds
As indicated in other sections of this book, jails have to deal with the same kinds of over-
and space) available. crowding issues that have afflicted prisons. Overcrowding occurs when the number of
inmates exceeds the physical capacity (i.e., the beds and space) available. Over the past sev-
eral decades, the number of jail beds needed by jurisdictions has increased, and they were
often filled almost as soon as they were built (see Table 5.1; Zeng, 2020). However, since 2008
there has been an unprecedented decrease in the number of jail inmates. As of 2018 (the lat-
est data available at the time of this writing), on average, jails were operating at 81% of their
capacity, and the highest capacity for the past decade was achieved in 2006 and 2007, when
jails were operating at 96% (Zeng, 2020, p. 1). Clearly, 81% of capacity is better than 96% of
capacity and better than in past years, when jails of the 1980s and 1990s were operating at
well over their rated capacity (Cox & Osterhoff, 1991; Gilliard & Beck, 1997; Klofas, 1991).
Also, and notably, even an average of 81% for 2018 means that half of the jails in the United
States were operating at over that average.
Moreover, the percentages of capacity can be misleading when one considers over-
crowding. Certain sections of jails are designated for specific types of inmates that cannot
or do not mix well (e.g., men and women but also juveniles, arrestees, inmates with medi-
cal problems, gang members or, in 2020, quarantined new inmates to prevent the spread of
coronavirus). The percentage capacity may indicate that the jail is not completely full, but
any given section might be overwhelmed with such inmates.
TABLE 5.1 Jail Capacity, Midyear Population, and Percentage of Capacity Occupied in Local Jails, 2005–2018
YEAR JAIL CAPACITYa MIDYEAR POPULATIONb PERCENT OF CAPACITY OCCUPIEDc
2005 787,000† 747,500 95.0%†
2006 795,000† 765,800† 96.3†
2007 810,500† 780,200† 96.3†
2008 828,700† 785,500† 94.8†
2009 894,900† 767,400† 90.3†
2010 857,900† 748,700 87.3†
2011 870,900† 735,600 84.5†
2012 877,400† 744,500 84.9†
2013 872,900† 731,200 83.8†
2014 890,500 744,600 83.6†
2015 901,400 727,400 80.7
2016 915,400 740,700 80.9
2017 915,100 745,200 81.4
2018* 907,000 738,400 81.4
Note: Data are rounded to the nearest 100 for jail capacity and midyear population.
*Comparison year.
†
Difference with comparison year is significant at the 95% confidence level.
a
Maximum number of beds or inmates assigned by rating official to a facility, excluding separate temporary holding areas.
b
The number of inmates held on the last weekday in June.
The midyear inmate population divided by the rated capacity.
c
Source: Zeng (2020).

112 CORRECTIONS
Such overcrowding limits the ability of

the jail to fulfill its multifaceted mission:
Less programming can be provided, health
and maintenance systems are overtaxed,
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
and staff are stressed by the increased

demands on their time and the inability to
meet all inmate needs. From the inmates’
perspective, their health, security, and pri-
vacy are more likely to be threatened when
the numbers of inmates in their living
units increase, and the amount of space—
and possibly, the number of staff—does
not. The jail staff also lose their ability to
effectively classify and sometimes control
inmates; they may be unable to keep the
offenders convicted of serious crimes away
Photo 5.3 Inmates in the reception housing area of a California state prison. California, like from the presumed-innocent unconvicted
many states, has suffered from severe overcrowding in recent decades.
or more minor-offending inmates. Judges
and jail managers will struggle over how to
keep the jail population down to acceptable limits, and as a result, even serious offenders
may be let loose into communities as a means of reducing the crowding. Therefore, though
the get-tough laws in many states were passed with the explicit intent of incarcerating more
people for longer, their actual unintended effect in some jails may be to incarcerate serious
offenders less (as there is no room) and all offenders in less safe and less secure facilities.
Although suits by jail inmates are usually not successful, some are. Welsh (1995) found,
in his study of lawsuits involving California jails, that the issue courts gave greatest credence
to was overcrowding. Perhaps this is because overcrowding is clearly quantifiable (the rated
capacity is clear, and the inmate count is obvious), but it is likely that it was regarded as so
important by courts because it can lead to a number of other seemingly intractable prob-
lems, such as those just mentioned.
Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Juveniles

As indicated from the data supplied in Table 5.2, most jail inmates are adult racial-ethnic
minority (African American, Latinx, and other minority group) men, though the number
of white people represents the largest racial grouping of the men, and the number of white
people as a proportion of the total men has increased markedly, particularly since 2010. The
number of African American and Latinx inmates decreased over the decade from 2008 to
2018, by 21.3% and 14.9%, respectively, with an increase of 10.6% of white inmates over the
same period (Zeng, 2020, p. 5). Despite these relatively recent decreases in incarceration in
jails for African Americans, they still were incarcerated at a rate 3.2 times that of white peo-
ple (down from 5.6 times in 2000), while Latinx inmates, who as of 2005 had a 1.6 times
higher incarceration rate than white people, had a lower one than whites (182 vs. 187 per
100,000) by 2018 (Zeng, 2018, p. 3; Zeng, 2020, p. 4).
The number of female jail inmates increased in the decade from 2008 to 2018 by 15.4%,
while the number of men decreased by 9.1% in that same time period (Zeng, 2020, p. 5).
Women constituted more than 12.2% of jail inmates in 2009, but that increased to almost
19% by 2018 (Minton & Zeng, 2015, p. 4; Zeng, 2020, p. 5). The reason often cited for the
overall increases in incarceration in jails and prisons and the increases for women and
people of color in jails and prisons, in particular, has been the prosecution of the drug war
since the 1980s and 1990s. The get-tough policies, which have led to longer periods of
TABLE 5.2 Number of Confined Inmates in Local Jails, by Characteristics, 2005, 2008, 2010, and 2015–2018
CHANGE FROM 2008 TO 2018

CHARACTERISTIC 2005 2008 2010 2015a 2016a 2017 2018* COUNT PERCENT
Total 747,500 785,500† 748,700 727,400 740,700 745,200 738,400 –47,100 –6.0%
Sex
Male 653,000† 685,900† 656,400† 623,600 633,100 631,500 623,400 –62,500 –9.1%
Female 94,600† 99,700† 92,400† 103,800† 107,600† 113,700 115,100 15,400 15.4
Adults 740,800 777,800† 741,200 723,800 736,800 741,600 735,000 –42,800 –5.5%
Male 646,800† 678,700† 649,300† 620,300 629,700 628,200 620,500 –58,200 –8.6
† † † † †
Female 94,000 99,200 91,900 103,500 107,100 113,400 114,500 15,300 15.4
Juvenilesb 6,800† 7,700† 7,600† 3,600 3,900 3,600 3,400 –4,300 –55.8%
Held as adultc 5,800† 6,400† 5,600† 3,200† 3,200† 3,200† 2,700 –3,700 –57.8
† †
Held as juvenile 1,000 1,300 1,900 400 700 300† 700 –600 –46.2
Race/ethnicity
Whited 331,000† 333,300 † 331,600† 351,600† 356,100 370,100 368,500 35,200 10.6%
Blackd 290,500† 308,000† 283,200† 255,200† 254,600† 250,100 242,300 –65,700 –21.3
Hispanic 111,900 128,500† 118,100† 103,900 112,700 108.400 109,300 –19,200 –4.9
d †
American Indian/Alaska Native 7,600 9,000 9,900 9,000 9,000 8,800 9,700 700 7.8
Asiand 4,900 5,000 4,400† 5,200 5,200† 4,800 4,800 –200 –4.0
Other d,e 1,500† 1,800† 1,500† 2,500 2,900 2,900 3,900 2,100 116.7
Conviction status
Convicted 284,400† 291,300† 291,300† 273,000† 258,500 263,200† 248,500 –42,800 –14.7%
Unconvicted 463,200† 494,300 457,400† 454,400† 482,100 482,000 490,000 –4,300 –0.9
Most serious type of offense
Felony … … … 494,100 516,400 516,800 504,900 … …
CHAPTER 5
Misdemeanor … … … 193,100 188,000 194,700 192,000 … …

Otherf … … … 40,200 36,300† 33,600† 41,600 … …
Note: Data are based on the inmate population confined on the last weekday in June, unless specified. Data are adjusted for non-response and rounded to the nearest 100. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding. See table 6 in Minton (2010) for data from 2006 to
2009 and table 3 in Jail Inmates 2017 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 251774, BJS, April 2019) for data from 2011 to 2014. Results may differ previous reports in the series due to updates from jail authorities.
*Comparison year.
†
Difference with comparison year is significant at the 95% confidence level.
…Not collected. The Annual Survey of Jails began collecting inmate counts by offense severity in 2015.
a
In 2015 and 2016, the Annual Survey of Jails collected demographic data on the inmate population at year-end instead of midyear. Because jails typically hold fewer inmates at year-end than at midyear, the 2015 and 2016 inmate populations were adjusted for seasonal
variation and represent estimated midyear counts.
b
Persons under age 18.
Jails and Detention Centers
c
Includes juveniles who were tired or awaiting trails as adults.
d
Excludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic white and “Black” refers to non-Hispanic Black).
e
Includes Native Hawaiians, Other Pacific Islanders, or persons of two or more races.
f
Includes civil infractions and unknown offenses.
113
Source: Zeng (2020).

114 CORRECTIONS
incarceration in prisons, have also led to a greater propensity to catch

and keep low-level drug offenders in jails (Irwin, 2005; Owen, 2005;
Welch, 2005; Whitman, 2003). The focus of arrests in the drug war
has often been on the low-level sellers, rather than the buyers or the
drug kingpins, and that has netted more people of color and women
into the system. Mandatory sentences, juvenile waivers, and sentence
enhancements for certain offenses have collectively led to longer sen-
tences for most offenders and backed up the numbers of offenders in
some jails either awaiting transfer to state or federal prisons or doing
their time in the jails, rather than in the overcrowded prisons.
It is not clear why there have been recent declines in the numbers
of people of color (particularly African Americans), vis-à-vis white
people and women, incarcerated in jails, a particularly notable phe-
nomenon in large city jails (Zeng, 2020). It could just be a minor shift
that will not become a trend, or it could signal a longer-term change
in the use of jails due to the recession of 2007 to 2010, a rethinking
in the prosecution of the drug war (particularly as states medicalize
Thinkstock Images/Comstock
and legalize cannabis), or some other variable not yet identified by

researchers. Long-term trends do indicate that the numbers of adult
men, women, juveniles (held in adult jails), and people of color have
increased markedly since the 1990s and that the decreases in all of
these groups except women are a recent phenomenon.
Across the two largest racial groupings (white people and
African Americans) and the largest ethnic grouping (Latinx
Photo 5.4 A female jail inmate awaits her cell assignment.
Women constituted almost 15% of jail inmates in 2016 people), there have been significant increases in jail incarceration.
(Zeng, 2018, p. 4). The raw number and the percentage of white people have increased
since 1990 (when there were fewer white people incarcerated in jails
than African Americans). Proportionate to their representation in the population, how-
ever, African Americans are much more likely to be incarcerated in American jails than
are whites or Hispanics. As reported by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) (2008), for
2006, “Blacks were almost three times more likely than Hispanics and five times more
likely than whites to be in jail” (p. 2). Again, this higher proportional rate of incarcera-
tion for African Americans, in particular, can likely be attributed to their greater concen-
tration in impoverished neighborhoods and to the focus of the drug war that has tended
to target such living areas and the selling and use of crack cocaine (see the discussion of
enhanced sentences for crack cocaine in Chapter 4). But as the drug war has waned, in
terms of not only crack cocaine sentences and marijuana prosecutions, and, as already
mentioned, as medical and recreational marijuana are decriminalized and legalized,
the number of minorities has decreased as a percentage of jail populations, among both
African Americans and Latinx people (see Table 5.2).
People Living in Poverty and

People with Mental Illnesses
The late corrections scholar John Irwin (1985) once referred to the types of people who are
managed in jails as the “rabble,” by which he meant “disorganized and disorderly, the lowest
class of people” (p. 2). These were not just the undereducated, the under- or unemployed, or
even people living in poverty or with mental illness. He meant to include all those descrip-
tors as they related to the state of being disorganized and disorderly and as those designa-
tions might lead to permanent residence in a lower class, but he also meant that jail inmates
tend to be “detached” and of “disrepute” in the sense that they offend others by committing
mostly minor crimes in public places.
Policy and Research

H I G H S C H O O L S I N JA I L S
For many years, versions of high schools have do much better (Tucker, 2014, p. 1). If subsequent
existed in juvenile detention facilities. High research includes matching of graduates with those
school classes and the ability to earn high school who didn’t graduate on key characteristics (such as
credits and degrees have existed in America’s criminal history, age, gender, mental illness, etc.)
prisons and larger jails. But the Five Keys Charter and also finds reduced recidivism, this high school
School in San Francisco, California, claims to be in an adult jail could save the public millions of
the first complete high school inside an adult dollars while creating safer communities.
jail (Tucker, 2014). Started in 2003, the Five Keys
Charter School graduated 20 students in 2014, and
600 total have received a high school diploma
or a certification of completion or equivalency 1. Do you think that earning a high school diploma
diploma since its inception (Tucker, 2014, p. 1). “The in a jail setting is likely to benefit inmates and
school’s philosophy is founded on the five keys to their communities? Why, or why not?
an inmate’s success: connection to community; a 2. What are the likely barriers to completion of
focus on family; recovery from substance abuse; high school in most jails? How might such
education; and employment” (Tucker, 2014, p. 1). barriers be overcome?
Notably, these are the same areas that are a focus of
other reentry programming. In a simple comparison
Source: Tucker, J. (2014, March 4). 5 Keys Charter School helps S.F. inmates.
of graduates’ recidivism (44%), compared with that San Francisco Chronicle. Available at http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/
of other inmates (68%), the high school graduates 5-Keys-CharterSchool-helps-S-F-inmates-4233314.php
MENTAL ILLNESS, HOMELESSNESS, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, AND POVERTY

Certainly, the fact of being homeless puts a person at a greater risk for negative contact with
the police; lacking a home, private matters are more likely to be subject to public viewing in
public spaces, and this disturbs or offends some community members, which leads to police
involvement. Those with mental illnesses are more likely to be homeless, as they are unable
to manage the daily challenges that employment and keeping a roof over one’s head and food
in one’s mouth require (McNiel, Binder, & Robinson, 2005; Severson, 2004).
Jails in the United States are full of people with mental illnesses, people experienc-
ing homelessness, and people living in poverty. Data from two studies by BJS researchers,
the first based on a survey of jail inmates in 2011 and 2012, indicate that about 26% of jail
inmates reported “experiences that met the threshold for serious psychological distress
(SPD) in the 30 days prior to a survey” and “44% of jail inmates had been told in the past
by a mental health professional that they had a mental disorder” (Bronson & Berzofsky,
2017, p. 1). In contrast, about 10.6% of the U.S. population has symptoms of a mental illness
(see Figure 5.1) (Beck, Berzofsky, Caspar, & Krebs, 2013, p. 25).
Among the 44% of jail inmates who had been told that they have mental health prob-
lems, diagnoses included major depressive disorder (30.6%), bipolar disorder (24.9%),
anxiety disorder (18.4%), posttraumatic stress disorder (15.9%), personality disorder
(13.5%), and schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder (11.7%) (see Table 5.3) (Bronson &
Berzofsky, 2017, p. 3). Moreover, for virtually every manifestation of mental illness, more
jail inmates than state or federal prisoners were likely to exhibit symptoms (Bronson &
Berzofsky, 2017; James & Glaze, 2006).
A whole host of problems has been found to be associated with mental illness, including
homelessness, greater criminal engagement, prior abuse, and substance use (McNiel et al.,
2005). Among the findings from the BJS study of jails by James and Glaze (2006, pp. 1–2)
116 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 5.1 Mental Health Status

70
of Prisoners and Jail 60
Inmates, by Type
of Mental Health 50
Indicator, 2011–2012 40
Percent
*Comparison group.
**Difference with the comparison group is significant at 30
the 95% confidence level.
a
Includes inmates with a score of 13 or more on the 20
Kessler 6 (K6) nonspecific psychological distress scale.
b
Includes inmates who reported they had ever been 10
told by a mental health professional they had a
mental disorder. 0
c
Includes inmates with a score of 7 or less on the K6 and Serious Psychological History of a Mental No Indication of a Mental
who had never been told by a mental health professional Distressa Health Problemb Health Problemc
they had a mental disorder.
Source: Bronson and Berzofsky (2017). Jail Inmates** Prisoners*
TABLE 5.3 Prevalence of Mental Health Indicators Among Prisoners and Jail Inmates, by Type Indicator,
2011–2012
MENTAL HEALTH INDICATOR PRISONERS* JAIL INMATES
No indication of a mental health problema 49.9% 36.0%**
Current indicator of a mental health problemb
Serious psychological distressc 14.5% 26.4%**
History of a mental health problem
Ever told by mental health professional they had 36.9% 44.3%**

mental disorder
Major depressive disorder 24.2 30.6**
Bipolar disorder 17.5 24.9**
Schizophrenia/other psychotic disorder 8.7 11.7**
Posttraumatic stress disorder 12.5 15.9**
Anxiety disorderd 11.7 18.4**
Personality disordere 13.0 13.5
*
Comparison group.
**
Difference with the comparison group is significant at the 95% confidence level.
a
lncludes persons with a score of 7 or less on the K6 scale and who had never been told by a mental health professional they had a mental disorder.
b
Current at time of the interview.
Includes persons with a score of 13 or more on the K6 scale.
c
d
Includes panic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder, and excludes posttraumatic stress disorder.
e
Includes antisocial and borderline personality disorder.
Source: Bronson and Berzofsky (2017).
was that those with mental illnesses were almost twice as likely to be homeless as those jail
inmates without mental illness designations (17%, as opposed to 9%). More inmates with
mental health problems had prior incarcerations than those without such problems (one
quarter, as opposed to one fifth). About 3 times as many jail inmates with mental health
problems had histories of physical or sexual abuse than those without such problems (24%,
as opposed to 8%). Almost three quarters of the inmates with mental health problems were
dependent on or abused alcohol or illegal substances (74%, as opposed to 53% of those with-
out mental health problems). In short, mental illness, along with poverty, was entangled in a
whole array of societal issues for jail inmates.
Further evidence for this supposition was found by McNiel et al. (2005) in their study in
San Francisco County. They found that mental illness, substance abuse, and jail incarcera-
tion were inextricably connected as life events. Those who were homeless and had mental
illnesses were also more likely to have substance abuse problems, and it was also likely for
this population that jail incarcerations were part of their existence as well.
MENTAL ILLNESS AND VICTIMIZATION

Moreover, in the BJS National Inmate Survey—conducted in state and federal prisons, jails,
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers, and military and
facilities on Native American reservations and focused primarily on sexual victimization—
the researchers found that those who have mental illnesses are much more likely to be sexu-
ally victimized while incarcerated than inmates who are not (Beck et al., 2013). Among their
important findings were the conclusions that inmates with serious psychological distress
reported high rates of inmate-on-inmate and staff sexual victimization in 2011 and 2012
(Beck et al., 2013, pp. 6–8):
• Among state and federal prison inmates, an estimated 6.3% of those identified
with serious psychological distress reported that they were sexually victimized
by other inmates. In comparison, among prisoners with no indications of mental
illness, 0.7% reported being victimized by other inmates.
• Similar differences were reported by jail inmates. An estimated 3.6% of those

identified with serious psychological distress reported inmate-on-inmate sex-
ual victimization, compared with 0.7% of inmates with no indications of mental
illness.
• Rates of serious psychological distress in prisons (14.7%) and jails (26.3%) were
substantially higher than the rate (3.0%) in the U.S. noninstitutional population
age 18 or older.
• For each of the measured demographic subgroups, inmates with serious psycho-
logical distress reported higher rates of inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization
than inmates without mental health problems.
• Among inmates with serious psychological distress, non-heterosexual inmates

reported the highest rates of inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization (21.0% of
prison inmates and 14.7% of jail inmates).
What we might learn from these findings is that jails hold more inmates with psycho-
logical problems than do prisons, and as with prisons, this mental illness makes them more
vulnerable to sexual abuse. These data tell us that the likelihood of abuse is also heightened if
the inmate is LGBTQ+ and has serious psychological problems.
118 CORRECTIONS
MENTAL ILLNESS AND SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

Mental illness also makes jail inmates more likely candidates for the use of solitary confine-
ment and targets of other violent inmates. In a study of the Rikers Island 10-jail complex by
New York City, city health officials noted that a disproportionate number of inmates have
mental health diagnoses (Pearson, 2015). It was reported that the health care workers, who
are employed by the city but are bound by medical ethics, are reticent to approve solitary
confinement for such inmates, as they know it can exacerbate their already precarious men-
tal health status. Yet people with mental illnesses in this jail are more likely to be placed in
solitary because of their behavior problems or as protection. In an earlier study of the Rikers
Island jail complex by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and by the New York Times, it
was found that a culture of violence was predominant in these jails (particularly those for
juveniles) and that too often, the target of this violence was the adult and juvenile inmates
with mental illnesses (Hays, 2017; Seabrook, 2014).
CALLS FOR REFORM IN THE CARE OF PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESSES

The abuse of and poor conditions for people with mental illnesses are not a problem
reserved for the Rikers Island jail inmates. As Andrew Cohen (2013) documented in
an article in the Atlantic, a number of reports emanating from the Justice Department,
the American Civil Liberties Union, and a federal judicial decision indicate the abuse is
widespread and exists in both jails and prisons. “Prison [and jail] officials have failed to
provide a constitutional level of care in virtually every respect, from providing medica-
tion and treatment to protecting the men from committing suicide” (Cohen, 2013, p. 1).
In fact, the problematic treatment of jail inmates with mental illnesses has risen to cri-
sis status for the Council of State Governments. As a consequence, on May 6, 2015, they
launched a national initiative to help counties address this issue in their jails (Council of
State Governments Justice Center, 2015). Remedies, embodied in what is termed an evi-
dence-based Stepping Up Program, will focus on diversion from jail to other services and
the provision of treatment and better care for those who have mental illnesses.
Jails and Immigrants

Under the Trump administration there has been a renewed interest in preventing undoc-
umented immigrants from entering and staying in the country until their requests for
asylum are addressed. Previously, undocumented immigrants might be held by or for
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (a federal law enforcement agency located within
the Department of Homeland Security) in jails or their versions of prisons for a short period
of time and then released to communities to await a determination of their status. Instead,
under the Trump administration there has been an expansion in the use of corrections (jails
and prisons) to hold adults and their children crossing the borders or entering the country
without documents.
In the past year researchers have determined that some undocumented teens, even
some who have green cards, are being secretly held without being charged in juvenile
facilities in the Northwest (e.g., the Cowlitz County Youth Services Center) and at other
facilities around the country (e.g., the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility
juvenile division, the Abraxas Academy in Pennsylvania) (Shapiro, 2019; Tufel, 2019).
Angelina Godoy, a professor at the University of Washington, has alleged that these kids are
held as if they are in “black sites” or without charges and oversight (Ellis & Hicken, 2019).
She claims that ICE has blocked the Cowlitz County jail from revealing the charges these
teens face or how many kids they are holding.
Referring to the testimony of a former detainee in Cowlitz County, Godoy described
an environment in which detained children have engaged in self-harm and endured
harsh forms of punishment. For example, some have been placed in solitary confine-
ment and strapped to a chair, where they are monitored by multiple security cameras.

B R I A N C O L E , C O U N T Y C O R R E C TI O N S D I R E C TO R
regulations, and accrediting entity standards; plans

and coordinates the annual budget, staffing, and
program needs for the department; and ensures
that expenditures are within budget parameters
and proactively seeks and implements methods by
which the department can save funds.
This position also proactively recommends changes

to the physical plant that will provide enhanced
efficiency and security; creates future projections for
physical plant expansion; develops and maintains
positive working relationships with employees
of other county agencies, other law enforcement
agencies, colleges and universities, and other
agencies and organizations as appropriate;
delegates an appropriate amount of work to staff
to encourage their professional growth and seeks
opportunities for professional self-growth; and
seeks and completes public speaking engagements
to promote positive community relations. The
person holding this position is expected to respond
to media requests, as appropriate, and attend
community functions as a representative of the
Position: Corrections director department.
Location: Shawnee County Department of

Corrections, Kansas What characteristics make a good director
of a county department of corrections?
Education: BA in criminal justice and BA in
psychology, Washburn University, 1989 • Integrity
• Leadership
What are the primary duties and
responsibilities of a director of a county • Flexibility
department of corrections? • Initiative
Under administrative direction of the Board of • Sense of humor
County Commissioners, this position administers the
adult and juvenile detention programs of Shawnee • Compassion for staff
County, Kansas; ensures that offenders placed in • Proactive
custody are housed in a safe, secure manner and
that offenders receive appropriately fair and humane • Confidence
treatment by staff; monitors the overall security of • Public speaking skills
the centers and regularly tours the facilities to ensure
that the highest security standards are maintained; • Good written and verbal communication skills
proactively seeks to improve offender processes to
enhance the security and efficiency of the agency; What is a typical day like for a director of a
creates and expects a staff culture of integrity in the county department of corrections?
reporting of misconduct by other staff and offenders;
A typical day for me would be one that starts with
and visits offender living units and speaks with
meeting with staff and determining the priorities
offenders to gain sense of morale of offenders and to
of the day. In corrections, you never have a “clean
monitor operations.
desk.” As one project ends, you always are starting a
This position oversees programs to ensure new one. On a daily basis, I speak with my executive
compliance with federal, state, and local laws, team to get a brief update on projects, personnel,
(Continued)
120 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
budget, special-needs inmates, and physical plant or her community. As directors, we must educate
issues. I also meet with our mental health team our staff to meet this challenge. One way is through
leader daily to review high-risk inmate statuses. crisis intervention team (CIT) training.
Each day, I spend time researching current events
and legal trends, trying to stay as proactive as It is a fact that some people with mental illnesses
possible to avoid complacency and litigation. I will end up in jail. In some instances, this may
speak with inmates on a daily basis and answer be the safest and best option for them. However,
requests. I spend time meeting with the public inmates in jail go into crisis, and correctional staff
to ensure our agency is meeting and exceeding must be able to handle these emergency situations.
citizen expectations, and I provide feedback to our Through CIT training, our staff has been able to
commissioners. identify crisis situations; defuse these situations;
communicate with the inmates in crisis; and, most
of the time, see the incidents to a positive resolution
What is your advice to someone
that does not result in harm to the inmate or staff.
either wishing to study or now studying The end result is officer and inmate safety, and then,
criminal justice to become a practitioner in we will refer the inmate to mental health services for
this career field? treatment. We have CIT training available two times
Working in the field of corrections takes committed a year for all staff.
people. On a daily basis, you work with incarcerated
individuals who have made (in some cases) some Transgender Inmates
very bad life decisions. You have to be one who can
separate emotion from your job and understand Historically, correctional institutions have classified
that you are managing people and managing inmates by their genitalia, not by their gender
problems. You have to have an appreciation for identity. Often transgender women are placed
the environment you are working within. This is a in male housing units, and transgender men are
stressful but very rewarding job. Corrections can be placed in female housing units. Transgender
a career, not just another job. You make decisions inmates have the right to be treated with dignity
each day that could mean the life or death of and respect and be free from harm and harassment.
inmates, staff, and the community. You cannot take
A key federal court opinion out of the First
shortcuts. Learn as much as you can about your
Circuit Court of Appeals shed light on an issue
agency, the philosophy, and the culture that the
that all correctional managers must be aware of.
leader of the organization has put in place. You have
Increasingly, correctional managers must take the
a great opportunity to help others, work as a team,
proactive steps to create and implement policy that
and truly better your community.
begins with the early identification of transgender
inmates, completion of medical and mental health
What are the biggest evaluations and treatment (including gender
challenges facing corrections? reassignment surgery), proper housing, programs,
and clear protocols for routine interactions, such as
Inmates With Mental Illnesses
showering and pat-downs. As with every category
Jails are becoming community mental health of individual liberties, it is incumbent upon
facilities for the mentally ill. With this being a trend correctional leadership to identify and address
in some parts of the country, a citizen has a better inmates’ rights, as framed by legislative, executive,
chance of receiving treatment in a jail than in his and judicial decisions.
According to an Intergovernmental Service Agreement for Housing Federal Detainees

document, Cowlitz County makes $136 per day on a detainee. Once a detainee turns
18 years old, they are transferred to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma to be
deported. “Families fear endangering themselves or their kids if they speak out,” Godoy
tweeted. “And ICE is suing to make sure the info never gets out. This has to stop” (Tufel,
2019, p. 2).
In Focus 5.1
A N AC C O U N T O F S U I C I D E , M E N TA L H E A LT H ,
A N D T H E N E E D F O R I N C R E A S E D M E N TA L H E A LT H S E RV I C E S
Jack committed suicide in the fall of 2018, professional whom he probably didn’t trust
shortly after his release as a parolee in Longview, because they were agents of the state. In
Washington. Jack was born and grew up in the this scenario it seemed that he faked being
Vancouver area (close to Longview) in a family of sound mental health and kept hidden
in which his father died young, and his mother what he was dealing with. To the best of
struggled to raise three kids alone and to make my knowledge he was well behaved while
ends meet with jobs that took her away from incarcerated and his charisma earned him
home. The family was working class or poor, and a great deal of respect from other inmates
the neighborhood and its schools reflected this and staff.
fact. Jack got involved in trouble early, including
delinquency, substance abuse, and truancy as well as It was difficult for family to contact Jack to
dropping out of high school and getting into trouble offer support while he was in work release.
with the law, which resulted in multiple placements The phone, as with all phones in correctional
in detention facilities as a child. After a time, he was facilities, had high fees attached to it that made
on the radar for the Vancouver Police Department as it prohibitively expensive for inmates without
both a juvenile and an adult and became the “usual financial means and their families living in poverty
suspect” for them, sometimes deservedly so and to remain in contact and to maintain bonds and
sometimes not. His cousin wrote that he “certainly communication. The work release did help Jack
suffered from oppositional defiance disorder, which secure a good job, and he was able to get his own
was linked to early trauma.” apartment. But he took his own life within weeks
of release. “No one in my family was aware of his
As an adult, he struggled because of a lack of mental state as he [appeared to be] extremely
education and opportunity. He turned to drugs, optimistic and kept it hidden.” His family did
theft, and the manufacturing of narcotics. From an not think he was using drugs or drinking alcohol
early age, he spent a lot of time on the streets and while released. However, he was released into a
was involved with countless assaults, as both an community that struggles with substance abuse
offender and a victim. It was always so shocking and one that was familiar to him as it was his old
what the streets brought out of him because he was stomping grounds for crime and contained his
an extremely kind, charismatic, and lovable person. substance abuse network.
Jack was in and out, mostly in, state and federal His family suspected that this placement, with its
prisons during his adult life. For the past decade, he heightened temptations for drug use and crime,
was in Washington state prisons (most recently on along with his mental state, may have led to his
work release) and received “excellent vocational and suicide. It would have been hard for him to resist
educational programming,” earning an associate’s the “strong bonds with the local criminogenic
degree while incarcerated with plans to earn a BA community, which was presumably reaching out to
when released and to become a substance abuse him (perhaps through Facebook),” and which was
counselor so that he could use his knowledge and “in conflict with his pro-social aspirations.” Jack’s
experience to help others. His cousin explained it cousin argued that the suicide was not inevitable. If
this way: he had been allowed more social support from his
family while incarcerated (via phone calls and visits)
The facilities which he was housed in were and if he had been given adequate psychological
all over and often far from home. I am treatment, Jack might be alive today.
guessing that he was probably screened
for psychiatric or mental health issues at In the fall of 2018, a young man (who is referred to
some point, but I doubt he received such as Jack in the above story) had committed suicide
services. Probably because he was ashamed shortly after his release as a parolee in Longview,
of his past and depressed over it (I strongly Washington. Jack’s cousin relayed his story in a
sensed this by reading between the lines) series of e-mails, and a recounting of it appears here;
and too embarrassed to make himself all of the information and much of the writing itself is
vulnerable by sharing his feelings with a the cousin’s (who prefers to remain anonymous).
122 CORRECTIONS
Medical Problems
LO 5.4 Describe the various approaches jails take to address medical problems of
inmates.
One of the social issues that is particularly problematic for jail inmates and the people
who manage them is the relatively poor health of people incarcerated in jails. According
to the 2011–2012 study of jail inmates by the BJS (Maruschak, 2015), half of jail inmates
reported chronic medical problems, such as cancer and blood pressure or heart problems.
According to an earlier iteration of this study (Maruschak, 2006, p. 1), most of these med-
ical maladies preceded placement in jail and included the following (in order of preva-
lence): arthritis, hypertension, asthma, heart problems, cancer, paralysis, stroke, diabetes,
kidney problems, liver problems, hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis,
and HIV infection. A small percentage of inmates (2%) were so medically impaired that
they needed to use a cane, walker, or wheelchair. Almost 75% were overweight, and more
than 60% were morbidly obese (Maruschak, 2015, p. 1). According to the Mortality in
Local Jails (2000–2014) annual study by the BJS, heart disease is the second leading cause
of death in jails, with other illnesses related to AIDS, cancer, respiratory disease, liver dis-
ease, and other afflictions (in that order) accounting for jail deaths by illness (Noonan,
2016, p. 5; Noonan, Rohloff, & Ginder, 2015).
Older Inmates
As one might expect, older inmates—and in prisons and jails, because of the premature
aging of inmates, that can mean anyone over 50—are much more prone to some of these
medical maladies than are younger inmates (Hamada, 2015). In one BJS study, 61% of those
older than 45 reported medical problems (Maruschak, 2006, p. 1). With the exception of
asthma and HIV infection, which tended to be more prevalent among younger inmates,
the older inmates were much more likely to have the other medical problems tallied in this
report; this means that older inmates are more costly to manage in jails because of their
greater need for medical care.
Female Inmates
Like older inmates, women were much more likely to report medical problems to the BJS
researchers (53% for women, as opposed to 35% for men; Maruschak, 2006, p. 2). They
reported a rate of cancer that was almost 8 times that of men (831 per 10,000 female inmates,
compared with 108 per 10,000 male inmates), with the most common types being cervical
cancer for women and skin cancer for men. In fact, of every medical problem documented
in the study, the women reported greater prevalence than the men, with the exception of
paralysis, for which they were even with men, and tuberculosis, which a slightly greater per-
centage of men reported (4.3% of men, as opposed to 4.0% of women; Maruschak, 2006,
p. 2). In the study of mortality in jails by the BJS, women were more likely to die in jail from
illnesses than men, though their overall mortality rate was about the same as that of men,
who were more likely to die of other causes such as suicide (Noonan, 2016).
Juvenile Inmates
Incarcerated youth have their own set of potentially debilitating health problems that also
present an immediate health risk to communities. In a study of adolescents in a juvenile
detention center in Chicago, about 5% of the teens had contracted gonorrhea, and almost
15% had chlamydia (Broussard et al., 2002,

p. 8). Girls were more than 3 times as likely
to have one of these diseases as were boys in
this study.
The Right to Medical Care
© Mikael Karlsson/Alamy Stock Photo

According to the 1976 Supreme Court case
Estelle v. Gamble, inmates have a constitu-
tional right to reasonable medical care. The
court held that to be deliberately indifferent
to the medical needs of inmates would vio-
late the Eighth Amendment prohibition
against cruel and unusual punishment. The
Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act of 2010 (ACA; commonly referred to
Photo 5.5 An inmate receives an eye exam inside a maximum security prison.
as Obamacare) also requires that jails pro-
vide medical and mental health care within
their facilities (Tally, 2015). Needless to say, treating such problems while providing care that
meets this mandate requires that a jail of any size have budgetary coverage for the salaries of
nurses; a contract with a local doctor, mental health provider, and dentist; and an arrange-
ment with local hospitals. Moreover, regular staff need basic training in cardiopulmonary
resuscitation and other medical knowledge (e.g., to know when someone is exhibiting the
symptoms of a heart attack or stroke or the symptoms of mental illness) so that when prob-
lems arise, staff recognize how serious they might be and know how to address them or
whom to call (Kerle, 2011; Rigby, 2007).
Some jails are addressing these issues by contracting with private companies to provide
medical services or using telemedicine as a means of delivering some services. The National
Commission on Correctional Health Care recommends that should jails go the route of pri-
vate provision of services, they make sure that such programs are properly accredited so that
the services provided meet national standards (Kerle, 2011). When such matters as obtain-
ing and maintaining quality care are not attended to, as is sometimes the case in jails and
prisons (Sokol, 2017; Vaughn & Carroll, 1998; Vaughn & Smith, 1999), jail inmates are likely
to suffer the consequences in terms of continued poor health (Sturgess & Macher, 2005). In
addition, jails may be sued for failure to provide care, and communities might be exposed
to contagious diseases, along with liability for legal bills (Clark, 1991; Macher, 2007; Rigby,
2007). Clearly, the provision of decent health care to incarcerated persons is important not
just because the Supreme Court mandates it or because it is the moral thing to do for peo-
ple who are not free to access health care on their own but because the vast majority of jail
inmates return to the community, most within a week or two (Kerle, 2011). Therefore, to
prevent the spread of diseases and to save lives both inside and outside of jails, basic medical
care would appear to be called for. Some jails are evidently expending energy to address this
area of incarceration, as 4 in 10 of the inmates in the 2002 BJS study reported that they had
had medical exams since their admission (Maruschak, 2006, p. 1).
Jails and the Novel Coronavirus

As COVID-19 spread across the United States in late 2019 and early 2020, jails and prisons
were faced with the difficulty of securing the safety of staff and inmates in environments
that are often crowded and that require close personal contact between staff and inmates
and between inmates and inmates. It is not surprising that, given these conditions, a number
124 CORRECTIONS
of inmates and staff contracted the virus, and it was at this point that several jail facilities
worked with judges to authorize the release of inmates accused or convicted of minor
offenses, the diverting of such offenders to other programs or processes, or ROR. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recognizing the potential catastrophe looming
should jails and prisons not institute the precautions of social distancing, sanitation, and use
of personal protective equipment (PPE) that was occurring in the free community, recom-
mended a number of steps that might be taken to address such issues, including as much
social distancing as feasible, the provision of greater sanitation, masks, gloves for staff (and
sometimes inmates), and testing of staff and inmates (American Correctional Association,
2020). As the general public has difficulty in securing enough PPE or getting tested regularly,
or at all, it is doubtful that most jails or prisons will be able to abide by these recommenda-
tions. However, the release of less serious offenders is one step toward making the others
more manageable (Vestal, 2020).
Substance Abuse and Jails

It is one of those oft-cited assumptions that people in prisons and jails have substance
abuse problems, and this is one area of social commentary that actually fits social reality.
According to a 2002 BJS study of jail inmates (the latest available data at the time of writ-
ing), fully 68% of jail inmates reported substance abuse or dependence problems (Karberg &
James, 2005, p. 1). In fact, half of convicted inmates reported being under the influence at
the time they committed their offenses, and 16% said that they committed the crimes to get
money for drugs. Female and white inmates were both more likely to report drug use at the
time of their offenses (Karberg & James, 2005, p. 5). For convicted offenders who used at the
time of offense, alcohol was more likely to be in their systems than drugs (33.3% for alcohol,
as opposed to 28.8% for drugs). The drugs of choice varied and included, by prevalence of
use, marijuana, cocaine or crack, hallucinogens, stimulants (including methamphetamines),
and inhalants (Karberg & James, 2005, p. 6). Not surprisingly, those who reported substance
abuse problems were also more likely to have criminal records and to have been homeless
before incarceration. White, Goldkamp, and Campbell (2006, p. 303) found in their study
conducted in New Mexico that many people who are arrested and subsequently come into
contact with the local jail have “co-occurring disorders,” such as mental illness and substance
abuse problems.
Violent offenders were more likely to use alcohol than other substances at the time of
the offense. But violent offenders were also least likely, with the exception of public order
offenders, to report being on drugs or alcohol at the time of the offense (Karberg & James,
2005, p. 6).
Fully 63% of those with substance abuse problems had been in treatment programs
before (Karberg & James, 2005, p. 1). Most such programs were of the self-help variety, such
as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous. However, 44% of these people had
actually been in residential treatment programs or detoxification programs, had received
professional counseling, or had been put on maintenance drugs (Karberg & James, 2005,
p. 8). Treatment for convicted offenders in jails, as of 2002, was at 6%. Notably, provision
of treatment in jails is difficult because most inmates are out of the facility within a week,
and about 60% are unconvicted, so as people who are presumed innocent, they cannot be
coerced into getting treatment. Therefore, treatment programs are usually focused on those
who meet all of the following criteria: They have substance abuse problems, they are con-
victed, and they are longer-term inmates. Even having said this, the amount of treatment
programming in jails does not fit the obvious need (Kerle, 2011). Rates for those who
died of alcohol or drug intoxication in jails in 2014 tended to be higher for white, female,
middle-aged, convicted inmates and those who had drug or public order offense charges or
convictions (Noonan, 2016, p. 10).
Suicides, Gangs, and Sexual Violence in Jails

LO 5.5 Discuss how jails manage sexual violence, gangs, and suicides.
Inmates are often incarcerated for violent offenses and may continue to inflict these offenses
within the confines of the facility. Challenges in violence among inmates such as gang and
sexual violence need to be managed. The inmate population with mental health issues and
victims of these violent acts within the system also require management of suicide.
Suicides
As indicated from the data presented previously, those incarcerated in jails often enter them
at some level of intoxication. Moreover, many have mental disabilities, and if this is their first
experience with jail, it might be exacerbated by the shock of incarceration. Most who are
booked into jails are impoverished, and some are homeless. Also, being booked itself may
represent both the mental and physical low points of their lives. Such a combination of con-
ditions may predispose some jail inmates to not just contemplate suicide but to attempt it
(Winfree & Wooldredge, 1991; Winter, 2003).
In 1986, the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives (NCIA) did a study of sui-
cides in jails. Twenty years later, in 2006, the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) funded
another NCIA study of the status of jail suicides. Meanwhile, every year the BJS publishes
research on mortality in jails and prisons (see, e.g., Carson & Cowhig, 2020). On the basis of
464 suicides that occurred in 2005 and 2006 and were studied by the NCIA, and the annual
survey of jails and their mortality data by the BJS for 2016 (and previously), the following are
facts about suicide victims in jails and their characteristics:
• Suicide was the leading cause of death of adults in jails from 2006 to 2016. It
accounted for 31% of deaths, or the same amount as in 2000 (BJS).
• Sixty-seven percent were white (NCIA). Rates for white people were more than 5.25
times higher than for Black people and 3.5 times higher than for Latinx people (BJS).
• Ninety-three percent were male (NCIA). Rates for men were 1.6 times greater than
for women (BJS).
• The average age was 35 (NCIA). Rates tended to be spread across the age span
(BJS).
• Forty-two percent were single (NCIA).
• Forty-three percent were held on personal or violent charges (NCIA). Rates for
violent charges and offenses were 2.5 to 5 times higher than property, drug, or
public order and other offenses (BJS).
• Forty-seven percent had histories of substance abuse (NCIA).
• Twenty-eight percent had histories of medical problems (NCIA).
• Thirty-eight percent had histories of mental illness (NCIA).
• Twenty percent had histories of taking psychotropic medications (NCIA).
• Thirty-four percent had histories of suicidal behavior (NCIA).
• Deaths were evenly distributed throughout the year; certain seasons or holidays
did not account for more suicides (NCIA).
• Thirty-two percent occurred between 3:01 p.m. and 9 p.m. (NCIA).
126 CORRECTIONS
• Twenty-three percent occurred within the first 24 hours, 27% between 2 and
14 days, and 20% between 1 and 4 months after incarceration (Hayes, 2010,
p. xi; NCIA).
• Convicted offenders had a rate of suicide that was 7.33 times that of the uncon-
victed (BJS).
• Forty-seven percent of the suicides took place in general housing units (BJS).
These data indicate that the profile of the suicide-prone inmate in jail is that of
someone who is male, white, of indeterminate age, and in jail on a violent offense charge,
with a history of substance abuse and at the beginning of his jail incarceration. Almost
half of those who commit suicide are not in special housing units but are in the general
population. Other data, from the BJS and other sources, flesh out and contextualize these
findings (see Figure 5.2).
Data obtained by BJS in a 2-year study (2000–2002) of deaths while in custody (Mumola,
2005) and by Winter (2003) in her study of 10 years of suicide data from jails in one mid-
western state tend to confirm the previously stated findings. Winter also found that those
who committed suicide tended to be younger, had no histories of mental or physical illness,
did not necessarily “exhibit suicidal tendencies,” and were more likely to be intoxicated with
alcohol when admitted (p. 138).
Moreover, according to Mumola (2005), the suicide rate for large, primarily urban jails,
which tend to hold fewer white people, was about half that of the smaller jails (as cited in
Mumola, 2005). Similarly, in a study by Tartaro and Ruddell (2006), the researchers also
found that smaller jails (with less than a 100-bed capacity) had a 2 to 5 times greater preva-
lence of attempted and completed suicides than larger jails did (p. 81). In this study, crowded
jails and those with “special-needs and long-term inmates” were also more likely to have
higher rates of suicide completion (Tartaro & Ruddell, 2006, p. 81). Notably, suicide and
deaths generally are more common in larger jails that hold more people (Noonan, 2016).
The shock of incarceration may be one explanation for jail suicide rates, although why
this shock might be greater for those in smaller jails is not entirely clear. The BJS from
Mumola (2005) and NCIA data do indicate that about half of the suicides occur within the
first 9 days—for women, it was 4 days—and in the cell of the person committing suicide
(Carson & Cowhig, 2020; Mumola, 2005).
Larger jails, with their greater resources and higher level of training for staff, may be bet-
ter equipped than their smaller counterparts to monitor and prevent suicides in their facil-
ities (it is also worth noting that 80% of jails had no suicides in 2014 [Noonan, 2016]). For
instance, if the younger inmates are fearful of being housed with and possibly abused by
adults, some less crowded and perhaps larger jails may have the luxury of segregating young
men from older men and thereby lessening the fear that might precipitate some suicides.
Winter’s (2003) conclusion, after studying 18 years’ worth of administrative data on suicides
in a midwestern jail, is that keeping and accessing more complete records regarding suicides
is critical to preventing them. It is possible that larger, more urban jails are better able to
handle this responsibility. In their comparison study of rural and urban jails, Applegate and
Sitren (2008) remarked on the greater capacity of urban jails, relative to rural jails, to provide
services to inmates, which one assumes would directly and indirectly affect the rate of sui-
cides in these jails.
However, large jails still have their share of problems with suicides. In a study by Selling
et al. (2014, p. 163) of suicides in the New York City jail system, the researchers found that
between 2007 and 2011, there were eight deaths resulting from suicide and 2,514 cases of
self-injury (out of yearly admissions of 80,000 and an average daily population of about
12,500). The self-injuries had increased in number during this time period. The methods of
self-injury included, among others, “lacerations, ligatures tied around the neck, attempted
FIGURE 5.2 Predictors of Jail Suicide

Source: Based on data from Hayes (2010, p. xi). Most recent data available.
Length of Confinement
5–12 Months 14.6
1–4 Months 20.1
15–30 Days 5.6
2–14 Days 26.6
1–2 Days 9.4
24 Hours or Less 23.4
History of Mental Illness
Unknown 30.4
No 31.5
Yes 38.1
Offense
Minor Other 22.5
Alcohol and/or Drug Related 19
Serious Property 15.1
Personal and/or Violent 43.4
Gender
Female 6.9
Male 93.1
Race
Other 5
Hispanic 12.7
Black 15.1
White 67.2
0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentage of Inmates Who Have
Committed Suicide
overdose, and swallowed foreign objects” (Selling et al., 2014, p. 163). In response to this
research, the jail managers (there are several New York City jails) improved the surveillance
system and the electronic health records so they could better watch and document those
who would be most likely to need help.
We do know that suicide as of 2016 was the leading cause of death among inmates in
jails, explaining 31.1% (Carson & Cowhig, 2020, p. 5). In the past, jails had 3 times the rate
of suicides that prisons do, though their homicide rates are comparable (Mumola, 2005).
Collectively, illnesses still eclipse suicides, though suicides are the single most common
explanation for death in jails (Carson & Cowhig, 2020; Noonan, 2016).
128 CORRECTIONS
Gangs
Gangs present myriad management problems for jail and prison managers. Violence, includ-
ing robberies, assaults, drug smuggling, and even murders, tends to naturally follow in their
wake and prevents the orderly and safe operation of the facility for staff and inmates. Because
gangs are more prevalent in large urban areas, they are more of a problem in large urban jails.
Yet the estimates of their prevalence in large jail systems ranges from 16% to 25%, depending
on the location of the jail (Tapia, 2014, p. 258). However, these estimates are likely to be low,
as gang members are usually not forthcoming about their membership in a correctional envi-
ronment (Ruddell, Decker, & Egley, 2006). It is generally true that larger urban jails have more
problems with gangs. As jails are more likely to involve a short-term period of incarceration,
however, they may be less likely to hold as many gang members as prisons (Alarid, 2000).
To counter the collective influence of gangs, jails will try to separate members in hous-
ing units, placing the most disruptive members in segregation (Tapia, 2014). Another tactic
is to document those involved in gangs and to track them and their activities throughout
the jail system. However, though gang members, by their definition, might appear to pres-
ent a monolithic adherence to gang orthodoxy, there is some indication that not all gang
members agree about how the gang should be operated and the tactics they should use. For
instance, in a study by Tapia (2014) of Latinx gangs in Texas, it was found that there were
intergenerational disputes on these matters, with younger inmates tending to organize
themselves in more autonomous groups, which are as much support groups as criminal
enterprises in jails. In that same research, though, the gangs identified by correctional offi-
cer respondents as most prevalent in Texas jails were the Texas Mexican Mafia, the Aryan
Brotherhood, Bloods, the Texas Syndicate, Crips, Tango Blast, Tango Orejon, Aryan Circle,
and Hermandad de Pistoleros Latinos (Tapia, 2014, p. 262).
Sexual Violence
Prison Rape Elimination Act of The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) mandated that the BJS collect data
2003 (PREA): Act that mandated on sexual assaults in adult and juvenile jails and prisons and that it identify facilities with
that the Bureau of Justice Statistics
collect data on sexual assaults in high levels of victimization. According to the BJS-promulgated report Sexual Victimization
adult and juvenile jails and prisons Reported by Adult Correctional Authorities for 2012–2015, the rate of sexual allegations by
and that it identify facilities with
high levels of victimization. prison inmates is more than 1.5 times that of jail inmates as perpetrated by other jail inmates
or staff in the previous 12 months (Rantala, 2018, p. 6). In 2015, there were 24,661 allega-
tions of sexual victimization in both jails and prisons, which was almost triple the number
reported in 2011 (8,768; Rantala, 2018, p. 1). The BJS thinks this huge increase is in part
explained by the release of national standards regarding such abuse in 2012. There were
5,809 allegations of abuse in 2015, compared with 1,406 in 2005 (Rantala, 2018, p. 5). Overall
only 8% of the alleged assaults by inmates on inmates and staff on inmates were substanti-
ated or found to be true after an investigation (Rantala, 2018, p. 7). Having said this, how-
ever, we should recognize that in most such instances of sexual violence, it would be very
difficult to find evidence, as it is in the free world, particularly if the one perpetrating the
victimization was a staff member. Notably, some of these victimizations were likely “consen-
sual,” though it is legally impossible for inmates, who occupy a powerless position vis-à-vis
staff, to give consent to them.
In an earlier study by BJS, female inmates in jails (as well as in prisons) were more than
twice as likely as male inmates to experience sexual victimization perpetrated by another
inmate (3.6% for women vs. 1.4% for men; Beck et al., 2013, p. 17). Male inmates in jails and
prisons were slightly more likely to be victims of staff perpetrators. There was higher vic-
timization among inmates who were two or more races or who were white by other inmates
and staff. Generally, younger inmates (younger than 34) and those with college degrees were
targeted more by both inmates and staff for sexual victimization.
Ethical Issue
You are a correctional officer who works in the you). You know your sergeant also has witnessed
booking area of a large urban jail. About once the abuse and has done nothing to stop it. You are
per month, the jail admits one or two transgender unaware of any complaints being lodged by staff
inmates. You notice that one male colleague named regarding Joe’s or the others’ behavior, though it is
Joe is particularly abusive of the transgender female openly practiced in the booking area at least once
inmates (calling them names, strip-searching or twice a month. You have heard that a lawsuit has
them, making them stand around naked in front of been filed by a former inmate about Joe’s and the
other staff and inmates while making derogatory other officers’ treatment of her. As a booking officer,
comments about their body parts, doing unnecessary you are likely to be called to testify about what
pat-downs that focus inordinately on their breasts happened in her case (all of the abuse mentioned
and genitals, referring to them using male pronouns, previously). What will you do if called to testify?
etc.). Although Joe is the primary instigator of this How will you explain your failure to report this abuse
abuse, there are a few others, male and female, who beforehand? What do you think will be the likely
play along and others who try to ignore it (including outcomes of the choices you made and make?
As mentioned previously in this chapter, LGBTQ+ inmates were much more likely to be
victimized by both staff and inmates in both prisons and jails. In prisons, 1.2% and 2.1% of
heterosexual inmates experienced either inmate-on-inmate or staff-on-inmate sexual vic-
timization, compared with 12.2% and 5.4% of LGBTQ+ inmates. In jails, the figures were
similarly startling, with 1.2% and 1.7% of heterosexual inmates who experienced either
inmate-on-inmate or staff-on-inmate sexual victimization, compared with 8.5% and 4.3%
of LGBTI inmates (Beck et al., 2013, p. 18). In essence, in jails, the LGBTQ+ inmates were
7 times more likely to experience sexual victimization by other inmates and 2.5 times more
likely to experience sexual victimization by staff than were heterosexuals.
Also, as mentioned previously in this chapter, those with mental illnesses were much
more likely to experience sexual victimization than were inmates without such maladies
(Beck et al., 2013). Jail inmates who had mental illnesses experienced more inmate-on-inmate
and staff-on-inmate sexual victimization than inmates without mental health problems.
More than half of the substantiated staff-on-inmate sexual misconduct victimization
was committed by female staff on male inmates:
Among all substantiated incidents between 2009 and 2011, the majority (84
percent) of those perpetrated by female staff involved a sexual relationship that
“appeared to be willing,” compared to 37 percent of those perpetrated by male
staff. Any sexual contact between inmates and staff is illegal, regardless of whether
it “appeared to be willing.” (Beck, Rantala, & Rexroat, 2014, p. 1)
Other research has found that female staff were more likely perpetrators in prisons,
though we know from research on Texas prisons that when the offense was actual sexual
battery, the staff offender was more likely to be male (Marquart, Barnhill, & Balshaw-Biddle,
2001). Male staff were more likely the perpetrators of sexual violence in jails. For instance, in
a 2007 case involving the Yuma County, Arizona, jail, three male officers were charged with
unlawful sexual conduct with three female inmates (Reutter, 2007).
When the allegation was substantiated, most of the staff were fired (78%), and almost half
(45%) were arrested, prosecuted, or convicted (Beck et al., 2014, p. 1). Inmate perpetrators in
substantiated cases were more likely to be placed in solitary confinement (73%), and about
half (48%) were prosecuted if the act was a nonconsensual sex act (Beck et al., 2014, p. 1).
130 CORRECTIONS
Researchers at the Urban Institute (see, e.g., La Vigne, Debus-Sherrill, Brazzell, &
Downey, 2011, p. 3) used a situational crime prevention approach with the hoped-for result
of reducing violence and sexual assault after studying three jails. Their recommendations
were multifaceted and included studying past incidents of violence to determine what char-
acteristics of the situation might be changed to reduce future violence; increasing surveil-
lance cameras outside of cells (having a record of who goes in and out, as cells are a typical
locus for violence); ensuring that staff are around consistently; hiring better quality staff;
training staff in crisis intervention and about violence, mental illness, suicide, and sexual
assault; having an enforceable no-tolerance policy for staff sexual misconduct; developing
strategies to reduce violence and sexual assault; reducing the contraband coming into the
jail, as this is often linked with violence; and making sure that inmates who need it get their
medications and mental health care, as not getting it on time may precipitate violence.
In Focus 5.2
PR I S O N R A PE E L I M I N ATI O N AC T C O N TR OV E R SY
As mentioned in the text of this chapter, the Prison Indiana, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, and the Northern
Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) required that Marianas Islands territory) ignored the certification
the DOJ and its subdivisions—the National Institute deadline of May 15 or indicated that they would
of Justice and BJS—study and report on the amount not certify compliance with these standards, some
of sexual violence in adult and juvenile prisons and claiming that they were too cumbersome and
jails. In reaction to this reporting and court cases expensive to comply with (Reilly, 2014, p. 1). On the
indicating that LGBTQ+ inmates were particularly other hand, a few states, including New Hampshire
vulnerable to sexual abuse by inmates and staff and New Jersey, certified compliance, while 46 states
and after studying the matter, the National Prison or territories promised to use their grant monies
Rape Elimination Commission, which was created from the DOJ to work toward compliance with the
by PREA legislation, released its national standards federal standards (Reilly, 2014, p. 1). By spring 2016,
in June 2009. These standards are extensive and most states had certified or had promised to move
require that states train staff differently, monitor toward compliance.
inmates differently, report offenses, treat victims
and offenders, audit themselves, and collect and
keep relevant data related to sexual violence. The Discussion Questions
U.S. attorney general was asked to release these
standards and require that the Bureau of Prisons 1. What benefits would flow from certification by
and each governor certify compliance with these states for jail inmates?
standards or certify that they were working toward
2. How might non-LGBTQ+ inmates benefit from
compliance. If governors did not do this, they risked
certification?
losing 5% of any future DOJ grants (U.S. Department
of Justice, 2015). As the date for certification of 3. Why would states be reluctant to promise
compliance neared in spring 2014, the governors certification, and how might that reluctance be
of at least seven states (Arizona, Florida, Idaho, overcome?
Innovations in Jails
LO 5.6 Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails and how they are working out.
New-Generation, or Podular, Direct Supervision Jails

In the 1980s, a new kind of jail was under construction in the United States, then
called a new-generation jail and now known as a podular direct supervision (PDS)
jail. New-generation, or podular, direct supervision jails, have two key components: New-generation, or podular,
direct supervision jails: Jails
a rounded, or podular, architecture for living units and the direct, as opposed to indirect or that have two key components: a
intermittent, supervision of inmates by staff; in other words, staff were to be in the living rounded, or podular, architecture
units full time (Applegate & Paoline, 2007; Jay Farbstein & Associates, 1989; Gettinger, 1984; for living units and the direct
supervision of inmates by staff.
Zupan, 1991). It was believed that the architecture would complement the ability to super-
vise, and the presence of staff in the living unit would negate the ability of inmates to con-
trol those units. Other important facets of these jails are the provision of more goods and
services in the living unit (e.g., access to telephones, visiting booths, recreation, and library
books) and the more enriched leadership and communication roles for staff.
Not surprisingly, several scholars recognized that the role of the correctional officer in a
podular direct supervision jail would have to change. Zupan (1991), building on the work of
Gettinger (1984), identified seven critical dimensions of new-generation jail officer behav-
ior: (a) having proactive leadership and conflict resolution skills, (b) building a respectful
relationship with inmates, (c) having uniform and predictable enforcement of all rules,
(d) actively observing all inmate doings and occurrences in the living unit, (e) attending to
inmate requests with respect and dignity, (f) disciplining inmates in a fair and consistent
manner, and (g) being organized and in the open with the supervisory style. Whether offi-
cers in podular direct supervision jails are always adequately selected and trained to fit these
dimensions of their role is, as yet, an open research question (Applegate & Paoline, 2007;
Nelson & Davis, 1995; Wener, 2006).
New-generation jails, though hardly “new” anymore, had become popular in the United
States by the late 1980s and through the 1990s (Kerle, 2011; Wener, 2005). Reportedly, in the
21st century, about one fifth of medium and larger jails are said to be new-generation facil-
ities (Tartaro, 2002). Their architecture, though not all features of such jails, can be seen in
most new jails and prisons built these days, whether or not they include direct supervision.
It is widely acknowledged by correctional scholars and practitioners that though podular
direct supervision jails or prisons are not necessarily a panacea for all that ails corrections
Community jails: Organized
today (e.g., crowding and few resources), they often do represent a significant improvement so those inmates engaged in
over more traditional jails (Kerle, 2003; Perroncello, 2002; Zupan, 1991). If operated correctly educational programs, drug or
alcohol counseling, or mental
and including all of the most important elements, they are believed to be less costly in the long health programming in the
run (because of fewer lawsuits), be safer for both staff and inmates, provide a more developed community will seamlessly
receive such services while
and enriched role for staff, and include more amenities for inmates. This is a big if, however, incarcerated and again as they
and some research has called these claims of a better environment for inmates and staff and transition out of the facility.
a more enriched role for staff into question,
as the implementation of the new genera-
tion model has sometimes faltered or been
incomplete in many facilities (Applegate
Courtesy of Bergen County Sheriff’s Office/Bergen County Jail

& Paoline, 2007; Stohr, Lovrich, &
Wilson, 1994; Tartaro, 2002, 2006). Clearly,
more research on new-generation jails is
called for to determine their success (or fail-
ure) in revolutionizing the jail environment
for staff and inmates.
Community Jails
Another promising innovation in jails has
been the development of community jails
(Barlow, Hight, & Hight, 2006; Kerle, 2003,
2011; Lightfoot, Zupan, & Stohr, 1991).
Community jails are devised so that pro-
gramming provided on the outside does Photo 5.6 A female correctional officer operates a new-generation jail control pod.
132 CORRECTIONS
Ethical Issue
You are a professor at a university, and you do rarely in them, and inmates are not out of their cells
research on jails. Some of your early research was to be led; instead, staff contact with inmates often
on new-generation, or podular direct supervision includes yelling through the steel cell doors or the
(PDS) jails. One of the jails you profiled in that early slight contact staff have with inmates when let out
research was a model PDS jail in that it practiced all for their 1 hour of exercise. Inmates no longer have
of the principles of the best of such jails. You happen the support or services that typified PDS jails—and
to visit that jail more than 20 years later, and other this jail—in the past. You are aware that fully 50%
than the physical podular architecture, there is no to 60% of the inmates in this jail have not been
longer anything new or progressive about the jail; convicted of crimes, yet they are treated like they
there is no evidence that it is a PDS jail anymore. are serious offenders with behavior problems in a
In fact, the supervision practices now seem to you supermaximum security prison. You know how this
to be abusive. Staff are no longer in the living units jail used to be operated, you know how it should be
24/7, and inmates are locked up in their double- and operated, and you know it is not being operated in
sometimes triple-celled small cells (made for one) this way. What would you do, and why? Whom might
for up to 23 hours a day. Staff are not trained in you talk to? What do you think would be the likely
how to be leaders in their living units, as they are consequences of the action(s) you choose?
not end at the jailhouse door, as the needs such programming was addressing have not gone
away and will still be there when the inmate transitions back into the community. Therefore,
in a community jail, those engaged in education, drug or alcohol counseling, or mental
health programming will seamlessly receive such services while incarcerated and again as
they transition out of the facility (Barlow et al., 2006; Bookman, Lightfoot, & Scott, 2005;
National Institute of Corrections, 2008). Whether one is in and out of the facility within a
few days or a few months, needs are met and services provided so the reintegration into the
community is smoother for the inmate and the community in question.
Managers of community jails also recognize they cannot staff or resource the jails suf-
ficiently to address every need of their inmates. Rather, community experts who are regu-
larly engaged in the provision of such services are the appropriate persons to provide them,
whether the inmate is in a jail or free in the community; in both instances, it is argued,
they are a community member and entitled to such services (Barlow et al., 2006; Lightfoot
et al., 1991).
Obviously, the development of community jails requires that some resources (par-
ticularly space) be devoted to the accommodation of community experts who provide for
inmates’ needs. Unfortunately, it is the rare jail that has the luxury of excess space for alloca-
tion to such programming. Therefore, the solution may lie in the inclusion of such space in
jail architectural plans, though this certainly is not optimal given the immediacy of inmate
needs discussed in the foregoing section.
The second problem that faces jail managers interested in creating community jails is
convincing local service providers—and lawmakers, if need be—that people in jails have a
right to and a continued need for services and that the continued provision of such services
by community experts benefits both those inmates and the larger community. Needless to
say, making this case, as reasonable as it might sound, can be a hard sell to those social ser-
vice agencies that already have scarce resources and to policymakers concerned that more
tax dollars might be required to fund such resource provision in jails. For these reasons,
larger jails and communities, with their economies of scale and a greater proportion of their
populations in need of social services, might be better situated to operate community jails
and thus achieve their purported benefits of less crime from the continuous provision of ser-
vices in jails (Kerle, 2011; Lightfoot et al., 1991).
One interesting development on this front concerns how the ACA is implemented in
jails. The ACA does not expressly prohibit jail inmates, as long as they are not convicted,
from being able to sign up for Medicaid or qualified health plans while they are in jail. What
this means is that a jail can embrace this community function by ensuring that its inmates
are signed up. Evidence indicates that mentally impaired inmates with Medicaid cover-
age who reentered communities from jails were more likely to have a smooth transition to
needed care than those who were not so covered (Robertson, 2014).
Coequal Staffing
Another promising innovation in jails that has occurred in the past couple of decades in
some sheriffs’ departments has been the development of coequal staffing, which pro- Coequal staffing: Programs
vides comparable pay and benefits to those who work in the jail with those who work on that provide comparable pay and
benefits for those who work in the
the streets as law enforcement (Kerle, 2003, 2011). Historically, jails have been a dumping jail with that of people who work
ground (to use Irwin’s [1985] terminology) for inmates and for staff. If a sheriff deemed that on the streets as law enforcement
in sheriffs’ departments.
a staff person could not “make it” on the streets in law enforcement, they were given a job in
the jail, where the individual’s lack of skills and ability was not seen as a problem. Moreover,
jail staff were (and often still are) paid less and received less training than their counterparts
working on the streets (Stohr & Collins, 2014). As a result, jails do find it difficult to attract
and keep the best personnel, or even if they can attract the more talented applicants, jail jobs
were and are used as “stepping stones” to better paying and higher status jobs on the law
enforcement side of sheriffs’ agencies (Kerle, 2011).
Since the 1980s, however, many sheriffs’ departments, though far from a majority, have
recognized the problems created by according this second-tier status to those who work in
jails (Kerle, 2011). Consequently, they have instituted programs whereby staff who work in
the jails, who often are given deputy status, are trained and paid similarly to those who work
in the free communities. Some anecdotal evidence from sheriffs’ departments indicates that
this change has had a phenomenal effect on the professional operation of jails (as they are
better staffed) and on the morale of those who labor in them (Kerle, 2011).
Reentry Programs for Jails

A recent innovation proposed for jails these days (and prisons, too) is a rethinking about
how to keep people out of them. (Reentry will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 9.)
Rather than focusing on deterrence or incapacitation so much (as in the 1980s and 1990s),
jail practitioners are studying how to make the transition from jails to the community
smoother and more successful so people do not commit more crime and return (Bookman
et al., 2005; Freudenberg, 2006; McLean, Robarge, & Sherman, 2006; Osher, 2007). Research
by Wodahl, Boman, and Garland (2015) would indicate that community sanctions for pro-
bation and parole violations can be as effective as the use of jail and, at the same time, cost
much less, so there is additional impetus for communities to try to move their jail inmates
back into the community or to restrict their placement in the jail in the first place.
As is indicated by the discussion in the foregoing material of all of the medical, psy-
chological, and social—not to mention educational—deficits that many inmates of jails
have, this transition back into the community is likely to be fraught with difficulties. That
is why any successful reentry program must include a recognition of the problems indi- Reentry: The process of
integrating offenders back
vidual inmates may have (e.g., mental illness, physical illness, joblessness, homeless- into the community after
ness) and address them systematically in collaboration with the client and the community release from jail or prison.
134 CORRECTIONS
(Freudenberg, 2006; McLean et al., 2006). In a study by Freudenberg, Mosely, Labriola,

and Murrill (as cited in Freudenberg, 2006) conducted in New York City jails, the research-
ers asked hundreds of inmates what their top three priority reentry needs were. For adult
women, they were housing, substance abuse treatment, and financial support; for adult
men, they were employment, education, and housing; for male adolescents, they were
employment, education, and financial support (Freudenberg, 2006, p. 15). Spjeldnes, Jung,
and Yamatani (2014) also argued that women’s and men’s reentry needs may differ; these
researchers found, in their study of a large urban jail, that more women than men reported
chemical dependency and mental health needs and that the women were more likely to
value treatment programming.
Effective interventions to improve reentry, in the New York study, included every-
thing from referral to counseling to drug treatment to postrelease supervision, depend-
ing on the needs of the inmate, their unique reentry situation, and the services available
in the community. Clearly, reentry is a complex process for people with multiple prob-
lems, and it requires that jail personnel prioritize the needs they will target and the
interventions they will apply and then network with community agencies to provide the
package of services most likely to further the goal of successful reentry (Freudenberg,
2006; McLean et al., 2006). In fact, Bookman and her colleagues (2005) would argue
that jail personnel should expect to engage in collaborative arrangements with commu-
nity agencies (sounds a bit like community jails, doesn’t it?) if they hope to succeed in
the reentry process.
Release on Recognizance
and Bail Programs for Jails
Release on recognizance, or ROR, and no or little bail programs are other ideas gaining
currency these days in jails. Neither are new, and some might say they date at least to the
founding of the country and the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which requires
that any bail set not be excessive. Since at least the 1980s some scholars have argued that
low-level offenders and those who are not likely to abscond be allowed to be released into
the community without bail, as the vast majority of them will appear for court (ROR pro-
grams; e.g., see Feeley, 1983). More recently people have accused the criminal justice sys-
tem, and courts and jails in particular, with incarcerating people because, in essence, they
are too poor to pay bail or fines associated with their crimes. They allege that we have
returned to the era of the “poor” house in our use of jails. Critics also charge that incarcer-
ating people in jails who by virtue of their alleged crimes and records in the community
do not pose a threat to that community is short sighted, as it is costly to do so (a night in
jail can cost the taxpayer anywhere from $75 to $150), and wreaks havoc on people’s lives,
as it can lead to the loss of jobs as well as disruption of families and connection with those
in the community who can best support them. Initiatives such as the Bail Project (https://
bailproject.org), which operates in only select cities, pay bail for low-level inmates with-
out the funds, and when the individuals appear in court the refunded money is used for
others. The Vera Institute of Justice, long an advocate for ROR and no or low bail reform,
notes that as a country we spend more than $22 billion annually to house people in jails
and that at least one third to one half of those people don’t need to be there, as they do not
pose a threat to the community. They ask the following: “What if judges set bail amounts
people could afford, or released them with no up-front payment? Bail shouldn’t function
as punishment or coerce people to plead guilty, but these and other injustices are baked
into the process” (Vera Institute of Justice, 2019, p. 1).
SUMMARY
LO 5.1 Identify the origins of jails and types of jails in LO 5.4 Describe the various approaches jails take to
operation. address medical problems of inmates.
• Jails house the accused, the guilty, and the sentenced as • Medical problems need to be addressed pursuant to the
well as low-level offenders and the serious and violent demographic of the inmates. Older inmates have more
ones. As with prisons, their mission is to incapacitate needs than the younger populations. Women tend to
(even the untried), to deter, to punish, and even be more likely to report medical problems. Substance
to rehabilitate or reintegrate. The degree to which abuse issues may also need to be addressed within the
they accomplish any of these goals is, in large part, populations. All inmates have the right to medical care.
determined by the political and social climate the jail is
nested in. LO 5.5 Discuss how jails manage sexual violence, gangs,
and suicides.
LO 5.2 Explain how jails process individuals.
• Sexual violence in jails remains problematic. It is likely
• Processing individuals begins with delivery to the true that the rate of violence between inmates and
facility. An assessment is made of the physical condition inmates or between staff and inmates has gone down
and needs of the arrestee. Law enforcement completes in recent years. However, increased monitoring of this
admittance paperwork. The jail will then accept, search, phenomenon is certainly called for and may serve to
and complete their own paperwork. The arrestee is further reduce violence through the implementation
permitted to contact help and will either be released or of violence reduction techniques and training for staff.
detained until further action is taken. To that end, the implementation of PREA, with its
reporting requirement for correctional institutions,
LO 5.3 Assess how jails affect and are affected by represents a positive move.
overcrowding, race, gender, age, and special needs of their
• Corrections staff also need to be trained to monitor for
inmates.
gang activity as well as suicidal ideations and tendencies
• Jails in the United States are faced with any number of while inmates are in the facility.
seemingly intractable problems. Sections of them are
often overcrowded—or close to it—and house some LO 5.6 Explain the kinds of innovations happening in jails
of the most debilitated and vulnerable persons in our and how they are working out.
communities.
• Thankfully, there have been some other hopeful
• Jails have also served as a dumping ground for those developments on the correctional horizon.
who are marginally criminal and are unable or Architectural and managerial solutions have been
unwilling to access social services. Too often, the needs applied to jails in the form of new-generation jails
of such persons go unaddressed in communities, and and coequal pay for staff in sheriffs’ departments, and
as a result, these unresolved needs either contribute some jails have even experimented with community
to their incarceration (in the case of substance abuse engagement, along with bail and ROR innovations,
and mental illness) or make it likely (such as in the case to ensure that the needs of people in communities are
of homelessness) that they will enter and reenter the not neglected when such folks enter jails or reenter
revolving jailhouse door. communities.
KEY TERMS
Coequal staffing 133 New-generation, or podular, direct Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003
Community jails 131 supervision jails 131 (PREA) 128
Jails 108 Overcrowding 110 Reentry 133
136 CORRECTIONS
1. Why are jails the dumping ground for so many people 5. What factors are likely to compromise the ability
in our communities? What are the consequences of of podular direct supervision jails to achieve their
this social policy? promise?
2. What is the best use for a jail? What factors might 6. Why are jail staff in most facilities and sheriffs’
make it difficult to operate jails so that they are able to departments still paid less than those on patrol? What
focus on this best use? argument can be made for the same or even higher pay
for jail staff?
3. What do you think are the best practices (most
effective) in managing medically challenged or 7. What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of
potentially suicidal inmates? community jails?
4. How can jail managers best reduce or eliminate sexual 8. How might reentry programs prevent recidivism?
violence against inmates in jails? What do you think
keeps managers from being successful at eliminating
such violence?
© iStockphoto.com/powerofforever
Pat Sutphin/The Times-News via AP
6
Community Corrections
Probation and
Intermediary Sanctions

Test your current knowledge of probation by answering the following Upon completion of this chapter, the reader
6.1 Explain the origins and purpose of
1. Probation in the United States began during the 1800s
and was run by volunteers. probation.
2. Probation is a popular punishment option among the American 6.2 Describe the demographics and
public. characteristics of offenders on
3. Parole is another name for probation. probation.
4. Probation is the most frequent sentence imposed by the courts 6.3 Describe the advantages of probation
in the United States.
over incarceration for some offenders
5. Tough law enforcement–type probation officers achieve better and for community offenders.
results from their probationers than social work–type officers.
6.4 Analyze the probation officer role and
6. Work release programs are programs that allow tighter control
of probationers than regular probation while allowing them to models of probation supervision.
maintain their employment.
6.5 Explain the purpose of graduated
7. Hardened criminals would rather have any form of community sanctions for technical violations of
supervision than a prison sentence. probation.
8. Boot camps where offenders are treated with strict discipline
are quite successful, especially with young offenders. 6.6 Identify sources of stress commonly
encountered related to the job duties of
a probation officer.
6.7 Describe the benefits of engaging the
community in offender rehabilitation.
6.8 Identify the various intermediate
community sanctions and what they
have to offer.
PTSD AND ESTABLISHING A VETERANS

COURT IN BOISE, IDAHO
On July 28, 2009, a woman in Boise, Idaho, frantically dialed 911, saying that
someone with a gun was pounding on her door and that he had fired one round at the lock.
When the police arrived, they were confronted with a man holding a gun in a stairwell and
fired 12 rounds at him without hitting him. The man surrendered without firing a shot and
was charged with six felony counts. The man was 38-year-old sergeant George
Nickel, a decorated (Bronze Star and Purple Heart) Iraq War hero who in 2007 suffered
severe wounds in a bomb blast that killed three of his fellow soldiers. He told police he
hadn’t slept for 3 days and had drunk close to a full case of beer that day. He also told them
he was out looking for his dog, which he believed had been stolen, and was angrily trying to
get it back.
(Continued)
139
140 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
Nickel suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and “survival guilt” for surviving
the blast in Iraq. He must have thought while in his jail cell that for all intents and purposes
his life was over. However, under a plea agreement he was allowed to admit to one count
of firing a weapon into an occupied residence and had the judgment withheld. A withheld
judgment means that the charge would be purged from his record if he received mental
health treatment and cooperated with law enforcement, which he did. Cooperation with
law enforcement included sharing his harrowing experiences on videotape, which has been
distributed to law enforcement agencies across the United States for training purposes.
Nickel’s case was instrumental in the idea of establishing a veterans court for Idaho,
whereby people like Nickel can remain in the community with proper supervision rather than
being sent to prison. Nickel subsequently earned a degree in social work from Boise State
University and now works with other veterans to try to resolve their problems. Had it not
been for the humane intervention of people like former Boise police chief Mike Masterson
and Judge Deborah Bail, Nickel might have received up to 15 years in prison and still be left
with his problems instead of becoming the upstanding citizen he now is. This is the kind of
success story all special problem-solving courts can claim—lives saved and turned around by
considering the problem behind the act(s) that bring troubled individuals before them. Such
problem-solving courts have been one of the very few success stories in American corrections.
Introduction: The Origins of Probation

LO 6.1 Explain the origins and purpose of probation.
Probation: A sentence imposed This chapter focuses on probation, which is a sentence imposed on convicted offenders
on convicted offenders that
allows them to remain in the
that allows them to remain in the community under the supervision of a probation offi-
community under the supervision cer instead of being sent to prison. The term probation comes from the Latin term probare,
of a probation officer instead meaning “to prove.” Because probation is a conditional release into the community, the
of being sent to prison.
probation period is a time of testing a person’s character and their ability to meet certain
requirements mandated by the court. That is, convicted persons must prove to the court that
they are capable of remaining in the community and living up to its legal and moral stan-
dards. About 90% of all sentences handed down by the courts in the United States are proba-
tion orders (Kramer & Ulmer, 2009).
The practice of imprisoning convicted criminals is a relatively modern and expensive way
of dealing with them. Up to 200 or 300 years ago, they were dealt with by execution, corporal
punishments such as disfigurement and branding, or humiliation in the stocks. All these pun-
ishments took place as community spectacles and even with community participation in the
case of individuals sentenced to time in the stocks. Assuming that a convicted person was not
executed, they remained in the community enduring the shame of having offended it (think of
Hester Prynne’s punishment in Hawthorne’s [1850/2003] The Scarlet Letter, briefly discussed
in Chapter 1). The only kinds of offenders typically subjected to this kind of shaming today are
sex offenders, whose pictures are displayed on the Internet and who are frequently identified to
their neighbors through community notification orders.
More enlightened ages saw punishments move away from barbaric cruelties and the
emergence of the penitentiary, where offenders could contemplate the errors of their ways
and perhaps redeem themselves while residing there. But as we have seen, penitentiaries were
not very nice places, and some kind souls in positions to do so sought ways to spare deserv-
Judicial reprieve: British
and early American practice of ing or redeemable offenders from being consigned to them. This practice had its legal under-
delaying sentencing following a pinnings in the practice of judicial reprieve sometimes practiced in English courts in former
conviction that could become
permanent, depending on
times. A judicial reprieve was a delay in sentencing following a conviction, a delay that most
the offender’s behavior. often would become permanent if the offender demonstrated good behavior. In those days,
CHAPTER 6 Community Corrections 141
there were no probation officers charged with supervising reprieved individuals; the nosy
and judgmental nature of the small communities was more than adequate for that task.
Early American courts also used judicial reprieve, whereby a judge would suspend the
sentence and the defendant would be released on their own recognizance. Today an “own
recognizance” release is the release of an arrested person without payment of bail who prom-
ises to appear in court to answer criminal charges. In early America, it was granted to persons
already convicted as a form of probation, although offenders received no formal supervision or
assistance to help them mend their ways. The first real probation system in which a reprieved
person was supervised and helped was developed in the United States during the 1840s by a
Boston cobbler named John Augustus. Augustus would appear in court and offer to take
carefully selected offenders into his own home, where he would do what he could to reform
them as an alternative to imprisonment. Probation soon became his full-time vocation, and he
recruited other civic-minded volunteers to help him. By the time of his death in 1859, he and
his volunteers had saved more than 2,000 convicts from imprisonment (Schmalleger, 2001).
It should be noted, however, that Augustus worked only with first offenders and excluded the
“wholly depraved” (Vanstone, 2004, p. 41), a luxury modern probation officers do not enjoy.
In 1878, the Massachusetts legislature authorized Boston to hire salaried probation offi-
cers to do the work of Augustus’s volunteers, and a number of states quickly followed suit.
This legislation grew out of the need to enforce the conditions of a suspended sentence as
well as the need to help offenders change their lives (Vanstone, 2008). However, the pro-
bation idea nearly died in 1916 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that judges may not
indefinitely suspend a sentence (Ex Parte United States, 1916). In this case, an embezzler
was sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment, which the judge (federal judge John Killits) sus-
pended contingent on the embezzler’s good behavior. What Killits had done was place an
offender on probation without there being such a system established by law. Probation was
such a popular idea with legislators at this time, however, that this ruling led to the passage National Probation Act of
1925: The act that initiated
of the National Probation Act of 1925, allowing judges to suspend sentences and place the legal use of probation
convicted individuals on probation if they found circumstances warranted it. in the United States.
Number and Demographic

Characteristics of Offenders on Probation
LO 6.2 Describe the demographics and characteristics of offenders on probation.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there were 4,537,100 adult Americans (1 in 55 adults
in the United States) under community supervision at the end of 2016 (Kaeble, 2018). This figure
is a decrease of 1.1% from the previous year. Figure 6.1 shows trends in the number of entries into
the federal and state probation systems from 2000 to 2016. In 2016, there were 2,012,200 entries
and 2,043,200 exits from probation. Of those who exited, 50.8% did so successfully (84.2% of fed-
eral probationers and 50.2% of state probationers). Across both federal and state systems, 12.1%
were incarcerated, 2.5% absconded, 0.62% were “discharged to warrant or detainer,” and 13.6%
exited “other unsatisfactory” (terminated for such things as failure to meet certain conditions,
such as fines and restitution, by the end of their probation period). The remainder died, were
deported, or were transferred to other agencies. Men constituted about 75% of the adult proba-
tion population. White people made up 55% of adult probationers; 28% were Black; 14% were
Hispanic; and 2% were American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian, or Pacific Islander. Figure 6.1
provides more information about the probation and parole population in 2016. Note that proba-
tion numbers have decreased substantially since 2008, whereas the number of people on parole
has increased slightly (Kaeble, 2018). Figure 6.2 provides information about the characteristics of
individuals on probation from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (Kaeble, 2018).
142 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 6.1 Adults Under

Year-End Population
Community Supervision 6,000,000
(Probation or Parole), Total Community Supervision
2000–2016 5,000,000
Source: Kaeble (2018). Most recent data available.
4,000,000
Probation
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
Parole
0
‘00 ‘05 ‘10 ‘15‘16
FIGURE 6.2 Characteristics of Individuals on Probation

Source: Based on data from Kaeble (2018).
Sex
Male, 75 Female, 25
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Hispanic, Other,
Race
White, 55 Black, 28
14 2
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Level of
Offense
Other,
Felony, 59 Misdemeanor, 40
1
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Offense
Type of
Public Other,
Violent, 20 Property, 26 Drug, 24
Order, 17 13
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Why Do We Need Community Corrections?

LO 6.3 Describe the advantages of probation over incarceration for some offenders and
for community offenders.
Community corrections may be defined as any activity performed by agents of the state Community corrections:
A branch of corrections defined as
to assist offenders in establishing or reestablishing law-abiding roles in the community any activity performed by agents
while at the same time monitoring their behavior for criminal activity. In theory, moni- of the state to assist offenders
toring and assisting offenders while allowing them to remain in the community protects in reestablishing functional
law-abiding roles in the community
society from criminal predation without taxpayers shouldering the financial cost of incar- while at the same time monitoring
ceration. Even if as a society we were willing and able to bear the monetary cost of impris- their behavior for criminal activity.
oning all offenders, incarceration imposes other costs on the community. These costs can
and must be borne where seriously violent and chronic criminals are concerned, but to
send every felony offender to prison would be counterproductive. Yet the general public is
not well disposed to the idea of probation because “it suffers from a ‘soft on crime’ image”
and is seen as “permissive, uncaring about crime victims, and blindly advocating a reha-
bilitative ideal while ignoring the reality of violent, predatory criminals” (Petersilia, 1998,
p. 30). However, allowing relatively minor felony offenders to remain in the community
under probation supervision to prove they can live law-abiding lives benefits their com-
munities as well as themselves.
The general public’s notion that a probation sentence is “getting away with it” is a
notion not shared by many offenders. When a convicted felon is placed on probation, they
actually receives a prison sentence. This prison sentence is then suspended during the
period of proving that the probationer is capable of living a law-abiding life. This sen-
tence hangs over probationers’ heads like a guillotine ready to drop if they fail to provide
that proof. It may be for this reason that a number of studies have found that “experienced”
offenders who have done prison time, probation time, and parole time often prefer prison
to the more demanding forms of probation such as day reporting and intensive supervision
probation (Crouch, 1993; May, Wood, Mooney, & Minor, 2005). Probation requires offend-
ers to work, submit to treatment and educational programs, and do many other orderly
things that many hardened criminals simply do not have the inclination to do. Numerous
interviews with active “street criminals” (e.g., burglars, robbers, carjackers) show that such
things are treated with disdain by them (Jacobs & Wright, 1999; Mawby, 2001; Wright &
Decker, 1994). Serving time in prison is less of a hassle for many of them, and many know
they would end up there anyway because they would not live up to probation conditions
(May et al., 2005).
Other less criminally involved offenders prefer a probation sentence so that they can
retain their jobs and maintain connections to their families and communities. As we saw
in Chapter 1, perceptions of the severity of a punishment, and thus its deterrent effect, are
a function of the contrast between one’s everyday life and life under punishment condi-
tions (the contrast effect). With close to 4 million American adults on probation in 2012,
68% of them successfully completed their conditions of supervision and were released
from probation (Maruschak & Bonczar, 2013), and that is fairly consistent from year to
year. In the event of a failure to live up to the conditions of probation, the prison sentence
may be imposed. Thus, while many fail the probation period, the majority succeed, so
surely providing nonviolent offenders with the opportunity to try to redeem themselves
144 CORRECTIONS
while remaining in the community is sensible criminal justice policy. But what are the
benefits for the community?
1. Probation costs far less than imprisonment. Note from Figure 6.3, provided by the
U.S. Courts (2013), that it cost nearly 9 times more (more for women, juveniles, and
older people) for imprisonment than for community supervision. For each person
placed on probation rather than incarcerated in 2012, taxpayers saved more than
$25,000, and these savings apply every year. Many jurisdictions require probationers
to pay for their own costs of supervision, which means that taxpayers pay nothing.
However, while economic considerations are important for policymakers, they are
not the primary concern of corrections; protecting the community is. Community-
based corrections is the solution only for those offenders who do not pose a signifi-
cant risk to public safety.
2. Employed probationers stay in their communities and continue to pay taxes, and
offenders who were unemployed at the time of conviction may obtain training and
help in finding jobs. This adds further to the tax revenues of the community and,
more important, allows offenders to keep or obtain the stake in the community that
employment offers. A job also gives them the wherewithal to pay fines and court
costs, as well as restitution to victims.
3. In the case of married offenders, community supervision maintains the integrity
of the family, whereas incarceration could lead to its disruption and all the negative
consequences such disruption entails.
4. Probation prevents felons from becoming further embedded in a criminal lifestyle
by being exposed to chronic offenders in prison. Nearly all prisoners will leave the
institution someday, and many will emerge harder, more criminally sophisticated,
and more bitter than they were when they entered. Furthermore, they are now
ex-cons, a label that is a heavy liability when attempting to reintegrate into a free
society.
5. Many more offenders get into trouble because of deficiencies than because of
pathologies. Deficits such as a lack of education, a substance abuse problem,
and faulty thinking patterns can be assessed and addressed using the meth-
ods discussed in Chapter 14 on treatment. If we can correct these deficits to
some extent, then the community benefits because it is a self-evident truth
that whatever helps the offender to become a productive citizen also protects
the community.
We do not wish to appear naive about this; there are people who are unfit to remain in
the community and could not lead a law-abiding life even if given everything they needed to
start over. We noted in Chapter 1 that for serious and violent offenders, incarceration is cost
effective. Placing dangerous offenders on probation is putting the community at risk, and
they will mess up sooner or later and end up in prison anyway. For instance, according to the
U.S. Marshals Service (2012), about 95% of those in the witness protection program (a pro-
gram run by the Marshals Service to protect threatened witnesses and “snitches” during and
after a trial) are criminals, and 17% commit further crimes under their new identities within
a year despite being given jobs, housing, and basically a new start in life as part of the pro-
gram. To use a medical metaphor, probation is “outpatient” treatment for the less seriously
criminally afflicted; prison is hospitalization for people who cannot be successfully treated
anywhere else.
FIGURE 6.3 Community Supervision Costs Versus Incarceration Costs

Source: U.S. Courts (2013).
Bureau of Prisons Facility

$28,948.00
The cost of
placing an
offender in a
Bureau of
Prisons institution
or federal
residential reentry
center is eight
Residential Reentry times the
Centers cost of placing Supervision by
$26,930.00 the same Probation Officer
offender under
postconviction
$3,347.41
supervision by a
federal probation
officer.
Pretrial detention for a defendant was nearly 10x more expensive

than the cost of supervision of a defendant by a pretrial services
officer in the federal system.
The Probation Officer Role and

Models of Probation Supervision
LO 6.4 Analyze the probation officer role and models of probation supervision.
Probation and parole officers (the roles are combined in some states) have two common
roles: to protect the community and to assist their probationers and parolees in becoming
productive and law-abiding citizens. The dual roles mark them as law enforcement offi-
cers (this is their legally defined role in most states) and as social workers. The offenders
they supervise may be on probation or parole, depending on their legal status. Probation is
a judicial function, meaning that offenders are under the ultimate supervision of the court.
Probationers may or may not have served jail time prior to community supervision by a pro-
bation officer. Offenders who have served time in prison are placed on parole on release and
are under the ultimate supervision of the executive branch of government, typically the state
department of corrections.
146 CORRECTIONS
Probation officers are officers of the court, and in this capacity they are responsible for
enforcing court orders, which may require them to monitor probationers’ adherence to
programs such as drug and alcohol treatment and to develop plans to assist them in tran-
sitioning to a free society. They are also required to make arrests, perform searches, and
seize evidence of wrongdoing. Officers might need to appear in court occasionally to pres-
ent evidence of and violation of probation orders and to justify their recommendations
for either termination of probation and imprisonment or continued probation with addi-
tional conditions. This is part of the officers’ law enforcement role. Probation and parole
officers work with offenders who may be dangerous and who may live in dangerous areas,
which is why 35 states require their officers to carry firearms (Holcomb, 2008). Dangerous
or not, it is important that officers spend a lot of time in those communities learning about
their culture, customs and values, and resources available to assist with the rehabilitation
of offenders.

B R I A N FA L L O C K , PR O B ATI O N A N D PA R O L E O F F I C E R
Position: Probation and parole agent What are the characteristics and traits
most useful in your line of work?
Location: Pennsylvania Board of Probation and
Parole Strong interpersonal skills are recommended,
as you will be dealing with many offenders from
Education: BA in administration of justice, different backgrounds as well as the offenders’
University of Pittsburgh families on a daily basis. Agents routinely work
with various local and state law enforcement
What are your duties and responsibilities? agencies, and being able to work with others to
come to a common goal is encouraged. Good time
The primary responsibility of a probation and management and organizational skills are a must,
parole (P&P) agent is to ensure the safety of the as you will consistently have numerous issues to
community by supervising offenders on parole deal with simultaneously and will need to be able
and probation released from state correctional to keep track of them. Communication and writing
institutions or county jails. While doing this, P&P skills are also required, as there are various reports
agents also will assist offenders in adequately and notes that will need to be submitted on a
reentering society through numerous techniques regular basis.
and programs to hopefully reduce recidivism
and provide the offenders with the tools they
need to stay out of jail. Agents refer offenders to
Please describe your typical workday.
outside agencies for specialized therapy to assist As a field agent, I am required to make field
them in dealing with problems that need special contacts with offenders, whether at their homes,
attention, such as employment, drugs, alcohol, jobs, or elsewhere. Every offender is assigned a level
and sexual and mental health problems. If an of supervision that dictates policy regarding how
offender does violate, agents are responsible for often you are required to see that offender in a given
requesting a warrant for his or her arrest through supervision period. A typical workday will involve
a superior and physically taking an offender into traveling through your assigned area of supervision,
custody with the assistance of other agents or making attempts to see your offenders and their
police agencies. P&P agents also participate in families to monitor their adjustment back into
court proceedings, providing testimony on the society. Agents will also communicate with various
adjustment of offenders in the community and treatment agencies to ensure offenders’ compliance
answering questions concerning agency policy with the programs they are enrolled in. If scheduled,
and procedures so the court can make an accurate agents will attend various court hearings to provide
decision pertaining to an offender that has violated testimony and evidence proving any violations
his or her supervision. and detailing an offender’s history while under
supervision. When needed, agents will spend time need. To be successful in this type of work, you need
in the district office writing reports, answering to be flexible and hard working. But you also need to
e-mails, and making phone calls. keep in mind that these offenders can be dangerous,
and you need to be cautious and on your toes at all
What is your advice to someone who wants times. You cannot become complacent, as there is
no such thing as a “routine contact.” Anything can
to enter your field?
happen, and you need to be prepared. But along
Being a P&P agent can be challenging. P&P agents with being challenging, being a P&P officer can be
are often said to wear numerous hats, depending extremely rewarding. You will be able to provide
on the situation. One minute you could be wearing guidance to offenders and give them the tools
a “law enforcement hat” that will require you to they need to be contributing members of society,
violate offenders (determine that they have violated and hopefully they will complete their supervision
parole) or take them into custody. The next minute successfully. Reducing recidivism is key, and if an
you could be wearing a “social worker hat,” referring offender is willing to change, a P&P agent is on the
offenders to other agencies to get any help they front lines and can have a great effect on it.
Models of Probation Supervision

As is the case with all occupations, the effectiveness of probation and parole officers’ per-
formance ranges from dismal to outstanding. One of the biggest problems in probation and
parole work is gaining the trust of probationers or parolees and developing rapport with
them. Most officers are white and middle class, whereas many of their “clients” are people of
color, and whereas most probationers and parolees are men, about half of probation officers
are women (Walsh & Stohr, 2010). It is very difficult for both officers and probationers to
overcome the class, race, and gender divide and for each to understand and appreciate where
the other is “coming from.” Nevertheless, the job must be done as effectively as possible.
The measures of correctional effectiveness are how well the community is protected
from the offenders on an officer’s caseload (law enforcement role) and how well the offend-
ers are able to resolve their criminogenic problems and become decent, law-abiding cit-
izens (social work role). There is often tension between these supposedly contradictory
roles (Skeem & Manchak, 2008), although there need not be, as one chief probation officer
referred to in this so-called conflict in a question-and-answer session:
When I’m asked at a meeting with probation officers, “Are we supposed to be cops
or social workers?” I answered with another question—“How many of you are
parents of teenagers?” I asked those who raised their hands, “Would you say you
are a cop or social worker?” One of those that raised his hand said, “At different
times, I was both.” Bingo! (Quoted in Klingele, 2013, p. 1030)
Some officers take on an exclusively law enforcement role and embrace working values
emphasizing strict compliance with probation conditions and holding offenders strictly
accountable. Other officers take on a counselor role, providing offenders with whatever
is available in the community to bring about behavior change. The extent to which offi-
cers follow these different models depends not only on the personalities and training of
the individual officers but also on the overall supervision model dictated by whether their
department’s philosophy is punitive or rehabilitative, which in turn is dictated by the ide-
ology of local politicians.
A third group of officers combine the two roles and follow a “hybrid” approach, meaning
that they follow both the law enforcement and social work models when appropriate. Skeem
148 CORRECTIONS
and Manchak (2008) viewed the law enforcer as authoritarian and the counselor as permis-
sive but saw the hybrid officer as authoritative, the kind of parenting style that psychologists
tell us the most effective parents adopt (Grusec & Hastings, 2007). Authoritarian officers are
inflexible disciplinarians who require unquestioning compliance with their demands. Such
a style often leads to hostility and rebelliousness among those to whom it is directed. On the
flip side, permissive officers set few rules and are reluctant to enforce those that are set. This
style often results in the perception among their probationers that the officer is a “pushover,”
and it practically invites lack of respect and noncompliance.
Hybrids are authoritative officers who are firm enforcers but fair, knowing that boundar-
ies must be set and consequences must be endured for venturing beyond them. They clearly
describe those boundaries and the consequences for crossing them (the law enforcement
role), but they also offer guidance and support to probationers (the social work role) so that
they may be better able to stay within those boundaries.
How well do these different styles do with respect to the dual roles of community
protection and offender rehabilitation? One study found that in terms of technical vio-
lations such as failure to comply with some condition of probation, 43% of probationers
supervised by law enforcement–oriented officers, 5% of probationers supervised by
treatment-oriented officers, and 13% of probationers supervised by hybrid officers
received technical (Paparozzi & Gendreau, 2005). These findings are as expected; law
enforcers do not tolerate any violations, counselors tolerate nearly every violation, and
hybrids, like good and concerned parents, tolerate selectively. New criminal convictions
are a better measure of supervision effectiveness than technical violations, however,
because while technical violations are largely in the hands of officers, new criminal con-
victions are out of their hands. Offenders with treatment-oriented social work officers
were convicted of new crimes at twice the rate (32% vs. 16%) of those supervised by law
enforcement–oriented officers, while only 6% of offenders supervised by hybrid officers
were convicted of new crimes.
Further evidence for the effectiveness of the authoritative hybrid model comes from the
success of Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation With Enforcement (HOPE) program. According
to the judge who initiated the program, it is based on the principles of effective parenting
and on Beccaria’s notion that consequences for misbehavior will be swift, certain, and pro-
portionate to the severity of the misbehavior (as cited in Alm, 2013). HOPE begins with a
formal warning that no violation of probation conditions will be tolerated and that any viola-
tion will immediately result in a short jail stay. The program has been shown to be so remark-
ably successful (it is examined in greater detail in Chapter 14) that a number of states have
implemented similar programs, such as Delaware’s Decide Your Time program (O’Connell,
Visher, Martin, Parker, & Brent, 2011).
Ethical Issue
You are a probation and parole officer assigned to to put the offender in the worst possible light and
write a presentence investigation report on a burglary recommend a stiff sentence for him, thereby exacting
case that resulted in the loss of more than $1,000 in “revenge” for your friend. Would you do this, would
property and in which the house was trashed. On you still try to be as objective as possible and write
reading the police report, you realize the house is the report, or would you realize your bias, tell your
that of a very close friend who was devastated by supervisor the circumstances, and request the report
the experience. You realize you can slant the report be assigned to another officer?
Probation Violations and Graduated Sanctions

LO 6.5 Explain the purpose of graduated sanctions for technical violations of probation.
In these days of severe budget cuts and the concerns of cost-conscious politicians, there has
been a tendency to turn to evidence-based research to see what can be done to reduce pro-
bation revocations (Klingele, 2013). After all, one of the advantages of probation is supposed
to be saving the taxpayer money, and probation is hardly a cost cutter if it is simply a deferred
incarceration. We have seen that 15% of probationers were ultimately incarcerated in 2012
(Maruschak & Bonczar, 2013), which amounts to nearly 600,000 individuals, and probation
violators constitute about one third of all individuals admitted to prison each year (Klingele,
2013). Probation officers enjoy a certain amount of discretion as to whether to formally vio-
late someone’s probation and the reasons why they do so. A formal probation violation goes
before the sentencing judge with a recommendation from the officer regarding whether the
suspended prison sentence should be imposed.
One of the ways state legislatures and correctional departments have addressed the
issue is by turning to actuarial assessment tools devised by criminal justice researchers
to determine the circumstances for technical and, in some cases, minor criminal viola-
tions of probation. One such tool used by the Vermont Department of Corrections and
presented in Table 6.1 is designed to eliminate costly court appearances and incarcerations
for offenders whose violations do not bear directly on their threat to the community or
their rehabilitation.
TABLE 6.1 Graduated Sanctions Guideline for Technical Probation Violations
LEVEL 1 VIOLATIONS LEVEL 1 SANCTIONS
Failure to report as instructed

 Graduated sanction thinking report

Out of place
 Apology (verbal or written)

First positive drug/alcohol test

 Verbal warning

Refusal of drug/alcohol test

 Develop relapse prevention plan

Missed treatment/programming group

 Written essay/educational activities

Unemployment or failure to seek employment


Increase contacts for up to 30 days

within 45 days
Failure to fulfill financial obligations

 Increase curfew restrictions for up to


30 days
Failure to follow case plan/ORP

 Use of schedules for up to 30 days

Failure to complete community service

 DOC work crew

Curfew violation

Multiple Level 1 violations

 Referral for treatment assessment

Noncompliance with special conditions not


Community service work for up to 80 hours

indicated above
(Continued)
150 CORRECTIONS
TABLE 6.1 (Continued)
Continued substance abuse or second


C
ommunity restitution work crew for up to

positive drug/alcohol test 10 days
Continued missed treatment/


Curfew/restriction to residence

programming group
Failure to comply with Level 1 sanctions


Increased reporting as directed for


Alco-Sensor, drug testing, employment
search, or other related activity
Contact with restricted persons (non–sex


Activities to address risk behaviors


offender/domestic violence) (self-help)
Tampering with electronic monitoring


Loss of curfew/placed on schedule


equipment
Modification of the case plan to address



risk-related behavior
Any Level 1 sanction



Use of electronic monitoring equipment



along with Level 1 sanction for up to
60 days
Multiple Level 2 violations

 U
se of electronic monitoring equipment

along with Level 2 sanction for up to
60 days
Failure to comply with Level 2 sanctions

 Modified conditions of probation


(risk-related)
Nonthreatening contact with victim


Suspension or placed on probation in



treatment/programming group
Misdemeanor behavior (nonrisk/nonviolent)



Out of place for more than 24 hours



Source: Vermont Department of Corrections (2010).
Note that both the violations and the sanctions attached to them have a three-level
hierarchy of increasing seriousness of violation and increasing severity of punishment.
Under this scheme, offenders are brought before a judge for technical violations only
after they reach Level 3 violations and after all appropriate casework interventions have
been exhausted. While state legislatures have designed these assessment tools primarily
as cost-cutting devices, they also appear to be useful correctional tools by providing offi-
cers with a uniform way of responding to violations, thereby making authoritarian law
enforcement–oriented officers less punitive and permissive social work–oriented officers
less indulgent with offenders’ transgressions.
Ethical Issue
You are 32-year-old Mary Mitchell’s probation not returned your phone calls. You go to her home to
officer. She has been on your caseload for nearly investigate and find her lying on a couch disheveled
2 years since pleading guilty to shoplifting and and obviously high. She tells you she is deeply
drug possession. She has been a model probationer depressed because her mother passed away a month
who has maintained employment, never missed an ago and she cannot face the world without her. She
appointment with you, paid all her fines and court begs you not to violate her probation since she has
costs, and never tested positive for drug use. Now only 2 more months to serve. What are your options,
she has missed two appointments in a row and has and what do you think you should or will do?
Probation Officer Stress

LO 6.6 Identify sources of stress commonly encountered related to the job duties of a
probation officer.
Supervising criminal offenders is not the easiest or most lucrative job in the world, although
by today’s job standards the pay and stability are excellent. According to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, in 2018 the median income (half earn below, half earn above) for probation offi-
cers (parole officers also) was $53,020 a year. The lowest-paid 10% of officers made $34,630,
while the highest-paid 10% made $94,770 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019). Pay varies by
location (cost of living there), rank, and years of service. In addition, federal, state, and local
benefits are much better than those typically provided in the private sector and include paid
vacations, sick leave, pension, and health, dental, and life insurance plans.
In common with police officers and correctional officers, probation and parole officers
are dealing with difficult individuals on a daily basis, often without the tools and support
needed to do the job as it should be done. Doing a demanding and sometimes dangerous
job under less than adequate conditions can, and does, lead to stress (Slate, Wells, & Wesley
Johnson, 2003). For instance, one study of officers in four states found that 35% to 55%
reported that they had been victims of threatened or actual violence (Finn & Kuck, 2005).
Stress is a physical and emotional state of tension as the body reacts to environmental chal-
lenges (stressors). No one can be expected to do a very good job while experiencing stress.
The most important job stressors identified by the officers surveyed by Slate et al. (2003)
were poor salaries, poor promotion opportunities, excessive paperwork, lack of resources
from the community, large caseloads, and a general frustration with the inadequacies of the
criminal justice system. These stressors may eventually lead to psychological withdrawal
from the job, meaning that probationers, and thus the community, are getting shortchanged.
High stress levels in the department also lead to frequent absenteeism and high rates of
employee turnover; thus, it is imperative that the issue of probation and parole officer stress
be meaningfully addressed.
Slate et al. (2003) emphasized that an attempt to address the problem of probation offi-
cer stress should not be one of counseling officers on how to cope with stress, because the
problem is organizational (inherent in the probation system), not personal. They suggested
that participatory management strategies be instituted so that each person in the depart-
ment participates in the decision-making process and, thus, feels valued and empowered.
The researchers found that personnel who did participate in decision making reported
152 CORRECTIONS
fewer stress symptoms and were happier on the job. Participatory management (work-
place democracy) leads to a happier and more productive workforce even if nothing else
changes—“contented cows give better milk.”
Engaging the Community

to Prevent Recidivism
LO 6.7 Describe the benefits of engaging the community in offender rehabilitation.
Although probation began as a voluntary community effort in the United States and Britain,
community involvement in offender rehabilitation has faded in those countries with the
professionalization of probation. Japan is a country in which probation volunteers still dom-
inate. In Japan, there are about 50,000 volunteer officers but only 800 professional officers
(Ellis, Lewis, & Sato, 2011).
Western countries probably cannot revive the old level of community involvement, and
cultural differences preclude volunteerism at anywhere near Japanese levels (a volunteer
probation officer position is highly sought in Japan because it confers high status [Gardner,
1996]). To achieve the average 2.5 ratio of probationers to volunteer probation officers that
is enjoyed in Japan (only about 60,000 adults on probation there in 2010 [Ellis et al., 2011])
with the approximately 4 million probationers in the United States would require about
1.6 million volunteer officers. Nevertheless, we can engage our communities in the process
of offender rehabilitation more than we are doing now, realizing that whatever helps the
offender helps the community.
The criminological literature provides abundant support for the notions that social
bonds (Hirschi, 1969) and social capital (Sampson & Laub, 1999) are powerful barriers
against criminal offending. Social bonds are connections (often emotional in nature) to
others and to social institutions that promote prosocial behavior and discourage antiso-
cial behavior. Social capital refers to a store of positive relationships in social networks on
which the individual can draw for support. It also means that a person with social capital
has acquired an education and other solid credentials that enable them to lead a prosocial
life. Those who have opened their social capital accounts early in life (bonding to parents,
school, and other prosocial networks) may spend much of it freely during adolescence but,
nevertheless, manage to salvage a sufficiently tidy nest egg by the time they reach adulthood
to keep them on the straight and narrow. The idea is they are not likely to risk losing this
nest egg by engaging in criminal activity
(the contrast effect again). Most criminals,
on the other hand, lack social bonds, and
largely because of this they lack the stake in
conformity provided by a healthy stash of
social capital.
If we consider the great majority of
felons in terms of deficiency (good things
they lack) rather than in terms of per-
sonal pathology (bad things they are),
© SAGE/Jessica Miller
we are talking about a deficiency in social

capital. The community can be seen as a
bank in which social capital is stored and
from which offenders can apply for a loan.
That is, the community is the repository of
Photo 6.1 A probation officer’s job is highly varied, ranging from interviewing police officers,
victims, and family members of the defendant, as well as the defendant themselves, to all those things from which social capital is
making midnight raids on a probationer’s home. derived, such as education, employment,
and networks of prosocial individuals in various organizations and clubs (e.g., Alcoholics
Anonymous, religious institutions, hobby or interest centers). Time spent involved in steady
employment and with prosocial others engaged in prosocial activities is time unavailable to
spend in idleness in the company of antisocial others planning antisocial activities. The old
saying that “the devil finds work for idle hands” may be trite, but it is also very true.
Thus, good case management in community corrections requires community involve-
ment. No community corrections agency is able to deliver the full range of offender needs
(mental health, substance abuse, vocational training, welfare, etc.) by itself, and thus offi-
cers consider themselves intermediaries or brokers of community services. Probation and
parole officers not only must assess the needs of their charges but also must be able to locate
and network with the social service agencies that address those needs as their primary func-
tion. In fact, there are those who maintain that probation and parole officers’ relationships
C O M M U N IT Y C O R R E C TI O N S I N T H E U N IT E D K I N G D O M
The probation concept is the child of the Christian the community and consolidating correctional
missionary and temperance movements of the administration. Prior to consolidation, all probation
19th century and grew rapidly during the late 19th officers held social work qualifications, but now
and early 20th centuries. Between 1878 and 1920, probation officers are called “offender managers,” and
probation statutes were in place in countries on the social work aspect of the job is deemphasized.
every continent in the world (Vanstone, 2008). As Robinson and McNeill (2010) put it, “Probation
John Augustus can rightfully claim the title of officers in England and Wales . . . are no longer
“father of probation” (he coined the term for what trained as social workers, and the context in which
he was doing), but in the very same year (1841) a they work is no longer that of a social work agency,
British magistrate in Birmingham, England, named but rather a ‘law enforcement agency’” (p. 744).
Matthew Davenport-Hill was laying the foundations
for probation in Britain. Like Augustus, Davenport- The probation service now seeks to hire ex-military
Hill was a deeply religious man and an enemy of personnel, which says a lot about the new emphasis.
alcohol. Unlike Augustus, in addition to helping Probation officers–cum–offender managers still
offenders overcome their problems, Davenport-Hill offer the same programs and services, but they
implemented the supervision of offenders and kept deliver them in a more no-nonsense “pull up your
records of their behavior. He used what were known socks, man” attitude than was previously the
as police court missionaries, who were middle- case. Counseling theories used are now more the
class volunteers animated by strong Christian and directive and confrontational type, such as cognitive
temperance values and augmented by appointed behavioral therapy. Robinson and McNeill (2010)
police officers (Gard, 2007). The first full-time quoted a NOMS official in 1999 regarding its new
professional probation officers in England were correctional policy framework: “We have put the
appointed in 1907 (Gard, 2007). focus firmly on outcomes—reducing reoffending
and improving public protection. Success will be
As in the United States, probation is the most measured in those terms. The achievement of this
common disposition of a criminal case in the common aim . . . must be first consideration for
United Kingdom. The probation service in England everyone engaged in delivering correctional policy,
and Wales (Scotland and Northern Ireland have and not an afterthought” (p. 750).
separate correctional systems) underwent some
broad-reaching changes in response to increasing By 2015, the U.K. government had outsourced
crime levels during the 1990s. In 2004, the National probation services to private-sector companies
Probation Service and Her Majesty’s Prison Service (contracted out on a payment-by-result basis) and to
were placed under a single umbrella in the form of voluntary organizations. Public-sector probation was
the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). scaled back and focused on supervising the most
This change was justified in terms of maintaining high-risk probationers and parolees and conducting
offender supervision from prison to release in presentence investigations (Travis, 2013).
154 CORRECTIONS
with community service agencies are more important than their relationships with their
probationers/parolees (Walsh & Stohr, 2010).
Figure 6.4 illustrates the central role of the probation (or parole) officer in commu-
nity efforts to make the community safe. Officers receive all kinds of information (e.g.,
concerns, complaints) from people in the community that they need to assess and then
decide on a method of action. If the officer decides the concern is beyond their expertise,
then the officer will refer it to the appropriate agency. Officers must be skilled at network-
ing with the various agencies if they are to help provide offenders with the services they
need. This brokerage function can be best achieved with fewer offenders who are inten-
sively supervised on an officer’s caseload than with many who are infrequently seen and
haphazardly supervised.
FIGURE 6.4 Flowchart of Referrals in and out of Community Corrections

Referrals to Community Corrections Personnel
Concerns, Complaints, Offender Information
Police The Courts Attorneys Neighbors Family Friends Employers Other Agencies
Probation officer analyzes

and discusses problem with
referral sources and with
offender and decides
on course of action
Mental Health AA Drug Abuse Clinic Welfare Vocational Educational Legal
Referrals to Agencies From Community Corrections Personnel
Intermediate Sanctions
LO 6.8 Identify the various intermediate community sanctions and what they have
to offer.
As we see in Figure 6.5, there are many sentencing options that are intermediate between
Intermediate sanctions: prison and simple supervised probation. Intermediate sanctions refer to these alternative
A number of innovative alternative
sentences that may be imposed
sentences that may be imposed in place of the traditional prison-versus-probation dichot-
in place of the traditional omy. Such sanctions are considered intermediate because they are seen as more punitive
prison/probation dichotomy. than straight probation but less punitive than prison. They are a way of easing prison over-
crowding and avoiding the financial cost of prison while providing the community with
higher levels of safety through higher levels of offender supervision and surveillance than
is possible with regular probation. As we will see, however, these supposed benefits are
not always realized. We have already seen that many experienced offenders would choose
prison over some of the more strict community-based alternatives. Furthermore, because
offenders placed in some sort of alternative sanction program have recidivism rates not
much different from those of offenders released from prison within the first year or subse-
quent years, the costs of state incarceration are deferred rather than avoided (Klingele, 2013;
Marion, 2002).
The first alternative in Figure 6.5 is community detention (jail) and is addressed
elsewhere in this book. Split sentencing is simply a period of probation preceded by a
jail sentence of up to 1 year. The work release option is the first intermediate sanction
we examine. Halfway houses and electric monitoring are examined in the next chapter.
Work Release
Work release programs are designed to control offenders in a secure environment while Work release
programs: Programs designed
at the same time allowing them to maintain employment. Work release centers are usu- to control offenders in a
ally situated in or adjacent to county jails, but they can also be part of the state prison secure environment while at
system. Residents of work release centers have typically been given suspended sentences the same time allowing them
to maintain employment.
and placed on probation with a specified time to be served in work release. Work release
residents may also be parolees under certain circumstances, such as the need to closely
supervise a new parolee or a parole violator given another opportunity to remain in the
community rather than being sent back to prison. Surveillance of work release residents
is strict; they are allowed out only for the purpose of attending their employment and
are locked in the facility when not working. The advantage of such programs is that they
allow offenders to maintain ties with their families and with employers. Such programs
also save taxpayers money because offenders pay the cost of their accommodations with
their earnings.
Although offenders given work release orders are generally the least likely of all
community-based corrections offenders to be rearrested and imprisoned within 5 years
of successful completion, one study of a number of such programs found that 64% of
offenders successfully released and 71% unsuccessfully released had further arrests within
5 years (Marion, 2002), and as noted in Chapter 1, these figures are consistent from year
to year within a percentage point or two. Offenders chosen to partake in work release are
typically chosen because, although they have committed crimes deemed too serious for
regular probation, they are usually employed, although unemployed probationers can be
placed in work release contingent on their finding employment within a specified time
(Abadinsky, 2009). Being employed is incompatible with a criminal lifestyle (but, obvi-
ously from the above statistics, not completely), especially if the offender is a probationer
rather than a parolee.
Intensive Supervision Probation

Intensive supervision probation (ISP) is typically limited to offenders who probably Intensive supervision
probation (ISP): Probation
should not be in the community but have been allowed to remain either in the belief that involves more frequent
that there is a fighting chance they may be rehabilitated or in an effort to save the costs surveillance of probationers and
of incarceration. ISP officers’ caseloads are drastically reduced (typically a caseload that is typically limited to more
serious offenders in the belief
of 25) to allow them to more closely supervise, often on a daily basis with frequent that there is a fighting chance that
drug testing and surveillance. Burrell (2006) described ISP officers as “aggressive in they may be rehabilitated (or to
save the costs of incarceration).
their surveillance and punitive in their sanctions” (p. 4). Liberal critics of the tactics
of ISP officers describe their model of supervision colorfully as one of “pee ’em and
see ’em” or “tail ’em, nail ’em, and jail ’em” (Skeem & Manchak, 2008). This type of law
156 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 6.5 The Continuum of Correctional Sanctions by Restrictiveness

Source: Center for Community Corrections (1997). U.S. Department of Justice.
America spends the vast majority of its $31 billion corrections budget on one sanction: prison.
Types of Intermediate Sanctions
Less than 20% is spent on more than 20 intermediate, cost-effective sanctions.
Victim–
Least Forfeiture/ Ignition Supervised Community Home
Fines Fees Day Fines Offender
Restrictive Impoundment Interlock Probation Service
Reconciliation
Confinement
Home
Confinement Day Intensive Halfway Work Split Community Prisons Most
With
Electronic Reporting Probation House Release Sentencing Detention and Jails Restrictive
Monitoring
Tools and Techniques of Intermediate Sanctions
Least Offense-Specific
Education Programs Employment Programs Drug/Alcohol Treatment
Restrictive Intervention
Most
Urine Drug Screening Alcohol Sensors Risk/Needs Classification
Restrictive
enforcement surveillance is the kind of supervision required with high-risk offenders

(Walsh & Stohr, 2010).
A study conducted by MacKenzie and Brame (2001) hypothesized that ISP coerces
offenders into prosocial activities that in turn lead to a lower probability of their reof-
fending. Intensive supervision means that probation officers maintain more frequent
contact with probationers and intrude into their lives more than is the norm with other
probationers. Offenders on ISP are supervised at that level because they have the greatest
probability of reoffending (they are high risk) and are the most deficient in social capi-
tal (they have high needs). Higher levels of supervision allow officers to coerce offenders
into a wide variety of educational and treatment programs and other prosocial activities
designed to provide offenders with social capital. MacKenzie and Brame found that ISP
did result in offenders’ being coerced into more prosocial activities and that there was a
slight reduction in recidivism. The issue the study left unresolved is whether participating
in prosocial activities enabled offenders to acquire skills that provided them with social
capital they could put to good use or whether intensive supervision per se accounted for
their findings.
The term coercion has negative connotations for the more libertarian types among us
(“You can lead a horse to water . . .” and all that), but the great majority of people being
treated for problems such as substance abuse have very large boot prints impressed
on their backsides. Probationers and parolees, almost by definition, will not volun-
tarily place themselves in the kinds of programs and activities we would like them to be
in—they are simply not motivated in that direction. The criminal justice system must
provide that motivation via the judicious use of carrots and sticks. Reviews of the U.S.
literature (Farabee, Prendergast, & Anglin, 1998) and U.K. literature (Barton, 1999)
on coerced substance abuse treatment concluded that coerced treatment often has more
positive outcomes than voluntary treatment, probably because of the threat of criminal
justice sanctions.
Shock Probation and Parole and Boot Camps

Shock probation was initiated in Ohio during the 1970s and was designed to literally shock
offenders into desisting from crime by briefly exposing them to the horrors of prison. It was
limited to first offenders who had perhaps been unimpressed with the realities of prison life
until given a taste. Under this program, offenders were sentenced to prison and released
after (typically) 30 days and placed on probation. In some states, a person may receive
shock parole, which typically means that they have remained in prison longer than a shock
probationer and is released under the authority of the parole commission rather than to
the courts. Most of the research on this kind of shock treatment was conducted during the
1970s and 1980s and concluded that shock probationers and parolees had lower recidi-
vism rates than incarcerated offenders not released under shock conditions (Vito, Allen, &
Farmer, 1981). This should not be surprising, however, given the fact that those selected for
shock probation or parole were either first offenders or repeaters who had not committed
very serious crimes.
When we hear of shock incarceration today, it is typically incarceration in a
so-called boot camp. Correctional boot camps are facilities modeled after military Correctional boot camps:
Facilities modeled after military
boot camps. Normally only relatively young and nonviolent offenders are sent to cor-
boot camps where young and
rectional boot camps. They are usually there for short periods (90–180 days) and are nonviolent offenders are subjected
subjected to military-style discipline and physical and educational programs. Boot to military-style discipline and
physical and educational programs.
camps are the most unpopular sentencing alternative with offenders. In May et al.’s
(2005) analysis of “exchange rates,” discussed earlier, offenders who had served time
in prison would be willing to spend an average of only 4.65 months in boot camp to
avoid 12 months in prison. Interestingly, judges and probation and parole officers also
agree that boot camp is more punitive than prison, estimating that their charges would
be willing to serve only 6.19 and 6.05 months, respectively, to avoid 12 months in prison
(Moore, May, & Wood, 2008).
The idea of boot camps for young adult offenders was once popular among the general
public as well as among a considerable number of correctional personnel and criminal jus-
tice academics. Boot camps conjured up the movie image of a surly, slouching, and scruffy
youth forced into the Army who 2 years later proudly marched back into the old neighbor-
hood with a crew cut, sparklingly clean and properly motivated and disciplined. Yes, the drill
158 CORRECTIONS
sergeant with righteous fire and brimstone

would do what the family and social work–
tainted juvenile probation officers could
never do.
Such magical transformations rarely
happen in real life. The Army merely pro-
vided many such youths with new oppor-
tunities to offend, and they spent much of
ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Stock Photo
their time either avoiding the MPs (mili-

tary police) or lodged in the brig while
awaiting their dishonorable discharges.
Bottcher and Ezell’s (2005) evaluation
of offenders sent to correctional boot
camp in California revealed the same
sorry outcome. Specifically, they found
no significant differences between their
Photo 6.2 Boot camps feature no-nonsense discipline and hard work modeled on military
boot camps. experimental group (boot campers) and a
control group of similar offenders not sent
to boot camp in terms of either property or violent crime reoffending. In other words,
boot camps have joined the woeful list of correctional programs that have proved to
be ineffective.
Victim–Offender Reconciliation Programs

Victim–offender reconciliation Victim–offender reconciliation programs (VORPs) are programs designed to bring
programs (VORPs): Programs
designed to bring offenders
offenders and their victims together in an attempt to reconcile (“make right”) the wrongs
and their victims together in an offenders have caused and are an integral component of the restorative justice philosophy.
attempt to reconcile the wrongs This philosophy differs from models (retributive, rehabilitative, etc.) that are offender driven
offenders have caused.
(what do we do with the offender?) in that it considers the offender, the victim, and the com-
Restorative justice:
A system of justice that gives munity as partners in restoring the situation to its previctimization status. Restorative justice
approximately equal weight to has been defined as “every action that is primarily oriented toward justice by repairing the
community protection, offender
accountability, and the offender.
harm that has been caused by the crime . . . [and] usually means a face-to-face confronta-
tion between victim and perpetrator, where a mutually agreeable restorative solution is pro-
Balanced approach:
A three-pronged goal of the posed and agreed upon” (Champion, 2005, p. 154). Restorative justice is often referred to as
juvenile justice system: (a) to a balanced approach in that it gives approximately equal weight to community protection,
protect the community, (b) to hold
delinquent youths accountable, offender accountability, and offender competency.
and (c) to provide treatment Many crime victims are seeking fairness, justice, and restitution as defined by them as
and positive role models.
opposed to revenge and punishment. Central to the VORP process is the bringing together
of victim and offender in face-to-face meetings mediated by a person trained in mediation
theory and practice (Walsh & Stohr, 2010). Meetings are voluntary for both offender and
victim and are designed to iron out ways the offender can make amends for the hurt and
damage caused to the victim.
Victims participating in VORPs gain the opportunity to make offenders aware of their
feelings of personal violation and loss and to lay out their proposals for how offenders can
restore the situation. Offenders are afforded the opportunity to see firsthand the pain they
have caused their victims and perhaps even to express remorse. The mediator assists the
parties in developing a contract agreeable to both. The mediator monitors the terms of the
contract and may schedule further face-to-face meetings.
VORPs are used most often in the juvenile system but are rarely used for violent crimes
in either juvenile or adult systems. Where they are used, about 60% of victims invited to
participate actually become involved, and a high percentage (95% or more) of VORPs
In Focus 6.1
C O M M U N IT Y S U PE RV I S I O N A N D R E C I D I V I S M
It is an article of faith among police officers that combined accounted for just over 22% of the
it is only a matter of time before a probationer or total arrests. However, 40% of arrestees not under
parolee commits another crime, but little is known supervision at the time had histories of criminal
about the probability of a person under community justice supervision. The 147,700 people under
supervision being arrested versus someone not supervision represented about 1% of the combined
under supervision being arrested. An ambitious population of more than 14 million people residing
effort to find out was conducted by the Council of in those counties. Thus, factoring out characteristics
State Governments Justice Center (2013) on the of individuals not likely to be arrested—such as
basis of adult arrests occurring in four California the very young and the very old—probationers and
jurisdictions (Los Angeles County, San Bernardino parolees are at the very least 10 times more likely to
County, Sacramento County, and San Francisco be arrested than individuals in general. The crimes
County) from 2008 to 2011. The accompanying for which probationers and parolees were most
figure shows that probationers and parolees likely to be arrested were drug related.
FIGURE 6.6 Comparing Probationer and Parolee Arrests With Arrests of People Not Under

Supervision in Four California Counties, January 2008 to June 2011
Source: Council of State Governments Justice Center (2013).
Total Adult Arrests
= Probationers
= Parolees
= Not on Supervision
result in signed contracts (Coates, 1990). A more recent study found that about 90% of
victim–offender sessions result in restitution agreement contracts, with 80% to 90%
completed satisfactorily, and that offenders who participated in victim–offender media-
tion paid their victims about 95% more than what was paid to victims who went through
more traditional court processes (Hansen & Umbreit, 2018). Umbreit (1994) summed up
the various satisfactions reported by victims who participated in VORPs:
1. Meeting offenders helped reduce their fear of being revictimized.

2. They appreciated the opportunity to tell offenders how they felt.
160 CORRECTIONS
3. Being personally involved in the justice process was satisfying to them.

4. They gained insight into the crime and into the offender’s situation.
5. They received restitution.
VORPs do not suit all victims, especially those who feel that the wrong done to them
cannot so easily be “put right” and who want the offender punished (Olson & Dzur, 2004).
In addition, the value of VORPs for the prevention of further offending has yet to be
properly assessed.
SUMMARY
LO 6.1 Explain the origins and purpose of probation. their own personalities. Some emphasize the law
enforcement role, some emphasize the social worker
• Community-based corrections is a way of attempting
role, and others emphasize one or the other when the
to control the behavior of criminal offenders while
occasion arises. The latter supervision style, dubbed the
keeping them in the community. Although conditional
hybrid style, consistently gets the best results.
release (judicial reprieve) was practiced in ancient times
in common law, probation wasn’t really established until
LO 6.5 Explain the purpose of graduated sanctions for
the 20th century. Although often considered too lenient,
technical violations of probation.
community corrections benefits the public in many
ways. Probation helps offenders in many ways, and what • For both cost-cutting and consistency concerns, many
helps offenders automatically helps the communities in probation departments have initiated guidelines to
which they live. determine officers’ responses to technical violations.
These guidelines graduate the severity of the sanctions
LO 6.2 Describe the demographics and characteristics of imposed against offenders in accordance with the
offenders on probation. severity of their violations.
• More men than women are placed on probation. The
largest majority are white. The exit rate is roughly 50%. LO 6.6 Identify sources of stress commonly encountered
Of those who exit probation, about 66% successfully related to the job duties of a probation officer.
completed probation, 15% were incarcerated, 2% • Because of the dangers inherent in the job and officer
absconded, and 17% were categorized as other. perceptions of poor salaries, excessive paperwork, and
large caseloads, among other things, probation officer
LO 6.3 Describe the advantages of probation over stress is a major concern. However, the job can be
incarceration for some offenders and for community interesting and exciting, and the median salary is about
offenders. $10,000 more than the median salary of all occupations
• There are many reasons to recommend probation over requiring a BA or a BS in a social science.
prison for many offenders, including saving the high
cost of incarceration, allowing offenders to maintain LO 6.7 Describe the benefits of engaging the community
family contacts and employment, and preventing them in offender rehabilitation.
from becoming more embedded in a criminal lifestyle. • Engaging the community in the task of rehabilitating
However, there are many offenders who must be criminals should be a major concern of community
incarcerated for the safety of the community. supervision agencies. Engaging the community
involves officers’ paying close attention to concerns and
LO 6.4 Analyze the probation officer role and models of
complaints about offenders on their caseloads flowing
probation supervision.
in to them and being aware of the agencies outside their
• Probation officers are both law enforcement officers departments that offer services that may help offenders.
and social workers. They follow a supervision style It also means adopting effective volunteer probation
consistent with their department’s philosophy and officers’ programs within their departments.
LO 6.8 Identify the various intermediate community however, tend to recidivate at rates not significantly
sanctions and what they have to offer. different from those of parolees.
• Intermediate sanctions are considered to be more • Victim–offender reconciliation programs are a fairly
punitive than regular probation but less punitive recent addition to community corrections. They
than prison, although experienced criminals do not consider the victim, the offender, and the community
necessarily share that view. Some of these programs, as equal partners in returning the situation to its
particularly work release, show positive results, previctimization status. This idea of restorative justice
although this may be more a function of the kinds of is mostly used with juvenile offenders and minor adult
offenders placed in them rather than the programs offenders.
themselves. Most participants in these programs,
KEY TERMS
Balanced approach 158 Intermediate sanctions 154 Victim–offender reconciliation
Community corrections 143 Judicial reprieve 140 programs (VORPs) 158
Correctional boot camps 157 National Probation Act of 1925 141 Work release programs 155
Intensive supervision Probation 140
probation (ISP) 155 Restorative justice 158
1. Looking at all the pros and cons of community-based 4. Boot camps have full and total control of offenders
corrections, do you think probation is too lenient for for up to 6 months, so why are they not able to change
felony offenders? If so, what should we do with them? offenders’ attitudes and behaviors?
2. In your opinion, what is the single biggest benefit 5. Do you think police officers should be given the same
of probation for the community and its single powers of search and seizure as probation and parole
greatest cost? officers for the purposes of controlling the activities of
probationers and parolees?
3. Should probation and parole officers carry guns if they
are supposed to be social workers as well as cops?
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
7 Prisons and the
Correctional Client

Test your current knowledge of prisons by answering the following Upon completion of this chapter, the reader should
questions. Check your answers on page 387 after reading the be able to:
chapter.
7.1 Describe the current state of the prison
1. The incarceration rate in the United States remains the
highest in the world. (True or false?) system and the factors that affect it.
2. Most inmates serve out their sentences in maximum- 7.2 Identify the different types of prisons and
security prisons. (True or false?) their classifications.
3. What factors describe a medium-security prison? 7.3 Discuss the cost/benefit analysis of the
How is it similar to and different from maximum- and
minimum-security prisons?
value of prison.
4. What are prisonization and importation in the prison 7.4 Explain what prisonization, mortification,
context? importation, pains of imprisonment, and
5. What are gangs, and what role do they play in the prison mature coping are and how they influence
subculture? inmate behavior.
6. Why does violence exist in prisons? 7.5 Explain what prison gangs are and why
7. Transgender inmates, particularly in men’s prisons, are they exist in prisons.
more likely to be sexually assaulted than any other group of
inmates. (True or false?) 7.6 Identify the reasons why violence, riots,
and sexual assaults occur in prisons and
be familiar with some strategies for their
reduction.
7.7 State why care for aging inmates, physically ill
inmates, and inmates with mental illnesses
in prisons has become such an issue.
7.8 Recognize the need to respect the needs
of LGBTQ+ inmates.
7.9 Identify the challenges faced in prisons
housing those seeking asylum.
KITCHEN SUPERVISOR SEXUALLY ABUSES TWO MALE INMATES
Carl David Evans, the kitchen supervisor in a federal prison in Phoenix, Arizona, sexually
abused two male inmates whom he supervised (“Kitchen Supervisor Gets Prison Time,”
2014). He would take each inmate into a food storage area of the kitchen and give him a
package of cigarettes (which in turn could be sold for as much as $150 to other inmates) in
exchange for sex. After the Federal Bureau of Investigation learned of the abuse of one of
these inmates, they placed a video camera in the storage area and caught Evans and the
inmates having sex on camera.
Evans pleaded guilty to five of the federal charges against him in February 2013. He was
sentenced to 36 months in prison, 3 years on supervised release, and a $5,000 fine
(“Kitchen Supervisor Gets Prison Time,” 2014, p. 20).
163
164 CORRECTIONS
Introduction: The State of Prisons

LO 7.1 Describe the current state of the prison system and the factors that affect it.
It has become axiomatic to say that correctional programs and institutions are overcrowded,
underfunded, and unfocused these days. For the better part of 40 years, the drug war has
raged on, mandatory sentencing has had its effect, and probation and parole caseloads and
incarceration rates have spiraled out of control. As a consequence, though spending on
corrections had until recently steadily and steeply climbed, it was and largely still is nearly
impossible for most states and localities to meet the needs for programs, staff, and institu-
tions. So they do not. As a consequence, the corrections experience for staff and offenders
continues to be shaped by shortages.
However, in the past 10 years, there has been a reconsideration of the drug war: At
the time of this writing (spring 2020), recreational marijuana use has been legalized in 11
states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada,
Oregon, Vermont, and Washington) and the District of Columbia, and medical mari-
juana use has been legalized in several others. It is likely that many more states will move
to legalize marijuana in the near future. As discussed in other chapters in this book, a few
years ago Congress reduced the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine,
and some states have followed suit. The effect of these two changes—marijuana legaliza-
tion and reduced sentences for crack cocaine—has been to reduce correctional populations.
In addition, several states have rescinded their mandatory sentences for drugs and other
crimes (e.g., “three strikes and you’re out” laws), which is also limiting time spent in pris-
ons (Garland et al., 2014). The focus on correctional treatment, a move away from retribu-
tion and deterrence as sole justifications for prisons and other forms of corrections, has also
reduced populations (some things do work for some people, and often treatment works best
in the community). Finally, the cost of corrections for states and localities, particularly after
the recession of 2007 hit, has caused those governmental units to shutter prisons and jails
and to rethink the use of prisons, the most expensive correctional option (Cullen, Jonson, &
Stohr, 2014). The collective effect of these changes in law and policy has been decarceration
in several states and localities.
As has been discussed already in this text, it has always been somewhat true that the cor-
rections experience has tended to be shaped by shortages. With the exception of the recent
past, if it has been built (or in the case of
probation and parole, offered) they will
come—because, as with all corrections sen-
tences, they are forced to. Here are cases in
point: Almost immediately after the first
American prisons were built, the Walnut
Street Jail (1790), the Auburn Prison
(1819), the Western Pennsylvania Prison
(1826), and the Eastern Pennsylvania
Prison (1829) were full, and within a few
years, they had been expanded or new pris-
ons were under construction.
To say that crowding and corrections
AP Photo/Brynn
have always been linked, of course, is not

to dismiss the negative effects of overfill-
ing institutions. Certainly, despite some
decarceration we are seeing across the
Photo 7.1 A crowded dormitory at the Elmore Correctional Facility in Elmore, Alabama.
Crowding makes the lives of inmates much harder, while it makes their supervision by staff United States, the combined incarcer-
more complicated and results in prisons that are much more dangerous. ation rate for jails and prisons remains
CHAPTER 7 Prisons and the Correctional Client 165
the highest in the westernized world at 657 per 100,000 U.S. residents as of 2018 (prisons
separately had a rate of 431) (Carson, 2020, p. 1; Zeng, 2020, p. 1). For comparison, this rate
was 760 in 2007 and 2008 and is currently the lowest it has been since 1996 (Carson, 2020,
p. 1). Despite these decreases, jails remain at 80% of capacity, and in 12 states and the Federal
Bureau of Prisons, prisons exceeded their rated capacity (Carson, 2020, p. 25; Zeng, 2020,
p. 1). Even with some excess space in most prisons and jails, this does not mean there is always
room for flexibility in classification, especially in those facilities with 90% plus of their beds
filled (i.e., Nebraska at 130%, Iowa at 125%, New Mexico at 115%, the Bureau of Prisons at
112%, Idaho at 111%, Colorado at 109%, and Washington at 104%; Carson, 2020, p. 25).
In this chapter, we discuss the structure and operation of prisons. The inmate subculture
that flourishes in prisons and the violence and gangs that trouble them will also be reviewed.
The nature of the correctional experience for individuals incarcerated in prisons is some-
what different from what those in jails or community corrections encounter, and those
differences are explored here.
Prison Organizations
LO 7.2 Identify the different types of prisons and their classifications.
Inmates, once entered into the prison system, are reviewed and classified for placement in
a facility. Facilities range in type on the basis of security level and the demographics of the
offenders housed there.
Classification
As inmates enter the prison system from the courts, they are usually assessed at a classifica-
tion or reception facility on the basis of their crimes, criminal histories, escape risk, behav-
ioral issues (if any), and health and programming needs. Women and children are classified
in separate facilities from men. This assessment includes the review of materials related
to the inmate by reception center personnel as well as tests and observation of the inmate
regarding their dangerousness and amenability to treatment. After being assessed by prison
personnel for a period of weeks or months, inmates are sent to the prison the personnel
believe is the best fit, based first on security needs, then on space available, and finally on
the inmates’ needs. Inmates generally have no control over which prisons they are sent to.
Once they have done some time, inmates may request that they be moved to facilities that
are closer to their family and friends, but such considerations are not a priority for classifi-
cation and are more an option for men, as the facilities available for transfer for women and
juveniles are much more limited because there are fewer of them.
Prison Types and Levels

Prisons were and are used for long-term and convicted offenders who are to be simultane- Prisons: Correctional facilities
ously punished (experience retribution), deterred, and reformed (rehabilitated) while being that have a philosophy of
penitence (hence penitentiary)
isolated (incapacitated) from the community and, for most, reintegrated back into that com- and that were created as a grand
munity. As the number of prisons has expanded across the United States, their diversity has reform, as they represented,
in theory at least, a major
increased. Rather than just all-purpose maximum- or medium-security prisons, as was the improvement over the brutality of
norm when prisons were first built, there are state and federal prisons with myriad security punishment that characterized
early Western, English, and
levels, including supermaximum, maximum, medium, and minimum. There are prisons American law and practice.
for men, for women, for men and women, for children, and for military personnel. Prisons
come in the form of regular confinement facilities but also as prison farms, prison hospitals,
boot camps, reception centers, community corrections facilities (sometimes known as work
release or day reporting facilities), and others (Stephan, 2008).
166 CORRECTIONS
As indicated in Figure 7.1, as of 2005 (the latest state and federal correctional facilities
census data publication available at the time of writing), there were 1,821 state and federal
prisons in the United States—1,406 of which were public and 415 of which were under pri-
vate contract with either a state or the federal government (Stephan, 2008, p. 2). Most pris-
ons were operated by or under contract with a state (1,719) rather than at the federal level
(102). Although only about one fifth of the prisons in the United States are designated as
maximum security, because of their size they hold about one third of the inmates incarcer-
ated in this country (Stephan, 2008, pp. 2, 4). In contrast, medium-security prisons consti-
tute about one fourth of prisons but hold two fifths of inmates—again, perhaps because of
their relatively large size compared with minimum-security prisons, which constitute about
half of all prisons but hold only about one fifth of inmates (Stephan, 2008, p. 4). These data
do indicate that the popular and academic depictions of maximum-security prisons as the
norm in America are incorrect. Most prisons in the United States are of the medium- or
minimum-security type, rather than maximum, and most inmates (about three fifths) are
held in them.
FIGURE 7.1 State and Federal Correctional Facilities

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics (2008). Most recent data available.
2,000
1,821
1,800
1,600
1,406
1,400
Number of Prisons
1,200
969
1,000
800
600 480
415 372
400
200
0
Total Public Private Maximum Medium Minimum
Security Security Security
SUPERMAX PRISONS
When states were first building prisons, they tended to be combinations of maximum- and
Supermax prisons: medium-security types (think industrial and Big House prisons). The exterior of such pris-
High-security prisons, both
internally and externally, that
ons was very secure, but internally inmates were given some, though restricted, freedom
hold those who are violent or to move about and were often expected to do so for work, dining, and related purposes.
disruptive in other prisons in the Supermax prisons (the slang term for supermaximum-security prisons) developed later,
state or federal system. Inmates
are confined to their windowless and arguably the first of these was at the federal level with the Alcatraz Prison, which was
cells 24 hours a day, except for built in 1934 to hold the most notorious gangsters of its era. Others argue the first full-
showers three times a week (during
which they are restrained) and fledged supermaxes did not develop until the 1980s and were part of the “get tough on
solitary exercise time a couple crime” movement that promoted more severe punishment (e.g., see Mears, 2013). Today,
of times a week. Prisoners eat
in their cells, and visiting and
supermax prisons at the federal and state levels are not all operated exactly the same way,
programming are very limited. though certain characteristics do appear to be common: Inmates are confined to their
windowless cells 23 hours a day, except for

showers three times a week (during which
they are restrained) and solo exercise time
a couple of times a week. They eat in their
cells, and often the meal is nutraloaf (a
bland but nutritious food that requires no
utensils). If any limited rehabilitation is
provided, the treatment personnel stand
outside the cell and talk to the inmate
within, and all physical contact is pro-
hibited unless inmates are in restraints
(Pizarro & Narag, 2008). Moreover, their
AP Photo/Brennan
confinement is usually lengthy, not for
a day or a week or even a month but for a
year or more (Mears, 2013).
Alcatraz closed in 1963, and other fed-
eral supermaxes in Marion, Illinois (which Photo 7.2 The supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, is considered a possible site for
housing Guantanamo detainees in the future.
opened in 1963 to take some Alcatraz
inmates), and later Florence, Colorado
(1994), took its place. States began building supermaxes in earnest in the 1980s and 1990s
in reaction to the felt need to control more dangerous and disruptive inmates and to “get
tough” with them (Mears, 2008, 2013; Olivero & Roberts, 1987; Richards, 2008). It is esti-
mated that a total of 44 states, holding some 25,000 inmates, have some form of a supermax
(Mears, 2013, p. 684), though definitions of what a supermax is vary across the states (Naday,
Freilich, & Mellow, 2008). As with Alcatraz, these supermax prisons at the federal and state
levels are supposed to hold the most dangerous offenders, violent gang members, those who
cannot behave well in lower security prisons, and those who pose an escape risk.
Because of the heightened security requirements, incarceration in a supermax is
expensive at more than $60,000 per year to incarcerate one man, compared with $15,000
(Alabama) to $70,000 (New York) in lower security prisons in 2015 (McCleland, 2012;
Richards, 2008, p. 18; Mai & Subramanian, 2017, p. 1). In addition, because of the materi-
als used in their construction, they are at least 2 to 3 times more expensive to build than a
“regular” prison (Mears, 2008). The research indicates that wardens believe the presence
of a supermax in a prison system deters violent offenders, increases order and control, and
reduces assaults on staff in the other prisons in that system, not just in the supermax itself
(Pizarro & Narag, 2008). Several states (e.g., Texas, Colorado, and California) have claimed
that violence decreased in their systems once they opened supermax facilities. Sundt,
Castellano, and Briggs (2008) reported that inmate assaults on staff decreased in Illinois
once the supermax was opened in that state, though there was no effect for inmate assaults
on inmates.
Critics and some researchers claim that inmates’ mental health is impaired after a stay
in a supermax because of the sensory deprivation, and there is some evidence to support
this assertion (Mears, 2013). There is also evidence that supermaxes are sometimes used
to incarcerate those who either have mental illnesses or have committed more-minor
infractions (Mears, 2008; O’Keefe, 2008). The effect of incarcerating less serious or men-
tally impaired offenders in a supermax, as King, Steiner, and Breach (2008) noted, can be
a self-fulfilling prophecy of exacerbating inmate mental and behavioral problems through
such secure and severe confinement (see the story of the inmate held in the Doña Ana
County, New Mexico, jail that appears at the beginning of Chapter 5). On the other hand,
some researchers have found evidence that such a stay had a calming effect on inmates,
allowing them to reflect on their wrongs and how they might change their behavior
(e.g., see Ward & Kassebaum, 2009). Pizarro and Narag (2008) noted, however, that the
168 CORRECTIONS
evidence is weak on both sides of this argument, and further and more rigorous research
is merited before we will know the true effect of supermaxes on inmates or on prison
systems. In the meantime, some of these states, such as Colorado and Illinois, have reduced
their supermax prison populations or closed these prisons altogether because the cost to run
them is so prohibitive and because it is no longer believed that they represent the best way to
handle inmates (McCleland, 2012).
Related research on the effects of isolation has occurred on segregation units, located
primarily in both maximum-security and medium-security prisons. In a recent review of
2 years of data on the effects of segregation, Campagna and his colleagues (2019) found that
the length of placement in disciplinary segregation and incarceration did serve to further
harm mental health. This research confirms the findings of others that disciplinary segrega-
tion, whether it be in a specialized unit (see, e.g., Miller & Young, 2006) or in a whole prison,
especially when lengthy, has the potential for harming the mental health of its inhabitants
(Metzner & Fellner, 2010).
MAXIMUMS
State and federal and military laws, traditions, and practices differ on how each type of prison
operates, but some generalizations about how prisons with different security levels function
are usually accurate. Those prisons with the greatest internal and external security controls
Maximum-security prisons: are the supermaximums, and next in security are the maximum-security prisons. Inmates in
These facilities have high external
and internal security. Maximum-
supermaxes are often locked up all day, save for a shower or recreation time outside their cells,
security prisons may have the and they are ideally housed in single cells deprived of other sensory stimulation. Regular max-
same exterior security controls imum-security facilities also tend to confine inmates in cells for most of the day and deprive
as supermaxes, but they inside
inmates are not locked down them of stimulation, but not as much as supermaxes. Visits and contact with the outside are
as much, though the treatment very restricted. The maximum and supermax exterior security consists of some combination
and work programming are
much more constricted than of layers of razor wire, walls, lights, cameras, armed guards, and attack dogs on patrol.
in medium-security prisons. Inmates tend to be those who have committed very serious offenses or those who have
problems adhering to the rules in prisons; death rows, in states with capital punishment, are
usually located in maximum-security prisons.
As the states that have supermax facilities usually have only one, maximum-security
prisons are responsible for holding most of the serious offenders and those who could not
handle themselves in the relatively freer environment of medium- and minimum-security
prisons. The latter type of inmate might be able to qualify for a medium- or minimum-secu-
rity classification but instead is in maximum security because the inmate is unable to control
their behavior.
In many states where the death penalty is legal, death rows are located at maximum-se-
curity prisons. Death rows are usually wholly separate areas of prisons, sometimes in dif-
ferent buildings, and often have their own separate designated staff and procedures. (For a
more involved discussion of the death penalty, see Chapter 13.)
Maximum-security prisons may have the same exterior security controls as supermaxes,
but inside inmates are not locked down as much, though the treatment and work program-
ming are much more constricted than in medium-security prisons. Maximum-security
inmates may or may not be double-bunked, depending on the crowding in the institution,
and unless under some special classification, they have some access to the yard (a large gath-
ering area for inmates), the cafeteria, and the chapel. Visiting and contact with the outside
Medium-security prisons: Hold world are less restricted than in the supermax, and inmates are usually not in some kind of
a mix of people in terms of crime restraint when it occurs.
categories but who program well.
They offer high external security, but
inmates are able to move around MEDIUMS
more freely within the “walls.” In medium-security prisons, the exterior security can be as tight as it is for supermax
Some are built like a college
campus, with several buildings
and maximum-security prisons, but internally the inmate has many more opportuni-
devoted to distinct purposes. ties to attend school, treatment, and religious programming and to work in any number of
capacities. There is also greater diversity

in rooming options, from dormitories
to single cells, with the preferred single
or double cells used as a carrot to entice
better behavior. Visiting and contact with
the outside world are less restricted. Some
medium-security inmates may even be
allowed to leave the institution for work-
related deliveries or on furloughs, though
Thinkstock Images/Comstock
this is much more common in minimum-
security prisons.
Medium-security prisons hold a mix
of people in terms of crime categories,
all the way from the convicted murderer
doing life, but who programs well, down
to the lowly or drug user who is awaiting
transfer to a lower security prison or who Photo 7.3 Inmates in the yard at Mule Creek State Penitentiary in California. Prison yards
provide a modicum of freedom for inmates but can be dangerous because the inmate-to-
is engaged in the substance abuse program- officer ratio is so high.
ming the prison affords. Medium-security
prisons are more likely to have a college
campus–type interior, with several buildings devoted to distinct purposes. There might be
a separate cafeteria building, a separate programming and treatment building, a separate
gym and recreation building, and separate work and housing buildings. Medium-security
prisons are heavily engaged in industrial work such as building furniture, making clothing,
and printing license plates for the state. In some cases and states, the goods produced in the
prison are sold on the open market.
MINIMUMS
Minimum-security prisons have a much more relaxed exterior security; some do not Minimum-security prisons:
Created for lower level felony
even have a wall or a fence. Inmates are provided with far more programming both inside offenders and those who are
the institution and outside in the community. The housing options are often as diverse as in “short timers,” or people who
medium-security prisons, and inmates can usually roam the facility much more freely, avail- are relatively close to a release
date. Inmates are not expected
ing themselves of programming, recreation, the yard, the chapel, and the cafeteria at pre- to pose escape or behavioral
scribed times. With the recognition that inmates in a minimum-security prison will often problems. Ability and willingness
to work are often prerequisites for
be free within a year or two, visiting options are more liberalized to make the transition from classification to this type of facility.
prison to the community smoother. Work is promoted, and inmates are often encouraged
(or, in the case of work release facilities with a minimum security classification, expected) to
work in the community.
Inmates confined to minimum-security prisons are usually “short timers,” or people
who are relatively close to a release date. These could be people who have been classified
directly to this prison or work release facility because they received sentences of a year or two
and because they are not expected to pose an escape risk or behavioral problems. Whether
they can work might also be a consideration in classification, as work is often a central ele-
ment of these prisons. Other inmates who might do time in a minimum-security prison or
work release facility are more serious offenders who have moved through, or “down,” the
other classification levels and are relatively close to their release. Minimum-security prisons
thus also hold the most serious offenders, including murderers, rapists, and child molesters,
along with those convicted of burglary and substance abuse and trafficking offenses. The
difference is that in minimum-security prisons, all such offenders, no matter their offenses,
are believed to pose a low risk for behavioral problems and to be in need of preparation for
their imminent release.
170 CORRECTIONS
Prison Value?
LO 7.3 Discuss the cost/benefit analysis of the value of prison.
Placing someone in prison is a very expensive decision, costing states and the federal gov-
ernment on average well over $30,000 (California spends more than $75,000) per year per
adult male inmate and more than double that for women and children (Bureau of Justice
Statistics [BJS], 2011; Mai & Subramanian, 2017; Thompson, 2017). In the past, this cost was
not always considered by policymakers intent on locking up those who had offended even in
relatively minor ways. As discussed in preceding chapters, prisons and other means of “cor-
recting” were created to achieve retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and
reintegration. Note that Cullen and Jonson (2012, pp. 10–12) would add restorative justice,
or “reducing harm” for the victim, the community, and the offender, and early intervention,
or “saving children,” to this list of theoretical goals for correctional entities.
Whether retribution is achieved by imprisonment and, if so, how much imprisonment
is needed to achieve it are philosophical and ultimately subjective matters left to judges and
juries and social commentators. Achieving incapacitation is a much more tangible objective,
however. When a person is removed and kept away from a community, as they are when
incarcerated in a jail or prison or to a lesser extent when the individual’s movements are
restricted on probation or parole, it is obvious that incapacitation has been achieved. There
is even evidence that incapacitation is related to reduced criminality in the range of three to
six crimes per year for some criminals (Owens, 2009; Sweeten & Apel, 2007).
However, measuring whether corrections has had the effect of deterring or rehabilitating
is not always obvious or easy to do. We do know that imprisonment for more than a year
has not been consistently linked to reduced crime, and thus imprisonment does not appear
to deter. Instead, it may prove criminogenic in that it exposes the incarcerated to deviant
attitudes and beliefs and stigmatizes the individual, thus limiting their future employment
and social opportunities (Nagin, Cullen, & Jonson, 2009). However, as will be discussed in
Chapter 14, on programming and treatment, there is solid evidence that when instituted
correctly, some treatment programs, even in prison, can reduce recidivism. Therefore, any
positive “value” of imprisoning must be assessed on the basis of what is a desirable outcome,
the research on whether this outcome can be achieved in a prison, and the financial cost of
achieving that outcome.
Attributes of a Prison
That Shape the Experience
LO 7.4 Explain what prisonization, mortification, importation, pains of imprisonment, and
mature coping are and how they influence inmate behavior.
Total Institutions, Mortification,

Importation, and Prisonization
Once classified to a given prison, whether maximum or otherwise, the inmate experience is
shaped by several factors, including the operation of the prison. One central component of
that operation is the “totality” of the organization.
As will also be discussed in Chapter 8 in reference to staff, Erving Goffman (1961)
coined the term total institution to describe the nature of mental hospitals—and also
prisons—in the United States in the 1950s. For a year he served as a staff member (ath-
letic director’s assistant) and did ethnographic research in a federal mental health hospital
in Washington, D.C. While avoiding sociable contact with staff, he immersed himself in
the inmate world as much as he could without being admitted to the hospital, and what he
observed allowed him to learn a great deal about that kind of institution and about roles for
staff and inmates.
Goffman (1961) defined a total institution as “a place of residence and work where a Total institution: “A place
large number of like-situated individuals, cut off from the wider society for an apprecia- of residence and work where
a large number of like-situated
ble period of time, together lead an enclosed, formally administered round of life” (p. xiii). individuals, cut off from the wider
Another key component of this total institution is the defined social strata, particularly as society for an appreciable period
of time, together lead an enclosed,
they involves the inmates and the staff (Goffman, 1961, p. 7). Specifically, there are formal formally administered round of
prohibitions against even minor social interactions between these two groups in a total insti- life” (Goffman, 1961, p. 6).
tution, and all of the formal power resides with one group (the staff) over the other group
(the inmates).
This definition is directly applicable to prisons even today, though it more aptly
described both prisons and jails of the past. For prison inmates, the institution is where
they live and often work with people who are like themselves not only in terms of criminal
involvement but also largely in terms of their social class and other background characteris-
tics. Although there is some ability to visit with others, the mode and manner of this contact
with the outside world are quite limited in prisons and also dependent on the security status
of the institution (e.g., whether it is a work release facility or a maximum-security prison).
The formal rules of prisons also closely control inmate behavior and movement. As was
already mentioned, another key formal attribute of total institutions governs interactions
between staff and inmates. Simply put, staff are to restrict such interactions to business only
and are to parcel out information only as absolutely necessary. As Goffman (1961) put it,
“Social mobility between the two strata is grossly restricted; social distance is typically great
and often formally prescribed” (p. 7).
How do these aspects of total institutions affect the lives of inmates? In the 1950s,
Goffman (1961) believed that total institutions had the effect of debilitating their inmates.
As he saw it, upon entrance into the institution, the inmate may become mortified, or suffer
from the loss of the many roles they occupied in the wider world (known as mortification; Mortification: Process that
occurs as inmates enter a prison
see also Sykes, 1958). Instead, only the role of “inmate” is available, a role that is formally and suffer from the loss of the
powerless and dependent. many roles they occupied in the
In addition, though each person entering a prison imports aspects of their own culture wider world (Goffman, 1961; Sykes,
1958). Only the role of inmate is
from the outside (known as importation), to some extent inmates are likely to experience available—a role that is formally
prisonization, whereby they adopt the inmate subculture of the institution (Carroll, 1974, powerless and dependent.
1982; Clemmer, 1940/2001). Couple this mortification and subsequent role displacement Importation: Occurs when
with the prisonization into the contingent inmate subculture and you have the potential for inmates bring aspects of the
larger culture into the prison.
the new inmate to experience a life in turmoil while they adjust as well as some difficulty
Prisonization: Adoption of the
when reentering the community. inmate subculture by inmates.
Pains of Imprisonment
Part and parcel of this inmate world are what Gresham Sykes (1958), on the basis of his
research in a New Jersey maximum-security prison, described as the pains of imprison- Pains of imprisonment:
ment. Such pains include “the deprivation of liberty, the deprivation of goods and services, Perils described by Sykes (1958)
as the “deprivation of liberty,
the deprivation of heterosexual relationships, the deprivation of autonomy, and the depri- the deprivation of goods and
vation of security” (p. 63). Inmates in a prison (or jail) are not free to leave or even to move services, the deprivation of
heterosexual relationships, the
about the institution without the permission of their keepers (staff). But for Sykes, the worst deprivation of autonomy, and the
of the liberty restrictions meant that inmates were cut off, for the most part, from family and deprivation of security” (p. 63).
friends. They cannot call whomever they like or visit with whom they want when they wish
to do so. As many inmates are functionally illiterate and poor, they also have difficulty writ-
ing letters and affording the postage. This deprivation of contact with family members, and
particularly their children, is a severe pain that many inmates experience when, as an artifact
172 CORRECTIONS
of their incarceration, they are unable to have regular interactions with their own children or
to have any control over their children’s environment on the outside (see more about this in
Chapter 10 on gender; also see Gray, Mays, & Stohr, 1995; Stohr & Mays, 1993).
As to the pain related to goods and services, inmates are required to surrender all of
their property upon entrance into the prison system and, in most cases, they cannot have
it back until they leave. The property they are allowed to legally possess is very limited and
monitored closely by staff. Relatedly, they cannot choose who will cut their hair or where
they will get their nails done, nor can they choose their doctors or schedule visits. As Sykes
(1958) noted—and this is perhaps even truer today in many prisons because of court inter-
vention—most inmates’ basic needs for food, shelter, space, and health care are met, yet it is
the perception of deprivation in this material society that matters, too.
In light of the greater knowledge we have regarding the sexual orientation of human
populations today as opposed to 60 years ago, we might amend Sykes’s (1958) “deprivation
of heterosexual relations” to a more generalized deprivation of sexual relations. An inmate’s
access to significant others in the wider world is limited to visits during which touching is
only minimally sanctioned (e.g., a brief kiss or hug at the beginning of the visit). Although
much is made of conjugal visits for prison inmates, in reality there are few prisons that allow
these, and only a minuscule number of inmates in those prisons are granted access to such
visits. A very few prisons do allow conjugal visits between inmates and their gay or lesbian
partners. Although, as with the free population, 3% to 5% of prison inmates are likely to be
gay or lesbian (see a brief discussion related to this topic later in this chapter), sexual inti-
macy between same-sex inmates is against the rules, though it does occur. It is illegal as well
between same- and different-sex staff and inmates.
Autonomy for inmates is also severely restricted in the rule-bound prison world. When,
how, where, and with whom they live, eat, work, and play are all determined by the rules of
the institution. Inmates can make few choices regarding their lives while imprisoned, and all
of those choices are shaped by their imprisonment.
Because of their imprisonment, inmates are thrown together with others, some of
whom are aggressive and violent or become so in a prison environment, perhaps par-
ticularly in the maximum-security environment Sykes was studying. Because of the
circumstances surrounding incarceration in a supermax—and also in medium- and min-
imum-level prisons, though to a lesser degree—inmates are deprived of their security, a
basic human need as defined by Maslow (1943/2001). Quoting an inmate in his study,
Sykes (1958) repeated that “the worst thing about prison is you have to live with other
prisoners” (p. 77), meaning that even if one is prone to violence or manipulation—termed
an “outlaw” inmate by Sykes (p. 77)—which not all inmates are, it is unnerving for even
an outlaw inmate to have to live with others who are also so inclined. This lack of secu-
rity, according to Sykes, can lead to anxiety on the part of inmates and the belief that at
some point they, whether an outlaw among outlaws or not, are likely to be forced to fight
to defend themselves or to submit to the abuse of others.
Sykes (1958) argued that these pains, though not physically brutalizing, have the cumu-
lative effect of destroying the psyche of the inmate. To avoid this destruction, inmates in pris-
ons may be motivated to engage in deviance while incarcerated as a means of alleviating their
pain. So bullying other inmates, being involved in gangs, buying items through the under-
ground economy, and engaging in same-sex sexual activity might all be motivated in fact by
the need for some autonomy, liberty, security, goods and services, and sexual gratification
(Johnson, 2002). Extrapolating from this point, the extent to which female inmates form
pseudofamilial relationships may be a means of alleviating the pain experienced because of
the separation from children and other close family members (Owen, 1998).
One final note regarding the pains of imprisonment is this: Sykes (1958) did not believe
that all inmates experienced or perceived these pains in the same way. He acknowledged
that the way in which one experiences these pains does vary some by individual and by
background as well as by the prison in which one is incarcerated. However, he argued that at
least among the inmates he studied, there was a consensus that “life in a maximum security
prison is depriving or frustrating in the extreme” (p. 63).
The Prison Subculture

LO 7.5 Explain what prison gangs are and why they exist in prisons.
Prison subculture, or a subset of the larger culture, with its own norms, values, beliefs, tra- Prison subculture: Norms,
values, beliefs, traditions,
ditions, and even language, tends to solidify when people are isolated from the larger cul- and even language that are
ture and when members have regular and intense contact with one another for an extended distinctive to prisons.
period of time. In other words, it would appear that the total institutional nature of prisons
provides the perfect environment for an inmate subculture to form. Accordingly, the degree
to which a correctional environment fits the definition of a total institution will determine
the extent to which a client subculture exists. It is also possible that the shared experiences of
deprivation, as detailed by Sykes (1958), can further solidify a subculture for inmates.
Thus, research on inmate subcultures has tended to focus on prison inmates and spe-
cifically on medium- or maximum-security prison inmates. This is not to say, of course,
that those in a jail or a minimum-security prison do not have distinguishable “norms, val-
ues, beliefs, and language” that set them apart from the wider community, but it is much
less likely. By definition, the longer inmates are in an institution, associating with others like
them, and the more “total” the institution is in its restrictions on liberty and contact with
“outsiders,” the more subjected inmates are to the pains of imprisonment and the more likely
they are to become prisonized in that they adopt the inmate subculture.
Indicators of such a subculture, as identified by prison researchers, include prescribed
values and defined roles for inmates (Clemmer, 1940/2001; Owen, 1998). For instance,
Clemmer in 1940 (reprinted in 2001) broadly defined criminal subcultural values as includ-
ing “the notion that criminals should not betray each other to the police, should be reliable,
wily but trustworthy, coolheaded, etc.” (p. 7). Also emphasized among these values are ultra-
masculinity and displays of toughness as well as solidarity among inmates and against staff
(Lutze & Murphy, 1999; Sykes, 1958). Although these researchers identified these roles for
prison inmates more than 50 years ago, current researchers still see them in prisons of today.
Of course, any given inmate might be expected to change roles from time to time during
their incarceration or to engage in more than one role simultaneously.
These roles are played out in the prison in a criminal subculture, which becomes a “con-
vict subculture” for Clemmer (1940/2001) when such inmates seek power and information
so they might get the goods and services they desire to alleviate those pains of imprison-
ment. Owen (1998) noted that some women engage in a version of this subculture and these
roles, although this might be tempered by the relationships they have and the goods and
services they need (more about the different roles female inmates adopt will be covered in
Chapter 10). Notably, both Clemmer and Owen found that a significant portion of inmates
in the male and female prisons they studied were not at all interested in being involved in the
convict subculture or the “mix” of behavior that can lead to trouble in prisons. Such inmates,
in the argot identified by Sykes (1958) and Sykes and Messinger (1960), were “square johns.”
These inmates either chose to not connect to the inmate subculture or held on to more tradi-
tional and legitimate values from the larger culture.
More recent research confirms that inmates are not as solidly aligned against staff as
the early works would indicate (Hemmens & Marquart, 2000; Jacobs, 1977; Johnson, 2002;
Jurik, 1985a; Jurik & Halemba, 1984; Lombardo, 1982; Owen, 1998). Many inmates identify
with free-world values as much or more than inmate values and inmate subculture.
Other recent researchers and writers on prisons (see, e.g., Conover, 2001; Johnson, 2002;
Rideau, 2010) have found that staff and inmates engage in more personal and informal
174 CORRECTIONS
relationships with each other than is formally acknowledged, a reality that Sykes (1958)
noted as well. The diversification of staff by race, ethnicity, and gender has changed the old
dynamic between staff and inmates, making staff less dissimilar to inmates and the inmate
world less masculinized than it was previously, perhaps continuing to break down some of
the more formal barriers between staff and inmates in a total institution. Research, obser-
vations, and personal experience as, respectively, a teacher, student–inmate, attendee, and
governor (warden) in a male prison in the United Kingdom, led Crewe, Warr, Bennett, and
Smith (2014) to theorize that the emotionally restrained “tough guy” depictions of inmates
in prisons does not fully describe the “emotional geography” of such places. Rather, these
researchers claimed there are certain subcultural zones where a wider range of emotions is
allowed because the circumstances of such places allow it. One such zone in the prison is
the visiting room, where interactions with families require more open emotional exchanges
and allow shows of vulnerability by inmates. Classrooms and chapels were other areas where
comradeship and the sharing of ideas and even personal experiences and beliefs can break
down the typical emotional barriers that are present in prisons.
Gangs and the Prison Subculture

Gangs: Groups of people with Gangs, or groups of people with similar interests who socialize together and who may
similar interests who socialize
together and support one another
engage in deviant or criminal activities, are a common phenomenon in jails and prisons.
but who also engage in deviant According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ; 2015) website, gangs in prisons and jails
or criminal activities. Gangs have are by definition engaged in criminal activities and are connected through members and
a hierarchical organizational
structure and a set and often strict criminal involvement with communities. Prison gangs have a hierarchical organizational
code of conduct for members. structure and a set and often strict code of conduct for members. The DOJ (2015) reported
the following:
Prison gangs vary in both organization and composition, from highly structured
gangs such as the Aryan Brotherhood and Nuestra Familia to gangs with a less
formalized structure such as the Mexican Mafia (La Eme). Prison gangs generally
have fewer members than street gangs and are structured along racial or ethnic
lines. Nationally, prison gangs pose a threat because of their role in the transpor-
tation and distribution of narcotics. Prison gangs are an important link between
drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs), street gangs, and OMGs [outlaw motor-
cycle gangs], and are structured along racial or ethnic lines. Prison gangs typically
are more powerful within state correc-
tional facilities rather than within the
federal penal system. (p. 1)
Correctional scholars and practitioners

believe that gangs are so ubiquitous in cor-
rections because they meet the needs of
inmates for security, goods and services,
power, and companionship. They lessen
the pains of imprisonment by providing
Getty Images/Bob Chamberlin
protection in numbers and the potential to

respond with force to any threats an inmate
might face. They are conduits for the supply
of illicit goods such as tobacco, drugs, alco-
hol, and sex in prisons and jails. They also
provide some substitution for the dimin-
Photo 7.4 Mexican mafia tattoo on a member. Such tattoos provide a ready signal to other
ished relationships that inmates have with
inmates and to staff what gang an inmate is a member of. those family and friends on the outside.
The history of gangs in prisons is a long one. Sykes (1958) noted that the first investi-
gation of the New Jersey State Prison, in 1830, found what they called a “Stauch-Gang”
that was firmly entrenched there and engaged in terrorizing both inmates and staff while
also planning escapes (p. 92). Ward and Kassebaum (2009) also pointed out the importa-
tion and exportation of gang-related criminal activity between state and federal prisons and
the streets in the 1920s. In his history of the Stateville Prison in Illinois, J. B. Jacobs (1977)
observed that prison gangs have existed in that state for decades as imports from the streets
of Chicago, though he thought their ferocity and strength increased in the late 1960s and
early 1970s.
The prison gangs of today are almost too numerous for correctional authorities to
keep track of, but they do tend to have in common a criminal focus. According to the
Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC; 2014), most prison gangs these days recruit
their membership on the basis of ethnicity or race. Both the federal government and the
FDOC report that gangs are much stronger in male prisons, and gangs will conspire with
others, even rival gangs, to provide protection and increase their criminal reach (e.g.,
the Aryan Brotherhood might sometimes work with members of the Black Guerrilla
Family—despite the racial hatred of their members for each other—if it will increase
their drug sales). The FDOC website identifies the six major prison gangs in the United
States as follows:
1. Neta (Puerto Rican American/Hispanic)

2. Aryan Brotherhood (White)
3. Black Guerrilla Family (Black)
4. Mexican Mafia (Mexican American/Hispanic)
5. La Nuestra Familia (Mexican American/Hispanic)
6. Texas Syndicate (Mexican American/Hispanic)
Because of their underground engagement in prison crime and the rivalries that
develop between gangs, even some of those gangs with members of the same ethnic back-
grounds (e.g., the Mexican Mafia and La Nuestra Familia) are sworn enemies. Moreover,
both the Mexican Mafia and La Nuestra Familia are rivals of the Texas Syndicate. Because
of these rivalries, jails and prisons constantly must consider gang membership in classi-
fication decisions. Whether it is fights over turf, protection of members, or some other
issue, the presence of gangs and gang activities leads to disruption and even murder in
prisons. For instance, according to the FDOC (2014), the Aryan Brotherhood disruptions
of prisons include the following:
• The main activities of the Aryan Brotherhood are centered on drug trafficking,
extortion, pressure rackets, and internal discipline.
• Prison activities include introduction of contraband, distribution of drugs, and
getting past facility rules and regulations.
• Traditionally, targets have been non-gang-affiliated inmates and internal
discipline.
• From 1975 to 1985, members committed 40 homicides in California prisons and
local jails as well as 13 homicides in the community.
• From 1978 to 1992, Aryan Brotherhood members, suspects, and associates in the
federal system were involved in 26 homicides, 3 of which involved staff victims.
176 CORRECTIONS
Because of the threat prison gangs present for the security of the institution and the
safety of staff and inmates, managers try to control or suppress gang involvement in their
facilities. The first step in this process is the identification of gang members and their leaders.
Once identified, correctional staff will try to separate members and leaders from each other.
However, given the crowding of many prisons and prison systems, it is almost impossible to
always use the separation tactic as a means of control and suppression. Therefore, what staff
are often left with is the monitoring of gang activity and, as much as possible, punishing or
neutralizing gang members and reducing their impact on a given system.
Violence
LO 7.6 Identify the reasons why violence, riots, and sexual assaults occur in prisons and
be familiar with some strategies for their reduction.
Why Prisons Are Violent

Violence is endemic to prisons. There is violence in prisons because incarcerated people are
there unwillingly; they are forced to do things they normally would not do, with people they
may not like; and, most important of all, some of them are inclined to be violent. According
to BJS researcher Carson (2020, p. 21), as of 2017 more than half (56%) of state prisoners
were incarcerated for violent offenses. Maximum- and medium-security prisons tend to
hold more inmates convicted of violent offenses or who have problems with following the
rules in prisons, and as a result they are more likely to experience violent outbursts. Research
by Meade and Steiner (2013) in which they used a representative national sample of adult
male inmates indicated that inmates who were exposed to violence or who were physically
victimized prior to incarceration were likely to have more problems with adjustment while
incarcerated. The researchers also found that abuse as a child—not an uncommon experi-
ence for many inmates—was associated with maladjustment while in prison. Add to this
mix the presence of gangs and their willingness to use force to achieve their criminal ends
and the possibility of violence in prisons rises.
The Amount of Violence

With the exception of deaths due to violence, it is difficult to determine the exact amount of
violence in prisons. Correctional institutions tend to underreport its incidence, and there is
variation across facilities about what constitutes violence (Byrne & Hummer, 2008). Also,
inmates are reluctant to report the violence they experience or witness to staff. With these
caveats regarding official statistics in mind, using data collected from correctional insti-
tutions around the United States, Stephan and Karberg (2003) found that the number of
assaults on staff and inmates increased in state and federal prisons from 1995 to 2000, and
the size of the increase was greatest for private institutions. They noted, however, that the
rate of assaults on staff (or the number of assaults per staff person) decreased slightly during
this time period. Based on the BJS data presented in Figure 7.2, we also know that both the
suicide and homicide rates in jails and prisons decreased from 1980 to 2003. However, more
recent BJS data show that both homicides and suicides in prisons have been on the rise in
recent years.
Sexual Assaults
As was discussed in Chapter 5, on the basis of inmate surveys and official statistics, the
amount of sexual violence in prisons and jails is becoming increasingly clear. The Prison
Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) requires the BJS to collect data yearly on the amount
FIGURE 7.2 Violence in Prisons and Jails, 2001–2014

Source: BJS (2016). Most recent data available.
18
16
Rate per 100,000 Inmates 14
12
10
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Suicide Homicide
of prison rape that occurs. In 2018, this meant that a 10% sample of the existing jails, prisons,
and community-based and juvenile facilities was included. The findings from this research
aggregated for 2012 to 2015 (Rantala, 2018, p. 1) indicate the following:
• Correctional administrators reported 24,661 allegations of sexual victimization in

2015—nearly triple the number recorded in 2011 (8,768).
• The increase in allegations of sexual victimization from 2011 to 2015 coincided
with the release in 2012 of the National Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond
to Prison Rape.
• In 2015, an estimated 1,473 allegations were substantiated (determined to have
occurred), up 63% from the 902 substantiated in 2011.
• Fifty-eight percent of substantiated incidents of sexual victimization in 2015 were
perpetrated by inmates, while 42% were perpetrated by staff members.
• The number of allegations in prisons increased from 6,660 in 2011 to 18,666 in
2015 (up 180%).
• During the 3-year aggregated period of 2013 to 2015, there were an estimated
15,875 allegations of inmate-on-inmate sexual harassment, of which 2,426 (16%)
were substantiated on the basis of completed investigations.
The allegations of victimization, harassment, and substantiation of same have all

increased since the report provided by the BJS (2014, p. 1) covering the time period from
2005 to 2011. There was an expected and dramatic increase in allegations of sexual vic-
timization in the covered correctional facilities once the DOJ published the national stan-
dards (see Figure 7.3, which illustrates this point). The national standards were designed to
enhance prevention, detection, and response to rape. In other words, the standards were
designed to assure inmates that they could report without fear of retaliation. The fact that
“staff-on-inmate victimization accounted for 63% of the increase in allegations from 2011
178 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 7.3 National Estimates of Allegations and Substantiated Incidents of

Sexual Victimization in Adult Correctional Facilities, 2005–2015
Source: Rantala (2018). Most recent data available.
Number
30,000
25,000
Implementation of
National Standards
20,000
15,000
10,000
Allegations
5,000
Substantiated Incidents
0
‘05 ‘06 ‘07 ‘08 ‘09 ‘10 ‘11 ‘12 ‘13 ‘14 ‘15
to 2015” would indicate that the national standards may have served this purpose (Rantala,
2018, p. 6). The overall rate of allegations of sexual victimization more than doubled from
2005 to 2014, from 2.83 to 8.37 per 1,000 inmates, and then increased to 11.04 for 2015 when
sexual harassment was added to the mix. In earlier PREA findings, private prisons were sep-
arated out (and tended to have more allegations), but in the latest report they are collapsed
into public prison and jail categories.
Although it might be a myth that all—or even most—who enter a prison will be raped,
research by the BJS indicates that from 2012 to 2015, fully 67,168 inmates in prison and
jails alleged they were victims of sexual victimization (Rantala, 2018, p. 7). And it is true
that members of certain groups are much more likely to be raped in prison than others. As
was discussed in the section on jails, women, LGBTQ+ inmates, and people with mental
illnesses are much more likely to be victims of sexual assault in prisons and jails than are
other inmates.
Rioting
Rioting is another form of violence. It is group violence. Rioting presents a direct
threat to the security of the institution and the inmates in it and is often met with recip-
rocal force by the staff and administration of the prison. Prison riots have existed as
long as there have been prisons—in fact, before there were prisons. Recall the so-called
Newgate Prison of Connecticut, where inmates were confined to a copper mine for
much of their incarceration. Inmates at Newgate repeatedly rioted throughout the
history of its operation. Indeed, virtually every maximum- and medium-security
In Focus 7.1
A L A B A M A PR I S O N S V I O L AT E T H E C O N S TIT U TI O N
In an April 2019 report titled “Investigation of overcrowding was, on average, at 182% (one
Alabama’s State Prisons for Men” by the Civil prison was higher than 300%; U.S. Department
Rights Division of the DOJ, and a letter that of Justice, Civil Rights Division, 2019, pp. 6, 8–9).
accompanies the report penned by the assistant Furthermore, inmates who complained or asked
attorney general for civil rights and three U.S. for protection were punished, and medical care
attorneys, it is asserted that there is reasonable was not always supplied even when inmates
cause to believe the conditions of confinement were suffering from life-threatening injuries or
in the 12 men’s prisons in Alabama violate the illnesses. The prisons were awash in drugs and
Eighth Amendment prohibition of “cruel and weapons. Inmates and their families were victims
unusual punishment.” The authors of the DOJ of extortion by other prisoners. In its report, the
letter, addressed to Alabama governor Kay Ivey, DOJ noted that the Alabama Department of
stated that they believe Alabama prisons fail “to Corrections (ADOC) had been aware of these
protect them [inmates] from prisoner-on-prisoner kinds of problems in their prisons since at least
violence and prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse . . . the mid-1970s and had failed to make substantial
by failing to provide safe conditions” (Dreiband, progress in addressing them. After this latest
Town, Franklin, & Moore, 2019, p. 1). The authors investigation, the DOJ recommended a number
claimed the prisons are unsafe for correctional of short- and long-term goals that centered on
officers too and noted that the “violations are more staffing, substantial reductions in the
exacerbated by serious deficiencies in staffing number of inmates, and the implementation of
and supervision and overcrowding” (p. 1). In policy changes the ADOC might undertake to
the full report, the DOJ notes that in 2017 the forestall a consent decree. In a New York Times
homicide rate in Alabama prisons was 8 times article on the DOJ report, the authors cited a
that of the national average for prisons (and statement issued by the Alabama governor in
they believe that the number of murders is reaction to the DOJ report, claiming that they
underreported); the prisoner-on-prisoner violence were already focused on solutions and that they
rate is high and rose steeply over the past 5 years; would work closely with the DOJ to ensure that
sexual abuse is rampant and underreported; and real reform happens (Benner & Dewan, 2019).
victims or potential victims are often punished In that same article, a leading lawyer from the
when they step forward (U.S. Department of Southern Poverty Law Center (a frequent civil
Justice, Civil Rights Division, 2019, pp. 6, 13, 34). litigant of the ADOC) expressed skepticism that
Staff assaults are also routine, making work in such reform will really happen; however, given
the prisons less desirable and more dangerous the singular focus of state government to build
(U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, themselves out of the overcrowding rather than
2019, p. 27). The DOJ found that prisons were addressing the extensive list of other problems
staffed at only 20% of allocated positions, and documented in the DOJ report.
prison with any longevity has experienced some form of rioting by inmates. Inmates
engage in rioting—and violence in general—to achieve some end, such as better food or
housing or power, or inmates might riot out of anger or frustration. When violence is used
to achieve some end, it is known as instrumental violence, but when it is just an angry out-
burst, it is known as expressive violence. Of course, inmates engaged in violence or a riot
could be involved for both instrumental and expressive reasons. An inmate who wants
to protest the overcrowding of their institution may riot to let the world know about the
conditions of confinement (instrumental violence), but they might also be angry about the
effect such crowding has on housing and the ability to sleep and become violent as a means
of expressing it. When enough inmates engage in this violence together, it is called a riot.
180 CORRECTIONS
Attica Prison riot: The bloodiest The two most notorious instances of inmate rioting to date occurred in the Attica
prison riot in American history Prison riot of 1971 and the New Mexico State Penitentiary riot of 1980. At Attica, the riot
began with a spontaneous act of
violence by one inmate against began with a spontaneous act of violence by one inmate against an officer when the offi-
an officer who had tried to break cer tried to break up a fight. The violence spread when other inmates became involved the
up a fight. Violence quickly
spread because inmates were next day to avenge the punishment of the two fighting inmates (Thompson, 2016). The
frustrated and angry about the riot also spread because inmates were frustrated and angry about the overcrowded condi-
overcrowded conditions, lack of
programming, and other conditions tions and lack of programming, among other problems with the conditions of confinement;
of confinement. Charges of racism even showering and toilet paper were rationed. There were charges of racism by the mostly
were made by the mostly African
American inmates regarding their
African American inmates regarding their treatment by the mostly white staff at Attica as
treatment by the mostly White staff. well (Useem & Kimball, 1989). Add to this the student protests against the Vietnam War and
Negotiations broke down, resulting the civil rights movement that had roiled the country outside the Attica Prison walls in the
in the prison’s being stormed by
the state police and by correctional late 1960s and early 1970s, and it was clear why there was tension within those walls.
staff. Ten hostages and 29 inmates Because the prison staff were unprepared to respond to a riot, the inmates easily took
were dead or dying when the
prison was secured. Another 80 over Attica, burning some buildings and eventually congregating in one yard with their
inmates had gunshot wounds. 40 hostages (PBS, 2000; Thompson, 2016). In the negotiations between the inmate lead-
New Mexico State Penitentiary ers and the administration, the inmates asked for better food, health care, and the ability to
riot: A riot took place over the practice their religion. A number of observers, composed of politicians and media mem-
conditions of confinement and
crowding, which were at very high bers, tried to intervene in the negotiations to no avail. Some inmates killed three other
levels. Repeated warnings were inmates and one hostage, which also impaired the ability to negotiate. Moreover, Governor
given that a riot would occur, but
administration and staff failed Nelson Rockefeller, who was considering a run for the White House at the time, did not
to adequately prepare, resulting want to appear soft on crime.
in the state’s eventually retaking
the prison. Thirty-three inmates
In the end, the inmates and administrators could not come to an agreement (the inmates
were killed by other inmates wanted amnesty for the rioters), and eventually, on Governor Rockefeller’s orders, the prison
over 3 days. Numerous inmates,
along with staff hostages, were
was stormed by the state police and by correctional staff. Tear gas was dropped from police
beaten or raped. Millions of dollars helicopters into the occupied yard, and the inmates and their hostages were indiscrimi-
in damage was done (Useem, nately fired upon with shotguns by the staff and police. As a consequence, 10 hostages and
1985; Useem & Kimball, 1989).
29 inmates were dead or dying when the prison was secured, and another 80 inmates had
gunshot wounds (Useem & Kimball, 1989). It was the bloodiest prison riot in American his-
tory. Inmates, even injured ones, were then beaten and humiliated (forced to stand naked in
the yard for hours), and medical care was delayed or denied.
The state indicted 60 inmates for a number of crimes including sodomy and murder
arising out of the riot, but only 8 inmates were convicted (Gonnerman, 2001, p. 1). Years of
legal wrangling eventually led to an $8 million award by the state of New York to the inmates
who were beaten or tortured after the riot (PBS, 2000; Thompson, 2016). In 2005, the state
paid out another $12 million to the survivors and families of employees killed in the after-
math of the riot (Kirshon, 2010; Thompson, 2016).
In 1980, the New Mexico State Penitentiary also exploded in a riot over the conditions of
confinement, which were deplorable, and crowding, which was at epidemic levels. Despite
repeated warnings that a riot was going to occur, the administration and staff failed to ade-
quately prepare. When a staff member slipped up in a security measure when locking down a
dormitory for the night, he was grabbed, along with his keys, and inmates quickly advanced
through the prison, taking control of several cellblocks, including the pharmacy and shops.
Drugs and weapons were readily available as a result, and brutal inmate-on-inmate violence
ensued. Some of this violence was particularly focused on inmate snitches and child molest-
ers, who were housed in a separate cellblock. Rioting inmates broke into this cellblock, and
gruesome and vicious assaults and murders of these inmates occurred. The state eventually
retook the prison without the resulting bloodshed that happened at Attica. However, over the
course of 3 days, 33 inmates were killed by other inmates. Numerous other inmates, along
with staff hostages, were beaten or raped, and millions of dollars in damage was done (Useem,
1985; Useem & Kimball, 1989). In the aftermath of this riot, New Mexico was sued several
times. The state did build a number of medium- and minimum-security prisons following
the riot, which eased the overcrowding at the main facility.
More recent riots, or group disturbances, include a 2013 hunger strike by 30,000 inmates
in California for “repressive conditions” and in 2015, when Texas inmates shut down a
facility over their treatment (Thompson, 2016, p. 570).
More recently, in April 2020 and in response to the news that five staff and six prisoners
had tested positive for COVID-19, more than 200 inmates rioted at the maximum-security
Monroe Prison in Washington State. The inmates felt they were not being adequately pro-
tected from catching the virus (e.g., allowed to social distance or provided with protective
equipment or products such as masks, soap, and disinfectant) (Quinlan, 2020, p. 10) and
threatened to take hostages and set fires. This riot was quelled within a day through the use
of pepper spray and sting ball grenades by staff. The state Supreme Court of Washington
heard a case later in the month related to the inmates’ complaints and ordered the immediate
release of nonviolent and vulnerable inmates, however (Camden, 2020).
Strategies to Reduce Violence

There are some scholars and social commentators who argue that prisons and jails are nat-
urally violent institutions, essentially for the same reasons we mentioned earlier that can
make them incubators for violence (e.g., they hold violent people involuntarily). But there
is evidence that the degree of violence differs markedly from institution to institution and
from group to group (Beck, Berzofsky, Caspar, & Krebs, 2013). If this is true—that one
prison or jail is more or less violent than comparable institutions holding similar types of
inmates (i.e., security level and inmate history of engaging in violence)—then it is implied
that it is not that violence is endemic to prisons or jails per se but it is how the institution
operates that creates and fosters violence (note the In Focus 7.1 discussion of the conditions
that have led to violence at the men’s prisons in Alabama). Therefore, it occurs to us that
there are strategies that might be used to reduce violence, such as the following:
• Professional subculture: Promote a professional environment in which staff are well

trained, well educated, and versed in ethical behavior. Promote those up the career
ladder who model these values for the institution (see Stohr & Collins, 2014).
• Personnel: Hire potentially professional people (people with education and eth-
ical values), train them well, and pay them a wage that will entice them to stay.
Training should include the latest research on how to spot and reduce violence in
corrections (see Rembert & Henderson, 2014).
• Supervision: Promote ethical supervisors who have proved their abilities on the
job. Value and facilitate further training, education, and development for them.
Then keep the span of control (the number of persons a supervisor is responsible
for) within reason so that supervisors can be aware of and influence what is going
on around them. Discipline or fire those who violate ethical standards of the insti-
tution (see Stohr & Collins, 2014).
• Classification: Pay careful attention to inmate histories and proclivities for vio-
lence and separate inmates on the basis of this intelligence. Neutralize criminal
gangs so their influence does not heighten the level of violence in the facility. As
much as possible, classify inmates so their needs can be met (e.g., work training,
proximity to family and their communities, treatment to address their needs; see
Mears, Stewart, Siennick, & Simons, 2013).
• Facilities that are not overcrowded: Crowding reduces the ability of staff to effec-
tively supervise, meet inmate needs, and maintain control of the institution. It
also can be linked to prisoner violence (see the discussion of the New Mexico State
Penitentiary riot and the DOJ report on Alabama prisons).
182 CORRECTIONS
• Activities: Provide opportunities for inmates to stay busy in prosocial activities

like work, education, treatment, recreation, art, religious engagement, or niches
where they are more likely to experience prosocial values. This will benefit them
and their communities. Also provide opportunities for inmates to use their talents
and abilities (see the discussion of mature coping and niches that follows [Johnson
2002], and see also research by Rocheleau, 2013; Wooldredge & Steiner, 2014).
• Formal grievance procedures: Ensure that there are formal grievance procedures
in place so inmates can report on perceived deficiencies in the operation of the
facility and vent their concerns. Just having the ability to vent and knowing that
one is heard can often be enough to alleviate anger and thus violence. Grievance
procedures also provide the opportunity for inmates to report on real deficiencies
in the prison operations (see Rembert & Henderson, 2014).
• Ombudsman: Larger facilities or prison or jail systems may be able to staff an
ombudsman position; such a person can investigate serious complaints by staff or
inmates and work to resolve them.
• Open architecture: When building a new jail or prison or when significantly
remodeling one, try to improve the openness of the facility so that sight lines are
clearer in living units, as violence is more likely to occur when it cannot be seen
(see the discussion of podular or direct supervision jails in Chapter 5, and also see
research by Wooldredge & Steiner, 2014).
• Official reporting: Support the official reporting of violence to auditors at the local,
state, or federal level. Note the discussion of PREA in this chapter and the chapter
on jails (Chapter 5) and the requirement of reporting sexual abuse and assaults
in prisons and jails. Sometimes jail and prison managers do not know that their
facility is an outlier in terms of the amount of violence that occurs there. Having
official reports gets this information out into the open and makes it more likely
that there will be efforts to reduce the violence in facilities that have more of it.
• Policymakers and the public: Keep policymakers and the public apprised of the
amount of violence that occurs and why it occurs and enlist their support and
assistance in solutions that would reduce it.
MATURE COPING
Prison violence, whether committed by individuals or groups of rioters, occurs in part
because some inmates are not capable of interacting, or do not know how to interact, with
others without violence. In his research on corrections, Johnson (2002) noticed that despite
the mortification, prisonization, and pains experienced to different degrees by incarcerated
individuals, some were able to adjust prosocially, even to grow, in a prison setting. Although
this was the exception rather than the rule, he noted that some inmates develop another
means of adjusting. This alternative means of handling incarceration—or supervision in the
Mature coping: Occurs in prisons case of probationers and parolees—is called mature coping. Johnson (2002) identified and
when the inmate deals “with life’s
problems like a responsive and
defined the following:
responsible human being, one who
seeks autonomy without violating Mature coping means, in essence, dealing with life’s problems like a responsive
the rights of others, security without
resort to deception or violence, and and responsible human being, one who seeks autonomy without violating the
relatedness to others as the finest rights of others, security without resorting to deception or violence, and related-
and fullest expression of human
identity” (Johnson, 2002, p. 83). ness to others as the finest and fullest expression of human identity. (p. 83)
As indicated by this definition, the offender needs to learn how to be an adult with some
autonomy in an environment where formally the individual has little power (although the
informal reality may be different), and their status is almost subhuman by wider community
standards. Moreover, offenders must accomplish this feat without doing violence to others—
though Johnson (2002) allowed that violence in self-defense may be necessary—and they
need to exercise consideration of others in their environment.
Johnson (2002) noted that mature coping is relatively rare among the inmate population
for a number of reasons. He argued that inmates are typically immature in their social rela-
tions to begin with, which of course is one of the reasons they are in prison in the first place.
Because of impoverishment, poor or absent or abusive parenting, mental illness, or schools
that fail them or that they fail, offenders enter the criminal justice system with a number
of social, psychological, and economic deficits. They are often not used to voluntarily tak-
ing responsibility for their actions as one would expect of “mature” individuals, nor are they
typically expected to “empathize with and assist others in need,” especially in a prison or jail
environment (Johnson, 2002, p. 93).
Second, Johnson (2002) argued that for inmates to maturely cope, it is helpful if they
are incarcerated in what he termed a decent prison. Such a facility does not necessarily have
more programming, staffing, or amenities than the norm, though he thinks it might be help-
ful if it did; rather, such an institution or program would be relatively free of violence and
would include some opportunities so that inmates might find a niche to be involved in. For
inmates to find this niche, however, decent prisons need to include some opportunities for
inmates to act autonomously.
Being secure from violence, like autonomy, is basic to human development. In fact,
according to Maslow (1961/1998), if the security need is not fulfilled, it will preoccupy offend-
ers and motivate them to engage in behaviors (e.g., bullying or gang activity) that they nor-
mally might avoid if they were not feeling continually threatened (Johnson, 2002). Then,
assuming the offender perceives that they are relatively safe, the facility needs to offer proso-
cial activities, including work, school, athletics, religious services, treatment, or art programs,
that provide some sort of means for positive self-value reinforcement. Such places and activi-
ties were termed niches by Johnson, and the opportunities they afford provide redress for the
mortification and pains that offenders, particularly those who are incarcerated, experience.
SOCIAL SUPPORT
Social support is a necessary element to successful existence in this world. Humans, for the
most part, are social animals in need of the assistance of others, such as families, friends,
neighbors, schools, religious services, nonprofits, and governments, to grow and thrive.
Inmates in prisons and jails perhaps need more social support to succeed than most
Americans. They usually come from poor backgrounds and have limited education, they
have few job skills, and their socialization in prosocial behavior may have been lacking.
Upon release they will be dependent on family and friends, should they be lucky enough to
have some, who are stretched financially and emotionally themselves. Former inmates will
leave the prison relatively unskilled, often with only a GED or less, and the stigma of being
an ex-con. They will have financial obligations for their children or for fines imposed as part
of their sentence, and often they will have to pay for their own supervision in the commu-
nity. Their needs will be multifaceted and numerous, and to succeed they will depend on
private and public sources of support.
Lin (1986) defined social support as “the perceived or actual instrumental and/or
expressive provisions supplied by the community, social networks, and confiding partners”
(p. 18). Cullen (1994) modified this definition to include both formal and informal deliv-
ery of this support. Instrumental support is material and includes the exchange of goods or
money. Expressive support is more emotional and is the kind supplied by family and close
friends. It is thought that the greater degree to which inmates experience social support,
whether instrumental or emotional, from whatever source while in prison, the more likely
184 CORRECTIONS

M I C H A E L K L E I N , C O R R E C TI O N A L O F F I C E R
Position: Correctional officer What was your typical workday as a

Location: Indiana Department of Corrections, correctional officer?
Wabash Valley Correctional Facility First, I would enter the facility and go through
a security check. I would then arrive at my post,
Education: PhD in criminal justice and
greet the prior shift of officers, and sign into
criminology
the logbook. I had several different positions
within the WVCF, and my activities varied by
What is your previous experience in position. If I worked in a cell house, there would
criminal justice? be the initial rush of complaints, concerns, and
I have worked as a juvenile correctional officer and questions from the offenders. I would then try my
in private security and social services. best to maintain a smooth shift as 100 offenders
milled freely about me. If I worked in segregation,
there was less offender contact, but there were a
What are the duties and responsibilities of a lot more messy situations to contain. The daily
correctional officer? activities of a correctional officer are both banal
Maintaining the safety and security of the facility, and uncertain. You never really know what
mediating offender disputes, ensuring one’s to expect.
personal security, ensuring the safety of offenders,
and ensuring the safety of one’s fellow officers. What is your advice for future correctional
officers?
What are the characteristics and traits
Keep your cool, stay out of bad situations, and ask
most useful for a correctional officer? for help. Working in corrections is something that
Patience, courage, ability to work as a team member, each officer has to figure out for himself or herself.
understanding, ability to keep calm in disturbing Just be sure to think things through before making
situations, and a strong stomach. any rash judgments.
they are to change their behavior while incarcerated (fewer infractions of the rules and less
violence) and in the larger community (reduced recidivism; Woo et al., 2014). Currently, the
research in this area is more suggestive than solid, but if evidence indicates that social sup-
port reduces deviance of inmates while incarcerated and after being released, it would make
sense for correctional institutions to develop ways to provide social support to inmates or
allow others from the community to do so (Beare & Hogg, 2013; Hamilton, Kigerl, & Hays,
2013; Hochstetler, DeLisi, & Pratt, 2010; Lutze, Rosky, & Hamilton, 2013; Mears et al., 2013;
Reisig, Holtfreter, & Morash, 2002).
Older People and People

with Physical and Mental Illnesses
LO 7.7 State why care for aging inmates, physically ill inmates, and inmates with mental
illnesses in prisons has become such an issue.
As mentioned in the chapter on jails, the number of older people in jails and prisons is
increasing at an exponential rate. As America ages and mandatory sentences and other
such laws lengthen sentences, correctional populations are graying. There are a number of
collateral consequences that derive from this fact, most of them unintended:
• The cost of incarceration increases to accommodate the extra medical care needed
for older people.
• Older inmates are less able to work in or for the prison, making them a further
economic drain on the system.
• Older inmates may require housing that is separate from younger inmates who
might prey on them.
• Older inmates, particularly those who have spent much or all of their adult lives in
prisons, are less likely to have supportive family or friends waiting for them on the
outside, which makes the development of a parole or reintegration plan even more
challenging for them.
Because older inmates necessarily present such a drain on state and federal correctional
budgets, it might make sense for states to rethink the sentencing laws and correctional prac-
tices that have led to the graying of prison populations nationally. To not do so is to support
the continued exponential growth in correctional budgets at the expense of all other budget
priorities.
The number of ill people incarcerated in America’s prisons and jails has grown in tan-
dem with the number of older inmates. And the number of older inmates (defined as 55
or older) rose by 400% from 1993 to 2013, constituting 10% of the prisoner population by
2013 (Carson & Sabol, 2016, p. 1). At this juncture, more than 33% of inmates in jails, 44%
in state prisons, and 39% in federal prisons report illnesses more serious than a cold or the
flu (Maruschak, 2008, p. 1; see also Maruschak, 2006). According to a 2004 survey of state
and federal prison inmates by the BJS, the two most prevalent medical problems for prison
inmates were arthritis and hypertension (Maruschak, 2008). Women and older inmates in
prisons, as in jails, report more medical problems than do other inmates. Heart disease and
suicide account for most of the deaths in jails, while cancer and heart disease claimed more
than half of those who died in state prisons from 2011 to 2012 (Noonan & Ginder, 2013, p. 1).
The extent of medical care provided for such inmates depends on the jurisdiction, with
some larger counties, some states, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons providing better care
than other jurisdictions. According to the 2004 study, about 70% of state and 76% of fed-
eral prison inmates with medical problems reported seeing medical professionals at the
prisons about their illnesses, and more than 80% reported receiving medical exams since
their admission (Maruschak, 2008, p. 1). However, even in those jurisdictions that can afford
to and do provide decent medical care, it is often minimal. Dentistry typically consists of
pulling teeth rather than crowning or even filling them. Little preventive medical care is
provided, and the common response to complaints is the provision of medication.
Most larger jails have sections devoted to their inmates with medical complaints. Larger
prisons or prison systems often have buildings or whole institutions devoted to inmates
with medical maladies. The staffing of such sections, buildings, or institutions again var-
ies by jurisdiction and the ability and willingness to pay the high cost for qualified staff
(Vaughn & Carroll, 1998; Vaughn & Smith, 1999). Working in a jail or prison medical Deinstitutionalization
of people with mental
facility is not usually the first choice of medical personnel, so it is not surprising that it might illnesses: Happened in the
be hard to recruit and keep the best among them. United States as a result of the civil
The number of inmates with mental illnesses has also grown in America’s prisons, rights movement and the related
effort to increase the rights of
though not to the same extent as it has in jails (see Chapter 5). As jails became dumping people involuntarily committed
grounds for people with mental illnesses after mental health hospitals closed in the 1970s, to mental hospitals. It was also
helped along by the development of
some of these inmates with chronic mental illnesses found themselves in a prison environ- pharmaceuticals that purportedly
ment (Slate & Johnson, 2008). addressed the symptoms of some
illnesses and by decreased federal
The deinstitutionalization of people with mental illnesses in the United States funding for state hospitals devoted
came about as a result of the civil rights movement and the related effort to increase the to people with mental illnesses.
186 CORRECTIONS
rights of powerless people (Slate & Johnson, 2008). Too many people were civilly com-
mitted to mental health institutions for years without any legal recourse or protection,
it was thought. In addition, the pharmaceutical company Smith, Kline, & French (now
GlaxoSmithKline) pushed its drug Thorazine as a potential cure for some mental illnesses
with state legislators who were eager to save money by closing mental health institutions
(Slate & Johnson, 2008). As legal restrictions on civil commitment of people with men-
tal illnesses spread across the country, and as state legislators believed the claims of the
pharmaceutical company (which turned out to be unfounded), states and counties closed
their mental health hospitals or reduced their capacities significantly. Congress passed
the Community Mental Health Act in 1963, which ended much of the federal support
for mental health hospitals. Instead, Congress was to fund less restrictive institutional
alternatives, such as halfway houses, but outpatient facilities were either underfunded or
shunted away by community members who did not want such facilities in their neighbor-
hoods (Slate & Johnson, 2008). Thus, an unintended consequence of this deinstitution-
alization movement was that there were few public services available in communities to
assist the people with mental illnesses and their families. Jails, and then prisons, became
the de facto mental health patient dumping ground.
Unfortunately, as with those who have major medical problems, most prisons and jails
are poorly equipped and staffed to handle inmates with mental illnesses. There are diffi-
culties in diagnosis, the management of people who do not understand how to behave in a
prison, the programming and the development of appropriate prison employment, and the
creation of reentry plans for these inmates (Slate & Johnson, 2008). Any treatment program-
ming that is available has a long waiting list. Sometimes staff need to be concerned that these
inmates require protection from predation; on the other hand, it may be necessary to keep
an eye on the violent outbursts of the patients as they might injure others (Wood & Buttaro,
2013). Some studies link posttraumatic stress disorder with an assault history, propensity
for revictimization, violent behavior, substance abuse, and mental illness, so it is no surprise
that trauma-related treatments need to be available for those who have mental illnesses in
prisons as well (Wood & Buttaro, 2013).
Needless to say, the funding needed to provide medical and mental health care to an
aging and ill correctional population is cost prohibitive. However, as inmates are unable
to access such services in communities because of their incarceration, these costs must
be borne.
LGBTQ+ Inmates
LO 7.8 Recognize the need to respect the needs of LGBTQ+ inmates.
The true number of LGBTQ+ inmates in corrections is not known. According to Gary Gates
(personal communication, March 14, 2011), a demographer with the Williams Institute at
the School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles, estimates based on surveys
Gender identity: The gender that query people about their sexual orientation and gender identity (the gender one iden-
one identifies with, which can differ
from one’s assigned sex at birth.
tifies with, which can differ from one’s assigned sex at birth) suggest that about 3% to 5%
of the free community are gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Gates noted that the number of trans-
gender (and likely intersex) people in the community is also unknown but is likely 1% or
less (Flores, Herman, Gates, & Brown, 2016). On the basis of these estimates, we might
reasonably expect that similar percentages for each group are represented in prisons. In
addition, because heterosexual relations are formally restricted in prisons, some percentage
of male and female inmates engage in same-sex sexual activity while incarcerated, though
they may never have done so when they were free. Lieb and his colleagues (2011) found
that the number of men who have ever

had sex with another man in the free com-
munity ranges around 6.4%. We might
expect, therefore, that the number of
men who engage in sexual relations with
other men while in prison is likely about
6% or higher.
As with people who are gay or les-
bian, the exact number of transgender
AP Photo/Pat Sullivan
and intersex people in communities is
unknown, as they often keep their gen-
der identity hidden, knowing they might
be marginalized (Tewksbury & Potter,
2005). In prisons, the number of trans-
Photo 7.5 Transgender and bisexual inmates visit in their specially designated cellblock in
gender inmates is also difficult to ascer- the Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas. Separate facilities for transgender female inmates
tain, although larger male prisons often protect their privacy and enhance their safety from assault by male inmates.
house many (Sexton, Jenness, & Sumner,
2010). Jenness and her colleagues (2007, as cited in Sexton et al., 2010) found in their study
of transgender female inmates in California prisons that these inmates were much more
likely than other inmates (59% compared with 4.4%) to report being sexually assaulted
while in prison. This report has been backed up by PREA-inspired research by the BJS
(Beck et al., 2013).
Protecting sexual and gender identity minorities in prisons presents a challenge
for administrators, particularly in male prisons. Male bravado and posturing to show
strength and ward off attacks is common in male prisons, which makes those who are
unable or unwilling to put on such fronts targets for abuse or predation. If one is a trans-
gender female inmate in a male prison, the challenges mount. Not only must adminis-
trators be concerned about the safety of the inmate but they must also figure out a way
to accommodate her needs for privacy, medical treatment, and housing. As noted in
Chapter 5, PREA regulations now require greater consideration of the privacy, respect,
and medical needs of transgender and intersex inmates because they have been a par-
ticular target for abuse in jails and prisons, particularly transgender women in men’s
prisons (Routh et al., 2014; Sexton et al., 2010; Stohr, 2014). Despite the PREA regula-
tions, however, many states balk at paying for gender confirmation surgery (this surgery
addresses gender dysphoria, which occurs when one’s assigned gender does not match
one’s gender identity). So far only two states, California and Idaho, have gotten close to it.
In California, the decision in a federal lawsuit ordered the surgery, but the state paroled
the affected inmate before it was required (Boone, 2019). A federal lawsuit brought
by a female inmate housed in a male prison in Idaho was also decided in the inmate’s
favor (the state must allow and pay for the surgery), and that decision was affirmed by
the Ninth Circuit Federal Appellate Court, but Idaho’s governor (Brad Little) vowed to
appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court at the time of this writing in May 2020 (Idaho Office of
the Governor, 2020).
In women’s prisons, as is the case with racial and ethnic minorities, there appears to be
more acceptance of both lesbian and transgender inmates; part of this greater acceptance
may have to do with the sense that female inmates have direct experience with marginaliza-
tion and therefore are more understanding of those who vary from the norm in sexual orien-
tation or gender identity. Or it might have to do with the lesser need of women in prisons to
defend themselves physically from predation of other inmates; the frequency of violent and
sexual attacks in women’s prisons, as far as this can be determined, is much lower than it is in
men’s facilities (Britton, 2003).
188 CORRECTIONS
Immigration Prisons
LO 7.9 Identify the challenges faced in prisons housing those seeking asylum.
In years past, prisons for immigrants were used primarily for those who had committed
nonviolent drug offenses or who had crossed the border after being deported (Oosting,
2019). In recent years, however, immigration prisons and jails, overseen by Immigration
and Customs Enforcement, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and
their use have exponentially expanded. The Trump administration has used them to detain
migrant individuals and families closer to the southern border of the United States so they
might be easier to process (Greenwald, 2017; although some private providers have opened
prisons and jails much further north [e.g., a prison in Michigan and jails in Washington State
as discussed in Chapter 5]; Oosting, 2019, p. 1).
As people detained in immigration prisons are civilly committed, there are not the usual
due process protections governing their internment. They can, and have been, held for years
with no legal recourse to protest their confinement. As of 2017, the United States detained
440,000 people in about 200 immigrant prisons (Greenwald, 2017, p. 1). As Greenwald
(2017) documented, “These facilities have grown into a highly privatized, lucrative, and abu-
sive industry that profits off the misery of immigrants awaiting deportation . . . [they found]
substandard medical care, widespread physical and sexual abuse, virtual slave-labor work-
ing conditions and more. These abuses happen behind closed doors with little to no over-
sight” (p. 1). The American Civil Liberties Union appears to concur, noting that the facilities,
supervision, and services provided are substandard and very costly for taxpayers, and much
of this detention is essentially unnecessary. They also note that increasingly families who
are often asylum seekers fleeing violence are held in such prisons (American Civil Liberties
Union, 2019, p. 1).
In addition to questionable and sometimes abusive operations, and a lack of legal pro-
tection for their inmates, such prisons, many of them privately held, may be ethically com-
promising government officials (Burke & Mendoza, 2019; Mattise, 2017). Four months after
former White House chief of staff John Kelly stepped down from his post in January 2019,
he was appointed to the board of the conglomerate (Caliburn International) that operates
the largest prison for immigrant children in the United States (Associated Press, 2019). Prior
to his role as chief of staff, Kelly had worked as secretary of the Department of Homeland
Security, where he announced that the United States was considering the separation of
immigrant families (Associated Press, 2019, p. 3). Now in the private sector, Kelly is likely to
profit from his own decision.
SUMMARY
LO 7.1 Describe the current state of the prison system and LO 7.2 Identify the different types of prisons and their
the factors that affect it. classifications.
• The common issues facing prisons today are centered • Supermax prisons are high-security prisons that hold
on overcrowding and underfunding. The needs of staff those who are violent or disruptive in other prisons in
and inmates are often shaped by shortages. the state or federal system.
• Maximum-security prisons are high-security prisons LO 7.6 Identify the reasons why violence, riots, and
that may have the same security controls as supermaxes, sexual assaults occur in prisons and be familiar with some
but inside inmates are not locked down as much. strategies for their reduction.
• Medium-security prisons are high security, but inmates • Strategies to reduce violence exist and can be practiced
are able to move around more freely within the “walls”; by agencies interested in reducing violence.
inmates are of all kinds and tend to program well.
• Minimum-security prisons hold lower-level felony • Mature coping is one way that correctional clients
offenders and those who are “short timers,” or people can fruitfully adjust and perhaps reform while
who are relatively close to a release date; inmates not incarcerated.
expected to be an escape or behavioral problem. • Social support potentially has prosocial effects (e.g.,
reduce violence) both while inmates are in prison and
LO 7.3 Discuss the cost/benefit analysis of the value of
once they leave.
prison.
• The costs to support an individual in prison are high. In LO 7.7 State why care for aging inmates, physically ill
some situations the cost may outweigh the significance inmates, and inmates with mental illnesses in prisons has
of the crime or other avenues of handling it. become such an issue.
LO 7.4 Explain what prisonization, mortification, • As the age of the prison population increases, so do
importation, pains of imprisonment, and mature coping are the costs associated with their imprisonment. They
and how they influence inmate behavior. need an increased amount of medical care and services
and may need to be housed away from the general
• Total institutions exist to different degrees depending on population.
the security level and operation of prisons.
• To varying degrees, inmates experience mortification LO 7.8 Recognize the need to respect the needs of
and pain related to their incarcerated status, and as LGBTQ+ inmates.
humans they will behave in either pro- or antisocial • Any individual’s identification of sexual orientation or
ways to lessen that pain. gender identity must be respected in relation to their
general care and well-being. They are often the target of
LO 7.5 Explain what prison gangs are and why they exist violent crimes while imprisoned, and care needs to be
in prisons. taken to make the environment safe for them.
• Inmates adopt certain roles and engage in certain
behaviors because they are prisonized and adopt the LO 7.9 Identify the challenges faced in prisons housing
subculture or because they import aspects of the culture those seeking asylum.
from the outside community into the prison.
• Increasingly, persons seeking asylum in the United States
• Gangs and violence are one way that inmates adjust to are being detained for their hearings or for deportation.
their environment and have their needs met and their This is placing a strain on the system, and often their
pain alleviated. general rights and basics of care are not being met.
KEY TERMS
Attica Prison riot 180 Maximum-security prisons 168 Prison subculture 173
Deinstitutionalization of Medium-security prisons 168 Prisonization 171
people with mental illnesses 185 Minimum-security prisons 169 Prisons 165
Gangs 174 Mortification 171 Supermax prisons 166
Gender identity 186 New Mexico State Total institution 171
Importation 171 Penitentiary riot 180
Mature coping 182 Pains of imprisonment 171
190 CORRECTIONS
1. Which prison among those covered in our history 4. What are the attributes of gangs that make them
sections most reminds you of a supermax prison? appealing to inmates in prisons? How might that
What were the problems with this historical prison? appeal be reduced by prison managers?
On the basis of what we know of that prison, what
5. What are some of the difficulties that correctional
problems do you foresee arising with the supermax
organizations might face in using strategies to reduce
prisons of today?
violence? Who would you expect to support these
2. Define a total institution and how it might vary by type strategies, and who might not?
of correctional arrangement (e.g., probation, parole,
6. How might correctional clients configure their
jail, prison) and inmate status.
environment to ensure their own reform? How might
3. Inmate subcultures are thought to be related to the we as citizens assist them in that endeavor?
concepts of prisonization, importation, and the pains
7. What might be the most effective strategies for
of imprisonment. Discuss how and why this
managing special populations in prisons?
might be so.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Kim Hairston/MCT/Newscom
8 The Corrections
Experience for Staff

Test your current knowledge of work in corrections by answering the Upon completion of this chapter, the reader
following questions. Check your answers on page 387 after reading should be able to:
the chapter.
8.1 Compare what makes work a profession
1. Correctional officers are not called guards anymore.
(True or false?) as opposed to just a job.
2. Name three of the five characteristics of a profession. 8.2 Describe the effect of growth in staff
3. Generally speaking, which job do you think pays the most and and clients or inmates.
the least of these three (and why): police officer, correctional
8.3 Explain the importance of education and
officer, or probation and parole officer?
training in the correctional field.
4. Generally speaking, which job do you think requires the most
education and which requires the least (and why): police 8.4 Describe how and why demographic
officer, correctional officer, or probation and parole officer? factors affect corrections.
5. Television programs and movies tend to depict corrections
8.5 Identify what correctional roles are.
work accurately. (True or false?)
6. A role is what a person does on the job every day. 8.6 Describe the influence of subculture and
(True or false?) socialization on correctional officers.
7. What factors likely cause stress for correctional officers? 8.7 Discuss why correctional staff might
8. Unionized correctional officers make more money than abuse power and experience stress and
nonunionized correctional officers. (True or false?) burnout.
JOHN’S TRAGIC ST ORY
Mary K. Stohr
John was about 22 when I first met him as an inmate on my caseload at the adult male
prison I worked at in the 1980s. I was his classification counselor and only a few years older
than he was at the time. He’d had a tragic life up until that point: He was abandoned, for
the most part, by his father; his mother was hauled away to a mental institution in front of
him when he was 5; and foster care homes and struggling family members took care of
him for the rest of his childhood. He was in and out of juvenile facilities, mostly for property
crimes and joy riding, though he admitted that he had a problem controlling his temper.
He received very few visits, as the people he loved (his girlfriend and sister) were poor and
unable to make the trip often. His instant offense was one of those crimes (robbery) that
was technically serious, but the facts indicated that it was really burglary. It was the 1980s,
and the talk was all about being “tough on crime,” and that meant criminals like John, too.
He would come in and talk to me at length once or twice a week about his life and his hopes
(e.g., getting a job once released, staying out of prison, and reuniting with his off-and-on
estranged girlfriend). He seemed sincere and in need of a friend, but a correctional staffer
can never cross the line or be “friends” with inmates, though they can be friendly, to a point.
One time, he came in to talk, and it was clear he had been crying; his dad was presumed to
have killed himself by driving his truck into a lake on purpose and drowning.
(Continued)
193
194 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
John was distraught, feeling that he had let the father who had pretty much abandoned
him down. I talked to John for some time, and though upset, he seemed rational. Security
staff wanted to put him in segregation, but I successfully argued against it. John continued
to come to see me and seemed to need someone to talk to. Then, all of a sudden, about
a month after his dad died, he stopped coming by. It was a Friday night, and I was getting
ready to leave for the weekend and tracked him down at a bingo game in the cafeteria.
He was with one of his buddies, and when I asked him why I hadn’t seen him in the past
couple of weeks, he was noncommittal and uncharacteristically standoffish. I suspected
that something was wrong. In retrospect, I should have probed further and have always
wondered if things would have turned out differently if I had.
The next morning, I came in and was told what had happened. John had escaped
from the prison during the night (it was a restricted, minimum-security prison, with no
fence) and stolen a motorcycle, ostensibly to try to see his girlfriend, who had recently
broken up with him. He drove the bike wildly in downtown Vancouver, Washington, and
attracted the attention of a police officer, who then gave chase. John refused to stop for
the officer and instead sped up and seemingly purposefully drove straight into a concrete
wall. He died instantly.
Introduction: What Is a Profession?

LO 8.1 Compare what makes work a profession as opposed to just a job.
Work in corrections has changed a great deal from the shire reeves (the Old English name for
sheriffs) who ran the jails in England in the Middle Ages and the guards who staffed the first
Pennsylvania and New York prisons. For one thing, security staff in correctional facilities are
no longer referred to as guards, as that title is thought to reflect a more primitive role, and are
instead formally referred to as correctional officers, perhaps a reflection of the move to pro-
fessional status for these staff.
Yet the public does not generally see corrections work as a profession. Other than pro-
bation and parole work (which, not coincidentally, usually requires more education and
pays more), most college students do not identify work in jails or prisons as their career
goal either. Also, despite a century of effort by some determined correctional adminis-
trators, corrections organizations (such as the American Correctional Association
[ACA], the American Jail Association [AJA], and the American Probation and Parole
Association), and academicians, many correctional jobs are not structured like a pro-
Profession: Regarding the fession. A profession is typified by five characteristics: (a) prior educational attain-
positions of corrections officers
and staff, distinguished by prior
ment involving college, (b) formal training on the job or just prior to the start of the job,
educational attainment involving (c) pay and benefits that are commensurate with the work, (d) the ability to exercise dis-
college, formal training on the cretion, and (e) work that is guided by a code of ethics (Stohr & Collins, 2014). Yet most
job or just prior to the start of
the job, pay and benefits that jobs in corrections still do not adequately meet the first three of these criteria for profes-
are commensurate with the sional status, and though most correctional workplaces either have their own codes of eth-
work, the ability to exercise
discretion, and work that is ics or are nominally guided by that of a corrections organization, there is no enforcement
guided by a code of ethics. of this code as there is for medical doctors with the American Medical Association or for
lawyers with the American Bar Association.
In this chapter, we will explore the nature of correctional work as it has evolved and as
it is shaped by professionalism, the requirements of the job, and clients and inmates. We
will review the factors that lead to stress and turnover for officers and how those might be
addressed. Although correctional work is often not the first choice of a college graduate, it
does have its own appeal, and we will discuss why that might be so and how it has grown in
the past three decades.
CHAPTER 8 The Corrections Experience for Staff 195
The State of the Work in

Correctional Institutions and Programs
LO 8.2 Describe the effect of growth in staff and clients or inmates.
Growth in Staff and Clients or Inmates

As with exploding inmate and offender populations, and more recent decarceration of same,
the number of employees in corrections, who are often undereducated, undertrained, and
underpaid for their work, has grown astronomically. In the years when incarceration rates
were highest (the 1980s to 2008), there was an almost 600% increase in direct expenditures
for all criminal justice agencies (i.e., police, courts, and corrections). (For the latest data
available at the time of this publication, see Figure 8.1.) During that same time period, just
the expenditures for corrections increased by 660%. The majority of those employees were
correctional officers (66%) working in state and local correctional facilities and programs,
both public and private (Hughes, 2006; Perry, 2008; Stephan, 2008, p. 4). By 2017, more than
696,340 people worked full-time in public employment in state and local corrections alone
(U.S. Census Bureau, 2019, p. 1). The number of public-sector employees in corrections at
the state and local levels peaked in 2009 at 739,733 and then decreased until 2013 and then
rose to its 2017 level (U.S. Census Bureau tables for 2006 through 2017). Unfortunately, there
are not equivalent figures to compare for private-sector corrections employment.
At the state level, where most prisons and most adult probation and parole agencies are
operated and funded, three quarters or more of the correctional budget was spent on correc-
tional institutions through 2011 (Kyckelhahn, 2014, p. 2). Given the recession that began in
FIGURE 8.1 Direct Expenditure by Criminal Justice Function, 1982–2007

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics (2008). Most recent data available.
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
Number
1,000,000
500,000
0
1982 1987 1992 1997 2002 2007
Total Employment Police Protection

Corrections Judicial and Legal
196 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 8.2 State and Local Government Employees by Field of Work

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (n.d.).
Education 8.1 2.7
Hospitals
Police
Top 10 Categories
Corrections
Public Welfare
Education has 10 times the employees of the 2nd
Highways largest category of employment, hospitals.
Health
Judicial and Legal
Fire Protection
Other and
Unallocable
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
State and Local Employees (in Millions)
Local State
2007 and ended about 3 to 4 years later and the decarceration we are seeing at the local, state,
and federal levels now (Carson, 2020; Kaeble & Cowhig, 2018; Kaeble, Glaze, Tsoutis, &
Minton, 2016; Zeng, 2020), it is likely that these increases have not continued, however. In
fact, as indicated by Figure 8.2, by far, most employees of state and local governments are
employed in education (either K–12 or higher education) or by hospitals or the police.
Of these employees, in 2005 (the latest date for which we have figures), the majority, par-
ticularly those who work directly with inmates as correctional staff, were men, by a 3:1 ratio
(Stephan, 2008, p. 2). In federal facilities, the gender differences were largest, with 87% of
correctional officers being men and only 13% being women. The smallest gender employ-
ment difference was in the 400-plus private facilities, where 52% were men and 48% were
women. In the more numerous state correctional facilities, there were 74% male correctional
officers compared with 26% female officers (Stephan, 2008, p. 2). Notably, these gender dif-
ferences by level and type of facility very closely align with pay differences. Among prisons,
federal correctional officers, who are much more likely to be men, are the best paid, and pri-
vate facility correctional officers, who are almost as likely to be women, are paid the least (see
Table 8.1 regarding private versus public pay for correctional work).
TABLE 8.1 Mean Annual Pay for Full-Time Workers, 2018
CORRECTIONAL PROBATION OFFICERS

OFFICERS AND AND TREATMENT POLICE AND
JAILERS SPECIALISTS SHERIFFS
Public and private local, $49,300 $58,790 $65,400
state, and federal
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (2018).

Even with this growth in staff numbers overall, whether men or women, the proportional
growth in inmates has been much larger. As a result, the ratio of inmates to staff in prisons grew
significantly from 2000 to 2005, with the most inmates to correctional staff in federal prisons
(10.3 in 2006 but decreasing to 4.4 in 2015) and private prisons (6.9 vs. 5.0 in public) in 2005,
compared with state prisons at 4.9 (Davidson, 2015, p. 1; Stephan, 2008, p. 5). Likewise, jails
continue to hold in the neighborhood of 81% of their capacity (Zeng, 2020), and the case-
loads of parole officers at the state level (data on state or federal probation officer caseloads
and parole officer caseloads at the federal level were not available) range around 38 per officer
(Bonczar, 2008, p. 1). As the incarceration rate has steadily decreased (since 2009), the number
of staff working in state and local corrections has as well. Simply put, staff working in correc-
tions continue to be stretched very thin despite the decreases in inmate and client numbers.
Also, as indicated in Figure 8.3, the employment of correctional officers in prisons and jails
varies somewhat by state, with states with larger populations employing the most.
Given these numbers of inmates and clients, one can appreciate the organizational
problems that develop for correctional managers seeking to hire, train, and retain the best
employees to do this difficult work, especially when the unemployment rate is low (post-
COVID-19 unemployment is high at the time of this writing in May 2020, but a few months
before it was not, and a few years hence it may not be either). Perhaps, in part, because of
this recognized need to get and keep the best employees, the management of correctional
institutions and programs has shifted over the years as efforts to professionalize, democra-
tize (allow more say in the work by those doing it), and standardize work in corrections have
had some success.
FIGURE 8.3 Annual Mean Wage of Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists by State,

May 2018
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (2018, p. 4).
WA
MT ME
ND
OR MN VT
ID NH
WI NY MA
WY SD MI
RI
IA
NV NE PA
UT OH NJ
IL IN
CA CO WV MD
KS MO VA
KY
NC
AZ TN
NM OK AR SC
AL GA
MS
TX LA
FL
AK FL
Annual Mean Wage

$35,630–$43,010 $43,100–$48,280
$48,460–$61,340 $62,270–$89,240
Blank Areas/States Indicate Data Not Available

198 CORRECTIONS
In general, compensation that is commensurate with job requirements and skills is a

clear indication of the value given to a particular profession. It is true that it would be dif-
ficult to regard some correctional institutions or programs or their staff as professionals
because they do not meet the educational, training, or pay requirements of a profession.
However, there are a number of correctional institutions and programs that have made
much progress in this area, though the path to professionalization and the creation of a work
environment that is conducive to employee growth and welfare are not always achieved.
So if we were to imagine a continuum of correctional professionalism across the field, we
could probably generalize that community corrections officers (probation and parole officers)
and their work are more professionalized—defined as having more education, training, and
pay—than are prison and jail correctional officers (see Table 8.1). (We will discuss ethics sepa-
rately at the end of the chapter, and it was also covered in Chapter 3.) Of course, these general-
izations do not hold true for every institution or every locality. For instance, in some larger city
jails, officers might be paid and trained as well as or better than prison officers or even adult
probation and parole officers. Typically, jail officers in large counties are paid more than those
in small counties and often, but not always, are paid less than state- and federal-level correc-
tional officers. Usually, federal-level community corrections officers make more than prison
officers at their level of government (e.g., at the federal or state level; Stohr & Collins, 2014).
Moreover, there is a great deal of variation by state. For instance, probation officers in Florida
made a mean wage of $35,630 in 2018, while probation officers in California made $89,240 on
average (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018, p. 4). These data do indicate that attempts to profes-
sionalize corrections, as it pertains to pay, need more effort in some areas than in others.
Note that police officers at both the state and local levels are paid about $16,000 more per
year than correctional officers and more than $7,000 more than probation and parole offi-
cers in any given state (see Table 8.1). Therefore, it is not surprising that both local and state
police officers, along with probation and parole officers, are more likely to require at least
some college and possibly a college degree. Students of criminal justice tend to recognize this
difference in that when asked what they want to do when they graduate, they are more likely
to identify police or community corrections (probation and parole) jobs as desirable over
work in a prison or jail.
Notably, the push to privatize correctional and law enforcement work since the 1980s
has not resulted in better pay for staff. In fact, in general, privately employed correctional
and law enforcement officers’ median pay is less than for comparable jobs in the public
sector. If better pay is correlated with a more professional workforce, then we can conclude
that the privatization efforts are not moving us in that direction.
Perceived Benefits of Correctional Work

There are many reasons why people who work in corrections might find it gratifying. For
one, people are attracted to correctional work because it has been a booming business for
a number of decades, creating thousands of jobs in the process. Correctional work also
provides a steady, if not lucrative, paycheck (see Table 8.1).
People who want to make a difference in other people’s lives, to end the tragic circum-
stances that tend to produce a cycle of street-level criminals, might choose to work with
juveniles in corrections or in treatment programming with adults or juveniles on commu-
nity supervision or in institutions. When they see someone change for the better and know
that they might have contributed to that change, this is when correctional work can be
personally fulfilling.
It is also possible that those who are attracted to correctional work are curious about
the human psyche and how it operates. Working with people who have engaged in seri-
ously deviant behavior enhances the understanding about why people behave the way they
do. Some might also find it rewarding to be

engaged in keeping these seriously deviant
and violent offenders off the streets and, in
that sense, to be part of the justice-dispensing
machinery that is corrections.
Collective Bargaining
Correctional staff moved to unionize as a
means of gaining power vis-à-vis admin-
Alamy/Marmaduke St. John

istrators. As we know from our history of
corrections, the wardens of earlier prisons
(and this is still true, to some extent, today
in some correctional institutions) often
acted like dictators over their fiefdom, the
prison (Bergner, 1998; Rideau, 2010). And
it was not only inmates who were their Photo 8.1 Control center staff members have the challenging job of monitoring several
screens at once and are responsible for the electronic unlocking and locking of most doors in
subjects but also staff, who were relatively the facility.
powerless to voice their concerns or to earn
a decent and livable wage. By unionizing, correctional staff working at the state and local
levels were able to gain some collective power to bargain with administrators to improve
their own work conditions. A union worker is defined by the U.S. Department of Labor
(2010) as follows:
Any employee in a union occupation when all of the following conditions are met:
a labor organization is recognized as the bargaining agent for all workers in the
occupation; wage and salary rates are determined through collective bargaining
or negotiations; and settlement terms, which must include earnings provisions
and may include benefit provisions, are embodied in a signed, mutually binding
collective bargaining agreement. A nonunion worker is an employee in an occu-
pation not meeting the conditions for union coverage. (p. 1)
A number of concerns regarding unionization have been raised, however, and these
include the belief that unionization restricts the ability of administrators to fire incompe-
tent people; that union contracts are too restrictive regarding the work that people can do;
and that, in some cases, unions have worked to increase incarceration as a means of increas-
ing job opportunities. Although some of these concerns may have merit, it is also true that
those states with unionized correctional staff pay those staff more and provide more ben-
efits for them (see Table 8.2). Research by an economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics
TABLE 8.2 Mean Hourly Wages of Union and Nonunion State and Local
Correctional Workers and Law Enforcement
UNION NONUNION
Probation and parole $27.69 $21.00
Correctional officers and jailers 23.36 14.74
Police 30.42 20.97
Source: U.S. Department of Labor (2010, Table 13). Most recent data available upon publication.
200 CORRECTIONS
(Long, 2013, p. 18) indicates that the difference in pay for state and local unionized and
nonunionized workers generally ranges from a low of $4 to a high of $8 per hour. Higher
wages are likely to increase the ability of those unionized work environments to attract
and keep better and more professional workers.
If it is harder for administrators to fire incompetent unionized workers, it is also harder
for administrators to fire people on the basis of their politics or simply because they do not
like them. Such contrarian voices in the workforce (those who disagree with administrative
practices) often provide an important check on the power of administrators, and unions
give such people protection from the wrath of those administrators who might want to
retaliate against “contrarians.”
Although the union for correctional officers in California did lobby to increase the
number of institutions and jobs in corrections in that state in the 1990s, it is possible that
they were just representing the sentiments of their membership. Correctional staff tend to
be somewhat conservative regarding crime issues and so would tend to support, like the
general public of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, the creation of more correctional institutions.
Why Require More Education and Training?

LO 8.3 Explain the importance of education and training in the correctional field.
First of all—and unfortunately—most correctional institutions and programs do not

have prior educational requirements that would elevate them to the level of a profession.
Although it is true that many probation and parole officers must have a college degree or
at least some college to qualify for the job, most jails, prisons (with the exception of federal
correctional officers, who must have a bachelor’s degree and experience), and even juvenile
institutions—even those with a greater emphasis on rehabilitative programming—do not
often require such a qualification from applicants.
Stanford Prison Experiment

Stanford prison experiment: Yet the oft-cited Stanford prison experiment provides a powerful argument for the value of
A 1971 experiment conducted
at Stanford University in which
formal education and training for correctional staff. In this 1971 experiment, volunteer stu-
volunteer students were divided dents, with no training as officers and only their own expectations and beliefs to guide them,
into officers and inmates in a were divided into officers and inmates in a makeshift “prison” (Haney, Banks, & Zimbardo,
makeshift prison. The experiment
ended with about one third of the 1981). The “officers” were outfitted in uniforms, including reflective sunglasses, and given
“officers” engaged in the abuse nightsticks. The “inmates” were given sacklike attire. Neither officers nor inmates were told
of “inmates,” and other officers
stood by while it was going on. The of any rules or policies to guide or restrict their behavior. Predictably, a few of these officers,
experiment was stopped after a or guards, engaged in verbal and psychological abuse of the inmates. In the end, about one
few days and is often referenced
as an example of how correctional third of the officers engaged in the abuse, and others stood by while it was going on. The
work and the subcultures that experiment was stopped after a few days and is often referenced as an example of how cor-
develop as part of the job can
foster corrupt behavior by officers.
rectional work and the subcultures that develop as part of the job can foster corrupt behavior
by officers.
The problem with the experiment, however, was that the officers were never given any
education or training in corrections work. They were directed to exercise their discretion
in controlling the inmates, but it was a discretion that was not necessarily anchored to any
history or knowledge of “best practices” in corrections. Rather, the “choices” made by the
officers in the absence of any education and training were likely shaped by the movies and
popular-press depictions of corrections that tended to reinforce the stereotypes of the insti-
tutions, programs, and work. Not knowing how best to “get people to do what they oth-
Power: The ability to “get
people to do what they otherwise erwise wouldn’t” (Dahl’s [1961] definition of power), the guards used what knowledge of
wouldn’t” (Dahl, 1961). corrections they had, even if it was all wrong.
Abu Ghraib
The Abu Ghraib scandal of 2004, in which prisoners were tortured by mostly untrained Abu Ghraib: A military
prison in Iraq where untrained
“correctional officers” in the American-operated Abu Ghraib military prison in Iraq, “correctional officers” subjected
tends to reinforce the lessons of the Stanford prison experiment, even contrived as those prisoners to torture.
circumstances were. At Abu Ghraib, some correctional officers made inmates sleep
naked, crawl on the floor, and pose in pyramids naked (while staff took pictures). A num-
ber of officers also deprived inmates of food and basic necessities and engaged in physi-
cal torture. The U.S. Army’s investigation of the abuses at Abu Ghraib found that officers
engaged in the following:
Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees; pour-
ing cold water on naked detainees; beating detainees with a broom handle and a
chair; threatening male detainees with rape; allowing a military police guard to
stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the
wall in his cell; sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom
stick, and using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with
threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee. (Hersh, 2004, p. 1)
Although the Army wanted to blame the abuses that occurred at Abu Ghraib on
untrained and rogue staffers at the prison (and six of them were prosecuted), the blame
for the abuses extended up the chain of command to the Army Reserve brigadier general
in charge of all Iraqi prisons, though she had had no previous experience or training in
running prisons (she was relieved of command), and perhaps as high as defense secretary
Donald Rumsfeld.
As the international furor grew, senior military offi-

cers, and President George W. Bush, insisted that the
actions of a few did not reflect the conduct of the
military as a whole. Taguba’s report [Major General
Antonio M. Taguba investigated what happened at
Abu Ghraib], however, amounts to an unsparing
study of collective wrongdoing and the failure of
Army leadership at the highest levels. The picture
he draws of Abu Ghraib is one in which Army reg-
ulations and the Geneva conventions were routinely
violated, and in which much of the day-to-day man-
agement of the prisoners was abdicated to Army
military-intelligence units and civilian contract
employees. Interrogating prisoners and getting intel-
ligence, including by intimidation and torture, was
the priority. (Hersh, 2004, p. 4)
Simply put, the lesson from these incidents and count-

AP Photo/ASSOCIATED PRESS
less corrections scandals over the years that have involved

the systematic abuse of inmates by staff is that some people
will not act professionally—or even decently—especially
when they have no education or training in that profes-
sion. The training and education will not necessarily pre-
vent all such abuses (at least two of the officers involved in
Abu Ghraib had prior experience as correctional officers Photo 8.2 An unidentified detainee stands on a box with a bag on his
in Virginia and presumably some training in that state), head and wires attached to him, at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
202 CORRECTIONS
but they will at least provide the officers with the knowledge and skills to do the job the way it
should be done.
Correctional work often does not resemble other professions, because the formal train-
ing provided for many new hires, including the number of hours required and the quality of
that training, does not approach the level of other professions, which may schedule months
of training (e.g., police departments with an average of 761 hours, or 19 weeks, of training
for new recruits [Reaves, 2009], and some departments with well over 1,000 hours [e.g., the
Dallas Police Department (2018) requires 1,431 hours]) or extensive internships, months or
years in duration, in other fields (e.g., teachers, social workers, and doctors).
The typical correctional job has lesser requirements for formal training or structured
experience. For instance, in a Corrections Compendium (Clayton, 2003) survey, the research-
ers found that 31 of the reporting U.S. agencies required at least 200 hours of preservice
training for those planning to work in a correctional institution. Likewise, in a quick survey
of 150 directors and staff trainers, with responses received from 13 states or agencies in April
2004, the Juvenile Justice Trainers Association found that about 140 to 180 hours of preser-
vice, academy-like training is required for most new hires in juvenile facilities (personal
correspondence with M. Stohr, May 2004). In a more recent survey of correctional training
directors in 44 states, Burton, Lux, Cullen, Miller, and Burton (2018) found that most of the
states required between 100 and 300 hours of training for their new recruits, with one state
requiring less than 100 hours and 12 requiring more than 300 hours.
Moreover, in some professions, the requisite college or professional degree is geared
toward the work itself (e.g., computer programming, law school, or a master’s in social
work). Yet when a college degree is required for a job in corrections, it is rarely specifically a
criminal justice degree but is typically one or more of the social science degrees, which may
include no classes on corrections or the criminal justice system at all.
Of course, these deficits in formal education and knowledge base and in training
leave correctional workers less suited to perform their job in anything approaching a
historical or present-day, research-based context. When they have not studied correc-
tions or been provided with sufficient training, they may not understand the reason
some practices are undertaken or why others are abandoned. They do not have the req-
uisite tools to suggest changes or the background in research to know whether some-
thing “works” or not. Their ability to behave and develop as a professional is limited.
So when they use their discretion (defined here as the ability to make choices and to act
or not act on them), they could be making ill-informed choices that are not based on
knowledge or experience and are overly influenced by their personal ideology, politics,
or the media (Merlo & Benekos, 2000).
Ethics
Not surprisingly and as was discussed in this chapter and Chapter 3 on ethics, there have
been numerous instances of documented ethical abuses by staff that include sexual
assaults—beatings and rapes of clients on probation and parole, as well as of inmates in jails
and prisons in the United States (Amnesty International, 2004; Bard, 1997; Schofield, 1997;
Serrano, 2006). As a means of preventing such abuses, correctional agencies will often adopt
an ethics code, such as those promulgated by the ACA (see In Focus 8.1), the AJA, or others,
and train people on what is right and wrong behavior in corrections.
The importance of training correctional workers initially and throughout their careers
on what constitutes ethical behavior cannot be overemphasized. Just as important as the
training, however, is ensuring that ethical people work in the organization. To do this, man-
agers might consider using selection instruments and practices geared toward weeding out
those who have little understanding of what is right and wrong and promoting only those
people who exhibit that understanding in their daily work.
In Focus 8.1
ACA C O D E O F E T H I C S
Preamble 10. Members shall refrain from entering

into any formal or informal activity or
The American Correctional Association expects
agreement which presents a conflict
of its members unfailing honesty, respect for the
of interest or is inconsistent with the
dignity and individuality of human beings, and a
conscientious performance of duties.
commitment to professional and compassionate
service. To this end, we subscribe to the following 11. Members shall refrain from accepting any
principles. gift, service, or favor that is or appears
to be improper or implies an obligation
1. Members shall respect and protect the civil inconsistent with the free and objective
and legal rights of all individuals. exercise of professional duties.
12. Members shall clearly differentiate between
2. Members shall treat every professional
personal views/statements and views/
situation with concern for the welfare of the
statements/positions made on behalf of the
individuals involved and with no intent to
agency or Association.
personal gain.
13. Members shall report to appropriate
3. Members shall maintain relationships
authorities any corrupt or unethical
with colleagues to promote mutual respect
behaviors in which there is sufficient
within the profession and improve the
evidence to justify review.
quality of service.
14. Members shall refrain from discriminating
4. Members shall make public criticism of against any individual because of race,
their colleagues or their agencies only when gender, creed, national origin, religious
warranted, verifiable, and constructive. affiliation, age, disability, or any other type
5. Members shall respect the importance of of prohibited discrimination.
all disciplines within the criminal justice 15. Members shall preserve the integrity of
system and work to improve cooperation private information; they shall refrain from
with each segment. seeking information on individuals beyond
6. Members shall honor the public’s that which is necessary to implement
right to information and share information responsibilities and perform their duties;
with the public to the extent permitted by members shall refrain from revealing
law subject to individuals’ right to nonpublic information unless expressly
privacy. authorized to do so.
7. Members shall respect and protect the 16. Members shall make all appointments,
right of the public to be safeguarded from promotions, and dismissals in accordance
criminal activity. with established civil service rules,
applicable contract agreements, and
8. Members shall refrain from using their individual merit, rather than furtherance of
positions to secure personal privileges or personal interests.
advantages.
17. Members shall respect, promote, and
9. Members shall refrain from allowing contribute to a work place that is safe,
personal interest to impair objectivity in healthy, and free of harassment in any form.
the performance of duty while acting in an
official capacity. Source: Reprinted with permission from the ACA website (www.aca.org).
Correctional Work Is Little Understood

It is possible that students and the general public may not view correctional work as a
desirable career choice because they do not understand it. The truth is that few people
outside correctional work (or academe) probably know how institutions and community
204 CORRECTIONS
Ethical Issue
As a probation and parole agent, you become aware with sexual favors. You learn that he has been quite
that one of your colleagues with whom you have a successful with this strategy and that he overlooks
good relationship is sexually preying on his female numerous violations. Would you (a) ignore this as
probationers and parolees. He essentially waits for none of your business, (b) talk to him and counsel
them to commit violations such as nonpayment of him on the dangers of doing this and tell him to stop
fines, missed appointments, and providing dirty urine or you will report him (it is a crime for someone with
samples and then hints that he will not violate their legal authority over another to demand sexual favors),
probation or parole status if they are forthcoming or (c) report him to his supervisor?
supervision actually operate, nor do they hold the roles of staff working in those agencies in
very high regard. Students are acculturated by a media preoccupied with violence that tends
to depict correctional institutions as dark, corrupt places peopled by abusive or, at a mini-
mum, cynical and distant “guards” (Conover, 2001; Johnson, 2002; O’Sullivan, 2006). In the
movies and television specials, prisons are almost always maximum security, old, and noisy;
jails are crowded and huge monstrosities; and juvenile facilities are depressing and havens
for child predators. Perhaps as discouraging, community corrections, which is arguably—
on the basis of our criteria here—the most professionalized sector of corrections, is rarely
depicted in the mass media at all (Lutze, 2014).
Unfortunately, the mass media are not alone in misleading the public and students of
criminal justice and criminology about corrections and correctional work. Academics have
also tended to focus much of their attention on only the biggest and the “baddest” of cor-
rectional institutions and programs and the labor of their staff. Maximum security institu-
tions and, to a lesser extent, metropolitan city jails have been showcased, though they are
not the norm for most corrections in this country (e.g., see Conover, 2001; Hassine, 1996;
Jacobs, 1977; Johnson, 2002; Morris, 2002; Sykes, 1958). Research on these institutions tends
to focus on the negative, or what the institutions or staff are doing wrong, rather than on
what is working well. Of course, it is understandable that the “negative” shines through when
these particular institutions and their type are the center of attention: Given the makeup of
their inmate populations and the likelihood that they are crowded and understaffed, there is
much that is amiss in such places.
Predictably, work in probation and parole, much like the study of jail staff, receives short
shrift by academics, who tend, like the media, to be preoccupied with what is “sexy,” violent,
and controversial (Lutze, 2014). Given these depictions by the media and academics, it is
hard to discern the truth about correctional institutions and programs and work in them
because it is clear that the work is underappreciated, little understood, and hampered by
misguided perceptions of it.
Individual-Level Factors
That Affect the Correctional Workplace
LO 8.4 Describe how and why demographic factors affect corrections.
The demographics of workers in the field of corrections are varied and have evolved over
the years. Here we will discuss issues such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, and military
backgrounds.

M I C H A E L K L E I N , C O R R E C TI O N A L O F F I C E R
Position: Correctional officer “They don’t have any money. They don’t get any
other zoom-zooms or wham-whams.”
Location: Indiana Department of Corrections,
Wabash Valley Correctional Facility “What’s that mean?” I asked.
“You know. Cakes. Commissary. Treats. Food.
Education: PhD in criminal justice and
They don’t get no other food. Don’t take their eggs,
criminology
man.”
It was a curious bit of the informal slang that makes I then looked around the room. The offenders were
up the diction of prison life. I first heard it when staring at me in their curious way of looking while
I was a new officer. I think that I had been out of not looking.
training for maybe 1 or 2 weeks at the time, and I
was working a cell house. It was time for nightly It was my turn to sigh. “Okay.”
cell searches. I walked into my ordered cell, and I
started to search. Contraband. Nothing major. The Shady smiled, picked up the eggs, and walked them
offenders in the cell had eight hard-boiled eggs. It back to the cell. I could feel a ripple of approval
doesn’t seem like a big deal to have eight hard- flowing through the room. In training, they would
boiled eggs, but that amount of hard-boiled eggs tell us that the offenders would try to “fish” or
could only have been smuggled out of the dining scam us. I don’t think that’s what happened. I don’t
hall. I gathered up my booty and exited the cell. think they were trying to scam me. I think that the
To be honest, I wasn’t going to write the offenders offenders approved of me giving back the eggs
up. I was just going to trash the eggs. So there I because Shady was right. The offenders in that cell
was, walking through the dayroom and holding had no family or friends. They had no one to send
my inconsequential find. All eyes were on me. One them money for zoom-zooms and wham-whams.
hundred offenders stared. I didn’t really think much The offenders approved because I had treated the
of it. I was new. I was used to offenders staring at offenders like people, not inmates. It was the first
me and sizing me up. An offender we called Shady time I realized that the offenders in the prison
moseyed up to my work station, where I had just set weren’t animals or monsters. They were just people.
the eggs. They just wanted a cake, a cookie, or an egg. They
just wanted that one moment of daily sweetness. We
“You’re taking their food?” he asked. all need zoom-zooms and wham-whams. There are
a lot of epiphanies when you work with offenders,
I shrugged. “I guess.” and these sudden moments of realization come out
“Why?” of nowhere. Training may not prepare you, but I
found that if you just realize that the offenders are
“Because they’re not supposed to have it.” Shady people caught in a bad situation, it will make the job
sighed. a whole lot easier.
Race or Ethnicity and Gender

Clearly, people should not be hired who are unqualified for a job, but if two people are roughly
comparable in terms of skills and abilities, should the employer look for other personal fea-
tures, such as race, gender, military background, or age, to determine who would be the best
hire for the organization? Whether people will admit it or not, such matters do enter the cal-
culus of who gets hired and promoted in organizations. (The topics of gender and race will be
explored in greater detail in Chapters 10 and 11.) Left to their own devices and without the
pressure that courts brought, the hiring of people of color and women did not occur in most
criminal justice agencies to any extent until after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed and
modified in 1972 to include gender (Stohr & Collins, 2014). Before the passage of this law
206 CORRECTIONS
and its modification, most employees in criminal justice agencies were very homogeneous
in terms of race or ethnicity and gender, and today, more than 45 years later, this is still true in
some organizations but to a much lesser extent or not true at all in others. Correctional orga-
nizations, like other criminal justice agencies, did not hire women (except to work with other
women and then for less pay) or people of color until they were forced to by the Civil Rights
Act and sometimes by lawsuits. One of the authors of this book worked as a correctional offi-
cer at an adult male prison in Washington State in 1983, and she was only the second woman
hired there; the other had been hired only a month before. The warden told her that he had
fought central office for years about hiring any people of color or women. When promoted
to the counselor position the next year at that same prison, she was the first woman in the his-
tory of that institution to work as a counselor. At the time she worked there, only one Hispanic
officer was employed, and the warden did not want him there. The warden told the author
that he would never hire a Black man or woman for a correctional position.
Fast-forward 37 years, and women and racial-ethnic minority group members have
integrated the correctional workplace at all levels and in every position. There are female
correctional officers in maximum-security prisons and working as juvenile probation
officers. There are racial-ethnic minority group members who serve as wardens and
directors of corrections and who serve on the line in medium-security prisons. Is correc-
tions fully integrated? The answer to that question is no, not fully, but the law and courts
have made it possible for all qualified applicants to work in correctional organizations
so that they better reflect the composition of their communities.
As the correctional workplace has diversified, the importance of race has grown, as it
might affect workers’ perceptions of one another and their labor (Camp, Steiger, Wright,
Saylor, & Gilman, 2013). Employees of different racial and ethnic groups perceive that their
job opportunities are shaped by their race or ethnicity and the race or ethnicity of others in
their workplace. Managers, therefore, need to be cognizant of these perceptions and sensi-
tive to them as they hire, train, and promote people.
As much as race, the change in gender composition of the employee workplace has had
an effect on correctional workers’ attitudes, perceptions, and behavior. We will discuss the
effect of gender much more in Chapter 10, but suffice it to say here that research has found
that female staff are as capable as men and bring a different supervisory style to the work
from that of men (Britton, 2003; Jurik & Halemba, 1984). When one of the authors first
started in corrections, several inmates and officers approached her and remarked on how
the language used by staff and inmates had become less harsh since she and another woman
had integrated the correctional officer workforce. She and the other female officer had done
nothing to change the language; rather, those around them thought that the language should
change because of their presence.
Regarding sexual harassment in the correctional workplace, research indicates that
female workers are more likely to be harassed by male coworkers or supervisors than are
male workers to be similarly harassed by women (Stohr, Mays, Beck, & Kelley, 1998).
However, when inmates are harassed by staff, the harassment is not merely restricted
to female victims and male offenders, nor is it limited to just staff (Marquart, Barnhill, &
Balshaw-Biddle, 2001). Recent research indicates that female officers are much more
involved, particularly in the more minor and “consensual” versions of sexual harassment of
male inmates, than are their male counterparts. In an example of a serious boundary vio-
lation in this regard, a female nurse at McNeil Island prison in Washington State, hired in
2005, was fired in 2006 for allegedly having an intimate sexual relationship with a violent
sex offender. Yet she continued to call him and have phone sex with him and visit him after
her firing, and that was not even the worst of her behavior vis-à-vis this inmate: “In 2007 and
2008, she reportedly smuggled in 50 pornographic movies to the inmate and delivered crack
cocaine to him 11 times” (Glenn, 2010, p. A4).
Age
Correctional agencies will also consider the age of the applicant when making a hiring
decision. None will hire below age 18, and many will require that an applicant be at least 21.
Correctional agencies do not typically have an upper age limit for hiring, as police depart-
ments legally do; rarely will police departments hire people in their 30s, unless they have
prior experience, and almost never will departments make a first hire of an officer who is
in his or her 40s or older. Most of the time, the initial hires in corrections are people in their
20s and 30s. Depending on the job specified and the correctional clients worked with, cor-
rectional work can be a physically taxing and stressful job, which is why agencies will tend
to target younger workers. When the job has fewer physical requirements (e.g., counseling
and treatment programming or work as a probation or parole officer), the agency is much
more likely to hire a worker in their 40s and older. What correctional and police agencies
may fail to realize, however, is that more mature workers are able to bring a level of human
experience and wisdom that might compensate for what they lack in physical agility in the
management of inmates and clients.
Prior Military Service

Another personal characteristic, beyond race or ethnicity and gender, of workers that tends
to shape the correctional environment is prior military service. Such experience is usually
considered favorably by correctional agencies seeking to hire. Some agencies will state such
a preference explicitly, and others will provide extra points for military service when appli-
cations are assessed. Whether such military service better prepares workers to handle jobs
in corrections is not a settled matter either, although the militaristic accoutrements of cor-
rectional work (i.e., the uniform, military titles, command structure) would certainly make
former military officers feel at home in some correctional workplaces.
Correctional Roles
LO 8.5 Identify what correctional roles are.
The Role Defined

Another aspect of the work that affects staff is the correctional role. The role of those work- Role: What a person does
on the job every day.
ing in a correctional workplace—or any other—is determined by what that person does on
the job every day. The role of staff in corrections is determined by their job descriptions,
their assigned duties, and the types of organization and clientele they work with. Therefore,
correctional officers working in a living unit in a medium-security prison have a different
role from that of probation officers working with lower level offenders in the community.
The first role involves constant supervision and interaction with inmates who live a very
restricted lifestyle in a secure institution. The second role, that of probation officer, also
involves supervision and interaction (though it is less intense, as they are likely to see their
clients less than daily) but also formally includes assistance to those they supervise. Both the
prison and the probation officers usually work with convicted felons, but the prison inmates
are more likely to be repeat felons and are usually convicted of more serious offenses.
Although the first role involves the maintenance of both safety and security, for the prison
officer, that usually means safety and security for other staff and other inmates, whereas for
the probation officer, it usually means they are concerned about community members the
officer’s clients interact with. Both are likely involved in facilitating programming, but the
prison officer is most often watching inmates engaged in it or escorting them to it—though
208 CORRECTIONS
in some prisons, officers help deliver it—whereas the probation officer might recommend it
or even run treatment groups. The prison officer might make recommendations regarding
a person’s placement in housing or work assignments in the secure facility, whereas a proba-
tion officer will monitor a probationer’s engagement in them or counsel them about how to
find them.
Both roles involve paperwork—loads of it—and both involve interactions with super-
visors and accountability for what they do. For prison officers, they must adhere to the for-
mal and informal rules that shape prison work, as those are provided by state law, policies
and procedures, their administrators, and the subcultural values of coworkers and clients
(Lipsky, 1980). For probation officers, they also must work within these formal and informal
strictures, but in addition, they are often in constant contact with court actors, prosecutors,
police officers, and jail workers, and these contacts, plus the clients on their caseload and
their families, can shape the role they play on the job.
We clearly have overgeneralized in our comparison here of how a correctional officer
role in a medium-security prison and that of a probation officer role in the community
might differ and be similar. In those states and institutions where treatment is empha-
sized, some correctional officers are very engaged in providing treatment, not just super-
vising an inmate’s involvement in it, for instance. Moreover, the role of some probation
officers, particularly those who have intensive supervision caseloads with more seri-
ous offenders, may involve as much direct supervision as correctional staff provide in a
prison. The point is that a role for staff is determined by many things, and it is defined by
what people actually do in their work.
Street-Level Bureaucrats
Street-level bureaucrat: The A street-level bureaucrat is what everyone who wants to work in a criminal justice agency
position of public-sector workers
in entry-level positions in the
starts out as. They are, according to Lipsky (1980), who first defined them, entry-level public-
criminal justice system who often sector workers with too much work to do, too few resources to do it, and some discretion to
have too much work, too few choose how to do it. Police officers, public prosecutors and defenders, probation officers,
resources, and some discretion
on how to do their work. and juvenile and adult correctional officers, along with teachers, social workers, and many
other like jobs, are street-level bureaucrats. They often have clients who are poor, unedu-
cated, and relatively powerless who need public services. Although clients in the correc-
tional environment are often involuntary,
they still need the assistance of correctional
staff in communities and institutions.
The reason we are mentioning street-
Photo by Jessey Dearing for The Boston Globe via Getty Images
level bureaucrats here is that the concept

encapsulates the struggles correctional
staff face. Although they have discre-
tion, they often have to make Solomonic
choices because their resources (time,
treatment programming, space, etc.) are
limited, and yet they have so many cli-
ents in need. Many of us would then argue
that we should just increase the resources
that correctional staff have, and conse-
quently, there would be enough for all of
the clients. Lipsky (1980), however, would
argue that there will never be enough
Photo 8.3 A correctional officer addressing inmates. Correctional staff are often called upon public-sector resources to meet all of the
to lead inmates and to instruct them on how the organization works. demand because other forces in the larger
environment of corrections will obstruct this increase (e.g., taxation reduction groups).
So demand will never be met by supply, and that puts the street-level bureaucrat in an
untenable position, forced to choose whom to provide resources to and whose needs to
ignore while they do it.
Hack Versus Human Service

The public may be less inclined to support the increased professionalization of correctional Professionalization: Includes
the enforcement of professional
staff when they think their role is limited to the use of brute force, a role termed a guard in standards for their new hires,
old-style Big House prisons and defined as a hack by current scholars (Farkas, 1999, 2001; such as a required college-level
Johnson, 2002). If a correctional officer is viewed by the public as a hack, or as a violent, educational background, pay
that is commensurate with job
cynical, and alienated keeper of inmates in a no-hope warehouse prison, then there would requirements, training that
appear to be little need to encourage education or provide the training and pay that would sufficiently prepares people for
the job, and a code of ethics
elevate such officers to professional status. Yet there is reason to believe that most officers in that drives the work practice.
prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities, and those who work in community corrections, actu- Hack: A correctional officer in a
ally regularly engage in human service, which serves as an alternative, more developed, and prison who is a violent, cynical,
more positive role for correctional workers (Lombardo, 2001; Johnson, 2002). and alienated keeper of inmates.
Robert Johnson (2002) defined human service correctional officers as those who pro- Human service: The provision
by a correctional officer of
vide “goods and services,” serve as “advocates” for inmates when appropriate, assist them goods, services, advocacy, and
with their “adjustment” to prison, and use “helping networks” of staff to facilitate that adjust- assistance to help inmates adjust.
ment (pp. 242–259). Such goods and services might involve food and clothing or medica-
tion, and advocacy might include helping inmates find jobs or apply for different housing
or roommates, while adjustment assistance could include counseling them about how to
handle difficult people or situations. Clearly, these kinds of activities are not necessarily in
the job description of most officers who work in institutions, but they are often very much
a part of what they do in reality and require that the officer be skilled and knowledgeable.
When the public does not know about and the correctional organization does not recognize
the alternative human service work role performed by correctional or juvenile justice offi-
cers and probation and parole officers, then, again, there is no perceived need to provide the
training and pay that would be commensurate with that more developed professional role.
The Subculture and Socialization

LO 8.6 Describe the influence of subculture and socialization on correctional officers.
The staff subculture in corrections, much like the roles, varies by facility and by type of orga-
nization. A subculture might be defined as the norms, values, beliefs, history, traditions, and
language held and practiced by a group of people. (As indicated in Chapter 7, a subculture is
just a subset of a larger organizational culture.) In corrections, those aspects of a subculture
are shaped by what kind of facility or organization you have, what kind of clientele you are
dealing with, and how isolated the group of people is from the rest of the community. The
more isolated and the more exclusive the interaction of the group, the more likely it is that
the subculture’s norms, values, beliefs and language are distinct from the larger community.
Historically, staff literally lived on the prison grounds with the inmates in prisons that
were not open to the public or the media (Ward & Kassebaum, 2009). In such institutions,
a distinct subculture was more likely to form than it is in today’s prisons, jails, or commu-
nity corrections entities, where staff come and go with shifts and where visitors, lawyers, and
the media have much more access than they did in years past. However, though correctional
organizations of today are less likely to have as strong a staff subculture as they did in years
past, this is not to say that they do not have a subculture.
210 CORRECTIONS
Ethical Issue
As a district manager of a probation and parole but then start complaining about working conditions
district, you notice that several of your staff seem and about how they are treated—not by inmates but
burned out and stressed by their work. There are by management and other staff. What do you think
many more sick calls and more turnover than would be the best approach to alleviate the stress
is normal for this size of workplace. You have and burnout by staff? Will this involve the need for
bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice, you and other supervisors to give up some power
and you know some of the research around these in the workplace? What obstacles do you anticipate
issues. You convene a meeting and note that your getting in the way of any change? Despite these
staff are reluctant at first to tell you what is wrong obstacles, should you still do it?
Subcultural Values
Subcultural values in the correctional setting are likely to have an effect on what staff do.
Even today, correctional organizations and the people who work in them are somewhat
cut off from the larger society by the nature of what they do and the need to keep some
matters private for legal and security reasons. Moreover, staff in corrections have very
intense experiences together, involving violence and strong emotions, experiences that are
likely to bind staff together in an us-versus-them stance toward their clients and the larger
society. It is for this reason that the role of staff in corrections is likely, for better or worse,
to be influenced by the subcultural values of the group (e.g., see the discussion of subcul-
tural values in Chapter 3).
Some subcultural values are positive in that they facilitate the ability of officers to do
their work well (e.g., aiding your coworker and doing your own work). However, other
subcultural values sound exactly like those expressed by inmates (e.g., “never rat” and the
us-versus-them mentality) and serve to isolate the work and the workers, making them
more likely to either participate in corrupt activities or to turn their heads when they witness
these activities and to reinforce negative attitudes toward clients and the work.
Staff Interactions With Inmates

LO 8.7 Discuss why correctional staff might abuse power and experience stress and
burnout.
The Defects of Total Power

Many of those subcultural values are shaped by the power relationships between staff and
inmates. In a classic work, Gresham Sykes (1958) described the relationship between staff
and inmates in a maximum-security prison. Sykes noted that staff at this prison or any
prison need inmates to comply with orders, as it would be difficult, if not impossible, to force
inmates to do “what they otherwise wouldn’t” (the definition of power mentioned earlier;
Dahl, 1961). Use of force to get inmates to comply with basic commands or orders would be
inefficient, impossible, and counterproductive. For instance, if an inmate refused to make
his bed or several inmates refused, it would be difficult for an officer to call in the emergency
response team every time this happened, as it would mean that these team members would
be pulled from their own duties. It would also make the officer in question, the one who
could not get the inmate to do something as simple as make their bed, appear like they could
not handle the supervision of inmates. Moreover, force is sometimes impossible to use, at
least daily, as the inmates outnumber staff in living units by sometimes as much as 50 or 100
to 1. There are ways to lock down living units and use gas and other measures to suppress
disruptions, but if this had to be done on a regular basis, the prison would be in a constant
uproar. And if force were used regularly for such trivial matters as making a bed, it is likely
that inmates would align themselves more in opposition to staff, thus making the use of
force counterproductive and perhaps requiring the greater use of it.
It is for these reasons that Sykes (1958) found that staff needed inmate compliance in
prisons as much as inmates needed staff assistance. However, gaining compliance from
inmates is not always easy. Staff, according to Sykes, have relatively little they can give to
inmates to motivate them. They can sometimes get inmates better work or housing assign-
ments, but the amount of these rewards is limited and their power to garner rewards for
inmates may be likewise so. Moreover, staff do not have the ability to reward inmate compli-
ance with what inmates want most: their freedom. Therefore, according to Sykes, given these
realities, staff and inmates tend to engage in a “corrupted” relationship, whereby inmates
comply with staff orders as long as staff overlook some violations, usually minor ones, by
inmates. Such a relationship is most likely to develop between staff and those inmates who
have the most power to control and gain compliance from other inmates.
Of course, Sykes was only describing the dynamics of the staff–inmate relationship in
a New Jersey maximum-security prison in the 1950s, and much has changed since then—
even in the most secure prisons. However, the informal side of the relationship between staff
and inmates or clients in corrections is still there, and the need for an exchange relation-
ship between the two is still part of that dynamic. In another classic work on public service
workers generally, Michael Lipsky (1980) also recognized the fact that formally, staff con-
trol inmates, but informally, in prisons, schools, and social welfare departments, clients,
even ostensibly powerless ones, also exercise some power over staff. By not complying
with orders, failing to review information, or complaining about the service they receive,
clients—even inmate clients—are able to force staff to adjust their behavior.
The Correctional Role When Supervising Children

An example of the variability of the correctional role would be the form it takes when
officers and counselors supervise children. Inderbitzin (2006) found, in a 15-month
ethnographic study of staff members
supervising a cottage of boys in a juve-
nile training facility (the juvenile ver-
sion of a prison), that they “serve as their
adolescent inmates’ guardians, keepers,
counselors, and role models” (p. 431).
Noting that the work with these serious
and sometimes violent juveniles could be
“frustrating, dangerous, often amusing,
Getty Images/Christian Science Monitor
and occasionally rewarding” (p. 439), she

noted that officers and counselors needed
to be flexible and energetic in order to
best cope with a volatile mix of duties that
each day would bring. The tactics used by
staff to gain the boys’ cooperation and to
supervise them effectively ranged from
the more punitive disciplinary actions
all the way to reasoning with or cajoling Photo 8.4 Correctional officer working with youth in a Toledo, Ohio, detention center.
212 CORRECTIONS
Policy and Research

S TA F F S TR E S S, B U R N O U T, A N D T U R N OV E R
Work in corrections can be taxing and troublesome. those who adopted a more human service work
Most correctional work in institutions is shift attitude experienced less stress on the job than
work and, when first started, involves late nights, those who had a more punitive (i.e., hack) and
sometimes all-night shifts, and weekend and custody orientation. In a study of five jails, Stohr,
holiday work. Even parole and probation officers Lovrich, Menke, and Zupan (1994) found that those
are often called upon to visit clients in the evenings jails that invested in training and pay and that
or on weekends. Needless to say, late-night shifts allowed staff to have a voice in how to do their
and weekend work play havoc with family life work—all factors related to professionalism that
and children’s school schedules, making family we discussed earlier—were more likely to have
obligations challenging to meet. greater job commitment by staff and less stress
and turnover among them. Leip and Stinchcomb
It does not help matters that the people correctional (2013) also discovered, in their analysis of data from
staff supervise are often angry and upset or a national survey of 1,924 line staff, that intention
immature (Johnson, 2002). They are usually to turn over was reduced when the organizational
unhappy about being supervised and sometimes climate was positive, when relationships between
unpleasant to those correctional staff engaged in colleagues and supervisors were strong, and
supervision. when correctional staff felt that they had a voice
in how their workplace operated. Relatedly, in a
Relatedly, people who are incarcerated or supervised study of a large county correctional system (nine
in the community have often led impoverished and facilities), Paoline, Lambert, and Hogan (2006)
tragic lives, riddled with alcoholism, drug abuse, found that adherence to policies and standards
child abuse and neglect, unemployment, early (of the ACA, which emphasize professionalism,
deaths of loved ones, and homelessness. Many safety, and humanity in supervision) and positive
have inflicted serious harm on others, including and noncompetitive work relations with coworkers
their victims but also family and community decreased the stress of workers. In their review of the
members, and the guilt and regret they shoulder literature on stress and burnout in correctional work,
only exacerbate the negativity that surrounds them. Finney, Stergiopoulos, Hensel, Bonato, and Dewa
Collectively, these tragic lives weigh heavily on the (2013) found that the organizational structure and
people experiencing them and can create a negative climate had the greatest effect on stress and burnout
environment for themselves and for those who work in corrections.
with them (Johnson, 2002).
Correctional staff immersed in this environment Discussion Questions

and required to get unwilling people to do things
they are not inclined to do often experience stress 1. Why would the organizational structure and
and the related consequences of it: burnout and climate have an effect on stress and burnout?
turnover (Lambert, Hogan, & Tucker, 2009; Leip
2. Why would having a voice in how your job is
& Stinchcomb, 2013; Slate & Vogel, 1997; Stohr,
done reduce stress?
Lovrich, & Wilson, 1994; Tewksbury & Collins,
2006). In a meta-analysis of studies on stress in 3. How can correctional managers reduce stress
prisons, Dowden and Tellier (2004) found that for staff?
them and using humor. Some staff members tended to emphasize certain tactics over oth-
ers, and some staff members tended to vary their own behavior as the situation required.
Inderbitzin concluded that the staff who were most successful in their work, in that they
were able to effectively supervise their charges, were those who took on a “people worker”
(p. 442) role, or the human service role that was described earlier in this chapter (Farkas,
2000). Such staff members were also the most flexible, kind, creative, and respectful in
their work with the adolescents.
Ethical Issue
As an experienced counselor in a private, nonprofit to do with how they are treated at the home. You
juvenile halfway house, you notice that a few of the don’t think the supervisor of the house (who also
staff (whom you are buddies with) tend to denigrate supervises other houses around the state) is aware of
some of the kids at the facility by calling them names what is going on. You need this job and don’t want to
(e.g., “little criminals” and worse), using profanity alienate your friends, but you don’t want to continue
in reference to them, and even writing them up for to work at a place where kids are abused. What do
minor issues when they try to object. You notice that you think would be the best course of action in such
a few of these kids seem depressed and lethargic a situation? What do you think would be the likely
lately, and you wonder if it could have anything consequences of your action or inaction?
Abuse of Power
There are plenty of instances, both historically and currently, of correctional staff abusing
their power over inmates and clients. We discuss such instances in some depth in several
chapters in this book. It is important to mention here, however, that the abuse of power
is more likely to occur in environments where staff behavior is not supervised closely
enough by administrators or those outside the work environment, where inmates have lit-
tle or no ability to contact the outside, where staff are not sufficiently trained, where there
is a higher concentration of young and inexperienced staff, and where there is a higher
concentration of disruptive inmates (Antonio, Young, & Wingeard, 2009; Rideau, 2010;
Stohr & Collins, 2014).
Use of Force
The actual use of force—or being prepared
to use such force—is part of correctional
work. Correctional administrators inter-
ested in channeling its use in appropriate
and legal ways ensure that staff are trained
on when to escalate or deescalate its use
on the basis of the situation (Hemmens &
Atherton, 1999). In such training, the offi-
cer is taught to pay attention to cues that
will tell them when to increase the force
level and when not to do so.
Having said this, the use of force in
any correctional environment depends on
the type of institution or agency, the cli-
AP Photo/Trent Nelson
ents or inmates served, and the way they

are managed. Generally speaking, there is
less call for force in probation and parole
work with adults or juveniles, though when
engaged in arrests, it is not uncommon for
Photo 8.5 A demonstration of the use of force in a jail by the emergency response team in
community corrections officers to have Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Such teams are often called upon to subdue violent or
to use force. Minimum-security prisons disruptive inmates.
214 CORRECTIONS
for adults or juveniles generally have less cause for use of force; inmates in such institutions
are classified as less prone to violence or are on their way out of the system and so are more
likely to rein in any violent inclinations. As one proceeds up the correctional security lad-
der, from minimum to medium and then to maximum, the need to use force increases,
given the types of inmates incarcerated and the need to maintain stricter controls. It should
also be mentioned, however, that in some prisons, under some wardens, the use of force is
resorted to more frequently than under other wardens of similar prisons (Rideau, 2010). As
Rideau (2010) observed after his 44-year incarceration in the Angola Prison in Louisiana
during which he observed the management styles of many wardens (see the description of
Rideau’s experience in Chapter 7), those wardens who allow more openness between staff
and inmates and the outside and who have more transparency about their management
decisions are less likely to experience the need for the use of force in their facility. The more
ready resort to force may be spurred by the type of inmates held (e.g., more violent) or the
conditions of the facility (e.g., more crowded), but it could also just be a management tactic
adopted by some wardens, as Rideau and others have argued (e.g., see Reisig, 1998).
SUMMARY
LO 8.1 Compare what makes work a profession as opposed LO 8.4 Describe how and why demographic factors affect
to just a job. corrections.
• A profession is typified by five characteristics: (a) prior • The research presented here and in Chapter 10
educational attainment involving college, (b) formal indicates that there are organizational factors that can
training on the job or just prior to the start of the job, be manipulated to improve this experience for staff
(c) pay and benefits that are commensurate with the so that they and their organization can realize their
work, (d) the ability to exercise discretion, and (e) work promise. Also, better pay, benefits, and training can be
that is guided by a code of ethics. used to foster the greater development of professional
attributes, such as education, and the consequent
LO 8.2 Describe the effect of growth in staff and clients or reduction in role ambiguity, turnover, and stress
inmates. and increase in job satisfaction. The organizational
culture can also be assessed to determine if certain
• Staffing is increasing in the field, particularly for the
characteristics are making it a more or less positive
role of corrections officers. Although it is still largely a
work environment for staff and a safe, secure, and
male-dominated field, opportunities exist for women
developmental one for inmates.
and people of color in many aspects of the job.
LO 8.5 Identify what correctional roles are.
LO 8.3 Explain the importance of education and training
in the correctional field. • The correctional experience for staff is fraught with
challenges and much promise. It involves a diverse
• Although many have worked long and hard to
role that encompasses work with juvenile and adult
professionalize correctional work, there is every
inmates in institutions as well as with offenders
indication that most jobs in this area do not meet
in the community. It is not as narrow a role as is
standard professional criteria.
commonly perceived by the public, and it includes
• When correctional workers do not receive the requisite many opportunities to effectuate a just incarceration or
professional training and education they need to do community supervision experience for inmates
their jobs in an appropriate manner, both clients and the and clients.
community are likely to suffer.
• Many who labor in corrections undertake the human prevent most sexual harassment, whether practiced
service role, focusing on the provision of goods and by staff or inmates. In short, the promise of a positive
services; advocating for inmates, offenders, or clients; correctional experience for staff is achievable, and as
and assisting in their adjustment (Johnson, 2002). that perception seeps into the public consciousness, a
correctional officer is much more likely to be perceived
LO 8.6 Describe the influence of subculture and as a professional.
socialization on correctional officers.
LO 8.7 Discuss why correctional staff might abuse power
• This research also indicates that the organization and experience stress and burnout.
can do much to reduce the problems associated with
the greater diversification of its staff. It can be open • Jobs in corrections are high stress and often require
in its promotion practices so that false impressions shift work and long hours. This can contribute to highly
regarding unfair advantage are not perpetuated and stressed workers. Lack of supervision may contribute to
do not have a demoralizing effect on the workforce. It abuse of power and burnout. Often corrections workers
is also within the correctional organization’s power to need to be able to use force when warranted.
KEY TERMS
Abu Ghraib 201 Power 200 Role 207
Hack 209 Profession 194 Stanford prison experiment 200
Human service 209 Professionalization 209 Street-level bureaucrat 208
1. Explain why work in corrections is often not regarded typically ascribes to correctional staff? Which role do
as professional in comparison with other commonly you think is most commonly undertaken by staff?
referenced professions.
5. Explain how the correctional organization can provide
2. Note which jobs in corrections are most sought after the right environment to reduce stress, turnover, and
and why. Discuss how all correctional work might harassment of its staff.
become more appealing to educated workers.
6. Why is ethical behavior such a challenge in
3. Review the events surrounding the Stanford prison correctional work?
experiment. If you were going to conduct such
7. Consider the benefits and drawbacks of working in
an experiment now, how would you go about it?
corrections. Do you plan on working in corrections?
What questions would you like to address with the
Why, or why not?
experiment?
4. Explain and discuss the hack versus the human service
role for staff. Which role do you think the public
Photo by Leonard Ortiz/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images
9 Community Corrections
Parole and Prisoner Reentry

Test your current knowledge of probation by answering the following Upon completion of this chapter, the reader
9.1 State the history and purpose of parole.
1. Parole began in an Australian penal colony during the
1830s. 9.2 Identify the difference between
2. Parole and probation both are under court supervision. mandatory and discretionary parole and
3. Parolees are always scrutinized by a parole board to determine how they both differ from unconditional
eligibility. release.
4. Most parolees reoffend within 3 years of release. 9.3 Describe the roles and duties of
5. The parolees most likely to recidivate are property offenders. the parole board and parole board
6. Researchers agree that incarcerating too many people from members.
the same neighborhood is detrimental because it causes more
9.4 Explain the issues involved in successful
crime in the long run.
prisoner reentry into the community.
7. Parole success is determined similarly in all states; that is, no
recidivism. 9.5 Compare and contrast halfway houses,
8. Sanctions such as halfway houses and electronic monitoring house arrest, electronic monitoring, and
cut costs and increase parolee surveillance. global positioning devices.
9.6 State the legal challenges faced related
to parole.
THE PERILS OF PAROLE
On July 29, 1994, parolee Jesse Timmendequas lured 7-year-old Megan Kanka into his
New Jersey home, where he beat, raped, and murdered her. Timmendequas, who was
33 years old at the time, had two previous convictions for sexually assaulting two young
girls: one 5 years old and the other 7 years old. He was given probation on his first
conviction but was sentenced to prison on his second. After his release from prison,
Timmendequas lived with two other convicted sex offenders in Kanka’s neighborhood.
He confessed to investigating officers the next day and was arrested. He was subsequently
convicted of kidnapping, aggravated assault, rape, and murder and was sentenced to death
(commuted to life without parole in 2007 when New Jersey abolished the death penalty).
The murder led to the introduction of Megan’s Law, requiring law enforcement to disclose
the location of registered sex offenders on probation or on parole.
What really upset people about this case (in addition to the brutal and needless death of a
young girl) was that Timmendequas was a parolee who many thought should never have been
released given his criminal record. It was cases such as this that led to efforts to eliminate
parole, but short of locking up each and every offender until they die, we need to have some
way of reintegrating them into the community. The recognition of this brute fact and the
need to protect the community from predators such as Timmendequas is the daunting task
of parole board members and parole officers. How do the authorities deal with conflicting
public demands for protection and for less tax money being spent on corrections, and how
do they deal with the vexing problems of trying to turn around the lives of parolees who have
demonstrated their inability to control their behavior time and time again? These are some of
the frustrating and troublesome problems we discuss in this chapter.
217
218 CORRECTIONS
Introduction: What Is Parole?

LO 9.1 State the history and purpose of parole.
The term parole comes from the French phrase parole d’honneur, which literally means
“word of honor.” In times when a person’s word really meant something, parole was
used by European armies to release captured enemy soldiers on condition (their word
of honor) that they would take no further part in hostilities (Seiter, 2005). The practice
also existed for a brief time during the American Civil War, but it was soon realized that
neither side was honoring it because paroled soldiers were back in the fight weeks after
Parole: The release of release (CivilWarHome.com, 2002). Modern parole refers to the release of convicted
prisoners from prison before
criminals from prison under the supervision of a parole officer before the completion of
completing their full sentences.
their full sentences on their promise of good behavior. Parole is different from probation
in two basic ways. First, parole is an administrative function practiced by a parole board
that is part of the executive branch of government, while probation is a judicial function.
Second, parolees have spent time in prison before being released into the community,
whereas probationers typically have not. In many states, both parolees and probationers
are supervised by state probation and parole officers or agents; in others, they are super-
vised by separate probation or parole agencies.
Brief History of Parole

The philosophical foundation of parole, as applied to convicted criminals, was laid by the
superintendent of the Norfolk Island penal colony off the coast of Australia during the
1830s. The superintendent was a former British naval officer and geography professor
named Alexander Maconochie, who had experienced imprisonment himself as a captive
of the French during the Napoleonic Wars after his ship was wrecked (Morris, 2002). The
horrendous conditions in the colony offended the compassionate, such as Augustus and
Davenport-Hill, and the deeply religious Maconochie, who was a firm believer in the pri-
macy of human dignity. As prison superintendent, he operated on three basic principles:
(a) cruel and vindictive punishment debases both the criminal and the society that allows
it, making both worse; (b) the purpose of punishment should only be the reformation
(today we would say rehabilitation) of the convict; and (c) criminal sentences should be
seen not in terms of time to be served but rather in terms of tasks to be performed. To
implement his programs, Maconochie required indefinite prison terms rather than fixed
determinate terms so that convicts would have an incentive to work toward release. As we
have seen, the type of sentence Maconochie advocated is known today as an indetermi-
nate sentence.
Maconochie was a realist, not a bleeding-heart idealist. The philosophy behind
Maconochie’s correctional ideas and ideals is best stated by himself:
I am no sentimentalist. I most fully subscribe to the right claimed by society to

make examples of those who break its laws, that others may feel constrained to
respect and obey them. Punishment may avenge, and restraint may, to a cer-
tain limited extent, prevent crime; but neither separately, nor together, will they
teach virtue. That is the province of moral training alone. (Quoted in Morris,
2002, p. xviii)
Maconochie’s point was that retribution may deter some offenders, and incapaci-
tation is a temporary hold on a criminal career, but the real goal of corrections should
be to correct or, in Maconochie’s words,

“teach virtue.” With respect to the third
principle (tasks performed rather than
time served), Maconochie devised a mark
system involving credits earned for the
speedy and efficient performance of these
tasks as well as for overall good behavior.
When a convict had accumulated enough
credits, he could apply for a ticket of leave
(TOL), which was a document granting
him freedom to work and live outside
the prison before the expiration of his
full sentence. TOL convicts were free to
Steve Daggar
work, acquire property, and marry, but
they needed to appear before a magistrate
when required, and church attendance
was mandatory. Maconochie’s system Photo 9.1 The Norfolk (Australia) penal colony’s superintendent during the 1830s,
Alexander Maconochie, laid the philosophical foundation of parole, as applied to convicted
appeared to have worked very well. It criminals.
supposedly was determined that only 20
of 900 of Maconochie’s TOL convicts were convicted of new felonies (many more crimes
were felonies during the 19th century than today), a recidivism rate of 2.2% that mod-
ern penologists are scarcely able to comprehend and many dismiss as too good to be true
(Hughes, 1987). Nevertheless, and perhaps predictably, when Maconochie returned home
to England and tried to institute his reforms there, he was accused of coddling criminals
and relieved of his duties.
Nevertheless, the TOL system was adapted to the differing conditions in Britain under
Walter Crofton, who devised the so-called Irish system. This system involved four stages, Irish system: A prison system
used during the 19th century.
beginning with a 9-month period of solitary confinement, the first 3 months with reduced This system involved four stages,
rations and no work. This period of enforced idleness was presumed to make even the lazi- beginning with a 9-month period
est of men yearn for some kind of activity. The solitary period was followed by a period in of solitary confinement, the
first 3 months with reduced
which convicts could earn marks through labor and good behavior to enable their trans- rations and no work.
fer to an open prerelease prison when enough marks had been accumulated and finally by
a TOL. TOL convicts were supervised in the community by either police officers or civil-
ian volunteers (forerunners of the modern parole officer), who paid visits to their homes
and attempted to secure employment for them (Foster, 2006). Of the 557 men released on
TOL under the Irish system during the 1850s, only 17 (3.05%) were revoked for new offenses
(Seiter, 2005); again, if true, this is an extraordinary level of success.
Elements from both Maconochie’s and Crofton’s systems were brought into prac-
tice in the United States during the 1870s by Zebulon Brockway, superintendent of the
Elmira Reformatory in New York. Brockway’s system required indeterminate sentenc-
ing so that “good time” earned through good conduct and labor could be used to reduce
inmates’ sentences (Roth, 2006). However, there were no provisions for the supervision
of offenders who obtained early release until 1930, when the U.S. Congress established
the U.S. Board of Parole. Eventually parole came to be seen not as a humanistic method of
dealing with “reformed” individuals but rather as a way of maintaining order in prisons
by holding out the prospect of early release if convicts behaved well. It has also become a
way of trying to reintegrate offenders back into the community by offering programs to
prepare them for life outside the walls and as a partial solution to the problem of prison
overcrowding. Because of these functions, parole became an essential and valued part of
the American correctional system.
220 CORRECTIONS
The Modern Parole System

LO 9.2 Identify the difference between mandatory and discretionary parole and how they
both differ from unconditional release.
There were 874,800 state and federal parolees in the United States in 2016, 87% of whom
were men. As shown in Figure 9.1, by race or ethnicity, 45% were white, 38% were Black,
15% were Hispanic, and 2% were “other” (Kaeble, 2018). It is noted that although the
number of parolees incarcerated for drug offenses has fallen since 2015, these crimes remain
a major reason for the United States’ huge level of incarceration.
The skyrocketing crime rates during the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s, many of
the crimes committed by offenders on probation or parole, led to the “tough on crime”
approaches to punishment discussed in the last chapter. The heinous kidnapping, rape, and
murder of 13-year-old Polly Klaas by parolee Richard Davis and of 7-year-old Megan Kanka
by parolee Jesse Timmendequas (in this chapter’s opening vignette) led to calls for the aboli-
tion of parole from a fearful public and their representatives. Further fueling the fire was the
case of Willie Horton. Horton was serving a life sentence for murder, supposedly without
the possibility of parole, when he was granted a weekend furlough (a temporary leave of
absence from prison) that he used to commit an armed robbery, rape, and assault. With pub-
lic outrage at a fever pitch, the federal government and a number of states abolished parole,
substituting the return of the fixed determinate sentence that Maconochie so disliked. This
system means that essentially prisoners are unconditionally released after the completion of
their sentences without supervision or reporting requirements. This type of release is known
Unconditional release: A type as unconditional release. Inmates who either are required to “max out” their time or choose
of release from prison for inmates
who have completed their entire
to max out rather than be placed on parole have less incentive to enter rehabilitation pro-
sentences. They are released grams or to abide by prison rules. A number of states had already made the switch to man-
unconditionally—with no parole. datory sentences for their own reasons prior to these hideous crimes committed by Davis,
Timmendequas, and Horton.
Abolishing parole sounds very tough and goes over quite well politically, but the real-
ity is something different. Prisoners are still released early for reasons of overcrowding and
FIGURE 9.1 Characteristics of Parolees

Source: Kaeble and Bonczar (2018).
Female,
Sex
Male, 87
13
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Hispanic, Other,
Race
White, 45 Black, 38
15 2
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Offense
Other, Weapon,
Drug, 31 Violent, 30 Property, 21
13 5
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
budgetary concerns, but there is much less rational control today over who is released than
there was in the past. It is discretionary parole that has really been abolished in some states
in favor of mandatory parole. Discretionary parole is parole granted at the discretion of a Discretionary parole: Parole
granted at the discretion of
parole board for selected inmates who are deemed to have earned it. Prisoners earn discre- a parole board for selected
tionary parole by avoiding disciplinary infractions and engaging in programs that prepare inmates who have earned it.
them for reentry into the community. Discretionary parole also allows parole board mem-
bers to assess the probability of a given offender’s risk to society on the basis of the crime for
which they were incarcerated and on their criminal history, prison behavior, and psycholog-
ical assessments.
Mandatory parole, on the other hand, is automatic parole for nearly all inmates in Mandatory parole: Automatic
parole after a set period of
states that have systems of determinate (i.e., fixed) sentencing (Petersilia, 2000). This sys- time for nearly all inmates.
tem is used by the federal government and about half of the states. Mandatory parole still
has provisions for earning “good time” credits. Tragically, both Davis and Timmendequas
were granted mandatory parole determined by mathematical norms generated by a com-
puter solely on the basis of time served, that is, without any kind of consideration of the
risk these individuals posed to society. Had their cases gone before a parole board, where
board members can peruse parole applicants’ criminal history and target violent and dan-
gerous criminals for longer incarceration, odds are that neither man would have been
released (Petersilia, 2000). Davis, for instance, had been released after serving only half
of his 16-year sentence because of his supposed “good behavior” while institutionalized
for a previous kidnapping, robbery, and assault of a woman (Skolnick, 1993). On the other
hand, there is no such thing as mandatory furloughs, so what kind of “rational” discretion
led to the decision to grant a vicious murderer like Willie Horton a weekend of freedom to
go on a crime spree?
As we see from the graph in Figure 9.2, the percentage of offenders released on man-
datory parole is dropping, while discretionary parole releases are increasing. In 2012,
41% entered parole through discretionary release versus 35% who entered through man-
datory release (Maruschak & Bonczar, 2013). This reverses the trend from 1980 to 1999,
when mandatory parole releases exceeded discretionary releases by about 22% (Hughes,
Wilson, & Beck, 2001). Both discretionary and mandatory release parolees are supervised
after release, but those 17% or 18% of inmates who are released at the expiration of their
sentences (unconditional release) are not supervised. The graph in Figure 9.3 supports
those who favor discretionary parole and the elimination of mandatory parole. Note that
in 1999, about 52% of discretionary parolees successfully completed parole, while only
about 32% of mandatory parolees did. This discrepancy was still very much in evidence in
2008 (Paparozzi & Guy, 2009).
Parolee Recidivism
A nationwide study of parolee recidivism looked at nearly 300,000 parolees from
15 states released from prison in 1994 (Langan & Levin, 2002). Within 3 years of
release, 67.5% were rearrested for new offenses, with the entire sample accumulating
an astounding 744,000 new offenses during those 3 years. New arrests included 2,871
for murder, 2,444 for rape, 21,245 for robbery, and 54,604 for assault. Property offenders
had the highest rate of recidivism (more than 70%), while murderers (40.7%) and
sex offenders (41.4%) had the lowest recidivism rates. These rates do not mean, for
instance, that 40.7% of murderers committed another murder—they refer to further
arrests for any type of crime.
As we saw in Chapter 1, these data are consistent within a percentage point or two.
A Bureau of Justice Statistics study (Durose, Cooper, & Snyder, 2014) of recidivism among
222 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 9.2 Percentages of Offenders Paroled by Type of Parole, 2000–2012

Source: Maruschak and Bonczar (2013).
Percent
60
Mandatory
50
40
Discretionary
30
20
0
2000 2005 2010 2012
FIGURE 9.3 Percentages of Parolees Successfully Completing Parole

Source: Glaze and Bonczar (2011).
100
Percentage Successfully Completing Parole
90
80
70
60 52
49 51
50 45 46
40
30
20
10
0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
In Focus 9.1
E X A M P L E O F PA R O L E C O N D ITI O N S
When prisoners are released from prison and placed 1. Residence: You shall not change your
on parole, there are a number of strict conditions place of residence without first obtaining
they must follow. Below are examples of these permission from your Supervising Officer,
conditions from the state of Nevada. Conditions in each instance.
are pretty standard in all states, but the extent to
2. Intoxicants: You shall not drink or partake
which parolees are held to them, and the severity
of any alcoholic beverages (whatsoever)
of consequences for not doing so, vary from
(to excess). Upon request by any Parole
jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
or Peace Officer, you shall submit to a
medically recognized test for blood/breath
State of Nevada alcohol content. Test results of .10 blood
alcohol or higher shall be sufficient proof of
Board of Parole Commissioners
excess.
3. Controlled Substances: You shall not use,
Parole Agreement purchase nor possess any narcotic drugs,
nor any dangerous drugs, unless first
On the day of ____________________
prescribed by a licensed physician; you
____________________ was sentenced by
shall immediately notify your Supervising
____________________, District Judge of the
Officer of any prescription received. You
____________________ Judicial District Court
shall submit to narcotic or drug testing as
in and for the County of ____________________,
required by any Supervision Officer.
State of Nevada, to imprisonment in the
Nevada State Prison System, for the crime 4. Weapons: You shall not possess, own, carry,
of ____________________ for a term of or have under your control, any type of
____________________. weapon.
5. Associates: You shall not associate with
The Board of Parole Commissioners, by virtue of
individuals who have criminal records or
the authority vested in it by the laws of the State
other individuals as deemed inappropriate
of Nevada, hereby authorizes the Director of the
by the Division. You shall not have
Department of Prisons to allow said on the day of,
any contact with persons confined in a
or as soon thereafter as a satisfactory program can
correctional institution unless specific
be arranged and approved by the Division of Parole
written permission has been granted
and Probation, to go upon parole outside the prison
by your Supervising Officer and the
buildings and enclosure, subject to the following
correctional institution.
conditions:
6. Cooperation: You shall, at all times,
Reporting/Release: Upon release from the cooperate with your Supervising Officer
institution, you are to go directly to the program and your behavior shall justify the
approved by the Division of Parole and Probation, opportunity granted to you by this parole.
and shall report to the Supervising Officer or
7. Laws and Conduct: You shall comply with
other person designated by the Division. You are
all institutional rules, municipal, county,
required to submit a written Monthly Report to
state and federal laws, and ordinances; and
your Supervising Officer on the first of each month
conduct yourself as a good citizen.
on forms supplied by the Division of Parole and
Probation. This report shall be true and correct in all 8. Out-of-State Travel: You shall not leave
respects; in addition, you shall report as directed by the State without first obtaining written
your Supervising Officer. permission from your Supervising Officer.
(Continued)
224 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
9. Employment/Program: You shall seek and the conditions of parole to cause your detention
maintain legal employment, or maintain and/or return to prison. Your right to vote has been
a program approved by the Division of revoked and may be restored upon Honorable
Parole and Probation and not change Discharge from parole.
such employment or program without first
obtaining permission.
APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF PAROLE
10. Supervision Fees: You shall pay monthly COMMISSIONERS
supervision fees while under supervision of
the Division. Chief Parole Officer ____________________
11. Fines/Restitution: You shall pay all Court- Dated: __________
ordered fines, fees and restitution on a
schedule approved by the Division. AGREEMENT BY PAROLEE
12. Special Conditions: ___________________ I do hereby waive extradition to the State of Nevada
___________________________________ from any state in the United States, and from any
territory or country outside the continental United
13. Search: You shall submit to a search of your States, and also agree that I will not contest any
person, automobile, or place of residence, effort to return me to the United States or the State
by a Parole Officer, at any time of the day or of Nevada.
night without a warrant, upon reasonable
cause as ascertained by the Parole Officer. I have read or had read to me, the conditions of my
14. Your Parole Expiration Date is: parole, and I fully understand them and I agree to
abide by and strictly follow them. I fully understand
15. Credits: You shall receive no credit, the penalties involved should I, in any manner,
whatsoever, on this sentence should you be violate the foregoing conditions.
absent from supervision at any time and be
considered an absconder.
Parolee ____________________
This parole is granted to and accepted by you, Officer Witness ____________________

subject to the conditions stated herein, and with the Dated: __________
knowledge that the Board of Parole Commissioners
has the power, at any time, in case of violation of Source: State of Nevada.
the 405,000 state prisoners released in 30 states in 2005 and followed for a 5-year period
found almost identical results. Among the results were the following:
• About two thirds (67.8%) of released prisoners were arrested for new crimes within
3 years, and more than three quarters (76.6%) were arrested within 5 years.
• Within 5 years of release, 82.1% of property offenders were arrested for new
crimes, compared with 76.9% of drug offenders, 73.6% of public order offenders,
and 71.3% of violent offenders.
• More than a third (36.8%) of all prisoners who were arrested within 5 years of
release were arrested within the first 6 months after release, with more than half
(56.7%) being arrested by the end of the first year.
• About two in five (42.3%) released prisoners were either not arrested or arrested
once during the 5 years after their release.
• A sixth (16.1%) of released prisoners were responsible for nearly half (48.4%) of the
nearly 1.2 million arrests that occurred during the 5-year follow-up period.
• An estimated 10.9% of released prisoners were arrested in states other than those
that released them during the 5-year follow-up period.
Solomon, Kachnowski, and Bhati (2005) analyzed a subset of 38,624 parolees for whom
the type of release was known. There were surprisingly few differences among the parolees
other than the fact that discretionary release parolees had a lower average number of prior
arrests (7.5) than mandatory parolees (9.5) or unconditionally released parolees (9.6).
Among those rearrested after release, unconditionally released parolees were rearrested
an average of 9.9 months after release, mandatory parolees an average of 10.4 months,
and discretionary parolees an average of 11.5 months. The average time served, as one would
expect, was also noticeably different, with the unconditionally released parolees serving an
average of 32 months, mandatory parolees an average of 18.5 months, and discretionary
parolees an average of 21.3 months. This suggests that supervision is particularly vital in the
early stages of the parole process, when parolees are still struggling to find their way back
into their communities and are thus most susceptible to returning to their criminal ways.
Figure 9.4 provides an example of a mandatory parole release form showing the “word
of honor” promises parolees are supposed to abide by in Alaska. The listed conditions are
fairly standard from state to state and are indistinguishable from the conditions set for pro-
bationers. These are general conditions with which all parolees must comply, but often there
are additional conditions set for individual offenders. These conditions may be things such
as requiring alcoholics or drug addicts to enroll in and attend certain programs and requir-
ing sex offenders to avoid all contact with children or to refrain from accessing Internet por-
nography. These additional conditions will likely be set by the parole board and/or by each
individual parole officer after reviewing each parolee’s case. It is then the responsibility of the
parole officer to make sure that the parolee follows the conditions that have been mandated.
FIGURE 9.4 Example of a Mandatory Parole Form

Source: State of Alaska.
STATE OF ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
ORDER OF MANDATORY PAROLE
Parolee: _____________ DOB: _____________ OTIS# _____________ Released: _______________ Supv. Expires: _______________
*******************************************************************************************
The following terms and conditions are effective on the release date shown on the CERTIFICATE OF GOOD TIME AWARD (AS
33.20.030) for all prisoners released pursuant to AS 33.16.010 or AS 33.20.040. I understand I am required by law to abide by
the conditions imposed, whether or not I sign these conditions. The Parole Board may have me returned to custody at any time
when it determines a condition of parole has been violated.
CONDITIONS OF MANDATORY PAROLE
1. REPORT UPON RELEASE: I will report in person no later than the next working day after my release to the P.O. located at:
_________________ and receive further reporting instructions. I will reside at: ________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. MAINTAIN EMPLOYMENT/TRAINING/TREATMENT: I will make a diligent effort to maintain steady employment and
support my legal dependents. I will not voluntarily change or terminate my employment without receiving permission
from my Parole Officer (P.O.) to do so. If discharged or if employment is terminated (temporarily or permanently) for any
reason, I will notify my P.O. the next working day. If I am involved in an education, training, or treatment program, I will
continue active participation in the program unless I received permission from my P.O. to quit. If I am released, removed,
or terminated from the program for any reason, I will notify my P.O. the next working day.
(Continued)
226 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 9.4 (Continued)

3. REPORT MONTHLY: I will report to my P.O. at least monthly in the manner prescribed by my P.O. I will follow any other
reporting instructions established by my P.O.
4. OBEY LAWS/ORDERS: I will obey all state, federal and local laws, ordinances, and court orders.
5. PERMISSION BEFORE CHANGING RESIDENCE: I will obtain permission from my P.O. before changing my residence.
Remaining away from my approved residence for 24 hours or more constitutes a change in residence for the purpose of this
condition.
6. TRAVEL PERMIT BEFORE TRAVEL OUTSIDE ALASKA: I will obtain the prior written permission of my P.O. in the form of an
interstate travel agreement before leaving the State of Alaska. Failure to abide by the conditions of the travel agreement is
a violation of my order of parole.
7. NO FIREARMS/WEAPONS: I will not own, possess, have in my custody, handle, purchase or transport any firearm,
ammunition or explosives. I may not carry any deadly weapon on my person except a pocket knife with a 3” or shorter blade.
Carrying any other weapon on my person such as hunting knife, axe, club, etc. is a violation of my order of parole. I will
contact the Alaska Board of Parole if I have any questions about the use of firearms, ammunition, or weapons.
8. NO DRUGS: I will not use, possess, handle, purchase, give or administer any narcotic, hallucinogenic, (including marijuana/
THC), stimulant, depressant, amphetamine, barbiturate or prescription drug not specifically prescribed by a licensed medical
person.
9. REPORT POLICE CONTACT: I will report to my P.O., not later than the next working day, any contact with a law enforcement officer.
10. DO NOT WORK AS AN INFORMANT: I will not enter into any agreement or other arrangement with any law enforcement
agency which will put me in the position of violating any law or any condition of my parole. I understand that the Department
of Corrections and Parole Board policy prohibits me from working as an informant.
Parole Boards
LO 9.3 Describe the roles and duties of the parole board and parole board members.
Parole boards are required only in states that use a discretionary system of granting parole.
Parole board: A panel of people A parole board is a panel of people presumably qualified to make judgments about the suit-
presumably qualified to make
judgments about the suitability
ability of a prisoner to be released from prison after having served some specified time of
of a prisoner to be released from their sentence. This is termed an inmate’s parole eligibility date, which is the earliest possi-
prison after having served some ble time they can be released from prison. Board members are appointed by the governor
specified time of their sentence.
for fixed (renewable) terms in most states. Some states mandate that a board appointee be
well versed in criminology and corrections, while other states have no such requirement.
Although many board members serve on a part-time basis and collect a minimal salary and
per diem expenses, chairpersons and vice chairpersons are full-time salaried individuals in
nearly all states (Abadinsky, 2009).
In making their decision of whether to grant or deny parole, board members assess a
variety of information about the inmate and interview them at a parole hearing to discuss
the assessed information and to gain some face-to-face insight about the inmate. Among the
information considered by the parole board members to help them make their decision are
the following:
• The nature of the offense for which the inmate is currently incarcerated.
• The criminal history of the inmate.
• Indications by word and/or deed that the inmate is repentant.
• The inmate’s mental health via psychological and psychiatric reports.

• The original presentence investigation report.
• Reports of institutional conduct, including disciplinary reports and participation
in religious and rehabilitative programs.
• The inmate’s parole plan—for example, where does the inmate plan to reside, does
the inmate have guaranteed or possible employment waiting, and does the inmate
enjoy a good support system in the community?
• Statements made by others supporting (e.g., family members, counselors, minis-
ters) or opposing (e.g., the victim, prosecutor, other criminal justice officials) the
inmate’s request for parole.
Of course, parole boards are composed of humans who have their own reasons for grant-
ing or denying parole. Although a majority vote wins the day, there are always members
(especially chairpersons) who wield more influence than others. They can never be certain
who will or will not fail on parole, but they know that on average about two thirds will fail.
They are thus likely to err on the side of caution (not releasing someone who would have
made it successfully) than to endanger the public and embarrass themselves by releasing
someone who then proceeds to commit heinous and highly publicized crimes such as those
committed by Davis, Timmendequas, and Horton.

L I SA G R OW E T T E B O S TA P H , PA R O L E C O M M I S S I O N E R
Position: Parole commissioner for the Idaho What are the duties and responsibilities of
Commission on Pardons and Parole being a parole commissioner?
Education: PhD in criminal justice from the A parole commissioner is charged with reviewing
University of Cincinnati all applicable case material (police reports,
presentence investigation reports, criminal
history, previous supervision periods, institutional
How long in current position and any behavior, treatment case notes, and any applicable
evaluations and/or assessments) in preparation for
previous criminal justice experience?
making a decision regarding parole during an open
I have served as a parole commissioner for the hearing with the offender. In addition, we review all
past 2 years, which is a part-time appointment. My offender requests for reconsideration of previous
full-time position is associate professor of criminal decisions and commutation of sentences plus all
justice and graduate program coordinator for the requests for pardons.
Department of Criminal Justice at Boise State
University in Boise, Idaho. Earlier in my career, I
worked as a team member in a batterer treatment
program; ran a crime scene crisis intervention most useful in your line of work?
program for victims of domestic violence, sexual In terms of reviewing all of the documents, anyone
assault, and child abuse; and worked as a victim and serving on the commission needs to have a good
witness coordinator for a prosecutor’s office, all in attention span and be detail oriented, empathetic,
Minnesota. and nonjudgmental. Offenders come from all walks
(Continued)
228 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
of life, backgrounds, and demographic categories. decisions: offer a parole date, deny parole and set
To be fair, you must be able to withhold any another hearing at a later date for reconsideration,
preconceived notions or stereotypes one may hold or deny parole and pass the offender to his or her
about people in any of these categories. This also full-term release date (meaning that the offender
applies to conducting the interviews during the serves his or her entire sentence in prison). After
hearings. To be a successful interviewer, you must reaching a decision, we reconvene the open hearing
be a good listener. Asking questions is not the most and announce our decision. In one day, we generally
important aspect of interviewing; the ability to hear hear 25 cases, which translates into roughly 125
what is being said and respond appropriately is of cases in the 1 week that each three-person panel
utmost importance. serves during a month. If we cannot reach a
unanimous decision, the hearing is continued to our
quarterly hearings when all five commissioners
Please describe your typical workday:
hear cases (majority decision prevails in these
In Idaho, the Parole Commission is a part-time hearings).
body. There are five of us who serve in rotation
on three-person panels hearing cases for 2 weeks
What is your advice to someone who wants
of every month. Parole commissioners in Idaho
review case materials for all offenders eligible for
to enter your field?
parole, then conduct interviews of the offenders For most parole commissions or boards, you must
during open hearings. We also hear from supporters be appointed by the governor, so it is not something
for the offender and from the victim(s) of the that they advertise or for which you apply. That
crime at these hearings. Once the interview and being said, performing well in your chosen career
statements are completed, we deliberate in private and serving on criminal justice–related boards and
to reach a unanimous decision regarding parole committees will demonstrate your commitment to
for the offender. We may make one of the following the field.
What Goes In Must Come Out:

Prisoner Reentry Into the Community
LO 9.4 Explain the issues involved in successful prisoner reentry into the community.
Numerous commentators of all political persuasions consume an incredible amount of

space writing about America’s imprisonment binge, but rarely outside of the academic liter-
ature do we find much concern about the natural corollary of the binge: What goes in must
come out. Travis (2005) introduced us to the idea of prison reentry in this way: “Reentry
is the process of leaving prison and returning to society. Reentry is not a form of supervi-
sion, like parole. Reentry is not a goal, like rehabilitation or reintegration. Reentry is not an
option. Reentry reflects the iron law of imprisonment: they all come back” (p. xxi). “They all
come back” refers to prisoners returning to the communities from which they came.
Understanding the process of prisoner reentry and reintegration into the community
is a very pressing issue in corrections. In 2016, there were 457,1000 offenders who entered
American state and federal prisons, and 456,000 left them (Kaeble, 2018). Except for those
few who leave prison in a pine box or who make their own clandestine arrangements to
abscond, all prisoners are eventually released back into the community. Unfortunately,
among this huge number, one in five will leave with no postrelease supervision, rendering
“parole more a legal status than a systematic process of reintegrating returning prisoners”
(Travis, 2000, p. 1). Pushing convicts out the prison door with $50, a bus ticket to the nearest
town, and a fond farewell is a strategy almost guaranteeing that the majority of them will
return. With the exception of convicts who max out, prisoners will be released under the
supervision of parole officers charged with monitoring offenders’ behavior and helping
them readjust to the free world.
Because parolees have been in prison, and are thus on average more strongly immersed
in a criminal lifestyle, we should expect them to be more difficult to supervise than proba-
tioners, and they are, and we should expect them to have lower success rates, and they do.
While Glaze and Palla (2005) reported a success rate of 60% for probationers in 2004, the
same figure for successful completion of parole was only 46% (although note the difference
between the success rates of discretionary versus mandatory release parolees in Figure 9.3
and the 58% success rate in 2012 noted earlier in this chapter).
The longer people remain in prison, the more difficult it is for them to readjust to the
outside world. Inmates spend a considerable amount of time in prison living by a code that
defines as “right” nearly everything that is “wrong” on the outside. Adherence to that code
brings them acceptance by fellow inmates as “good cons.” Over time, this code becomes
etched into an inmate’s self-concept as the prison experience becomes their comfort zone.
When inmates return to the streets, they do not fit in, they feel out of their comfort zone, and
their much sought-after reputation as a good con becomes a liability rather than an advan-
tage. As prison movie buffs are aware, these readjustment problems were dramatically pre-
sented in the suicide of Brooks in The Shawshank Redemption and in the final crazy hurrahs
of Harry and Archie in Tough Guys.
Brooks, Harry, and Archie all were old men who had served very long periods of
incarceration and who had thoroughly assimilated the prison subculture by the time of
their release into an alien and unaccepting world. Thus, one recommendation might be to
reduce the lengths of prison sentences so that those unfortunate enough to be in them do
not have time to become “prisonized.” Such a recommendation gains support from statis-
tics showing that the shorter the time spent in prison, the greater the chance of success on
parole (Travis & Lawrence, 2002), but if we are looking for something causal in those sta-
tistics we are surely sniffing around the wrong tree. Shorter sentences typically go to those
committing the least serious crimes and who have the shortest arrest sheets; such people
are already less likely to commit further crimes than those who commit the more serious
crimes and have long rap sheets. It is not for nothing that former U.S. attorney general
Janet Reno called prisoner reentry “one of the most pressing problems we face as a nation”
(as cited in Petersilia, 2001, p. 370).
The Impact of Imprisonment

and Reentry on Communities
Because crime is highly concentrated in certain neighborhoods, a disproportionate
number of prison inmates come from and return to those same neighborhoods. There are
those who believe that although high incarceration rates may reduce crime in the short
run, the strategy provides only a temporary reprieve, and it will eventually lead to higher
crime rates by weakening families and communities and reduce the supervision of children
(DeFina & Arvanites, 2002). According to this body of literature, the loss of individuals con-
centrated in certain communities reduces community organization and cohesion, disrupts
families economically and socially, and adds many other problems that will eventually lead
to more crime than would have occurred if offenders had been allowed to remain in the
community. Clear, Rose, and Ryder’s (2001) interviews with residents of high-incarceration
neighborhoods is in this tradition. They hypothesized that when public control (incarcer-
ation) occurs at high levels, private control (informal control) functions at low levels and
ultimately results in more crime. Clear and colleagues did not deny that neighborhood
residents were better off and safer when the bad apples were pulled from the shelf and
230 CORRECTIONS
shipped off to prison. This implies the opposite of their hypothesis, however. That is, when
private control functions at low levels, public control occurs at high levels.
There can definitely be many negative impacts on the community, especially finan-
cial impact on families, when working fathers are removed from it. However, a Bureau
of Justice Statistics report (Mumola, 2000) showed that 48% of imprisoned parents were
never married and that 28% of those who were ever married were divorced or separated,
and very few men lived with their children prior to imprisonment. Moreover, the major-
ity of parents had been convicted of violent or drug crimes, and 85% had drug problems,
which makes it difficult to see how the presence of antisocial fathers in the community
somehow contributes to private control rather than detracts from it (Rodney & Mupier,
1999). For instance, a longitudinal study of 1,116 British families showed that the presence
of a criminal father in the household strongly predicted antisocial behavior of his chil-
dren, and the harmful effects increased the more time he spent with the family (Moffitt,
2005). Another large-scale study found that when an antisocial father resides with
the mother and offspring, there is more risk to children than when the father does not,
because “children experience a double whammy of risk for antisocial behavior. They are at
genetic risk because antisocial behavior is highly heritable [greatly influenced by genetic
factors]. In addition, the same parents who transmit genes also provide the child’s envi-
ronment” (Jaffee, Moffitt, Caspi, & Taylor, 2003, p. 120).
What Makes for a Successful Reentry?

Reentry is a process of reintegrating offenders back into their communities regardless of
whether they were integrated into it in a prosocial way before they entered prison. Part of
that process is preparing offenders to reenter by providing them with various programs
that target the risks they pose to the community (e.g., anger management classes) and their
needs (e.g., educational and vocational programs). Unfortunately, one of the prices we have
paid for the prison expansion during recent years is “a decline in preparation for the return
to the community. There is less treatment, fewer skills, less exposure to the world of work,
and less focused attention on planning for a smooth transition to the outside world” (Travis
& Petersilia, 2001, p. 300). Yet there is always an abundance of suggestions about what we
should be doing to prepare inmates to reenter free society. If these programs were to be actu-
ally implemented, and if they do what they are supposed to do, parolees may have a fighting
chance of remaining in the community. The U.S. Department of Justice (Solomon, Dedel
Johnson, Travis, & McBride, 2004) lists three programmatic phases believed necessary for
reentry with a chance of success:
Phase 1—Protect and Prepare: The use of institution-based programs designed to

prepare offenders to reenter society. These services include education, treatment for
mental health and substance abuse issues, job training, mentoring, and a complete
diagnostic and risk assessment.
Phase 2—Control and Restore: The use of community-based transition programs
to work with offenders prior to and immediately following their release from jail or
prison. Services provided in this phase include education, monitoring, mentoring, life
skills training, assessment, job skills development, and mental health and substance
abuse treatment.
Phase 3—Sustain and Support: This phase uses community-based, long-term sup-
port programs designed to connect offenders no longer under the supervision of the
justice system with a network of social service agencies and community-based orga-
nizations to provide ongoing services and mentoring relationships.
The above programming strategy is an ideal rather than a

reality most of the time, but many offenders released from incar-
ceration do have access to some parts of each of these phases, and
some manage to successfully complete parole. To be successful
in Phase 1, offenders must be willing to apply themselves to the
training and programming offered to them. They need to make
a conscious decision to set long-term goals and convince them-
selves that a criminal career is not for them. Obviously, these
are decisions that are typically made only by individuals not
fully immersed in the criminal lifestyle. In Phase 2, they need to
implement those decisions in the real world where it counts and
not get sidetracked either by the frustration generated by the
monitoring they are subjected to by their parole officers or by
the criminal opportunities that may present themselves. Phase 3
may be the most difficult of all for some offenders who rely on
authoritative figures to give their lives direction. This is why it is
so important for community corrections officers to plug their cli-
ents into agencies outside the criminal justice system that are able
to address parolee needs prior to termination of supervision.
Perhaps the most important tool for the successful reinte-
© iStockphoto.com/antb
gration of offenders who want to go straight is employment.
Unfortunately, the typical offender is not prepared for much
other than a low-skill manufacturing job, the kind of job the
United States has been losing in truly staggering numbers
because of technological advances and/or companies’ moving
operations overseas. Job prospects are thus fairly limited unless
Photo 9.2 A prison gate stands open both to admit new inmates
offenders can improve themselves educationally. Solomon and and to allow them to leave when they have completed their time.
colleagues (2004) reported that 53% of Hispanic inmates, 44%
of Black inmates, and 27% of white inmates have not completed
high school or obtained a GED, as opposed to 18% of the general population. In addi-
tion to their general lack of preparedness, employers are understandably reluctant to hire
ex-convicts. Even taking into consideration lack of preparedness and employer reluctance
to hire offenders, economists find that incarceration reduces employment opportuni-
ties by about 40%, wages by about 15%, and wage growth by about 33% (Western, 2003).
There is no doubt that once offenders embark on a criminal career, it is extremely difficult
for them to desist.
Determining Parole “Success”

Although one would not think so, defining parole success is difficult because there is no
agreed-on standard by which we can judge success. Does it mean (a) a completed crime-free
or technical violation–free period of parole, or does it mean (b) the offender was released
from parole without being returned to prison despite their behavior while on parole? It obvi-
ously means vastly different things in different states because parole “success” rates ranged
from 19% in Utah to 83% in Massachusetts in 1999 (Travis & Lawrence, 2002). Does this
mean that Utah criminals are more than 4 times more resistant to taking the straight and
narrow road than Massachusetts criminals or that Massachusetts has much better program-
ming and professional parole officers? Of course not; it most likely means that conservative
Utah follows our first definition of success, while liberal Massachusetts follows our second
definition. Given the national average rate of 42% that year, it is plain that many parolees
are forgiven many technical violations, or perhaps even a petty arrest or two, in most states.
232 CORRECTIONS
Thus, “success” has as much or more to do with the behavior of the parole authorities in
different jurisdictions as it does with the behavior of parolees. When we speak of “success,”
then, we are generally speaking in middle-of-the-road terms in which certain misbehaviors
are forgiven occasionally in the interest of maintaining parolees on a trajectory that is at least
somewhat positive.
Parole Violations and Graduated Sanctions

LO 9.5 Compare and contrast halfway houses, house arrest, electronic monitoring, and
global positioning devices.
During these days of tight budgets, a factor that may have played a large part in the increase
in parole “success” rate—from 46% in 2004 to 58% in 2012, noted earlier—is the increasing
reluctance of states to reincarcerate offenders for minor infractions than was heretofore the
case. We saw in Chapter 6 that departments are taking a similar approach with probationers
and are developing guidelines for officers to follow that are uniform across all officers’ super-
vision styles. Figure 9.5 presents the Minnesota Department of Corrections guidelines for
the restructure of parole conditions or for parole revocation.
Note that parole officers can restructure the conditions of parole without a formal
hearing for any of the parole violations listed as Severity Level I or II, although if there are
aggravating factors involved parole may be revoked and the offender incarcerated for the
times indicated. Severity Levels III and IV automatically lead to revocation unless there are
“multiple and/or significant mitigating factors.” As noted in our discussion of the Vermont
probation revocation guidelines in Chapter 6, the impetus to develop these guidelines was
financial, but they are also useful correctional tools in that they provide officers with a uni-
form way of responding to violations, making authoritarian officers less punitive and per-
missive officers less tolerant of offender misbehavior.
An additional problem facing efforts to reintegrate parolees into their communities
is not always knowing what works best, why, and for whom. In examining 32 studies that
looked at the process of prisoner reentry, Seiter and Kadela (2003) identified programs that
work, that do not work, and that are promising in helping prisoners in the long process of
successfully reentering the community. In their research, they looked at transitional com-
munity programs such as halfway houses, work release programs, and programs that ini-
tiated treatment for inmate deficits (drug dependency, low education, poor life skills, etc.)
while offenders were in prison and continued in the community after release. Programs that
worked best were concrete programs that provided offenders with skills to compete in the
workforce and intensive drug programs. Programs that were located in the community were
more effective than prison-based programs. A more recent study (Duwe, 2017) supports
this, demonstrating that more “concrete” programs such as job training and housing are
more effective than just trying to change attitudes. See Chapter 14 on correctional program-
ming and treatment for more information.
Halfway Houses
Halfway houses: Transitional As the name implies, halfway houses are transitional places of residence for offenders who
places of residence for correctional
clients who are “halfway” between
are, in terms of strictness of supervision, “halfway” between the constant supervision of
the constant supervision of prison and the much looser supervision in the community. As with probation and parole,
prison and the much looser early halfway houses were organized and run by private religious and charitable organi-
supervision in the community.
zations designed to assist released prisoners to make the transition back into free society.
The earliest such home was set up in New York City in 1845 by Quaker abolitionist Isaac
T. Hopper (Conly, 1998). Also as with probation and parole, federal and state governments
FIGURE 9.5 Minnesota Department of Corrections Guidelines for Restructure or Revocation of Parole

Source: Minnesota Department of Corrections (2009).
Alleged violation(s)
Informal restructure Yes = End
No
Determine severity/recommendations utilizing guidelines and report to HRU
Restructure without hearing Yes = End
No
Restructure (Guidelines suggested dispositions) Revocation
Severity I Severity II Severity I Severity II

Restructure Restructure Aggravating Aggravating
new/modified new/modified factors factors
conditions conditions (min. 60 days) (min. 90 days)
Severity III and IV Severity III Severity IV

Multiple and/or significant (min. 120 days) (min. 150 days)
mitigating factors
Severity IV (180+ days)
Risk to public safety
Unamenable to supervision
RELEASE CONDITION SEVERITY LEVEL PRESUMPTIVE DISPOSITION

Severity Level I
Restitution payments
Restructure
Unannounced visit/search
Leaving state without permission
Severity Level II
Maintain contact with agent
Follow instructions of agent
Reside at approved residence
Constructive daily activities Restructure
Contact with law enforcement
Use of intoxicants
Misdemeanor conviction
Subsequent level I violation
Severity Level III
Gross misdemeanor conviction
Violation of special conditions (non-ISR) Revoke (120 days)
Violation of restructured release
Subsequent level II violation
Severity Level IV
Violation of special conditions (ISR)
Felony conviction
Revoke (150 days)
Report at residence/agent within 24 hours
Revoke (180 days)
Offender apprehended out-of-state
– Unamenable to supervision
Assaultive behavior
– Risk to public safety
Contact with victims
Firearms purchase/possession
Subsequent level III violation
234 CORRECTIONS
adopted the principles of halfway houses as a good idea. Many states use halfway houses as
transition points between prison and full release into the community, and the federal prison
system releases about 80% of its inmates into halfway houses (“Director Addresses Changes
Within BOP,” 2006).
In addition to being a transition between prison and the community, such places (also
Community residential referred to as community residential centers) may serve as an intermediate sanction for
centers: Places where offenders not sent to prison but needing greater supervision than straight probation or
offenders (usually parolees)
reside when correctional parole. The rationale behind halfway houses is that individuals with multiple problems
authorities deem them not yet such as substance abuse, lack of education, and poor employment records may have a better
ready to live completely freely.
chance to positively tackle these problems and to comply with court orders if they are placed
in residential centers where they will be strictly monitored while at the same time being pro-
vided with support services to address some of the problems that got them there. Halfway
houses may be operated by corrections personnel, but they are also likely to be oper-
ated by faith-based organizations such as the Salvation Army and Volunteers of America.
Nevertheless, residents are still under the control of probation and parole authorities and
may be removed and sent to prison if they violate the conditions of their probation or parole.
In times of rising costs and prison overcrowding, cost-conscious legislators tend to view
community-based alternatives to prisons like diet-conscious beer drinkers—“prison lite.”
Community-based residential programs supposedly provide public safety at a fraction of the
cost while allowing offenders to remain in the community and at work earning their own
keep. Best of all, they are assumed to reduce recidivism. Halfway houses are also a valuable
resource in that they provide offenders released from prison who would otherwise be home-
less with an address for employment purposes.
Marion (2002) questioned some of these assumptions and generally painted a disap-
pointing picture for those who believe that keeping offenders out of prison aids in rehabili-
tation. She saw programs such as halfway houses admitting individuals who would not have
gone to prison anyway, meaning that such programs increase rather than decrease correc-
tional budgets. Many residents were “unsuccessfully released” from halfway houses because
they used alcohol or drugs while there, and even those successfully released in Marion’s
multiyear study, between 10.8% and 50.6% (depending on the year of release), were later
imprisoned. However, Lowenkamp and Latessa’s (2002) more comprehensive examination
of 38 such facilities in Ohio found that while not all of them were effective, most were. They
found that community-based programs were of no use for low-risk offenders (indicating
that they didn’t need them in the first place), but the majority of them were effective in sub-
stantially reducing recidivism among medium- and high-risk offenders. Another review of
the relative success of halfway houses concluded, “Relative to individuals discharged into the
community without supportive living environments, those men and women who found res-
idence in halfway houses had better substance abuse, criminal justice, and employment out-
comes” (Polcin, 2009, p. 11).
Halfway houses should not be viewed as another way of coddling criminals. The
“exchange rate” (i.e., how much time in an alternative sanction an offender is willing to serve
to avoid 12 months in prison) for halfway house placement in the previously discussed study
by May Wood, Mooney, and Minor (2005) was an average of 12.77 months for offenders
who had served time in prison (14.42 months for all offenders). “Experienced” offenders
therefore see it as nearly as punitive as prison, despite the relative freedom that halfway res-
idency affords offenders to reintegrate themselves into the community. Much of this has to
do with the level of responsibility expected of residents of halfway houses. Living in a half-
way house, offenders are expected to take more responsibility for their lives than prison
inmates. Halfway house residents are expected to be in programming, expected to be work-
ing or looking for work, and subjected to frequent and random testing for drug and alco-
hol intake. Some halfway houses augment all this with electronic monitoring. None of these
expectations is “suffered” by prison inmates (Shilton, 2003).
House Arrest, Electronic Monitoring,

and Global Positioning Systems
House arrest is a program used by probation and parole agencies that requires offenders House arrest: Program that
to remain in their homes at all times except for approved periods, such as travel to work requires offenders to remain in
their homes except for approved
or school, and occasionally for other approved destinations. As a system of social control, periods to travel to work, school,
house arrest is typically used primarily as an initial phase of intensive probation or parole or other approved destinations.
supervision, but it can also be used as an alternative to pretrial detention or a jail sentence.
As is the case with so many other criminal justice practices, house arrest was designed pri-
marily to reduce financial costs to the state by reducing institutional confinement.
House arrest did not initially gain widespread acceptance in the criminal justice community,
because there was no way of ensuring offender compliance with the order short of having offi-
cers constantly monitoring the residence. It was also viewed by the public at large as being soft
on crime—“Doing time in the comfort of one’s home.” However, house arrest gained in popu-
larity with the advent of electronic monitoring (EM). EM is a system by which offenders under Electronic monitoring (EM):
A system by which an offender
house arrest can be monitored for compliance using computerized technology. In modern EM under house arrest can be
systems, an electronic device worn around the offender’s ankle sends a continuous signal to a monitored for compliance using
receiver attached to the offender’s house phone. Modern EM has become more sophisticated computerized technology such
as an electronic device worn
with the increased use of cell phones and the demise of landlines, with radio frequencies increas- around the offender’s ankle.
ingly being used for monitoring. A home monitoring unit detects the ankle monitor within a
specific range and sends confirmation back to the monitoring center if an offender goes beyond
the allowed range. If the offender moves beyond 500 feet from their house, the transmitter
records it and relays the information to a centralized computer. A probation and parole officer
is then dispatched to the offender’s home to investigate whether the offender has absconded or
removed or tampered with the device. As of 2004, nearly 13,000 offenders were under house
arrest, with 90% of them being electronically monitored (Bohm & Haley, 2007).
An even more sophisticated method of tracking offenders makes use of the Global Global Positioning System
Positioning System (GPS). Use of the GPS requires an offender to wear a removable tracking (GPS) monitoring: A system of
probation and parole supervision
unit that constantly communicates with a nonremovable ankle cuff. If communication is lost, whereby probationers and parolees
the loss is noted by a U.S. Department of Defense satellite that records the time and location are required to wear tracking units
that can be monitored by satellites.
of the loss in its database. This information is then forwarded to criminal justice authorities
so they can take action to determine why communication was lost. Unlike EM systems, GPS
monitoring can be used for surveillance purposes as well as detention purposes. For instance,
it can let authorities know if a sex offender goes within a certain distance of a schoolyard or
if a violent offender is approaching their victim’s place of residence or work (Black & Smith,
2003). As of 2007, 28 states had legislation calling for some form of electronic monitoring of sex
offenders (Payne, DeMichele, & Button, 2008).
Payne and Gainey (2004) indicated that detractors of electronic moni-
toring tend to criticize it as intruding too much into the realm of privacy and
even as barbaric. Of course it is intrusive; that is the point. But it is far less
© iStockphoto.com/TomGordonsLife
intrusive than prison, and Payne and Gainey stated that offenders released
from jails or prisons and placed in EM programs are generally positive about
the experience (not that they enjoyed it, but rather that it was better than the
jail or prison alternative). Their findings mirror those from a larger sample of
offenders on EM programs in New Zealand (Gibbs & King, 2003). Many see
it as jail or prison time simply served in a less restrictive and less violent envi-
ronment (so much for the charge that it is barbaric), although the average
experienced offender would exchange 11.35 months on EM for 12 months
in prison, and offenders overall would exchange 13.95 months on EM for 12 Photo 9.3 An electronic monitoring device, attached
months in prison (Moore, May, & Wood, 2008). It would seem that from this to an offender’s ankle, sends a continuous signal to
and similar studies that inveterate offenders tend to prefer prison over virtu- a receiver, which helps ensure compliance without
probation and parole officers needing to constantly
ally any other correctional sentence other than straight probation. monitor the offender.
236 CORRECTIONS
C H I N E S E C O M M U N IT Y C O R R E C TI O N S
Parole does not exist in China in quite the same as the application of reintegrative shaming theory,
sense as it exists in the United States. Each year, whereby deviant acts are condemned (shaming)
only a few dozen inmates are released from prison while leaving the door open to reacceptance into
before the termination of their sentences, and then society on payment of one’s debt to it (Deng,
it is mostly for medical reasons. According to Jiang Zhang, & Cordilia, 1998).
et al. (2014), an average of just under 2% of criminals
were paroled between 2008 and 2010, and offenders Probation is not a formal legal sanction as it is in
convicted of murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping, the United States and other Western countries; it is
arson, drug dealing, or organized violence, and more an informal means of social control, although
those sentenced to more than 10 years, are not the offender is placed under the supervision of
eligible for parole. In medical parole cases, offenders a probation officer (Tursun, 2010). Because of
are considered on probation and can be returned China’s Confucian heritage, there has been a long
to prison if or when their medical conditions are tradition of informal social control via sanctioning
resolved. For instance, in 1984, a 21-year-old man mechanisms available to people’s mediation
was sentenced to death for stealing a cap and public committees that are organized in work and
brawling, but later he was resentenced to life. He neighborhood groups (Walsh & Hemmens, 2014).
was medically paroled with a form of tuberculosis Every adult in China belongs to one or more of these
and fully recovered. In 2004, the police turned up groups, and thus strong pressures toward conformity
on his doorstep and took him back into custody to exist everywhere. Criminal behavior on the part of
serve the remainder of his sentence, although he anyone in the community is seen as a bad reflection
never stopped reporting to his probation officer and on the whole community and is intolerable to
complied with the conditions of his parole (“The mediation committees.
Case for Freeing the Last Hooligan,” 2011).
Public surveillance is a sanction similar to probation
China’s official criminal justice policy is “Integration but further requires that offenders be deprived of
of Leniency and Rigidity” (Liu, Zhao, Xiong, & the freedom of speech, assembly, association, and
Gong, 2012). China’s promiscuous use of the death demonstration “without the approval of the organ
penalty and its treatment of the young man above executing public surveillance” (Tursun, 2010, p. 290).
point to rigidity, but where is the leniency? From the Shaw (2010) described such an organ of surveillance
Chinese point of view, leniency resides in probation with regard to parolees: “In local communities,
and public surveillance. Probation is granted individual administration of justice stations work
only to first-time minor offenders, and relative to with street, village, and other satellite government
incarceration it is lenient. The Chinese Criminal offices, keeping an inescapable net of surveillance,
Code states that “probation may be granted to a education, assistance, discipline, and control over
criminal sentenced to criminal detention or to fixed- former inmates” (p. 65). If a person under an order
term imprisonment of not more than three years if, of public surveillance is deemed to be acting in a
according to the circumstances of his crime and his manner inconsistent with socialist principles, they
demonstration of repentance, imposing probation are reported to the police and may then likely be
will not result in further harm to society” (quoted imprisoned. The level of supervision and assistance
in Tursun, 2010, p. 288). Probation is typically afforded Chinese parolees is in stark contrast to the
granted for juvenile delinquency, dereliction of minimal supervision and assistance provided by U.S.
duty, and crimes of negligence; it cannot be applied parole services as well as by correctional services in
to recidivists for any crime and is granted in other Western nations. This needs to be viewed in
only about 15% of criminal cases (Liu et al., 2012). light of Western individualism and its concomitant
Chinese probation is viewed by many observers concerns for privacy and individual rights.
Researchers are positive about the alleged rehabilitative promise of allowing offenders
to serve time at home and thus maintaining their links to family. A large study comparing
5,000 medium- and high-risk offenders on EM compared with 266,000 not on EM found
a 31% decline in the risk of failure among EM offenders (National Institute of Justice,
2011). On the downside, although successful completion rates for EM programs are high,
recidivism rates after release from EM were not any better than those of probationers and
parolees not on EM programs matched for offender risk in several Canadian provinces
(Bonta, Wallace-Capretta, & Rooney, 2000). This may be viewed positively, however, as
a function of the greater ability to detect noncompliance with release conditions among
those under EM supervision.
An additional problem with EM is that because its low cost relative to incarceration is
alluring to politicians, it may be (and is) used without sufficient care being taken as to who
should be eligible for it. While offenders can be monitored and more readily arrested if they
commit a crime while on EM, EM does not prevent them from committing further crimes.
Several high-profile crimes, including rapes and murders, have been committed by offend-
ers who succeeded in removing their electronic bracelets (Reid, 2006). When cases such
as these are reported, the public (which by and large would rather see iron balls and chains
attached to offenders rather than plastic bracelets) responds with charges of leniency. This is
unfortunate because EM does appear to have a significant impact on prison overcrowding
and on reducing correctional costs. Of course, EM can be considered to reduce correctional
costs only if it is used as a substitute for incarceration, not as an addition to normal probation
and parole, in which case it is an added cost.
Several European nations have turned to EM to ease the burden of overcrowded prisons
over the past two decades. The successful completion rates are fairly consistent across coun-
tries, and they are refreshingly high. This is possibly a function of the lower risk offenders who
are typically placed on EM in Europe. It is generally required that for an offender to be placed
on EM, they must have a suitable residence, have a functional phone line, and be working
(Havercamp, Mayer, & Levy, 2004). There is also a wide range of times to be served on EM,
ranging from about 3 months in England and Wales for probationers to 13 to 23 months for
parolees in France (Wennerberg & Pinto, 2009). One large-scale study conducted in Britain
of parolees released under home detention curfew using electronic monitoring to enforce it
provided very positive results (Dodgson et al., 2001). Six months after release, only 9.3% (118
of 1,269) of the EM parolees were reconvicted of new crimes, compared with 40.4% (558 of
1,381) of the prisoners who were unconditionally released. Of course, all of this difference
cannot be attributed to the EM program given that the groups were not matched for criminal
history and those on the program were already considered to have a lower risk of reoffend-
ing. Nevertheless, the EM group was positive about the program (it got them early release from
prison), and the net financial saving to the prison service over 12 months was estimated to be
£36.7 million (about $60.9 million). The consensus in the European literature reviewed seems
to be that electronic monitoring “works” and that it is here to stay.
Concluding Remarks on Reentry and Recidivism

We have learned that reentry into the community, whether on supervised parole or not, is
an extremely difficult process. Everything appears to be working against offenders’ success-
ful reintegration, not the least of these factors being the offenders themselves. Many crimi-
nals are committed to their lifestyles and simply cannot, or will not, lead law-abiding lives.
Numerous lines of evidence show that work and other normal responsibilities that go with
the straight life do not mesh well with their “every night is Saturday night” lifestyles (Jacobs
& Wright, 1999; Mawby, 2001; Rengert & Wasilchick, 2001). Nevertheless, correctional
work is premised on the assumption that people can change, and not all criminals by any
means are totally resistant to change. Although many offenders seem hell-bent on thwart-
ing the best efforts of all to turn their lives around, many others can be reformed. When we
find the best reentry programs (programs that have repeatedly been shown empirically to
significantly reduce recidivism) and implement them, what kind of success can we expect?
238 CORRECTIONS
Joan Petersilia (2004), the preeminent reentry researcher today, summed up the combined
Canadian and American reentry “what works” literature and stated,
They took place mostly in the community (as opposed to institutional settings),
were intensive (at least six months long), focused on high risk individuals (with
risk level determined by classification instruments rather than clinical judgments),
used cognitive-behavioral treatment techniques, and matched therapist and pro-
gram to the specific learning styles and characteristics of individual offenders. As
the individual changed his or her thinking patterns, he or she would be provided
with vocational training and other job-enhancing opportunities. Positive rein-
forcers would outweigh negative reinforcers in all program components. Every
program begun in jail or prison would have an intensive and mandatory aftercare
component. (pp. 7–8)
Petersilia (2004) went on to suggest that if we could design programs that combined all
these things, we might be able to reduce recidivism by about 30%. So with all the best methods
currently available, caring and knowledgeable counselors, legislators willing to provide bud-
gets sufficient to meet the needs of all the identified programs, the best we can hope for is a
30% reduction in recidivism. Even this 30% figure is a “best guess” premised on Petersilia’s faith
in the efficacy of rehabilitative programs. As much as we would all love to find a way to turn
offenders into respectable citizens, Petersilia’s estimate reminds us that humans are not lumps
of clay to be molded to someone else’s specifications. Although correctional workers might
regret that they cannot mold their charges’ minds as they might wish to, the fact that they
cannot do so without their owners’ consent is a vindication of human freedom and dignity.
Legal Issues in Parole

LO 9.6 State the legal challenges faced related to parole.
The prisoners’ rights period also extended rights to offenders under community super-
vision. Probation and parole are statutory privileges granted by the state in lieu of impris-
onment (in the first case) or further imprisonment (in the second case). Because of their
conditional privilege status, it was long thought that the state did not need to provide pro-
bationers and parolees with any procedural due process rights in the granting or revoking of
either status. Today probationers and parolees are granted some due process rights, although
as with inmates, there are restrictions on them that are not applicable to citizens not under
correctional supervision.
The first important case in this area was Mempa v. Rhay (1967). Jerry Douglas Mempa
was a probationer who committed a burglary, to which he admitted, 4 months after he was
placed on probation. His probation was revoked without a proper hearing or the assistance
of legal counsel; he was sent to prison. The issue before the Supreme Court was whether
probationers have a right to counsel at a deferred sentencing (probation revocation) hear-
ing. The Court ruled that under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, they do because
Mempa was being sentenced, and the fact that sentencing took place subsequent to a proba-
tion placement does not alter the fact that sentencing is a “critical stage” in a criminal case.
The Court further stated that probationers facing revocation should have the opportunity to
challenge evidence by cross-examining state witnesses (typically only the probation officer),
present exculpatory witnesses, and testify themselves.
A further advance in granting due process rights to offenders on conditional liberty sta-
tus came in Morrissey v. Brewer (1972). John Morrissey was a parolee who was arrested by
his parole officer for a number of technical violations and returned to prison without a hear-
ing. Morrissey’s petition to the Supreme Court claimed that because he received no hearing
prior to revocation, he was denied his rights under the due process clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment. The Court agreed that when a liberty interest is involved, certain processes Liberty interest: An interest
in freedom from governmental
are necessary (a liberty interest refers to government-imposed changes in someone’s legal deprivation of liberty without
status that interfere with the person’s constitutionally guaranteed rights to be free of such due process.
interference). The ruling by the Court in Morrissey noted that parole revocation does not
call for all the rights due to a defendant who is not yet convicted but that there were cer-
tain protections under the Fourteenth Amendment to which the defendant is entitled. These
rights were laid out by the Court as follows:
a. Written notice of the claimed violations of parole

b. Disclosure to the parolee of evidence against him
c. Opportunity to be heard in person and to present witnesses and documentary
evidence
d. The right to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses (unless the hearing
officer specifically finds good cause for not allowing confrontation)
e. A “neutral and detached” hearing body such as a traditional parole board, members
of which need not be judicial officers or lawyers
f. A written statement by the fact finders as to the evidence relied on and reasons
for revoking parole
While individuals are on probation or parole, they have limited constitutional rights,
and their probation and parole officers have broader powers to intrude into their lives than
do police officers. Because probationers and parolees waive their Fourth Amendment search
and seizure rights, probation and parole officers may conduct searches at any time without
a warrant and without the probable cause needed by police officers. Evidence seized by pro-
bation and parole officers without a warrant can be used in probation or parole revocation
hearings, but not as trial evidence in a new case (Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole
v. Scott, 1998). The Supreme Court ruled that to exclude evidence from a parole hearing
would hamper the state’s ability to ensure the parolee’s compliance with conditions of release
and would yield the parolee free of consequences for noncompliance. This “special needs”
(of law enforcement) exception to the Fourth Amendment has been extended to the police
under certain circumstances. The Court has held that if a probation order is written in such a
way that provides for submission to a search “by a probation officer or any other law enforce-
ment officer,” then the police gain the same rights to conduct searches based on less than
probable cause as do probation and parole officers (United States v. Knights, 2001).
Ethical Issue
You are a parole agent. Vice squad police officers if you don’t find drugs, you should plant drugs
with whom you have enjoyed a good relationship they will provide for you. You know this parolee
in the past have approached you to enlist your has been a major dealer in the past and that he
aid in setting up a parolee they badly want off the has used violent tactics to protect his territory.
streets. Because you have more leeway than the Although he hasn’t given you any real trouble on
police to enter the parolee’s home and conduct parole so far, you agree that this man should not be
searches, they want you to conduct an early on the streets. Discuss your options and what you
morning raid on his house. They tell you that even believe you would end up doing.
240 CORRECTIONS
SUMMARY
LO 9.1 State the history and purpose of parole. employment problematic, and the period of absence
makes it tough to reestablish relationships. Successful
• Parole is the legal status of a person who has been reentry depends on several factors, not the least of
released from prison prior to completing their full which are the policies of the parole authorities, as the
term. The concept can be traced to the 19th century huge gap between the Massachusetts and Utah “success”
with Alexander Maconochie’s ticket-of-leave system rates indicates. Nevertheless, providing parolees with
in Australia and Walter Crofton’s Irish system. Parts of concrete help such as job skills and drug rehabilitation
these systems were brought to the United States during programs can go a long way in helping them remain
the 1870s by Zebulon Brockway, superintendent of the crime free. This effort may be particularly fruitful if it
Elmira Reformatory in New York. Brockway’s system is made in some form of community-based residential
required indeterminate sentencing so that “good time” program.
earned through good conduct and labor could be used
to reduce inmates’ sentences. LO 9.5 Compare and contrast halfway houses, house
arrest, electronic monitoring, and global positioning
LO 9.2 Identify the difference between mandatory devices.
and discretionary parole and how they both differ from
unconditional release. • Halfway houses are transitional places of residence for
correctional clients who are “halfway” between the
• In the modern United States, we have two systems of constant supervision of prison and the much looser
parole: discretionary and mandatory. Discretionary supervision in the community. These locations may also
parole is parole granted by a parole board on the basis be called community residential centers. These services
of its members’ perceptions of the inmate’s readiness allow some supervision coupled with access to services
to be released; mandatory parole is based simply on a to help bridge that gap back into the community.
mathematical formula of time served. Discretionary House arrest is a program used by probation and
parolees are significantly more likely to successfully parole agencies that requires offenders to remain in
complete parole than are mandatory parolees. their homes at all times except for approved periods,
Unconditional release is a type of release from such as travel to work or school, and occasionally for
prison for inmates who have completed their entire other approved destinations. EM and GPS technology
sentences. They are released unconditionally—with is increasingly used in corrections to assist with such
no parole. monitoring. While it helps by increasing the level of
offender monitoring and apprehension, it cannot
LO 9.3 Describe the roles and duties of the parole board
altogether prevent additional crimes while on the
and parole board members.
program, which is why candidates for this type of
• A parole board is a panel of people presumably supervision must be chosen carefully. In sum, few
qualified to make judgments about the suitability of a programs can be said to work for most offenders if
prisoner to be released from prison after having served we define “work” unrealistically. Human nature is
some specified time of their sentence. In states with complicated, often ornery, and resistant to change. Even
discretionary parole systems, a parole board is required. “ideal” programs such as those defined by Petersilia
Board members are appointed. Board members assess (2004) could be expected (according to her) to reduce
a variety of information about the inmate and interview recidivism by only about 30%.
them at a parole hearing to discuss the assessed
information and to gain some face-to-face insight LO 9.6 State the legal challenges faced related to parole.
about the inmate.
• Today parolees are granted some due process rights
LO 9.4 Explain the issues involved in successful prisoner while within their probationary programs. They have
reentry into the community. the right to a hearing and counsel as well as the right to
challenge evidence and present witness testimony.
• The reentry of prisoners into the community is a very Their search and seizure rights are waived during their
difficult process. The ex-con stigma makes getting parole period.
KEY TERMS
Community residential centers 234 Halfway houses 232 Parole 218
Discretionary parole 221 House arrest 235 Parole board 226
Electronic monitoring (EM) 235 Irish system 219 Unconditional release 220
Global Positioning Liberty interest 239
System (GPS) 235 Mandatory parole 221
1. Compare the recidivism rates claimed for the 4. Would it be a good thing to have a number of
ticket-of-leave parolees with those of modern community-based residential facilities located in
American parolees. What do you think may account high-crime communities so that some of the problems
for the huge differences? noted by Clear et al. (2001) might be avoided?
2. Explore and discuss why it is that we still continue 5. Given that expert opinion says a 30% reduction in the
to use mandatory parole in the face of evidence that recidivism rate is about the best we could accomplish
discretionary parole is a safer bet. if all treatment conditions were optimal, do you think
that trying to rehabilitate criminals is a waste of time
3. What do you think may be the single most difficult
and that the money would be better spent on keeping
problem to overcome by a parolee who has just been
them locked up?
released after serving 5 years in staying out of trouble?
©iStockphoto.com/LightFieldStudios
10 Women and Corrections

Test your current knowledge about women working in corrections Upon completion of this chapter, the reader
and those under correctional supervision by answering the following should be able to:
questions as true or false. Check your answers on page 388 after
10.1 State the history of women in
1. The number of men and boys under correctional corrections.
supervision almost always has exceeded the number of 10.2 Describe the current state of women in
women and girls.
the correctional system for both those
2. In early prisons, the correctional experience for women did not incarcerated and those employed in it.
significantly differ from that of men.
3. Race shaped the incarceration of men and women in southern 10.3 Explain the special challenges faced by
and northeastern prisons before and after the Civil War. women and girls in corrections.
4. Female matrons were first hired, in part, to protect female 10.4 Discuss the challenges that female
inmates from sexual assault in prisons. staff have overcome in corrections and
5. Street crimes are usually committed by women and girls and how they did so.
less commonly by men and boys.
6. Women are often considered double deviants.
7. Feminists have played an important role in improving
corrections for women and girls.
8. A liberal feminist is someone who believes that women and
girls should have the same jobs and educational opportunities
as men and boys.
9. Male inmates’ right to privacy has triumphed against women’s
equal employment rights in the courts.
SUPERVISING IS DIFF ERENT FOR WOMEN
Mary K. Stohr
This is a story I often tell my students because it was an instance when merely my gender
made such a difference in others’ aggressive behavior in the correctional environment.
The scene is a male prison control room. The sergeant is a very capable man who
believes in the power of talking, as in “talking inmates down” from anger and aggression
rather than the use of brute force. An inmate has been called to the office for the purpose
of throwing him in segregation for suspicion that he has been “bulldogging”; I reported
him for taking other inmates’ desserts at dinner (actually the other inmates gave him
their desserts when he came up to stand by their tables). The sergeant admits him to the
control room, with two other male officers present in case there is trouble. And there is
trouble. This inmate, we’ll call him Casey, is huge—as large as a door with muscles bulging
in his arms. Despite his size, he is not known to be the smartest of men and is prone to
anger. The sergeant is wielding all his verbal skills to reason with Casey, to no avail, and
Casey refuses to enter segregation willingly. Once Casey’s fists are balling against his
sides and he backs away from the sergeant and up against a wall, the sergeant begins
calling in reinforcements.
(Continued)
243
244 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
A male counselor and I are in the back room watching this through a glass window (the
sergeant wanted me out of the way in case the inmate directed his anger at me, as I was
the one who reported him). We know the prison is understaffed, however, and when we
can see things are getting out of hand, I move into the control room and face Casey. I
don’t say a word, but my plan is to grab and hold one of his limbs as we jointly wrestle him
into segregation. But this plan doesn’t become necessary as Casey takes one look at me,
unclenches his fists, and puts his hands out in front of him for the handcuffs. He goes
peacefully to segregation. I am stunned, the sergeant is stunned, and the male correctional
officers are staring at me as if I had some magic mojo, when all I had was the fact that I am
female. I don’t know why, but Casey didn’t want to fight with or in front of a woman, and for
that I was very grateful!
Introduction: Women and Corrections

LO 10.1 State the history of women in corrections.
As far back as anyone can remember, there have been fewer women and girls incarcerated
or under correctional supervision than there have been men or boys. Of course, there have
been exceptions for some particular crimes (e.g., prostitution for women and girls or status
offending for girls), but correctional populations have always included more male inmates.
Although the percentage of women and girls in those populations has increased in recent
years, it is still true that the vast majority of those under correctional supervision in the
United States are male.
What this numerical “minority” status for girls and women has meant is that institutions
and programming have been, and still are, typically geared toward boys and men. As dis-
cussed in Chapter 2, the first prisons were built for men, although sometimes sections of
them were set aside for women. The U.S. history of institution building illustrates this fact.
What Young (1994) found from her research on the construction of juvenile facilities in the
southern United States following the Civil War was that males, particularly white males,
were much more likely to have juvenile prisons constructed specifically for them than were
females. Women and girls accused (and thus placed in jails) or sentenced (and thus placed
in jails or prisons, depending on whether they were accused or sentenced and if the latter for
how long) were much more likely to do their time in male facilities. Initially those facilities
were bridewells or poorhouses, but later they were separate sections of jails and prisons or
completely distinct facilities and houses of refuge (Baunach, 1992; Belknap, 2001; Chesney-
Lind & Shelden, 1998; Kerle, 2003; Pollock, 2002b, 2014; Rafter, 1985).
Part of what shaped the treatment of women and girls in the past was the numerical fact
that they accounted for fewer offenders and inmates than men and boys. As those numbers
have increased, however, and as feminist beliefs regarding the value of women and girls have
changed attitudes, concerns about how girls and women are treated as clients and what their
needs are have reshaped correctional practice. This is also true with regard to female staff
and their rights. We will begin with a brief history of the female correctional experience.
The History of Women in Prisons

As mentioned in Chapter 2, the first American correctional facility—though it is not gen-
erally acknowledged as the first American prison—to hold felons only was the New York
Newgate Prison in Greenwich Village, New York City. Opened in 1797, it had a separate
wing for female inmates where they were housed in a group setting. As Rafter (2009) noted,
although they had no matron, putting the women together helped provide protection from
CHAPTER 10 Women and Corrections 245
“lascivious turnkeys” or guards (p. 51). All indications are that the women at Newgate
washed and sewed for the prison (while the male inmates were engaged in production of
goods for sale) and were situated close to other inmates.
When Newgate Prison closed and the inmates were scheduled for transfer to the con-
gregate but silent and strict-discipline prisons of Auburn and Sing Sing, neither prison
wanted to take the women, stating that they were difficult to manage (Rafter, 2009). While
the matter was debated, the female inmates from New York City were held at the city’s
Bellevue Penitentiary, where the conditions in terms of food, housing, supervision, and
classification were poor. Moreover, the silent requirement so popular at the men’s prisons
could not be enforced because of the congregate housing and the lack of a female matron.
When a cholera epidemic hit the prison, 8 women died and 11 escaped (Rafter, 2009).
The New York women outside of New York City were sent to the new Auburn Prison
in 1825 (Rafter, 2009). However, their treatment there was also subpar, as they were
housed in a cramped, unventilated attic above the kitchen without a matron until one
was hired in 1832. Because of the congregate nature of their living and working condi-
tions (they were engaged in sewing), it was once again difficult to enforce the silence
requirement.
After the lash was used to discipline an inmate who was 5 months pregnant (she had
gotten pregnant while in prison) and the inmate later died, the state constructed a separate
prison at Mount Pleasant for the women in 1839; this was the first women’s prison in the
United States (Rafter, 2009). Though it was close to the Sing Sing Prison and was in part Mount Pleasant Prison: First
prison constructed for women in the
administered by it, the Mount Pleasant Prison had its own buildings, staff, and admin- United States. Built in 1839 close
istrator. This prison was built behind Sing Sing and overlooked the Hudson River. It was to the Sing Sing (New York) prison
for men, it was in part administered
an Auburn-like building with Auburn- and Sing Sing–like sensibilities. It had a room for by Sing Sing but had its own
lectures and a chapel and a nursery. The matron’s quarters were also in the prison. buildings, staff, and administrator.
Ohio’s development of prison facilities for women was
similar to New York’s (Rafter, 2009). At first women there
were held in less secure facilities along with the men. Then,
in 1834, Ohio built an Auburn-like prison called the Ohio
Penitentiary, and in 1837 the state began housing the women
in separate quarters from the men. However, the standards for
prison operation in Ohio were even worse than in New York,
and disease and corruption were rampant. The annex specif-
ically for the women became crowded and fell into serious
disrepair. The women had no matron and thus discipline was
nonexistent; moreover, they were subject to sexual attacks by
male staff.
Among Tennessee prisons, the first of which opened in
Nashville in 1831, there was a progressive attitude toward stan-
dards and care, more like the New York model (Rafter, 2009).
Women, however, were imprisoned in such small numbers
before the Civil War that they were housed with the men and Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo
worked with them in mines and on railroads. There were no
matrons to protect them, and there were no separate accom-
modations for women in Tennessee prisons until the 1880s. At
this time, they were placed in small, overcrowded quarters in the
Nashville Prison, with no room for work or exercise.
Race in Early Prisons

Mar yland opened its first prison, the Mar yland State
Penitentiary, in 1811 in Baltimore (Young, 2001). It housed Photo 10.1 A prison officer examines the knitting of an inmate.
246 CORRECTIONS
the women in a congregate fashion in the same prison with the men until 1921,
although the genders were separated. At first the races were not separated, but by the
1830s, Black men and white men were separated at the prison, and later so were the
women. As Maryland was a border state—separating the slaveholding South from
the free North before the Civil War—administrators of its penitentiary wrestled with
issues of slavery and free and enslaved Black people. The research on incarcerated Black
women indicates that they were disproportionately incarcerated in the Northeast and
Midwest before the Civil War, but few Black people, either male or female, were incar-
cerated in the South before the war. After the war, however, Black men and women were
also disproportionately incarcerated in all prisons, but particularly in southern prisons,
where slavery-like treatment and work requirements were imposed (Oshinsky, 1996;
Rafter, 2009; Young, 2001).
In her study of the Maryland State Penitentiary between the years of 1812 and 1869,
Young (2001) found that 72% of the incarcerated women were Black and that as the Civil
War drew to a close, the proportion of Black women only increased. This was also true
regarding the incarceration of Black women around the time of the Civil War, especially
during the antebellum stage, in Texas, Kansas, and Missouri. It is possible that a Maryland
law passed in 1858 that made Black women who committed larceny subject to “sale”
rather than prison resulted in less incarceration of Black women before the Civil War in
that state (Young, 2001).
Both Black and white women in the United States in the 19th century tended to be
incarcerated for property crimes, particularly larceny (Rafter, 2009; Young, 2001). Very few
women were incarcerated for violent crimes—only about 3% to 4% (Young, 2001). White
women did tend to be incarcerated for “offenses against morality” more than Black women,
perhaps because they were more “visible” to the police in white areas of town or the police
were more attentive to them (Young, 2001). But there were also convictions for other fel-
onies, miscellaneous offenses, and vagrancy. Young (2001) also found that Black female
inmates were required to serve a greater proportion of their sentences than were white
female inmates, and they tended to be pardoned less and die while incarcerated more often
than white female inmates.
Discipline in Women’s Prisons

As with the male prisons during the 1800s, methods of discipline moved from the severe to
the soft, depending on the availability of supervision, the facilities, the number of women
incarcerated, and the inclinations of the keepers. Rafter (2009) reported that rarely was the
lash used at the Mount Pleasant Prison for women, but the gag was used all of the time. At
the Ohio prison, for instance, by the 1870s the discipline of women was quite severe, and
women were beaten or placed in solitary confinement to enforce it (Rafter, 2009). By 1880,
the “hummingbird” punishment was used in Ohio; this “forced the naked offender to sit,
blind-folded, in a tub of water while steam pipes were made to shriek and electric current
was applied to the body” (Rafter, 2009, p. 53).
Hiring of Female Matrons

A serious problem for many of the first prisons was the absence of female matrons to super-
vise and in some cases protect the women. Writing in 1845 (reprinted in 1967) after visiting
several primarily male facilities that housed women, the reformer Dorothea Dix noted that
matrons had been hired in several prisons where women were housed (e.g., Connecticut
Prison, Sing Sing, Eastern State Penitentiary, Maryland Prison) but not in many county jails
or other prisons.
Houses of Refuge for Girls and Boys

Developed in tandem with the adult prisons were juvenile facilities in larger states for
delinquent, neglected, abandoned, and abused children. Houses of refuge were part of Houses of refuge: Part of the
Jacksonian movement (named
the Jacksonian movement (named after President Andrew Jackson) of the early 1800s after President Andrew Jackson) of
to use institutions as the solution for social problems. The first was opened in New York the early 1800s to use institutions
in 1825, the second in Boston in 1826, and the third in Philadelphia in 1828 (Beaumont as the solution for social
problems. Their stated purpose
& Tocqueville, 1833/1964, p. 136). Their stated purpose was to remove impressionable was to remove impressionable
youth, mainly boys but also girls, from the contamination that association with more youth, mainly boys but also girls,
from the contamination that
hardened adult prisoners might bring. As Harris (1973) commented, such facilities for association with more hardened
younger inmates had existed in Europe, particularly Holland, since the 17th century. adult prisoners might bring.
The difference she noted between the American experiment with houses of refuge and
the Dutch experiment was that the Dutch houses were used only for the delinquent and
those thought likely to become so without intervention, and they were devised to achieve
reform among their inmates.
From the first, the American house of refuge was a private institution. Such institutions
were developed through private charity and subscription and were operated by people hired
by private subscribers. The states sanctioned their development this way and paid “some
pecuniary assistance” to them, but they had no part in their administration (Beaumont &
Tocqueville, 1833/1964, p. 137).
The early American houses of refuge were to be a mix of prison and school. The keepers
in such houses were guardians, and such guardianship continued until a child reached the
age of 20. In some of the houses, the children were separated at night and worked or went to
school together during the day. In others, they were in congregate situations both at night
and during the day. The requirement of silence imposed on adult institutions of the time was
not visited on the children, as it was thought to be impossible to keep them completely quiet.
In the New York and Philadelphia houses, the children worked in a shop making shoes or
cloth and as carpenters for 8 hours a day and spent another 4 hours in school. In the Boston
house, they spent only 5.5 hours in the workshop, 4 hours in school, and 1 hours in religious
study, and there were a few hours for play (Beaumont & Tocqueville, 1833/1964, p. 142). The
workshops in the houses were operated by private contractors. Notably, the girls did all of the
domestic work around the houses, including the cleaning, cooking, and sewing of clothes for
themselves and the boys. The discipline used in the houses varied from deprivation of recre-
ation, to solitary confinement, to restrictions on food and water, and sometimes the use of
corporal punishment or the use of stripes (lashes with a leather belt).
Because the children placed in houses of refuge were not always sent there for pun-
ishment, it was thought that their time should be indeterminate, as a magistrate could not
tell at the beginning how long it would take to reform or correct a child. It was left to those
who operated the institutions to decide when a child was ready to leave. Moreover, if a child
did not do as well as was hoped when released and was still younger than 20, the staff at the
institution were still their guardians and had the right to call the child back. Beaumont and
Tocqueville (1833/1964) acknowledged that these absolute rights to deprive liberty might
lead to abuse, but they pointed out that judges and parents did have some rights to oversee
and protest the incarceration of these children in the courts.
In a recidivism study of the New York House of Refuge conducted by Beaumont and
Tocqueville (1833/1964) in 1831, the authors found that of more than 500 children released,
more than 200 had been “saved from infallible ruin” (p. 151). As to the other 313 children
released, the authors found that their behavior since release was either doubtful, “bad,”
or “very bad” (p. 151). Of course, lacking a control group for these releasees, it is difficult
to know how to interpret these findings, but it was an admirable attempt by these French
observers to try to find evidence as to the effectiveness of such early houses of refuge.
248 CORRECTIONS
Dorothea Dix (1845/1967), whose own research is described more fully in earlier
chapters, also visited houses of refuge in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore,
as well as a farm school for children on Long Island. Her impression of these facilities,
14 years after Beaumont and Tocqueville visited some of them, was generally favorable.
She liked that the children were employed in useful work, that the facilities were clean,
and that the children were generally in good health. She noted that many houses of
refuge provided schooling, training, and apprenticeships that would allow the children to
succeed once they were able to leave. Some of the reports from the facilities she reviewed
indicated that children as young as 6 were incarcerated in these houses and a possible
offense that led to placement was being “stubborn” or “idle,” along with other more
common but usually minor criminal offending (Dix, 1845/1967, p. 91). Boys were often
apprenticed to farmers and girls to domestic work once they reached their age of majority
and so were able to leave the institution.
Growth in Numbers of Women and Girls

As mentioned in the foregoing, the number of incarcerated and supervised women
under the correctional umbrella has rarely been larger, but this was not always so. In the
past, the number of female inmates and supervisees was proportionately smaller. For
instance, we know from U.S. Census Bureau reports that women constituted 3% or 4% of
state and federal prison populations from 1910 through the 1970s (Cahalan, 1986, p. 65).
In 1980, that number had risen to 5% and has only increased since. If you add in refor-
matories, women and girls accounted for, on average, about 5% of those incarcerated
in correctional facilities from 1910 through 1959 (p. 66). Anywhere from 5% to 9% of
jail inmates were female from 1910 to 1983 (p. 91). Juvenile institutions averaged about
21.2% female residents (aged 15–19) from 1880 to 1980 (p. 130). Unfortunately, a gender
breakdown of parolees and probationers is not available, but given the overall increase
in the percentage of incarcerated women generally and women and girls on probation or
parole currently, it is likely that historically they were not as subject to the criminal jus-
tice system as they are today either.
The best explanation for the historically small number of female offenders in the U.S.
criminal justice system (compared with men and boys) has been the fact that they commit
fewer street crimes that would garner this distinction. Most murders, robberies, rapes, bur-
glaries, and even larcenies are committed by men and boys (Federal Bureau of Investigation,
2018). Even among corporate or white-collar and environmental crimes, the more likely
offender is male, if for no other reason than the fact that more men are in a position to com-
mit such crimes than women. As mentioned in other sections, the drug war of the past 40
years has brought more female offenders into the system, which has resulted in their greater
proportional growth among correctional populations, but even with this sort of offense they
are in the clear minority.
Current Figures on the

Number of Women and Girls in Corrections
LO 10.2 Describe the current state of women in the correctional system for both those
incarcerated and those employed in it.
Meeting the needs of both women who are incarcerated and women who are working in the
correctional system today is the focus of this section.
Female Correctional Clients

By any measure, however, the number of women and girls as inmates or supervisees in cor-
rections has grown exponentially over the past 3 decades, with some notable declines in
some populations more recently. In 2000, women made up 11.4% of jail populations, but
by 2018, that figure was almost 16% (Zeng, 2019, p. 6; Zeng, 2020, p. 6). In 2000, women
made up 6.4% of prison populations, and by 2018, that figure was at almost 8% (Bronson
& Carson, 2019, p. 3; Carson, 2020, p. 3). In the past decade, as male incarceration in jails
and prisons has decreased markedly, female incarceration has risen in both (though there
have been some decreases in the number of women in prisons since 2016). Girls confined
in residential facilities increased from 13.6% of all juveniles in 1997 to 15.1% in 2003, and
by 2015, their numbers had stabilized at 15% of that population, with a greater percentage of
them held for status offenses and in private facilities than boys (Carson & Anderson, 2016;
Hockenberry, 2018, p. 11).
Perhaps the largest growth in the number of women or girls, as far as correctional pop-
ulations are concerned, has come in probation. Women constituted 22% of probation and
12% of parole caseloads in 2000, and by 2016 those percentages had increased to 25% of
probation and 13% of parole (Kaeble, 2018, pp. 17, 24; Kaeble & Bonczar, 2017). Although
some of these percentage increases seem small, in the case of probation they represent thou-
sands of women, as total caseloads in 2016 included 3.6 million people (Kaeble, 2018, p. 1).
For girls on probation, the increases in the last two decades of the 20th century and the first
decade of the 21st century do not even seem small. In 1985, girls constituted 19.3% of juve-
niles on probation, and by 2004 that percentage had grown to 27.2% and remained at 27%
by 2009 (Livsey, 2012, p. 2; Puzzanchera & Kang, 2007). However, along with boys, the
number of girls on probation has been in decline, especially from 2008 to 2015 (Hockenberry
& Puzzanchera, 2018). Explanations for these increases and decreases in women or girls’
presence in correctional populations are likely multifaceted. Incarceration and commu-
nity supervision generally reached a peak in this country in 2007 and 2008 and has been in
decline since for any number of reasons related to age, cost concerns (particularly as related
to the recession), less of an appetite for harsh punishments, legalization and medicalization of
marijuana, and so on (see Garland et al. 2014, and Chapter 13 of this book for a discussion
of decarceration). Therefore, as with men, we can expect that the incarceration of women
would decrease (though it hasn’t so much for adult women). But explaining the increases
in female incarceration, when they do not track with the decreases in male populations, is
perhaps more difficult and a subject in need of research. As indicated by the data contained
in Figure 10.1, the overall number of women under correctional control remained steady
from 2010 to 2017, though this masks the fact that there have been decreases in their proba-
tion and prison numbers and increases in their representation in jails and on parole. Despite
this increase, the majority of inmates for all correctional populations are still largely male, as
shown in Figure 10.2.
Female Staff
The employment of female correctional officers has not increased as steeply or steadily as
has the number of women and girls under correctional supervision. As already mentioned,
women were employed to a limited degree as matrons to work with female inmates in some
of the earliest prisons and jails (Pollock, 2002b; Stohr, 2006; Zupan, 1992). However, they
did not make significant inroads into the correctional profession until the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 was amended in 1972, and women began using that law to sue in courts to gain
employment in both female and male correctional institutions. According to the Bureau
250 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 10.1 Growth of Female Correctional Population

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
1,400,000
103,400 102,200 102,825

1,200,000 113,724
89,700
1,000,000
800,000
974,500 962,100 966,028
918,275
600,000 836,200
400,000
200,000 112,800 111,360

112,900 111,300
93,200
71,000 92,400 102,400 109,100 113,700
0
2000 2010 2013 2014 2017
Females in Jail Females in Prison
Females on Probation Females on Parole
FIGURE 10.2 Percentage of Male Versus Female Inmates, 2017

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60% 75
85 87
93
50%
40%
30%
20%
10% 25
15 13
7
0%
Jail Prison Probation Parole
Males Females
of Labor Statistics (2014, p. 4), in 2013 women occupied about 27% of correctional offi-
cer jobs in jails and prisons. As of 2005, only 13% of correctional officers in federal prisons
were women, but 48% of correctional officers in private prisons were (Stephan, 2001, p. 8;
Stephan, 2008, p. 4). As mentioned in Chapter 8, it is probably no coincidence that the pris-
ons that pay the most (federal) employ the fewest women as officers, and the prisons that pay
the least (private) employ the most.
Staff demographic statistics regarding probation and parole officers for adults and chil-
dren are not always readily available. According to a recent Bureau of Justice Statistics report,
49% of all state-level parole agency staff are women, but this figure includes all staff, not
just parole officers (Bonczar, 2008, p. 3). Unfortunately, the Bureau of Justice Statistics does
not supply this level of information regarding probation officers at the state or federal level.
However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2019, p. 3) reported that in 2018 almost 57% of pro-
bation officers and correctional treatment specialists in the country were women.
Feminism
Female staff would not be employed at the level they are, and female inmates would not have
the attention and programming they do (albeit usually less than men and boys), if not for
the sustained efforts of feminist scholars and practitioners agitating for their rights and their
needs (Pollock, 2002b, 2014; Rafter, 1985; Smykla & Williams, 1996; Stohr, 2006; Young,
1994; Zimmer, 1986, 1989; Zupan, 1992). As indicated by Rafter (1985), the proponents of
change in female corrections in the last half of the 1800s and first half of the 1900s tended to
be of two minds, as represented by the moralists and the liberal feminists. Liberal feminists: People who
believe that the problem for girls
There were those moralists, who were sometimes social feminists, as Rafter (1985) and women involved in crime lies
termed them, who believed that women and girls involved in the criminal justice sys- more with the social structure
tem were in effect morally impaired and therefore in need of religious and social remedies around them (e.g., poverty and lack
of sufficient schooling or training,
(prayers, efforts to keep them chaste, etc.). Women were crudely classified by these moralists along with patriarchal beliefs) and
as either “good,” and thus acting in conformance with societal expectations for their gender that the solution lies in preparing
them for an alternative existence
role (labeled the madonna), or “bad,” and thus acting in opposition to their expected gen- so that they do not turn to crime.
der role (labeled the whore). This conceptualization and limited view of the possibilities for
women and girls and focus on sexuality were also shaped by social class and race or ethnicity.
Those women who were of a higher class and who were white were believed to more closely
approximate the madonna category—until, that is, they violated societal expectations that
they be docile homemakers with nary a thought in their heads. Should they violate both
these expectations regarding their gender role and social and legal prohibitions against the
commitment of crime, then they were double deviants. Rather than just being deviants, as Double deviants: Women and
girls who are deviant because
men and boys who committed crimes were, women and girls involved in crime were also they engage in crime and because
deviants in terms of societal gender role expectations (Belknap, 2001). Women of lower they have violated societal
classes, and particularly women of color, were not expected to attain this madonna status. gender role expectations.
Women in the lower and even in the working classes—which described most women in the
late 1800s and early 1900s—often worked outside of the home in farms, small shops or fac-
tories because they had to in order to help support their families; thus, the belief—really a
myth—that most women used to work only in the home applied only to middle-class and
wealthier women, not to the majority of women. Women of color, who were disproportion-
ately represented in the lower classes both then and now, were seen as more sexual in nature,
perhaps as a justification for their exploitation in this manner, and so could not even aspire
to a madonna status (Belknap, 2001).
There were others—those who espoused a liberal feminist perspective—who believed
that the source of the crime problem for female offenders lay more with the social structure
around these women and girls (e.g., poverty, lack of sufficient schooling or training, patri-
archal beliefs; Daly & Chesney-Lind, 1988). Liberal feminists believed that the solution to
female crime lay in preparing those inclined to engage in it for an alternative existence—for
work—and sometimes this involved “traditional women’s work” so that they would not turn
to crime (Rafter, 1985). Some of these early feminists believed, as liberal feminists do today,
that men and women are inherently equal, and as such, women and girls are entitled to the
same rights, liberties, and considerations (e.g., in corrections this would be programming,
quality of institutions, and equal employment as staff) as men and boys (Belknap, 2001;
Daly & Chesney-Lind, 1988).
252 CORRECTIONS
The moralists triumphed, though not completely, in the argument over what lay at the
heart of female criminality. As a consequence, we have had more than a century of correc-
tional operation that has tended to be overly concerned with the sexuality of women and
girls (Giallombardo, 1966; Hefferman, 1972; Owen, 1998; Rafter, 1985). Another con-
sequence of this triumph was that reform efforts were directed at training female inmates
to be proper wives and mothers while forgetting that as members of the lower classes, they
would need to make a living for themselves and their children once they reentered their
communities. Despite this morals-of-the-fallen-woman focus—the soiled dove, if you
will—feminist women and men were able to agitate for and sometimes get separate facilities
for women and girls and other services (e.g., educational and job training) that were geared
toward helping women and girls become independent and self-supporting in the free world
(Hawkes, 1998; Yates, 2002).
Patriarchy: Involves attitudes, One societal obstacle to achieving equal treatment in corrections has been patriarchy.
beliefs, and behaviors that value Patriarchy involves the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that value men and boys over
men and boys over women and
girls (Daly & Chesney-Lind, 1988). women and girls (Daly & Chesney-Lind, 1988). Members of patriarchal societies tend to
Members of patriarchal societies believe that men and boys are worth more than women and girls. They also believe that
hold the belief that men and boys
are worth more than women and women and girls, as well as men and boys, should have certain restricted roles to play and
girls and also believe that women that those of the former are less important than those of the latter. Therefore, education
and girls, as well as men and boys,
should have certain restricted and work training that help one make a living and attain better pay are more important
roles to play and that those of the to secure for men and boys than for women and girls, who are best suited for more femi-
former are less important than
those of the latter. Education and
nine—and by definition in a patriarchal society, less worthy—professions. Feminist schol-
work training that help one make ars have determined that many cultures even today hold such beliefs and engage in the
a living and better pay are more practices that derive from them.
important to secure for men and
boys than for women and girls, who In the United States, much effort has been expended over the centuries by both male
are best suited for more feminine and female feminists to address the patriarchal belief system, and there has been some
and—by definition, in a patriarchal
society—less worthy professions. success in this regard (Dworkin, 1993; Martin & Jurik, 1996; Morash, 2006; Whittick,
1979). In terms of corrections, feminists have been instrumental in pushing for more and
better programming for incarcerated and supervised women and girls, for a reduction in
the incarceration of girls for status offenses, for increased attention to the sexual abuse of
incarcerated women and girls, and for the greater employment of women in adult male
and female correctional institutions.
Females in Corrections: Needs,

Programming, Abuse, and Adjustment
LO 10.3 Explain the special challenges faced by women and girls in corrections.
Needs and Programming

In an article published in American Jails Magazine, Ney (2014, pp. 8–10) succinctly summa-
rized some of the basic facts and differences between men and women in jails, with substan-
tial application to prisons:
1. “Women pose a lower safety risk than men.” What this means is that women do not
riot, they don’t assault one another or staff as much, and when they do, they do less
damage. They are less likely to be incarcerated for violent offenses.
2. “Women’s pathways to criminal justice are different than men’s.” They are much
more likely to be prior victims of abuse and to be impoverished before incarcera-
tion than men. They are more likely to have substance abuse problems and to have
this problem intertwined with abuse and mental illness.
3. “Women’s engagement in criminal behavior is often related to their connections

with others.” They commit crimes with crime partners, and usually those are the
men in their lives.
4. “Women entering jails and prisons often report histories of victimization and
trauma, and continue to be vulnerable to victimization within correctional set-
tings.” This history makes them more susceptible to substance abuse, mental ill-
ness, and targeting by predators as future victims.
5. “Correctional policies and practices have largely been developed through the lens
of managing men, not women.” This means that the risk, needs, and responsivity
(RNR) issues so key to constructing programming that “works” are not adequately
addressed for women.
6. “Jail and prison classification systems can result in unreliable custody designations
and over-classification of female inmates.” As a result, women will be held in more
secure facilities and sections of facilities than is necessary.
7. “Gender-informed risk assessment tools can more accurately identify women’s
risk and needs.” Some research is indicating that assessment might be more accu-
rate—and thus result in more effective programming—if it fits the reality of women
rather than men.
8. “Women are more likely to respond favorably when jail (and prison) staff members
adhere to evidence-based, gender-responsive principles.”
9. “Transition and reentry from jail to the community can be challenging for women.”
Reentry programming should therefore be geared to address their particular needs,
which are often similar to men’s but not always.
10. “The cost of overly involving women in criminal justice is high.” Not only are we
incarcerating or overly supervising people who are in less need of it, we are sty-
mieing the ability of these women to grow and develop in a prosocial manner, we
are depriving children of their mothers, and we are costing the taxpayers approxi-
mately twice the amount of money it takes to incarcerate men for someone who is
usually less of a threat to the community.
As a practical matter, then, if not just because women and girls have historically been val-
ued less by this society (patriarchy) but perhaps because crime has generally been the pur-
view of men and boys, correctional facilities and correctional practices have tended to focus
on men. This focus led to disparate treatment that disadvantaged women and girls from the
beginning and resulted in little concern for their needs then or now, as Ney’s (2014) sum-
mary indicates (Muraskin, 2003).
Yet women and girls are more likely to have mental and physical health problems than
incarcerated men and boys (Morgan, 2013; Schaffner, 2014). They are also more likely to
have substance abuse problems than their male counterparts. Moreover, they have the same
kinds of educational and job training deficits and needs as men and boys (Gray, Mays, &
Stohr, 1995; Morash, Haarr, & Rucker, 1994; Owen & Bloom, 1995; Pollock, 2002b). Their
need for gainful employment is likely as great as, if not greater than, that of men and boys
because they most often have to support themselves and their children, whereas fewer men
had custody of their children before they were incarcerated (Owen, 2006); about 70% of
women have custody of their children at the time of their incarceration (Henriques, 1996,
p. 77). Moreover, a greater percentage of women—perhaps as high as 60%—were the victims
of sexual abuse in their past, and this is likely to negatively shape their self-concept and their
254 CORRECTIONS
relations with others, thus necessitating more programming (Belknap, 2001; Blackburn,
Mullings, & Marquart, 2008; Comack, 2006; Morash, 2006; Pollock, 2002b).
Assuming that policymakers would not want women and girls to reenter the system if
for no other reason than they cost much more to incarcerate (because of their needs and
a reduction in economies of scale—separate female institutions house fewer inmates but
require almost the same number of administrative and support staff as much larger male
institutions), one would think that all of their needs would be met with adequate program-
ming and health care. Unfortunately, this has been far from the case in most jurisdictions.
Although there has been some recognition by the federal government of the need to develop
programming that fits the needs of women and girls, it is unclear how much this has spread
to state and local facilities (Morash, 2006; Morgan, 2013; Schaffner, 2014).
Although most of these needs are far from met in correctional environments, and far
less than a majority of women are involved in meaningful programming, Pollock (2002b)
noted that some states have made renewed efforts to address the needs of women and girls
for educational, vocational, parenting, and substance abuse issues and their histories of past
victimization. However, the numbers of these programs and their quality (very few are rig-
orously evaluated in terms of desired outcomes) leave much to be desired (Pollock, 2002a).
In a longitudinal study of prison industries in federal women’s prisons, Richmond (2014)
found that involvement in this work had no effect on reducing rearrest or recommitment
to federal prison. Richmond speculated that this lack of effect might be because the work
program was not suited to women and their needs. In a review of 155 programs designed to
meet the reentry needs of women on community supervision in the 10 largest metropolitan
areas, Scroggins and Malley (2010, p. 146) found that the programs were inadequate. The
sad truth is that most women and girls who need programming in corrections are not able to
access it, or if they are, it is sometimes of dubious worth (Morgan, 2013).
Researchers find that women and girls have programmatic needs and styles that deter-
mine whether some rehabilitative approaches are more effective than others (Loper &
Tuerk, 2006; Staton-Tindall et al., 2007; Wright, Salisbury, & Van Voorhis, 2007; Smith,
2017). One type of programming with particular relevance for women, given that most have
physical custody of their children prior to incarceration, is parenting programs. Loper and
Tuerk (2006) found in their research on such programming that it is delivered in several
prisons, but its purported value in terms of helping mothers and fathers become better par-
ents has not been rigorously studied (see also Pollock, 2002a; Surratt, 2003). Craig (2009),
in her historical-to-the-present review of mother and child programs in prisons, found that
many states and localities have had programs in which infants or very small children may
stay with their mothers, at least initially. However, most correctional facilities where women
are housed do not have such programs, and the qualifications for their use, even in states that
have them, vary widely.
In an interesting study of male and female inmates in 20 substance abuse treatment pro-
grams, Staton-Tindall and colleagues (2007) found the women reported more psychosocial
dysfunction (e.g., anxiety, depression), less criminal thinking (e.g., coldheartedness, entitle-
ment, irresponsibility), and greater involvement in programming (e.g., willingness to partic-
ipate and receptivity to input) than did the men. The authors maintained that these findings
support other research indicating that programming for women must be shaped to fit their
abuse histories and mental health needs.
Relatedly, in a study of 272 incarcerated women offenders in Missouri, Emily Wright and
her colleagues (2007) found that “gender-responsive” problems related to parenting, child-
care, and self-concept affect prison misconduct. Brown (2006), in her study of native and
nonnative Hawaiian women imprisoned in Hawaii, developed the alternative but parallel
idea of “pathways” women traverse that can lead to crime. A pathway strewn with violence,
trauma, and addiction, coupled with discrimination on the basis of race, gender, and class,
is more likely to end in criminal engagement for women. Such a pathway, Brown explained,
may be related to poorer treatment outcomes for incarcerated women.
The health care needs of incarcerated women are tied up in needs specific to gender and
in the particular pathway that many poor women tread. Women in jails and prisons have
numerous gynecological and obstetrical as well as psychological or psychiatric health ail-
ments that are more specific to their gender, along with health problems that are common
to all genders. As the health care needs of poor women and children in communities are
going unmet, it is not surprising that similar circumstances apply to incarcerated women.
Predictably, then, Moe and Ferraro (2003) found from their interviews of 30 women incar-
cerated in an Arizona jail that although basic needs were met in this jail, when the care
required was of the long-term, extensive, or individualized type, it was lacking.
In Focus 10.1
O R A N G E I S T H E N E W B L AC K (O R N OT )
The popular Netflix show Orange Is the New Black Black might signify that imprisonment of women
loosely features the sometimes hilarious and and the attendant orange wear is becoming much
sometimes tragic experience of one woman (Piper) more common in our everyday lives than is the
in jails and then a federal prison as a result of her basic black of a woman in the free world. Or put
drug courier involvement. In later episodes in the another way, as per this show and the statistics cited
first and second seasons, the experiences and life in this chapter, prison is becoming a much more
circumstances of several women in the same prison common experience for women, even white women
as Piper are also chronicled. The color orange in the with an upper middle-class background like Piper,
title refers to the traditional color of the jumpsuit but particularly for all of the working-class or poor
given to women (and men) in American jails (but women of color as well as those who are white, who
rarely prisons), though in reality, their garb in jails are also featured in the show.
varies depending on their security level and the
preferences of the facility, typically from orange,
to white, to yellow, to red, to striped jumpsuits of Discussion Questions
various colors against a white background. And in
1. Why has the number of women in jails and
prisons, it is more likely that you’ll find the female
prisons increased (metaphorically making
inmates in jeans and T-shirts than in orange (or
orange the new black)?
other colored) jumpsuits. Of course, the color black
in the title refers to the classic color for women’s 2. Why do you think shows about imprisonment
wear (basic black), so the title Orange Is the New are so popular these days?
Abuse
Unfortunately, abuse does not necessarily end at the corrections door. One of the primary
reasons that women and girls were removed from facilities for men and boys in the 1800s
and 1900s and female staff were hired to supervise them was that they were targets of sexual
abuse by correctional staff and male inmates (Henriques & Gilbert, 2003). Although sepa-
ration from male inmates has reduced this abuse, sexual abuse by male staff—despite likely
being much less prevalent than it once was, partly because of the inclusion of more female
staff—has not been eliminated.
One of the authors of this volume had occasion to serve as an expert witness for the
plaintiffs in a civil suit in 2004 against a city in New Mexico whose judge and a few correc-
tional officers for the local jail were involved in the sexual abuse of female inmates (Salazar
et al. v. City of Espanola et al., 2004). The male judge and a few male correctional staff had an
256 CORRECTIONS
arrangement whereby female offenders whom the judge found attractive would be placed
in the jail (whether their alleged offenses merited it or not), and then the judge would have
access to them when they were sent over to “clean” his chambers. Inevitably, he would make
passes at them, using the threat of more jail time, denied privileges, or a lengthened sentence
as a way to coerce them into sexual activity with him. Meanwhile, a few of the correctional
staff were harassing the female inmates by watching and commenting on their bodies as
they showered, making sexual advances toward them, and touching them inappropriately.
Two male officers were even involved in removing some women from their cells and having
sex with them in the control room at night when no one else was around. There were no
female staff on duty at the time of these sexual assaults and this abuse. Thanks to the con-
certed efforts of several ex-inmates and their attorneys, the judge was convicted of rape, and
the judge, correctional staff, and city lost a million-dollar lawsuit (Salazar et al. v. City of
Espanola et al., 2004). See Figure 10.3.
FIGURE 10.3 Prevalence of Sexual Victimization Among Adult Inmates

Source: Beck, Berzofsky, Caspar, and Krebs (2013). Most recent data available upon publication.
8
6.9
Percentage of Inmates Reporting
6
Sexual Victimization
4 3.6
3 2.4 2.3
1.7 1.9
2 1.4 1.4
1
0
Inmate-on-Inmate Staff Sexual Inmate-on-Inmate Staff Sexual
Misconduct Misconduct Misconduct Misconduct
Prison Jail
Male Female
In an even bigger case, Tracy Neal v. Michigan Department of Corrections, the plain-
tiffs alleged more than two decades of sexual abuse of female inmates in Michigan prisons
(Culley, 2012, p. 206). The testimony as to the abuse was compelling, and the combined jury
verdicts in the case awarded $30 million to the plaintiffs and a settlement of $100 million.
Unfortunately, sexual abuse by male staff of female inmates is not limited to adult facili-
ties. In 2003, the American Civil Liberties Union investigated reports of abuse by male staff
of juvenile girls in the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility and reported that male staff had
observed the girls using the toilet and showers, made comments about their bodies, and
threatened to rape them. In fact, several girls did have sex with the officers in exchange for
cigarettes (Chesney-Lind & Irwin, 2006). A year later, one officer pleaded guilty to three
counts of sexual assault and to threatening a female ward. A key circumstance that came out
in the American Civil Liberties Union report was that there were no female officers on duty
at night when much of the abuse of the girls took place (see also Fleisher & Kreinert, 2009).
See Figure 10.4.
Such abuse is particularly damaging when one con-

siders that about half of incarcerated women and girls FIGURE 10.4 Prevalence of Sexual Victimization
have experienced some form of sexual abuse in the past Among Juvenile Inmates
(Gray et al., 1995; Henriques & Gilbert, 2003). In rec- Source: Beck et al. (2013). Most recent data available upon publication.
ognition of this fact, the Ninth Circuit Court—though
not the Supreme Court—put some restrictions on body 6
searches of female inmates by male staff, noting that 5.1
such searches may serve to revictimize women with sex-
Percentage of Inmates Reporting

5
ual abuse histories (Jordan v. Gardner, 1993).
Sexual Victimization
Efforts to reduce sexual abuse in correctional insti- 4
tutions have centered on ensuring that staff have the
proper training and are supervised sufficiently to pre- 3
vent abuse. Moreover, the value of disciplinary measures 2.4
to reinforce appropriate practices cannot be overstated. 2
Clearly, staff who violate the rights of their charges in a 1.6
way that is as serious as sexual abuse should be fired and 1.1

1
prosecuted, and there is some evidence emanating from
the reporting required by the Prison Rape Elimination
0
Act of 2003 that this may be occurring (see the discus-
Inmate-on-Inmate Staff Sexual
sion of this legislation in preceding chapters on jails and Misconduct Misconduct
prisons). In addition, the hiring of more female officers
Male Female
to cover living units is another way that correctional
agencies have worked to keep sexual predators from
gaining access to relatively powerless female victims.
There is no question that lawsuits have been successful in spurring some of these needed
changes in correctional practice. But the problem with lawsuits is that their application is
hit or miss at best, and the success of plaintiffs is always iffy. For instance, though the Neal
case was ultimately a success, it took a 15-year battle to get the abuse to stop (Culley, 2012).
Therefore, the best preventive measures are those that focus on hiring competent people,
training them to behave professionally, supervising them carefully, rewarding them when
they behave professionally, and punishing them (up to and including firing and prosecuting
them) when they do not behave professionally.
Adjustment, Misconduct, and Pseudo-Families

Women’s adjustment in corrections is associated with their sometimes problematic personal
relationships, separation from children, and greater propensity for mental health prob-
lems, as well as the fact that in prisons women tend to be charged with infractions for more
minor offenses (Owen, 2006). As Van Tongeren and Klebe (2010) found in their study of
female inmate adjustment in a maximum security prison in Colorado, adjustment is a mul-
tidimensional concept that encompasses an inmate’s particular circumstances and environ-
ment as well as their criminal thinking and adoption of the prison subculture. For instance,
in a study of co-occurring disorders (CODs; mental illness and substance use disorder)
of women inmates in Pennsylvania prisons, Houser and Welsch (2014) found that those
inmates with CODs were more likely to engage in misconduct than inmates without CODs.
Beyond the mental illness and substance use disorders some women in prison have,
another circumstance they often find themselves in is being far from family and friends.
There is still only one women’s prison in most states, and it is often located away from the
urban centers where most of the women are from. As a result, it is difficult to maintain
familial relationships and friendships when a woman has a lengthy sentence. Poor families
find it much more difficult to visit their incarcerated family members, as they do not have
reliable or inexpensive transportation available. Moreover, incarcerated women do not
258 CORRECTIONS
usually have legal access to cell phones or

computers to contact family and friends.
The pay phones they do have access to
are expensive for poor families, who must
pay for the collect calls (even local calls).
As many of these women are incapable of
writing a letter and their children may be
unable to read or be unreachable to them,
the ability to maintain contact is further
impaired. The separation from children is
AP Photo/Dan Marschka
particularly acute as the mothers lose con-

trol over their children’s housing and care.
Often the children are placed with family
members who have histories of abuse or
in the foster care system, which in most
states is overwhelmed (Child Welfare
Photo 10.2 Visits by family members are much appreciated by inmates of correctional
facilities. Information Gateway, 2018; Sharp &
Marcus-Mendoza, 2001).
As with men, women incarcerated or supervised in corrections must grapple with
the pains associated with that status and find some way to adjust to its strictures. Early
researchers in women’s prisons (e.g., see Giallombardo, 1966) reported on the formation of
pseudo-families as a way for women to meet their needs for companionship, support, and
love as well as sexual gratification. It was thought that women were importing these familial
roles from traditional family structures and playing them out in the prison setting. In any
given pseudo-family, there were inmates who took on the roles of fathers, mothers, grand-
mothers, daughters, aunts, and cousins. More recent research has shown that some women
do indeed form “families” while in prison, but the strength of these relationships is perhaps
more casual than was first reported (Owen, 1998). Moreover, as might be expected, women
incarcerated for longer periods of time and who are farther from their release dates may be
more likely to maintain their pseudo-familial relations than those who are not as immersed
in the subculture because of a shorter incarceration.
Ethical Issue
You are a female probationer living in the “dirty” for alcohol. Now, your probation officer is
community. Your probation officer keeps coming saying that in exchange for sexual favors, he won’t
on to you, but you aren’t interested. Last week, violate your probation. What do you think you
at a family birthday, you had a beer, and the next should do? What are the likely consequences of any
day, your officer ordered a urinalysis. It came back action you take?
Policy and Research

G E N D E R PAT H WAYS TO C O M M U N IT Y C O R R E C TI O N S, JA I L S, A N D PR I S O N S
For several years now criminal justicians and victimization as children are also more likely to be
criminologists have been researching and writing involved in the criminal justice system—including
about the types of circumstances and choices that corrections—earlier and are more likely to continue
typify the life course of someone entangled in the their own criminal engagement into adulthood.
criminal justice system. For girls and women, such
circumstances include childhood poverty, low levels Discussion Questions
of education, poor neighborhoods and schools,
abuse and neglect as a child and abuse as an adult, 1. Why would victimization as a child and as an
mental illness, substance abuse, and involvement adult lead to more involvement in crime?
with criminally engaged partners (Bloom, Owen,
& Covington, 2003; Brown, 2006; DeHart, 2008; 2. Are men and women likely to differ in their
Owen, 1998; Simpson, Yahner, & Dugan, 2008). The pathways to crime? Why, or why not?
effect of victimization on subsequent offending for 3. What can be done to change the path to
such women is clear: Those who experience more criminal involvement for girls and women?
Female Correctional Officers

LO 10.4 Discuss the challenges that female staff have overcome in corrections and how
they did so.
An increasing number of women are entering the field of corrections. They have particular
challenges they will face and need to overcome in this occupation.
Overcoming Employment Obstacles

As with the accused and convicted in the system, women have always constituted a minority
in terms of correctional staff (as discussed earlier). Although one would expect that women
might constitute a greater percentage of staff given their representation in the larger com-
munity, the current figures actually represent a significant improvement over 30 or 40 years
ago. At that time, women—with the exception of matrons in women’s and girls’ facilities,
who worked for lower pay than men working in male facilities—were prohibited by practice,
tradition, or law from working in the more numerous men’s and boys’ correctional institu-
tions or in probation and parole.
Although they were often prohibited from having official and paid roles in working
with correctional clients, women were true partners in the work in America’s early and rural
jails. Ruddell and Leyton-Brown (2013, p. 270) found in their content analysis of newspaper
articles in rural areas from 1900 to 1970 that sheriffs’ wives in what were termed mom-
and-pop jails “admitted and supervised arrestees, thwarted jail escapes, apprehended
escapees, and challenged lynch mobs.”
260 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 10.5 Number of Male and Female Correctional Employees, 1984–2005

Note: The data from the 1984 census (Stephan, 1987) was for “state adult correctional facilities”; federal institutions were excluded.
Sources: Stephan (1987, 1992, 1997, 2008) and Stephan and Karberg (2003). Most recent data available.
350,000
288,306 296,852
300,000
246,581
250,000
200,000 190,564
141,727 148,203
150,000
112,457
100,659
100,000
62,833
50,000 28,502
0
1984 1990 1995 2000 2005
Male Female

K AY H E I N R I C H , C O R R E C TI O N A L PR O G R A M M A N AG E R
Position: Former correctional program manager resource allocations and established principles.
(current associate superintendent) These principles target offenders’ risks and
needs to achieve the Department of Corrections
Location: Washington State Department of
performance goals of improved public safety,
Corrections
decreased recidivism, and the operationalization
Education: MA in counseling and education, MA of core correctional practices. Core correctional
in criminal justice, and PhD in criminal justice practices provide staff with tools to hold offenders
accountable through effective interventions that
What are your primary duties and
contribute to changing offender behavior. The
responsibilities? correctional program manager is responsible for
The Prison Division correctional program manager assisting facilities in the operationalization of
is an integral part of the division’s management these principles. In coordination with established
team. This person is responsible for implementation chains of command and other divisions, this
of evidence-based practices (EBPs) that affect individual supports the fidelity of the EBP structure
the Prison Division. This includes assisting with and delivery within the prisons by assessing
staff development related to evidence-based data, observing operations at program sites, and
interventions. The correctional program manager interacting with staff and offenders. Previously, for
provides operational oversight for evidence-based the WADOC, I worked for 17 years as the clinical
units and institutions, focusing on resource use supervisor for the WADOC Chemical Dependency
and staff-training needs and operationalizing Unit researching EBPs, simultaneously designing,
EBPs within the Washington State Department of facilitating, training for, and implementing
Corrections (WADOC) intensive-management, chemical dependency programming treatment,
close-custody, medium, and minimum units. including therapeutic communities, intensive
This position contributes to the mission of the outpatient programs, and a reentry continuum to
Department of Corrections by ensuring that the the community for the incarcerated, chemically
Prison Division delivers EBPs consistent with addicted offenders.
What are the characteristics and traits priorities; however, if count is not cleared, there
most useful in your line of work? is an act of violence in the units or yard, or a
medical or mental health emergency occurs,
• Perseverance and flexibility everything stops to accommodate correctional
officers’ responsibilities to maintain control and
• Honesty and integrity management of the prison. When the prison is
• Practice what you preach under “normal” status, responsibilities include
traveling to the prisons where the evidence-based
• Collaboration and communication skills programs are facilitated to ensure adequate staff are
• Open minded available and trained, plus that staff are supported
for working in a therapeutic role versus a custodial
• Ability to admit defeat and continuing on role. Labor unions, shift work, and a paramilitary
while maintaining integrity environment are additional considerations that
• Trustworthy influence program implementation and facilitation,
which make each day atypical. The prisons are
• Strong work ethic and ability to meet with scattered throughout Washington State, so travel
staff during all three shifts is extensive, and use of GPS is mandatory. This
• Healthy boundaries between and within position requires knowledge of each prison’s
personal, professional, and offenders’ borders administrative and management personnel
and style to include the political, hierarchical
• Understanding of organizational expectations from headquarters. A correctional
development, culture, attitudes, and the program manager must have the ability to
stages of change within the institution and maintain neutrality in order to ensure that EBP
individuals, including offenders are facilitated with integrity and adherence to the
• Getting along with others, which includes a model’s curriculum. Neutrality extends toward each
diverse population of staff and offenders of the diverse offender populations (maximum to
minimum offender classification), management
• No matter how competent you are, if you styles, and cultures of every prison served according
cannot fit in, you will not be promoted to the personalities, values, and attitudes of the
• Dealing with offenders’ criminal histories superintendent and executive management team.
and crimes, with the ability to remain
objective in dealing with the offenders on a What is your advice to someone who wants
daily basis to enter your field?
• Dealing with offenders and managing staff Stay away from the naysayers and negative staff.
Don’t get caught up in the politics at the prison
or headquarters level. Don’t get personally or
Please describe a typical workday. intimately involved with fellow employees. Stick
There is no typical workday. Each day depends on to your value system and the important role each
the prison’s level of security and the immediate position brings to achieving the overarching goal
needs of the institution to meet the safety and of offender change and public safety. Never lose
security of staff and offenders. For example, you your sense of humor, belief that people (staff and
may have meetings and training sessions planned, offenders) can change, hope in humanity, and belief
treatment groups scheduled, and individual that good always overcomes evil.
However, as mentioned earlier, it was not until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed
and amended in 1972 that women were given the legal weapon to sue for the right to work
and be paid and be promoted in all prisons, jails, detention centers, juvenile facilities, and
halfway houses as well as in community corrections. Many women did, in fact, sue; they
had to if they wanted the same kinds of jobs and promotional opportunities then available
only to men in corrections, policing, and law (Harrington, 2002; Hawkes, 1998; Stohr, 2006;
Yates, 2002). As a result of this agitation and advocacy, slowly the available jobs and promo-
tional opportunities became open to these pioneering women, resulting in the more diverse
correctional workforce we see today. See Figure 10.5.
262 CORRECTIONS
Current Status
As the number of women employed in corrections has increased, three issues have been par-
ticularly problematic for them in the workplace:
1. Whether women’s rights to equal employment in male correctional facilities

are more important than male inmates’ rights to privacy in those same facilities
2. Whether women are physically and mentally suited to do correctional work
with men
3. How to deal with sexual and gender harassment—primarily from other staff—while
on the job
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT VERSUS PRIVACY INTERESTS OF INMATES

As mentioned before in this section, women achieved the legal right to equal employment in
corrections through law and lawsuits. Most of the jobs in institutional corrections or in com-
munities are in dealing with male inmates or offenders; however, one can certainly under-
stand male inmates’ perspective that they would like some privacy when engaged in intimate
bodily functions such as using the toilet or showering. The courts in this matter, however,
have tended to side with the right to equal protection of female employees or prospective
employees over the male inmates’ right to privacy (Farkas & Rand, 1999; Maschke, 1996).
Their reasoning is likely as much influenced by the fact that inmates in the United States
have very limited rights while incarcerated, with no real right to privacy, as by the fact that
correctional staff should be respectful and professional, no matter their gender, in their deal-
ings with inmates.
Ethical Issue
As a new female correctional officer in a male a few of the less well-regarded inmates (i.e., sex
prison, you are finding it difficult to gain offenders) in front of those doubtful staff as a
acceptance from some of your older male way of establishing your “toughness” credentials.
colleagues. Of particular concern is whether Although you can appreciate that doing so may
you are tough enough to lead people who may alleviate concerns by a few of these staff, it also
not respect you as an officer. An older female requires you to do something you find abhorrent.
officer advises you to act disrespectfully toward What would and should you do in this instance?
QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE JOB

The issue of whether women are physically and mentally qualified to work with male
inmates has generally become a settled matter in most institutions, agencies, and states:
They are. But when they were first making inroads into the correctional workplace, there
were plenty of doubts about the ability of women to handle the work (Jurik, 1985b, 1988;
Jurik & Halemba, 1984; Zimmer, 1986, 1989). Even with regard to their propensity to
use aggression in the course of their work, men and women correctional staff are similar
(Tewksbury & Collins, 2006). However, the Supreme Court has left open the possibility that
if there is a bona fide job requirement that women could not fulfill in a male prison, they can
be excluded from that work (Bennett, 1995; Maschke, 1996).
In a qualitative study of female parole agents in California, Ireland and Berg (2006)
noted that these agents reported subtle harassment in the form of less desirable shifts or
assignments because of their gender. The women also felt they were overlooked for promo-
tions and an administrative career track. One 40-year veteran of the department observed
that it was not the clients who harassed the women agents but their colleagues who “often
questioned [their] competence and treated [them] unprofessionally” (p. 140). In response to
such bias and views, the women reported that they overcompensated, or did more than was
expected of males on the job. Some female parole agents adapted by taking on stereotypical
feminine roles such as acting helpless and in need of male assistance, or flirtatious, or mater-
nal. Still another adaptation by these agents was to refuse to acknowledge there was any bias
at all in the workplace; this latter group of women did not think that considerations of gen-
der or race or ethnicity had hampered their ability to advance in their career.
Clearly, because of their biology, most women are not as physically strong as most men,
and sometimes strength is called for in dealing with an unruly inmate. However, the use of
brute force is rather rare in most correctional institutions and in the community when one
is functioning as a probation or parole agent (note the discussion of violence in corrections
in an earlier section). Second, there are defensive (and offensive) tactics that give a trained
and armed woman some advantage in a physical altercation with a male inmate. Third, there
is some evidence that female staff may have a calming effect on male inmate aggression
because they are more inclined to use their interpersonal and communication skills and are
less likely to be seen as a threat (Jurik, 1988; Jurik & Halemba, 1984; Lutze & Murphy, 1999;
Zimmer, 1986).
Some research has indicated that both male and female correctional officers value a
service orientation over a security orientation in their work, so their work styles and pref-
erences may be more similar than dissimilar (Farkas, 1999; Hemmens, Stohr, Schoeler, &
Miller, 2002; Stohr, Lovrich, & Mays, 1997; Stohr, Lovrich, & Wood, 1996). Research in one
state indicated that female correctional officers in prisons might be more fearful of vic-
timization by inmates than are their male colleagues (Gordon, Proulx, & Grant, 2013). In
research on attitudes of 192 male and female jail officers in a southwestern state’s jail system
regarding conflict resolution with inmates, Hogan and her colleagues also found that men
and women reacted similarly in this area, though when the gender of the inmate was female,
they were more likely to react aggressively and they perceived a greater physical threat from
male inmates (Hogan, Lambert, Hepburn, Burton, & Cullen, 2004).
In research on the attitudes of 641 male and female wardens, Kim and colleagues found
that 90 of the female wardens were more inclined to value programming and amenities that
promoted health, education, and programming for inmates in their prisons than were their
male colleagues (Kim, DeValve, DeValve, & Jonson, 2003). However, these researchers also
found that there were many more similarities than differences between men and women as
to how they viewed and appreciated their work.
Taken in total, what all of this research on women’s ability to do the work and on the dif-
ferences and similarities in work styles between men and women indicates is that men and
women mostly view and do correctional work similarly; that some women, perhaps more
than some men, can calm an agitated inmate; and that some men, perhaps more than some
women, are better at physically containing an agitated inmate.
SEXUAL AND GENDER HARASSMENT

Unfortunately, the problem with gender and sexual harassment of female staff by male staff
is not yet a settled matter. This is not to say, of course, that male staff are not harassed by
female staff. This does happen and can be as debilitating for the male employee as it is for the
female. But a number of studies have shown, over a period of years, that women are much
more likely to be the victims of male harassment by bosses and coworkers in the workplace
and that when men are victims, they are as likely to be harassed by other men as by women
264 CORRECTIONS
(Firestone & Harris, 1994, 1999; Mueller, De Coster, & Estes, 2001; O’Donohue, Downs, &
Yeater, 1998; Pryor & Stoller, 1994). Male institutions, in particular, with their smaller per-
centages of female employees and managers and their traditions aligned with male power in
the workplace, are more susceptible to this kind of behavior than other correctional work-
places (Lawrence & Mahan, 1998; Lutze & Murphy, 1999; Pogrebin & Poole, 1997). The
Quid pro quo sexual harassment that occurs can be of the quid pro quo sexual harassment type (something for
harassment: Involves something
something, as in you give me sexual favors and you get to keep your job) or the less serious,
for something, as in you give your
boss sexual favors and the boss but still workplace stultifying, hostile environment harassment (when the workplace is
allows you to keep your job. sexualized with jokes or pictures or in other ways that are offensive to one gender).
Hostile environment: Occurs Thankfully, there are remedies, imperfect and cumbersome though they might be,
when the workplace is
sexualized with jokes, with
that can be used to stop or at least significantly reduce such harassment. Initially, women
pictures, or in other ways that had to sue in order to stop the harassment, because many managers of their workplaces
are offensive to one gender.
simply would not do anything. In one mid-1990s case, one of the authors of this book
served as an expert witness for the plaintiff against the state of California’s San Quentin
Prison. The female victim won more than $1 million for enduring harassment by several
male staff and one inmate that started in the 1970s and ended when she quit in frustra-
tion in the 1990s; this harassment was never stopped by the prison administration (Pulido
v. State of California et al., 1994). As successful as this case was, there was incontrovert-
ible evidence of the harassment (as provided by memos, diaries, staffing logs, and wit-
nesses)—evidence that is usually not available to support most victims’ stories. Moreover,
the female victim, an African American woman, lost her job and had to endure almost
2 years of an uncertain legal battle before the case was tried and the judge ruled. Even
then, the state of California appealed, and it took another year before the matter was
finally settled in the plaintiff ’s favor.
What this story illustrates is that there are few true “winners” when sexual and gender
harassment cases go to trial. Most such cases fail because there is not sufficient evidence of
the abuse beyond a “he said, she said” scenario. Victims of such abuse suffer untold harm
in terms of their psychological and physical well-being, both during the abuse and as they
relive it during the legal process. And even when cases are successful at trial, taxpayers
(not just the instigators of the abuse, who often do not have the “deep pockets” of their
governmental employer) have to pay for the illegal practices of their own governmental
entities and actors.
In other words, there has got to be a better way—and there is. Researchers and cor-
rectional practitioners have agreed that there are proactive steps managers and other
employees can take to prevent or stop sexual and gender harassment in the correctional
workplace. Such steps would involve hiring, training, firing, and promoting on the basis
of respectful treatment of other staff and clients. Training in particular can reinforce the
message of a no-tolerance policy regarding harassment. But to be effective, employees
need to see that people are rewarded when they do adhere to the policy or punished when
they do not.
As a discussion of the current status of female staff working in corrections would indi-
cate, women have made some significant advances in these workplaces. They have not just
made gains in employment; female supervisors and managers are also no longer anomalies
in most states. Although women are nowhere near matching the numbers of men as
staff and management in corrections and are still grappling with the pernicious problem
of sexual and gender harassment, nonetheless they have come a long way since the days
of working as matrons with lower pay and less respect—attributes that typified their work
for most of the history of corrections.
SUMMARY
LO 10.1 State the history of women in corrections. • Despite the gains women have made in corrections,
there is still evidence that sexual and gender harassment
• The study of women and girls in corrections was not of female staff and the sexual abuse of female inmates
always a priority for scholars (Flavin & Desautels, continue in some correctional environments. Although
2006; Goodstein, 2006; Mallicoat, 2011). Patriarchal organizational remedies exist to deal with such abuse,
perceptions and beliefs, along with the status of women they are not always employed by managers.
as a numerical minority, have shaped organizational and
scholarly priorities in a way that favors men and boys. LO 10.3 Explain the special challenges faced by women
Since the 1970s, however, there has been more scholarly and girls in corrections.
focus on the reality of women and girls who work, live, or
are supervised under the correctional umbrella. • Recent research on women and girls under correctional
supervision has highlighted the outstanding needs
• Part of this shift in focus has occurred as the result of
they have for educational, substance abuse, work
feminist work to equalize the work for women and the
training, parenting, and surviving abuse programming.
living and supervision arrangements for women and
Unfortunately, it has also shown that little programming
girls under correctional supervision.
is provided in jails, prisons, or communities to meet
these needs.
LO 10.2 Describe the current state of women in the
correctional system for both those incarcerated and those
LO 10.4 Discuss the challenges that female staff have
employed in it.
overcome in corrections and how they did so.
• The research presented in this chapter should shift our
• Female correctional officers have faced a number of
perspective from the much more frequent and normative
legal and institutional barriers to their full and equal
study of men to that of women. When we shift our gaze
employment in corrections.
to the female side, we are as likely to see the sameness of
men and women as the contrasts that distinguish them • For the most part, many of these formal barriers have
(Rodriguez, 2007; Smith & Smith, 2005). We might also been removed as female officers have demonstrated
see that the life course of a woman or girl entangled in their competencies in handling correctional work.
the criminal justice system (e.g., see Brown, 2006; Wright • Some researchers have noted a feminine style to officer
et al., 2007) forms a predictable pattern that might be work that involves the successful use of interpersonal
fruitfully addressed if we only had the will to do so. communication skills to address inmate needs.
KEY TERMS
Double deviants 251 Liberal feminists 251 Quid pro quo sexual
Hostile environment 264 Mount Pleasant Prison 245 harassment 264
Houses of refuge 247 Patriarchy 252
1. In what ways have women and girls occupied a 2. What is feminism, and what do feminists advocate?
minority status in corrections? How has that status How have they had an effect on the work of women and
affected how they are treated in the system? the experience of women and girls with incarceration?
266 CORRECTIONS
3. What is patriarchy? What kind of effect did and does 6. How might female officers’ supervision styles differ
patriarchy have on corrections for women and girls? from those of male officers? What might be the
How might it negatively affect the experience of men advantages of hiring women to work with men and
and boys? boys in corrections? What might be the advantages
of hiring men to work with women and girls in
4. What sorts of factors are likely to lead to the greater
corrections?
abuse of female inmates in correctional institutions?
How might such abuse be prevented?
5. What sorts of factors are likely to lead to sexual and
gender harassment in correctional work? How might
such harassment be stopped or prevented?
©iStockphoto.com/LightFieldStudios
Skyward Kick Productions/Shutterstock.com
11 People of Color
and Corrections

Test your current knowledge about racial-ethnic minority groups in this Upon completion of this chapter, the reader
country and their experiences as staff and inmates in corrections by should be able to:
answering the following questions. Check your answers on page 388
after reading the chapter.
11.1 Define the terms race, ethnicity,
1. The race of a person is determined by their biology. disparity, and discrimination.
(True or false?)
11.2 State some of the history of
2. The ethnicity of a person is determined by their culture. racial-ethnic minority group members
(True or false?) in this country.
3. Explain what happened in the Scottsboro case and why it
is considered emblematic of how African Americans were 11.3 Explain the connection between class,
handled by the criminal justice system in the earlier half of the race or ethnicity, and crime.
20th century.
11.4 Examine why the criminal justice
4. Name at least three facts that would indicate that racism still system has not been race neutral in its
exists in the criminal justice system of today.
treatment of people of color.
5. Very few Native Americans were in the Americas when
Columbus landed. (True or false?) 11.5 Discuss the special challenges
6. Chinese and Japanese American immigration was widely faced by racial-ethnic minority group
supported in the 19th and 20th centuries. (True or false?) members in corrections.
7. Describe the reasoning for the internment of Japanese 11.6 State the statistics related to
Americans in 1942. Why weren’t German Americans also employment of people of color in the
placed in such camps?
correctional system.
8. There is a connection between class, race or ethnicity, and
crime. (True or false?)
9. The drug war has led to the increased incarceration of Latinx
people and Black people in the United States. (True or false?)
10. Crack cocaine and powder cocaine are pharmacologically
different. (True or false?)
11. Research shows that Black people use more drugs than white
people. (True or false?)
UNDOCUMENTED WORK ERS AND THEIR SIDE OF THE STORY
One of the largest groups of cases before the federal courts and in some form of federal
corrections (jails and prisons) involves unauthorized immigrants from Mexico and Latin
America (Light, Lopez, & Gonzalez-Barrera, 2014). Yet though they are violating U.S.
immigration laws, De La Torre (2013), in her ethnographic research on Mexican migrants
and their versions of their immigration stories, found that these immigrants do not see
themselves as criminals at all; rather, they see themselves as moral actors confronting
impossible circumstances that require crossing the border in order to provide for
themselves and their families.
Those interviewed often characterized their coming to the United States as a moral action
necessitated by the conditions of their life in Mexico. Most stressed their inability
(Continued)
269
270 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
to support their families or themselves in Mexico because of the inadequate wages and
limited opportunities for mobility in their home communities. “For instance, Juan Carlos, an
immigrant in his mid-20s, came to work in Chicago because he wanted a better economic
position that would allow him to afford necessary things, such as milk to feed his newborn
daughter. His opportunities were limited as he struggled to provide for his family while living
in Acapulco. Women also recounted how they had to sacrifice to feed families, raise their
children, and take care of their older parents and relatives while engaged in paid work. For
example, Araceli, in her early 30s, came to the United States because she was the only
provider in her household since her older parents could no longer work and her younger
siblings had started college in Guanajuato. In coming to the United States, she sacrificed
her own chance to attend college in Mexico” (De La Torre, 2013, p. 272).
Introduction: People of Color and Corrections

LO 11.1 Define the terms race, ethnicity, disparity, and discrimination.
The race and ethnicity of America’s population have shaped its laws and practices from
the beginning. At the very writing and ratification of the Constitution, full citizenship was
denied to those who were not White and, for many decades, to those who were not male
and in possession of significant amounts of property. The institution of slavery, the forcible
seizure of Native American lands, and the limitations on the immigration of people of color
and the rights of those immigrants while in the United States have all marked and marred
this country. Accordingly, police agencies, courts, correctional institutions and programs,
and actors in these entities have historically treated people differently on the basis of their
race and ethnicity.
Historically, racial-ethnic minority group members were more likely in some parts of
the country to be incarcerated when they were innocent or sentenced for periods that were
longer than those for white people. Once in the correctional system, racial-ethnic minority
group members were sometimes segregated into separate institutions, sections of institu-
tions, and programs. At times they were given less desirable jobs and housing in jails and
prisons. Whether such discriminatory treatment continues today is a matter of some debate,
but there are indications that some laws, police, courts, and correctional practices have
the effect of maintaining a separate and unequal system for minority group members. In
this section, we briefly discuss this history and use it as a context for current practices and
experiences in corrections.
Defining Race, Ethnicity,

Disparity, and Discrimination
Race: The classification of Race is a term that refers to the classification of humans into populations or groups based
humans into populations or groups
based on various factors such as
on various factors such as culture, language, social practice, or heritable characteristics.
culture, language, social practice, (Gabbidon, 2018). The extent to which racial groups truly differ biologically is still being
or heritable characteristics. determined by scientists. Scientists are still putting together the collective pieces of our
human history. However, the genotyping of the whole human race indicates that our spe-
cies likely originated in Africa (Diamond, 1997; McAuliffe, 2010). Waves of migration then
occurred, beginning at least 50,000 years ago and continuing over thousands of years, to
Europe and to Asia, resulting in variations of skin color and other features of racial group-
ings, which in turn migrated to other continents and islands (Mann, 2006; McAuliffe, 2010).
It is worth noting that even as these physical distinctions were developing, much intermin-
gling occurred, both historically and currently, among groups, resulting in populations that
CHAPTER 11 People of Color and Corrections 271
are substantially mixed rather than distinct

in their “racial” heritage. For this reason,
using racial designations such as White
or Black, or Asian might be necessary to
ensure that one group is not advantaged
over another, but we should recognize
that these designations can be somewhat
arbitrary because true racial differences,
©iStockphoto.com/thawornnurak
though visible to the eye, may be measured
more in gradations rather than in clear dis-
tinctions, particularly in the most racially
mixed societies.
Ethnicity, on the other hand, refers to
groups of people with a shared culture. An
ethnic group will often have a distinct lan-
guage as well as distinct values, religion, Photo 11.1 California inmates in Chino State Prison sitting in mixed-race groups.
history, and traditions. Ethnic groups may
be made up of several races and have a diverse national heritage. For instance, the terms Ethnicity: Refers to groups of
Hispanic and more recently Latinx are applied to an ethnic grouping in the United States people with a shared culture. An
ethnic group often has a distinct
that includes White, Black, and Asian racial groupings whose ancestors may hail from language as well as particular
Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, or Central or South America. Italians, Irish, French, German, values, religion, history, and
traditions. Ethnic groups may be
and other ancestral ethnic Europeans who have immigrated to the United States are usually made up of several races and
racially White, but not always, because while in Europe or after immigrating to the states have diverse national heritages.
those groups may have intermingled with people of African or Asian heritage. For instance,
people known as Creoles are both ethnically and racially differentiated by their White and
African racial background and the French ethnic cultural influences in Louisiana. And
Black Irish Americans are primarily White ethnic Irish people who intermingled with
Spanish Moorish people while in Europe (who were at least partially from North Africa)
and then immigrated as Irish to the United States. Among Black people in the United States,
there are distinct ethnic differences between those whose ancestors have been in the coun-
try for hundreds of years either as free people or who were forcibly brought here through
slavery and those whose families are more recent immigrants from Africa or predominantly
racially Black areas of the world (e.g., immigrants from Caribbean Islands like Haiti). More
recent immigrants from the Sudan, Nigeria, or Kenya are different ethnically; that is to say,
they have a distinct culture, as well as nationality, from one another and from those Black
people whose families have been in the United States for generations.
Clear, Cole, and Reisig (2011) defined disparity as “the unequal treatment of one Disparity: Occurs when one
group by the criminal justice system, compared with the treatment accorded other groups” group is treated differently and
unfairly by governmental actors,
(p. 527). In turn, they defined discrimination as “differential treatment of an individual compared with other groups.
or group without reference to the behavior or qualifications of the same” (p. 527). We Discrimination: Occurs when
would add that disparity can happen in many organizations and entities and is not restricted people or groups are treated
differently because of who they are
to the criminal justice system, and often discrimination is linked in law to classes of (e.g., on the basis of race, ethnicity,
people distinguished by race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, religion, nationality, sexual gender, age, disability, religion,
orientation, and income. nationality, sexual orientation or
identity, or income) rather than their
abilities or something they did.
A Legacy of Racism
LO 11.2 State some of the history of racial-ethnic minority group members in this country.
The legacy of racism (discriminatory attitudes, beliefs, and practices directed at one race
by another) runs long and deep in the United States. Notably, sometimes the term rac-
ism is also applied when one ethnic grouping holds discriminatory attitudes or beliefs, or
272 CORRECTIONS
engages in discriminatory practices, against another ethnic group. Correctional institu-

tions and programs as social institutions are products of their larger social, political, and
economic environments, and therefore the legacy of racism has affected and continues to
affect their operation.
Black Americans
Slavery historically in the United States involved the involuntary servitude of Black Africans
by White Europeans and was practiced almost from the settling of the country (Davis,
2008). Many of the Founding Fathers owned enslaved people, and the practice of slavery
was protected in the Constitution through the three-fifths designation of enslaved people in
Article 1 (three fifths was the worth that enslaved people had for states that wanted to count
them for representation in Congress) and Article 4 (which caused enslaved people who were
fugitives to be returned to their enslavers).
Slavery was a lucrative business for both northern and southern ship owners in the colo-
nial United States and for plantation owners in the South because it provided the backbreak-
ing agricultural labor that built the southern economy. Although slavery officially ended with
the Civil War between the northern and southern states and the subsequent adoption of the
Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, it lived on in civil society and law for 100 years through dis-
criminatory laws and practices (see the discussion of Jim Crow laws later in this section).
Correctional institutions, particularly in the South following the Civil War, were devised
to maintain the slavery system, with newly freed and often unemployed Black people incar-
cerated for minor or trumped-up charges and leased out to southern farmers for work on
the same plantations on which they or their brethren had been enslaved (Oshinsky, 1996;
Young, 2001). During this same time period, in the North and Midwest, Black inmates were
sometimes segregated from white inmates in prisons and jails and given substandard hous-
ing and the least desirable work assignments (Hawkes, 1998; Joseph & Taylor, 2003).
The Scottsboro case (see In Focus 11.1) exemplified the racist attitudes of communi-
ties and how those attitudes were translated into discriminatory practices by law enforce-
ment, courts, and corrections (Walker, Spohn, & DeLone, 1996). The lynching of Black men,
fueled by mob rule and widespread Ku Klux Klan and other hate group activity, was also
practiced in many states and communities following the Civil War and well into the 1900s
(Equal Justice Initiative, 2015; Keil & Vito, 2009). Lynching reinforced a culture of fear that
prevented Black people from achieving an equal and decent footing in communities. The
Klan’s avowed purpose was to target and persecute Catholics, Jews, and people of color—
especially Black people—and it was particularly active in the South and in the Midwest.
Membership was widespread among public and criminal justice officials in the first half of
the 1900s and even included those who rose to such lofty heights as the Supreme Court (e.g.,
Supreme Court justice Hugo Black was a member in the 1920s) and Congress (e.g., Senator
Robert Byrd of West Virginia was a member and defender of the Klan well into the 1950s).
There is little doubt that up until the civil rights movement and the implementation of
laws and practices that reduced racism in public and private organizations, there was insti-
tutional racism—or racism practiced by many, if not most, institutional members—in crim-
inal justice and other organizations. In correctional institutions, it was not until the civil
rights movement morphed into the prisoner rights movement in jails and prisons that these
practices were changed and Black and White inmates were treated more similarly, or were
legally required to be so treated, in correctional institutions (Belbot & Hemmens, 2010).
The incarceration rate of Black people compared with white people is 3.3:1 in jails
(Zeng, 2019, p. 4). It is 5.8:1 for Black men and 1.8:1 for Black women versus White men
and women, respectively, in prisons (Carson, 2020, p. 1). However, there has been a marked
decline in the incarceration of Black men and women in jails and prisons: From 2008 to
2018, incarceration of Black people decreased by 28% in both jails and prisons, the lowest
level it has been since 1990 and 1989, respectively (Carson, 2020, p. 1; Zeng, 2020, p. 1). As
far as the probation and parole populations of Black people are concerned, the represen-
tation, by percentage, of Black people among probation caseloads decreased from 2000 to
2016 by 3 points, from 31% to 28% and by 2 points for parole, from 40% to 38% (Kaeble,
2018, pp. 17, 24).
The trends for rates of incarceration of children of color compared with White children
are not so favorable, though. In 2015 (the latest year for which we have data), the Black-
to-White ratio for children placed in residential correctional facilities was 5.03:1, and for
Latinx youth it was 1.65:1 (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2019,
p. 1). These rates represent an increase from 2006 when the rates were 4.37 (Black youth)
In Focus 11.1
T H E S C OT T S B O R O CA S E
In the second trial, seven of the eight convictions

were upheld by all-White juries. (Black voters in
Alabama were purposefully excluded from lists for
juries.) The reconvictions happened despite the fact
that the case was moved to Decatur, Alabama, for
retrial, and one of the two victims recanted her story,
“Scottsboro Boy Trial”/ Wikimedia Commons
claiming the story was made up and that the boys

never touched either of them.
The Supreme Court, in 1935, again reheard the

case in light of the all-White jury composition; the
Court reversed again. The Alabama judge set aside
the verdict and scheduled a new trial, at which the
accused were again found guilty.
Eventually, charges were dropped for four of the

nine defendants, but the others received sentences
of 75 years to death, and three of those five served
Photo 11.2 The Scottsboro boys meeting with their lawyer
in jail.
prison time. The one who was sentenced to death
was eventually pardoned, in 1976 (Walker et al., 1996).
This case is widely regarded by legal scholars as a
In 1931, nine Black teenage boys were hitching a ride gross miscarriage of justice and as emblematic of the
on a freight train headed to Memphis, Tennessee. way Black Americans were treated in racist sectors of
The train was stopped, and they were arrested and this country well after slavery was abolished.
accused of the rape of two White girls on the train.
The case was first tried in Scottsboro, Alabama, Discussion Questions
where the boys received little representation, and
the trial was rushed. All of the boys in this first trial, 1. Do you think the time and place of this event
except the youngest (a 12-year-old), were convicted affected its outcome?
of rape and sentenced to death.
2. How does this case and how these teenage boys
were treated compare with how young Black
The case was appealed and made it all the way to men and boys are treated by the police today?
the Supreme Court. In the famous decision Powell
v. Alabama (1932), the Supreme Court ruled that 3. Is there room for improvement in race relations
the due process rights of the accused—in this case, between the police and Black community
their right to counsel in a capital case, particularly members?
as these teenagers were indigent and illiterate—were 4. Why is it so difficult for racial and ethnic groups
violated. The Court reversed their convictions and in this country to, as Rodney King asked, “just
sent their case back for retrial. get along”?
274 CORRECTIONS
and 1.82 (Latinx youth) to 1 (White youth), respectively. However, it is also worth
noting that the rates of placement of all youth from 2000 to 2019 decreased substantially,
by 60% (Sawyer, 2019, p.1). This resulted in a change from 743 in 2006 to 433 in 2015
(or a decrease in the rate of 310) for Black youth, from 309 in 2006 to 142 in 2015 (or a
decrease in the rate of 167) for Latinx youth, and from 170 in 2006 to 86 in 2015 (or
a decrease in the rate of 84) for White youth (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention, 2019, p. 1).
In Focus 11.2
F O U R T E E N E X A M P L E S O F R AC I S M I N T H E C R I M I N A L J U S TI C E SYS T E M
by Bill Quigley
The biggest crime in the U.S. criminal justice system Two. The police stop Blacks and Latinos at
is that it is a race-based institution where African- rates that are much higher than whites. In New
Americans are directly targeted and punished in a York City, where people of color make up about
much more aggressive way than white people. half of the population, 80% of the NYPD stops
were of Blacks and Latinos. When whites were
Saying the US criminal system is racist may be stopped, only 8% were frisked. When Blacks and
politically controversial in some circles. But the facts Latinos are stopped 85% were frisked according
are overwhelming. No real debate about that. Below to information provided by the NYPD. The
I set out numerous examples of these facts. same is true most other places as well. In a
California study, the ACLU found Blacks are
The question is—are these facts the mistakes of an three times more likely to be stopped
otherwise good system, or are they evidence that than whites.
the racist criminal justice system is working exactly
as intended? Is the US criminal justice system Three. Since 1970, drug arrests have
operated to marginalize and control millions of skyrocketed rising from 320,000 to close to
Black Americans? 1.6 million according to the Bureau of Justice
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Information on race is available for each step of Black people are arrested for drug offenses at
the criminal justice system—from the use of drugs, rates 2 to 11 times higher than the rate for white
police stops, arrests, getting out on bail, legal people—according to a May 2009 report on
representation, jury selection, trial, sentencing, disparity in drug arrests by Human
prison, parole and freedom. Look what these Rights Watch.
facts show.
Four. Once arrested, Blacks are more likely
to remain in prison awaiting trial than whites.
One. The US has seen a surge in arrests and For example, the New York state division of
putting people in jail over the last four decades. criminal justice did a 1995 review of disparities
Most of the reason is the war on drugs. Yet in processing felony arrests and found that in
whites and Blacks engage in drug offenses, some parts of New York Blacks are 33% more
possession and sales, at roughly comparable likely to be detained awaiting felony trials than
rates—according to a report on race and drug whites facing felony trials.
enforcement published by Human Rights
Watch in May 2008. While Black Americans Five. Once arrested, 80% of the people in the
comprise 13% of the US population and 14% of criminal justice system get a public defender
monthly drug users they are 37% of the people for their lawyer. Race plays a big role here as
arrested for drug offenses—according to 2009 well. Stop in any urban courtroom and look at
Congressional testimony by Marc Mauer of The the racial-ethnic backgrounds of the people who
Sentencing Project. are waiting for public defenders. Despite often
heroic efforts by public defenders the system Eleven. The US Bureau of Justice Statistics
gives them much more work and much less concludes that the chance of a Black male born
money than the prosecution. The American Bar in 2001 of going to jail is 32% or 1 in three.
Association, not a radical bunch, reviewed the US Latino males have a 17% chance and white
public defender system in 2004 and concluded males have a 6% chance. Thus Black boys are
“All too often, defendants plead guilty, even if five times and Latino boys nearly three times as
they are innocent, without really understanding likely as white boys to go to jail.
their legal rights or what is occurring . . . The Twelve. So, while Black American juvenile
fundamental right to a lawyer that America youth is but 16% of the population, they are 28%
assumes applies to everyone accused of criminal of juvenile arrests, 37% of the youth in juvenile
conduct effectively does not exist in practice for jails and 58% of the youth sent to adult prisons.
countless people across the US.” (2009 Criminal Justice Primer, The Sentencing
Six. Black people are frequently illegally Project)
excluded from criminal jury service according to Thirteen. Remember that the US leads the
a June 2010 study released by the Equal Justice world in putting our own people into jail
Initiative. For example in Houston County, and prison. The New York Times reported
Alabama, 8 out of 10 Black Americans qualified in 2008 that the US has five percent of the
for jury service have been struck by prosecutors world’s population but a quarter of the world’s
from serving on death penalty cases. prisoners, over 2.3 million people behind
Seven. Trials are rare. Only 3 to 5 percent of bars, dwarfing other nations. The US rate of
criminal cases go to trial—the rest are plea incarceration is five to eight times higher than
bargained. Most Black defendants never get a other highly developed countries and Black
trial. Most plea bargains consist of the promise males are the largest percentage of inmates
of a longer sentence if a person exercises their according to ABC News.
constitutional right to trial. As a result, people Fourteen. Even when released from prison,
caught up in the system, as the American Bar race continues to dominate. A study by
Association points out, plead guilty even when Professor Devah Pager of the University
innocent. Why? As one young man told me of Wisconsin found that 17% of white job
recently, “Who wouldn’t rather do three years applicants with criminal records received call
for a crime they didn’t commit than risk twenty- backs from employers while only 5% of Black
five years for a crime they didn’t do?” job applicants with criminal records received
call backs. Race is so prominent in that study
Eight. The U.S. Sentencing Commission that whites with criminal records actually
reported in March 2010 that in the federal received better treatment than Blacks without
system Black offenders receive sentences that criminal records!
are 10% longer than white offenders for the
same crimes. Marc Mauer of the Sentencing So, what conclusions do these facts lead to? The
Project reports Black people are 21% more likely criminal justice system, from start to finish, is
to receive mandatory minimum sentences seriously racist.
than white defendants and 20% more like to be
sentenced to prison than white drug defendants.
Nine. The longer the sentence, the more likely it
1. Have recent events involving videos of
is that non-white people will be the ones getting
unarmed or lightly armed racial-ethnic minority
it. A July 2009 report by the Sentencing Project
group members being shot by the police
found that two thirds of the people in the US
changed your mind about whether there are
with life sentences are non-white. In New York,
racist elements in the criminal justice system?
it is 83%.
2. If so, what are the biggest challenges to
Ten. As a result, Black people, who are 13% of changing that system?
the population and 14% of drug users, are not
only 37% of the people arrested for drugs but
Note: Bill Quigley is legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights and
56% of the people in state prisons for drug a law professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. This excerpt
offenses. (Marc Mauer May 2009 Congressional was taken from an article he wrote for the Huffington Post (Quigley, 2011).
Testimony for The Sentencing Project) Reprinted with permission.
276 CORRECTIONS
Native Americans
Native Americans are another group of people who have been victims of racism in this
country. Note the terms Native American and American Indian are both used to describe
the peoples who were here when Christopher Columbus “landed” in 1492 (Columbus’
ships actually stopped off the coast of islands in the Bahamas, and he never set foot in
North America). Columbus mistakenly thought he was in India and thus dubbed the native
peoples “Indians.” The name stuck, giving rise to the more recent use of the name Native
Americans by those not wishing to associate these native peoples with Columbus. The prob-
lem is that sometimes people who are not American Indians have adopted the term Native
American because they were born in the United States. However, both names are used by
natives and nonnatives, and they will be used interchangeably in this book (Mann, 2006).
At the time of the arrival of the first of Columbus’s ships, there were reportedly as
many as 20 million native people residing in North America (Colbert, 1997; Davis, 2008;
Diamond, 1997; Mann, 2006). Emerging archaeological evidence has established that com-
plex cities and agriculture flourished in the Americas, particularly in South and Central
America, thousands of years before this wave of Europeans arrived. (There are theories and
some evidence that Africans, other Europeans, and Asians all made trips to the Americas
numerous times over the millennia and well before this latter foray by the Spaniards and
Columbus [see Awes & Awes, 2010; Mann, 2006].) Within a few short decades, those pop-
ulations had been decimated by disease (smallpox mostly), wars, and massacres. Over the
course of a few hundred years, only a small percentage of those original peoples survived,
and they were overwhelmed by the influx of European immigrants who through wars and
treaties relocated Native Americans, often forcibly, off their lands and onto reservations.
Such reservations, at least initially, were in essence forms of correctional institutions
intended to incarcerate a whole people on a piece of land by restricting their movement away
from the reservation. This land was usually less desirable than the land the tribe originally
resided on and often inadequate to support the survival of that tribe. As a consequence,
Native American reservations of the 1800s and 1900s were populated by poor, underfed,
and undereducated peoples with few prospects for regaining their land, wealth, or way of
life (Blalock, 1967; Kitano, 1997; Stannard, 1992). Federal policy regarding Native American
tribes has shifted over time from efforts to segregate them from White communities, to
efforts to integrate tribal members into the larger society, to more current efforts to respect
their identity and cultures.
As a result of this complicated history, the interplay of tribal, federal, and state laws is
complex and depends on the time period and the state and tribe involved. Currently, there
are 567 federally recognized tribes in the United States, and there are a number of tribes that
have not received or sought this recognition (Bureau of Indian Affairs, 2018). On large res-
ervations, more minor criminal offending by tribal members falls under the jurisdiction
of that tribe, while felony offenses or off-the-reservation criminal activity by tribal mem-
bers might be handled by the tribe, the state, or the federal government. Larger reservations
maintain their own jails for tribal members accused of crimes, for minor offenders, and for
those with shorter sentences for incarceration. Despite the existence of these separate legal
and correctional systems on larger reservations, at least regarding less serious offending, the
number of Native Americans in federal and state prisons is often disproportionate to their
representation in the larger population of that state (Perry, 2004).
As reported in a recent Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) publication regarding
Native American jails (Minton & Cowhig, 2017, p. 1), there were 80 jails on Native
American reservations in 2016, and the number of inmates confined in those jails has
been increasing. The incarceration rate for Native Americans and Alaska Natives in jails
(recent numbers for prisons was unavailable) was 401 per 100,000, or more than 2 times
the White rate of 187 per 100,000 (Zeng, 2020, p. 4).
Hispanics, or Latinx
As mentioned previously, the term Hispanic is used to designate an ethnic group that spans
many races and nations of origin to the point where it may not be descriptive (Martinez,
2004). For this reason, other terms are often used to describe Hispanics that may better
represent who they are, such as the more general Latinx (which has been used instead of
Hispanic, is a more gender-neutral and gender-inclusive term than Latino, and locates this
ethnicity more in Latin America), or national heritage–specific terms, such as Mexican
Americans, Puerto Rican Americans, and Cuban Americans. Each of these groups of people
has a history with a distinct American experience. Sometimes that history has included dis-
crimination by criminal justice actors during incarceration.
The history of Mexican Americans, the largest subgroup of Latinx people in the United
States, has been one in which they and their land were forcibly made part of the American
Southwest. As a result of the Mexican–American War, which lasted from 1846 to 1848,
Mexico lost almost half of its land—the area that has become the American Southwest—from
Texas to California and all of the states in between (Espinosa, Komatsu, & Martin, 1998).
In border states (e.g., New Mexico, Arizona, and parts of Texas, California, and Florida)
today, the numbers of Mexican Americans and Cuban Americans are so high and their
assimilation into the culture so thorough that the existence of a clear racial or ethnic major-
ity group has disappeared or has become the Latinx group itself. The increased number of
Mexican Americans in these states and the immigrants crossing over the southern border
into the United States from South and Central America have sparked a political debate over
immigrants and whether they should be accorded citizenship rights. At the center of the
debate are an immigration law in the state of Arizona that allows law enforcement there to
demand papers from any person whom they suspect might be in the country illegally, with-
out further cause (Archibold, 2010; National Conference of State Legislatures, 2012) and the
efforts by the Trump administration to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico and
to prevent those seeking asylum from South and Central American countries from either
reaching or crossing that border. Civil libertari-
ans and civil rights groups allege that these actions
have resulted in discrimination against Hispanics
FIGURE 11.1 Number of Inmates by Race or
in Arizona and mistreatment of adults and children
Ethnicity, 2019
held in immigration detention facilities and created
Source: Adapted from the BJS and the U.S. Census Bureau.
the potential to fill jails, if not prisons, in a num-
*Includes American Indians and Alaska Natives; Asians, Native Hawaiians, and
ber of states (Freedom for Immigrants, 2018, p. 1).
other Pacific Islanders; and persons of two or more races.
According to an immigrant advocacy group, Freedom
for Immigrants, a number of states not on the bor-
der hold immigrants, and the three top countries
immigrants hail from are Mexico, El Salvador, and Black
Honduras (in that order). Whether in Arizona or in
other states, however, and as with Native Americans
and Black Americans, the representation of Latinx
people in American prisons and jails has been dispro-
White
portionate to their representation in the general pop-
ulation (see Figures 11.1 and 11.2). In recent years,
however, and perhaps as a result of the efforts to pre-
Race # of Inmates % of Inmates
vent immigration by Central and South Americans, Asian 2,671 1.5%
the number of incarcerated Latinx people has been
Black 66,314 37.5%
decreasing (see the earlier discussion in this chapter
Native American 4,118 2.3%
of this topic).
White 103,689 58.7%
The number of Latinx adults in jails and prisons
has generally been decreasing, though perhaps not
278 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 11.2 Rate of Imprisonment by

3,000
Race or Ethnicity, 2017
Sources: Based on data from the BJS and the U.S. Census 2,500 92
Bureau. Most recent data available upon publication.
*Includes American Indians and Alaska Natives; Asians,

Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders; and persons 2,000
Rate per 100,000

of two or more races.
114
1,500
66
2,336
1,000
1,257
500 49 1,054
397
0
Black White Hispanic Other*
Male Female
as much or as steadily as it has for Black people. The jail incarceration rate for Latinx people
was down by 34% from 2008 to 2018 and at 182 per 100,000 is less than the current rate for
white people of 187 per 100,000 (Zeng, 2020, p. 4). There was virtually no change, however,
in the number of Latinx adults sentenced to prison from 2008 to 2018, even as the numbers of
White and Black people decreased by 13.9% and 21.5%, respectively (Carson, 2020, pp. 6, 9);
however, their rate of incarceration did decrease by 21% (perhaps as a result of the growth in
the number of Hispanics in the free population) (Carson, 2020, p. 1). As far as their represen-
tation among probation and parole populations, Hispanics went from 21% to 15% of parole
populations from 2000 to 2016 but increased their percentage representation among proba-
tioners during that same time period from 13% to 14% (Kaeble, 2018, pp. 17, 24).
Asian Americans
As with most immigrants to America in the 1800s and 1900s, Japanese and Chinese immi-
grants (who collectively represent the largest groupings of Asian Americans, although
certainly not the only ones—space prevents us from sufficiently exploring the Korean,
Cambodian, Vietnamese, Laotian, Pacific Islander, and East Asian experiences, for example)
were looking for a better life for themselves and their families. Although they found such a
life to varying degrees, their experience, like those of the other ethnic and racial minorities
mentioned in this section, were tinged with racism. Originally settling primarily in western
states in the 1800s and early 1900s, Chinese and Japanese immigrants were heavily involved
in mining and agriculture in pioneer communities.
Chinese labor was crucial to the construction of the first transcontinental railroad
(1863–1869). Later barred from owning property in some states and from voting in others,
the Chinese made do by engaging in service professions (e.g., laundries, restaurants, herb
shops) and settling together in parts of cities for both comfort and safety (Lennon, Angier,
Tsui, & Cheng, 2003; Wei, 1999). When economies soured in some of those cities or states,
Asian immigrants were blamed for taking jobs from poor white people—much as Black
people were blamed by poor white people in the South after the Civil War, or recent Mexican
Policy and Research

D O C U M E N T E D LY N C H I N G S O F M E X I CA N A M E R I CA N S
Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of authors note that Mexicans and, to a lesser extent,
Racial Terror, a publication of the Equal Justice Native Americans, Italians, and Chinese were
Initiative (2015), details an investigation into also singled out in other parts of the country.
lynching in the South after the Civil War and up From seven Mexican shepherds hanged by White
to World War II. There were 3,959 lynchings in vigilantes near Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1878; to
southern states during this time period (1877–1950) 547 newspaper-documented cases of lynchings
(p. 1). According to the authors of this publication, of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Arizona,
the lynchings were public events, widely attended California, New Mexico, and Texas from 1848 to
by White people, tolerated by state and local 1928; to thousands killed by Texas Rangers and
officials, and “used to enforce racial subordination other law enforcement and vigilantes along the
and segregation” (p. 1). “Crimes” might include Mexican border from 1915 to 1918, the practice was
“bumping into a white person, or wearing their reportedly widespread in the southwestern United
military uniforms after World War I, or not using States.
the appropriate title when addressing a white
person” (p. 1).
In a 2015 New York Times editorial, William D.
1. What do you think spurs people to lynch other
Carrigan and Clive Webb described a little-known
people?
dirty American secret (derived from the same
publication): “Blacks weren’t the only victims 2. What makes the people who commit
of violence by white mobs” (p. A23). Although such atrocities, termed acts of terror by the
Blacks were the most likely targets of lynching Equal Justice Initiative, think they can get away
in America’s past, particularly in the South, the with it?
immigrants are blamed by poor white people in the West today—and they were often run
out of town. They were literally placed on ships and sent home, even though they and their
families may have lived in the states for decades if not generations.
The first restrictive immigration law in the country, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882,
was directed at reducing immigration from China (Wei, 1999). Some of the first drug laws,
laws against opium dens dating from the 1870s onward, were passed because Chinese immi-
grants were thought to be corrupting the White population by spreading the use of the drug;
such laws were ironic because opium was first introduced to China by westerners (Lennon
et al., 2008).
Much like Chinese immigrants, Japanese immigrants provided cheap labor, as they were
employed in the construction of railroads as well as in agriculture, restaurants, and many
other businesses, primarily in the American West. In fact, when Chinese immigrants were
excluded, Japanese immigrants filled the gap from the 1880s until their own immigration
was also restricted in 1908. Barred from owning their own land, many Japanese Americans
earned their living in the late 1800s and early 1900s by leasing land and growing beets in
Oregon and Idaho, for instance. As their economic strength grew, however, they were
regarded as a threat by the local White population, and there were numerous instances in
which they were forcibly run off their land and out of town (Mercier, 2010). Mercier (2010)
stated the following:
Despite the Issei’s [another word for the first Japanese immigrants] hard work
in the early twentieth century, envy and racial discrimination led to increasing
anti-Japanese attitudes on the West Coast, much as the sentiment had developed
280 CORRECTIONS
against perceived Chinese competition. Residents of Mountain Home, Nampa,

and Caldwell, Idaho, drove out Japanese workers, and white mobs near Coeur
d’Alene and in Portland, Oregon threatened Japanese railroad workers. Tensions
led to the so-called “Gentleman’s Agreement” between the U.S. and Japan that
effectively limited after 1908 the numbers of laborers that could emigrate from
Japan. Instead, the two governments allowed wives and brides to join earlier
male immigrants in the United States, changing the character of the immigrant
community. (p. 10)
The internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans in 1942 in 10 inland concentration

camps during World War II, along with the confiscation of their property, was not based
on the actual threat they presented to the safety of western states—or at least no more
so, say, than the threat of the German Americans who were scattered all over the United
States at the time and not incarcerated (Mercier, 2010, p. 1). The internment of whole
Japanese American families in prison camps was instead based on racist beliefs about
who could be trusted and on ignorance regarding the allegiance that such citizens felt for
this, their country.
As far as the incarceration of most Asian Americans these days goes, they tend to be
underrepresented in correctional organizations in relation to their representation in the
general population. It is not clear why such underrepresentation exists, but it is likely related
to their tight-knit and supportive families and communities and the value those cultures
have placed on education and achievement; this often results in higher incomes and educa-
tion for many Japanese and Chinese American citizens (Mercier, 2010). Notably, successful
integration into American society as measured by economic and educational achievements
is not uniform across all Asian Americans. For example, those emigrating from war-torn
Cambodia and Vietnam in the latter half of the 20th century were not always as “successful”
or able to stay out of the criminal justice system and its correctional institutions.
The Connection Between

Class and Race or Ethnicity
LO 11.3 Explain the connection between class, race or ethnicity, and crime.
Americans are often averse to recognizing the existence of a class system in the United
States. In part, this dislike of class labels springs from our history of revolution, which
was spurred in part by a desire to separate ourselves from the rigidity of the class system
in England and Europe. Also, our economic, political, and social systems have allowed
people in lower classes to advance through ingenuity, education, or drive, or some mix of
those, to the middle or upper classes. However, this upward mobility is hampered in any
number of ways by poverty and related ills such as poor nutrition and schools, limited
access to health care, and parents who are absent or neglectful. When poverty is combined
with long-term and systematic discrimination against a people such that their families are
destroyed, as occurred with the social institution of slavery and still occurs with the con-
tinued discrimination against Black people, recovery of communities can take generations.
Not surprisingly, illegal drug use catches on in such poor communities, as do other forms of
involvement in street criminality.
Certain racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to be poor and thus caught up in
the criminal justice system and overrepresented in correctional institutions and programs
(see Table 11.1). Race and traditions of discrimination regarding Black people have stymied
their ability to assimilate. Language barriers and discrimination regarding race have also
prevented some Latinx Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans from moving
to the middle and upper classes. Cultural differences have created a similar barrier for these
groups. The drug war, which is discussed more fully in this chapter, has tended to target ille-
gal drugs and their use and has had a disparate impact on minority groups such as Latinxs
and Black people. The drug war has led to the phenomenon of disproportionate representa-
tion by these minority groups in correctional organizations. As the laws and practices of the
drug war are easing, however, we have begun to see a reduction in the numbers of minority
group members incarcerated in jails and prisons; as was discussed in the preceding sections,
this is particularly true for Black people.
People of Color: Policies and Practices

That Have Resulted in Increased Incarceration
LO 11.4 Examine why the criminal justice system has not been race neutral in its
treatment of people of color.
As has been mentioned in this chapter and in many others in this book, African Americans
and Hispanics particularly, but also Native Americans, are disproportionately represented as
the accused or convicted in jails, prisons, and community corrections in the United States.
Asian Americans are overrepresented in federal prisons. As was already mentioned, most of
these minority groups are also overrepresented among people living in poverty in the United
States and among those accused or convicted of street crimes (see Table 11.1). In the 1950s,
an estimated 70% of the inmates in America’s prisoners were White, but by 2017, about 56%
of inmates in prisons were African American (33%) or Hispanic or Latinx (23%) (Bronson
& Carson, 2019, p. 6). Yet according to the U.S. Census Bureau (2017, p. 1), only 13% of the
population as a whole was Black or African American, and 17% was Hispanic or Latinx
of any race, whereas 73% was White (with other races constituting the remainder). Stated
another way, among the largest racial and ethnic groups in 2017, there remained dispropor-
tionality in the use of corrections for Black Americans and Latinx Americans.
The Drug War: The New Jim Crow?

The rhetoric for the modern drug war was initiated by President Richard Nixon. He ran for
president on a hardline law enforcement platform and consequently was interested in imple-
menting “tough on crime” policies and practices. His efforts, however, were stymied by the
fact that law enforcement was (and still is) primarily a responsibility of the states and their
counties and cities. Ronald Reagan was the next president interested in enlarging the reach
of the federal government into the states’ business regarding law enforcement. His admin-
istration was responsible for declaring a “war on drugs” and asking Congress to allocate
money for prisons and law enforcement. Therefore, President Reagan is often credited (or
blamed, depending on one’s perspective) for starting the modern drug war.
Riding this popular “tough on crime” rhetoric of the 1980s and 1990s, Presidents George
H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump each contin-
ued to fund—and at times expand the reach of—the federal drug war. The practical effect of
this modern war, if not the intent of its architects, has been to incarcerate an unprecedented
hundreds of thousands of people of color, primarily Black people and Latinxs, who would
otherwise not be incarcerated in the correctional system (Drug Policy Alliance, 2019a;
Lurigio & Loose, 2008).
Michelle Alexander (2010), in her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the
Age of Colorblindness, asserted that the modern drug war has been focused on people
living in poverty and people of color while ignoring the fact that most drug users and drug
sellers are White. She noted that in 2004, an estimated 75% of those incarcerated for drug
TABLE 11.1 Percentage of People in Poverty in the U.S. by Different Poverty Measures, 2016
282
OFFICIAL SPM
NUMBER PERCENTAGE NUMBER PERCENTAGE DIFFERENCE
MARGIN
NUMBER IN MARGIN OF OF ERRORa MARGIN OF MARGIN OF
THOUSANDS ESTIMATE ERRORa (±) ESTIMATE (±) ESTIMATE ERRORa (±) ESTIMATE ERRORa (±) NUMBER PERCENTAGE
All people 316,168 47,021 854 14.9 0.3 48,390 868 15.3 0.3 *1,369 *0.4
Sex
CORRECTIONS
Male 154,815 20,883 441 13.5 0.3 22,497 438 14.5 0.3 *1,614 *1.0
Female 161,353 26,138 525 16.2 0.3 25,893 517 16.0 0.3 −245 −0.2
Age
Under 18 years 73,920 15,904 401 21.5 0.5 12,360 369 16.7 0.5 *−3,545 *−4.8
18–64 years 196,254 26,527 533 13.5 0.3 29,401 570 15.0 0.3 *2,874 *1.5
65 years and older 45,994 4,590 176 10.0 0.4 6,629 223 14.4 0.5 *2,039 *4.4
Type of unit
Married couple 189,603 13,696 499 7.2 0.3 17,878 575 9.4 0.3 *4,182 *2.2
Female householder 64,008 18,442 559 28.8 0.7 18,366 537 28.7 0.7 −76 −0.1
Male householder 34,075 6,105 266 17.9 0.7 7,420 292 21.8 0.7 *1,315 *3.9
New SPM unit 28,482 8,779 337 30.8 0.9 4,726 305 16.6 1.0 *−4,053 *−14.2
Race and Hispanic origin
White 244,468 31,305 640 12.8 0.3 33,346 683 13.6 0.3 *2,042 *0.8
White, not Hispanic 195,352 19,797 523 10.1 0.3 20,943 568 10.7 0.3 *1,147 *0.6
Black 41,226 10,870 360 26.4 0.9 9,662 346 23.4 0.8 *−1,208 *−2.9
Asian 17,796 2,142 209 12.0 1.2 2,999 247 16.8 1.3 *856 *4.8
Hispanic (any race) 55,614 13,214 422 23.8 0.8 14,129 442 25.4 0.8 *915 *1.6
Nativity
Native born 273,984 39,227 771 14.3 0.3 38,379 762 14.0 0.3 *−848 *−0.3
Foreign born 43,822 42,184 7,795 287 18.5 0.6 10,011 355 23.7 0.7 *2,216
Naturalized citizen 20,409 19,733 2,349 146 11.9 0.7 3,467 184 17.6 0.8 *1,118
Not a citizen 22,451 5,446 242 24.3 0.9 6,544 282 29.1 1.0 *1,098 *4.9
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2016). Most recent data available.

Note: SPM = Supplemental Poverty Measure.
a. The margin of error (MOE) is a measure of an estimate’s variability. The larger the MOE in relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate. The MOE is the estimated 90% confidence interval. The MOEs shown in this table
are based on standard errors calculated using replicate weights. For more information, see “Standard Errors and Their Use” at ftp://ftp2.census.gov/library/publications/2014/demo/p60-252sa.pdf.
*An asterisk preceding an estimate indicates that the change is statistically different from zero at the 90% confidence level.
offenses were Black or Latinx, while the majority of the drug users and sellers were White
(p. 97). She argued the case that the drug war, as executed, has had the practical effect
of reinstating Jim Crow laws in the United States. She maintained that this is so because
of the police sweeps of poor and racial-ethnic minority neighborhoods, the law enforce-
ment focus on small-time marijuana possession offenders, and the law’s nonsensical
emphasis on crack cocaine over powder cocaine although they are similar in addictive
properties and pharmacologically the same (see the following discussion of this topic and
Chapter 4 on sentencing). Moreover, the implementation of the drug war has led to the
erosion of civil liberties protections regarding search and evidence.
Jim Crow laws were devised by southern states following the Civil War, starting in Jim Crow laws: Laws devised
by southern states following
the 1870s and lasting until 1965 and the civil rights movement, to prevent Black people the Civil War, starting in the
from fully participating in social, economic, and civic life. These laws restricted the rights 1870s and lasting until 1965
and liberties of Black citizens in employment, housing, education, travel, and voting. and the civil rights movement, to
prevent Black people from fully
Voter disenfranchisement, or preventing Black people from voting, was a key part of the participating in social, economic,
Jim Crow laws back then (Alexander, 2010). Today, a felony offense gained through even and civic life. These laws restricted
the rights and liberties of Black
a relatively minor drug possession conviction can mean the loss of employability, loss of citizens in employment, housing,
access to public housing or food stamps, and voter disenfranchisement—much the same education, travel, and voting. Voter
disenfranchisement, or preventing
effect as the Jim Crow laws of half a century ago. In a recent article on the use of felony Black people from voting, was a
disenfranchisement in Georgia, which affected the 2018 governor’s election, the reporter key part of the Jim Crow laws.
noted that almost 250,000 previously convicted felons, including as many as 144,275
African Americans, were prevented from participating in voting, even if their crimes were
relatively minor (e.g., stealing or credit card fraud) and they had done their time for the
offense (Bynum, 2019, p. 7).
Ethical Issue
You are a Black male correctional officer in a than White inmates. You also notice that some
jail, working in a living unit for inmates who are minority group inmates are classified with a higher
new to the facility. It is usually referred to as a security ranking than similar White inmates, and
classification unit, as inmates in it are classified to this means that racial-ethnic minority inmates do
other units by their conviction status, perceived not have as much access to reentry programming
dangerousness, and programming needs. After and to placement in the work release facility as
working in the unit for a few years, you notice that do White inmates. What would you do to make
there are a few other staff, though not most, who sure that minority group inmates are treated and
treat minority group inmates with less respect classified in the same way as other inmates?
Crack Versus Powder Cocaine

The concern over crack cocaine started in the 1980s. The sentencing disparity that occurred
when crack cocaine possession was treated as 100 times worse than possession of powder
cocaine in federal law was tied to the race and class of the persons associated with each drug
(Alexander, 2010; The Sentencing Project, 2011). Poorer and disproportionately Black and
Latinx people tended to use the cheaper crack cocaine, while richer and disproportionately
white people tended to use the more expensive powder cocaine. Although there was never
any real evidence that crack was more harmful or addictive than powder cocaine, there were
a number of news stories sensationalizing news of “crack babies” and mothers—portrayed
as Black babies and their mothers—in the 1980s when the Reagan administration promoted
284 CORRECTIONS
the disparate sentencing. Alexander (2010) reported that the Reagan administration used
the emergence of crack as a means of justifying the drug war and its focus on poor and
racial-ethnic minority people:
They hired staff whose job it was to find reports of inner-city crack users, crack
dealers, crack babies, and crack whores and to feed those stories to the media.
The media saturation coverage of crack was no accident. It was a deliberate
campaign that fueled the race to incarcerate. Legislators began passing ever
harsher mandatory-minimum sentences in response to the media frenzy. (cited
in Cooper, 2011, p. 7)
The harsher sentencing for crack cocaine possession is another example of a current
criminal justice policy that even the U.S. Sentencing Commission concedes has had the
practical and discriminatory effect of vastly increasing the incarceration of Black people
and Latinxs. Although the federal law was changed in 2010, crack cocaine sentences at
the federal level are still much harsher than those for powder cocaine, by a factor of 18:1
(rather than 100:1 as they were under the 1986 law). As of 2016, about 16,000 inmates
at the federal level received reductions in their sentences (U.S. Sentencing Commission,
2016, p. 1). In addition, another 26,000 inmates convicted of “trafficking crack and
In Focus 11.3
H A R S H J U S TI C E A N D T H E S C OT T S I S T E R S
In 1993, two sisters, Jamie Scott, 22, and her the American justice system has long had
pregnant 19-year-old sister, Gladys, were convicted this terrible tendency to throw you away like
of using three teenage boys to set up the armed garbage. Historically, this has been especially
robbery of two men (Pitts, 2010). The Scott sisters true in the South. . . . How many other Scott
supplied the shotgun to the teenagers. Eleven sisters and brothers are languishing behind
dollars was stolen during this robbery, and the bars for no good reason, doing undeserved
victims were unharmed. For this crime, the sisters, hard time on nonexistent evidence, perjured
who had no prior criminal histories, were each given testimony, prosecutorial misconduct or sheer
a double life sentence and, as of November 2010, racial or class bias. (p. B6)
had served 16 years of it.
The Scott sisters did, finally, get some relief from
The teenage boys, two of whom testified against the their sentences. Thanks to the advocacy of Pitts and
sisters as part of their plea bargains, received 2-year others, such as the NAACP, the original prosecutor
sentences, which they completed years ago. The of the sisters, the governor of Mississippi, Haley
Scott sisters claimed and still claim that they are Barbour, suspended the sisters’ sentences as long as
innocent. The mother of the sisters argues the harsh Gladys donated a kidney to her sister Jamie, whose
sentences were revenge for the family’s willingness kidneys have failed (Diaz-Duran, 2010). They were
to testify against a corrupt sheriff (Pitts, 2010). As released from prison in January 2010.
news columnist Leonard Pitts (2010) explained,
Whatever the proximate cause of this Discussion Question

ridiculous sentence, the larger cause is neon
clear: The Scott sisters are black women in 1. In what ways does the Scott sisters’ treatment
the poorest state in the union. And as report by the criminal justice system seem similar
after report has testified, if you are poor or to and different from that experienced by the
black (and God help you if you are both), Scottsboro boys?
powder cocaine, heroin, marijuana, meth-

amphetamine, and other drugs” also
received reduced sentences in 2014 as a
result of the U.S. Sentencing Commission
(2016, p. 1) change in the guidelines.
However, some state laws still treat crack
cocaine use more harshly than powder
cocaine use, which results in dispropor-
tionate incarceration of minority group
members for this drug offense in state
©iStockphoto.com/RichLegg
prisons (Anderson, 2018, p. 1).
Racial Profiling and

Driving While Black
or Brown
Photo 11.3 Critics argue that drivers who are people of color are stopped more by the police
Scholars note that racial profiling by than white drivers and that they are treated more harshly when they are stopped.
the police can have a similar effect to
that of the drug war and its propensity
for increasing racial-ethnic minority involvement as the accused or convicted in correc-
tions. Driving while Black or Brown (DWB) refers to the police practice of focusing Driving while Black or Brown
(DWB): Refers to the practice of
law enforcement attention on Black or Brown drivers. The research in this area has been police focusing law enforcement
mixed, with some researchers finding that this practice affects arrests and others unable to attention on Black or Brown drivers.
establish the existence of this practice (Rice, Reitzel, & Piquero, 2005). Lundman’s (2010)
research also raised questions about the validity of police reports on the race or ethnicity
of stopped drivers, noting that there were unaccounted-for missing data on drivers from
predominately poor and racial-ethnic minority neighborhoods in some research.
Police officers tend to stop older vehicles, and such cars are often owned by poorer
and minority group members. Langan and colleagues found in a review of BJS data from
a police and public national contact survey that Black and Latinx drivers were more likely
to report being stopped by the police than were Whites (Langan, Greenfield, Smith,
Durose, & Levin, 2001). They also found that minority group members were more likely
to report negative criminal justice outcomes for themselves, such as being ticketed,
arrested, handcuffed, searched, or subjected to the use of force by officers when stopped.
Rice and colleagues (2005, p. 63) found in their study of the perceptions of 700 randomly
selected young adult (aged 18–26) New Yorkers that the nuances of these stops might
hinge on what shade one’s skin is. They found that Black people were more likely to report
that racial profiling was widespread and that they were racially profiled than were white
people or non-Black Hispanics.
In a study of drug arrests in Seattle, Washington, Beckett and colleagues (Beckett, Nyrop,
Pfingst, & Bowen, 2005) found that the disparity in arrests between people of color and
white people can be explained by racialized justice. The drug problem there was seen as a
dangerous crack problem, which in turn was seen as a problem of use by Black people and
Latinx people despite comparable use of illegal drugs by Whites. More people of color were
therefore stopped by the police, as they were assumed to be more involved in illegal drug use.
Of course, the more such stops one is subjected to, the more likely one is to run afoul of
the law and to enter a correctional institution, such as a jail, or to find oneself on probation
(Hawkins, 2005). Relatedly, these experiences are also more likely to result in the building of
a record that, should one become entangled in the system again later, might be used to justify
a conviction or a more severe sentence.
286 CORRECTIONS
People of Color: Adjustment to Incarceration

LO 11.5 Discuss the special challenges faced by racial-ethnic minority group members
in corrections.
Victor Hassine (2009), a writer and inmate who had been doing life since 1980 in
Pennsylvania prisons for a capital offense, commented that race was and is an integral part
of his prison experience. Segregation in housing and by gangs (both voluntary) and racial
bias in treatment by staff were common in the Graterford Prison, where he was an inmate
during the 1980s. Most of the inmates in this prison were Black, while most of the staff were
White. (Notably, in the 1980s in the Graterford Prison, the only choices for self-identifying
inmate race or ethnicity were White and Black.) Most of the staff in this prison identified as
Christian, while a sizable proportion of the Black inmates were Muslim. In addition to these
differences of race and religion were differences in place of origin: Many inmates tended to
come from urban areas, while many staff were raised in more rural settings. Such differences
between staff and inmates led to a difficult adjustment for racial-ethnic minority inmates
(see the following discussion of racial-ethnic minority staff) and were cited as one of the
complaints by inmates in the 1971 riot at the Attica Prison in New York.
Walter Rideau (2010), in his first-person account of incarceration in Louisiana pris-
ons, described the setting for his third trial and the racial politics of the day in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, in this way:
In 1970, at the time of my third trial, the Klan was using the kind of intimidation
for which it was famous. It invaded North Baton Rouge—the black part of town—
and plastered the utility poles and other upright surfaces with signs showing a
rearing white-hooded horse carrying a hooded white rider, his left hand holding
aloft a fiery cross. Beneath the horse’s feet was the Klan’s motto: FOR GOD AND
COUNTRY. The poster was dominated by the horse and rider and by the big,
bold print in the upper left corner that read SAVE OUR LAND, and beneath the
picture it read JOIN THE KLAN. (p. 61)
Rideau (2010) encountered racism from some staff and inmates over the course of his long
incarceration, but he noted that it lessened in degree and frequency as the years went on.
Today, the racial mix of staff is more likely to reflect that of the community where inmates
Ethical Issue
You are a White female counselor working in a possibly more—is not interested in hiring a minority
privately owned juvenile detention facility, and you group member, as this person consistently ranks
are interested in hiring a more racially and ethnically such applicants’ resumes and interviews lower than
diverse staff to better match your community and those of White applicants, even though you do not
clientele. Your company has an equal employment think they merit it. The vote on the applicants is
opportunity policy in place, but it has rarely been approaching, and there are three top candidates for
implemented in practice, as almost all of the staff are the job who all seem similarly qualified for it. One
White, whereas almost all of the clients are Black or of those applicants is a Hispanic man, and the other
Hispanic. You are on the selection team for a new applicants are White. What would you do to ensure
position at the facility. After several interviews, you that this vote is fair and that the best applicant for
notice that at least one other member of the team—and the job gets the position?
come from, which has tended to reduce race as a source of conflict between staff and
inmates. However, Ross and Richards (2002) noted that a “color line” still divides prison
inmates into at least these groups: Black people, white people, and Latinx people. Between
and among these groups, there are different styles of living and means of surviving.
Victimization by Race and Ethnicity

Regarding victimization in prisons, Wolff, Shi, and Blitz (2008) found that Black people
were more likely to report sexual or physical violence from staff than from other inmates,
non-Hispanic white people were more likely to report victimization by other inmates than
by staff, and Hispanics had above-average reporting of victimization by both staff and other
inmates. When both types of victimization were accounted for, however, all three groups
reported about the same amount of victimization, just from different sources.
Probation or Prison?
Some research indicates that Black offenders may prefer prison over community alternative
sentencing, whereas White offenders express the opposite preference. In a study by Wood
and May (2003), the authors noted that Black people and white people “differed in their
willingness to participate in alternative sanctions, in their preference for prison over alterna-
tives, and in the amount of these alternatives they were willing to serve” (p. 624), with Black
people less willing to participate in alternatives or the number of alternatives and more likely
to prefer prison over alternatives. There are several explanations for these differences that
have been discovered by these and other researchers.

JA M E S WAT K I N S, C L A S S I F I CATI O N C O U N S E L O R
Position: Classification counselor • Complete offender needs assessment per RNR

(risk, need, responsivity) model of offender
Location: Airway Heights Correction Center, classification.
Spokane, Washington
• Facilitate program services to include
Education: North Idaho College and Spokane mental health services, education, chemical
Community College dependency, and evidence-based programs,
when available.
What previous criminal justice
• Provide inmates with information about reentry
experience do you have?
and release resources.
I previously served as a correctional officer for 4.5
years, a sergeant for 1 year, and a classification • Engage offenders with programs to increase
counselor (2) for 4 years. success upon release.
• Connect families through the facilitation of
What are your primary duties and increased communication with families.
responsibilities?
• Mentor language, role-modeling prosocial
• Supervise counselors on a behavior behaviors for effective communication with
change unit. staff and offenders.
• Work with offenders to assure correct • Manage a caseload of adult criminal offenders
classification levels. whom I am responsible for counseling and
(Continued)
288 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
informing regarding community resources • Ability to accept individuals’ beliefs that are
and problems they might encounter in their far from your own and still be able to deal with
transition to work release, parole, or release. those individuals.
• Work with internal and external entities to • Be levelheaded, not reactionary.
facilitate offender reentry into the community;
• Develop an ability to stand alone, stand on your
enforce court ordered conditions and impose
morals and beliefs, and be very independent.
Department of Corrections conditions.
• Have positive avenues of relief outside the job
• Participate in risk management with a environment.
multidisciplinary team.
• Ability to deal with difficult situations
• Maintain communication with offenders to appropriately.
assist with attorney calls, child custody and
child support hearings with Department of • Be more rooted and grounded in who you are to
Social and Health Services and courts, and overcome perceptions of others’ beliefs about
family contact through crisis and emergency who you are.
situations. • Ability to take the higher ground—as a
• Arrange translator services. minority, you have to show it more than others.
• Evaluate offenders for early release. • Be independent because of the cultural

perception of how you treat offenders within
• Regularly review and update offender your same culture and race; you are under the
plans, needs assessment, and programming spotlight more.
prioritization.
• Overcome the perception of giving preferential
• Make recommendations for offender program treatment to the same culture, race, and minority.
progression, earned time, and other incentives. That stereotype is always in the back of your
mind—how others perceive your treatment of a
• Exercise sound judgment, aligned with
minority and offenders of the same race.
department policy, in decisions concerning
sanctions, treatment, and education referrals. • Do not compromise the self, and act even more
professional. Coming from the Spokane area
and becoming a part of the criminal justice
system while living in the same community
most useful in your line of work?
and having to withstand scrutiny and
• Effective communication skills. stereotyping, I had to maintain values, integrity,
and goals regardless of my culture or race.
• Honesty and integrity.
• Ability to deal with direct and indirect
• Flexibility and dependability. prejudicial statements from staff and references
• Strong time management skills. toward race, politics, community, and family.
• Stability, willingness to change, adaptability, • Ability to deal professionally and maturely with
and humor. the assumptions, stereotypes, and direct racism
and indirect racist undertones.
• Do not take things personally, and be
understanding of clientele. Please describe a typical workday.
• Thick skinned—withstand more than the
• Come to work and check mail messages and
average individual.
calendar for the day.
• A superior mind-set.
• Return phone calls and e-mails from
• Understand that clients and staff are a diverse Department of Corrections staff, offender
group of individuals and that inmates and staff families, offenders, criminal justice system
come from huge variety of social and economic attorneys, and judges.
backgrounds.
• Check with custody and classification staff • You have to be very aware of the clientele with
passed down from previous shifts that concern whom you are dealing on a day-to-day basis on
any information pertaining to safety and both sides of the spectrum—that is, both the
security of unit staff offenders. staff and the offenders.
• Check list for classification case • You need to be aware of how you will be
management issues and offender reviews and perceived: Go against the stereotype.
release dates.
• You need to be aware of the stereotypes—for
• EBC and unit responsibilities include program example, how you dress “like a gang member”
schedules, class facilitation, and specific unit versus going golfing; wearing identical clothes
and prison meetings. but being perceived differently; and how you
conduct yourself at work and away from work.
• Meet with offenders; attend to classification Stereotypical perceptions include that one is
issues, reentry/release, and security release; uneducated, is athletic, has low writing and
address offender jobs and programming. language skills, or has an STG (security threat
• Deal with insubordinate staff and offenders. group, or gang) affiliation.
• Maintain safety and security of unit in • Prove that you are above the stereotypes; you
collaboration with unit supervisor. may have to be patient. You want people to
judge you on work performance, not by your
race and culture.
What is your advice to someone who wants • Unfortunately, the bigger burden is that
to enter your field? how you conduct yourself influences others’
perspectives of Black people.
• Make sure to understand who you are.
This is a job you want to perform well, but it • Always take the high road. Fair isn’t an option.
isn’t your life. You cannot think about what fair is or should be.
You just have to follow your values, integrity, and
• Be prepared every day. beliefs and take the high road at all times.
• Be very aware of who you are going to work for • Have a “superior mind-set”—Professor Jigoro
and what the job responsibilities are. Kano, founder of judo.
Crouch (1993) argued that Black people might be more able to accept prison and adjust
to it over alternatives because they are more likely to find people they know housed there
and are less likely to be threatened by prison life than white people given that they have
suffered the violence and deprivations of the cities already. Wood and May (2003) added
that it is possible that Black people may also prefer prison because the alternatives to it in
the community may subject them to abuse and harassment and ultimate revocation of their
probation anyway. Therefore, it is not likely true that Black people or white people “prefer”
prisons or the alternatives (e.g., probation or other programming); they just disagree about
which is the lesser evil.
People of Color Working in Corrections

LO 11.6 State the statistics related to employment of people of color in the correctional
system.
As with women generally, the employment of people of color in correctional organizations

did not increase until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed and affirmative action plans
were developed to encourage such employment. Today, however, the number of people of
color employed in corrections, although not always reflective of their representation in the
290 CORRECTIONS
community (particularly regarding women

of color), has increased substantially.
Although data in this area are not always
consistent or up to date, we do know from
the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
(Pastore & Maguire, 2000, Table 1.104;
Pastore & Maguire, 2003, Table 1.101;
Pastore & Maguire, 2004, Table 1.107) that
© John Smierciak/MCT/Newscom
Black non-Hispanics in 1999 accounted

for 23.7% of local jail correctional officer
employees (when their representation in
the general population was at about 12.2%,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau for
2001), 19.5% of all employees in state and
federal and private prisons in 2004, and
24.3% of correctional officers in federal pris-
Photo 11.4 An inmate being cuffed by an officer. Inmates in transit between institutions or ons in 2004 (Pastor & Maguire, 2005). On the
who present a danger to staff are cuffed before they are removed from cells.
other hand, non-Hispanic white people and
non-White Hispanics are underrepresented
among staff when compared with their representation in those communities. In 2001, white
peopleconstituted about 69.0% of the U.S. population and Hispanics about 12.9% (U.S. Census
Bureau, 2001). In these same data, white people were still the majority racial group employed
(59.3%, 63.3%, and 60.6%, respectively) in these jails and prisons, and Hispanics constituted a
substantial ethnic minority (7.7%, 7.3%, and 12.4%, respectively).
SUMMARY
LO 11.1 Define the terms race, ethnicity, disparity, and LO 11.3 Explain the connection between class, race or
discrimination. ethnicity, and crime.
• Race refers to the skin color and features of a group of • Those who fall below the poverty line in the United
people on the basis of biology, while ethnicity refers States are also more likely to be enmeshed in street
to the differences among groups of people on the criminality. Some racial and ethnic groups that are more
basis of culture. Disparity occurs when one group is likely to be poor (e.g., Black people and Latinx people)
treated differently and unfairly by governmental actors are also more likely to be engaged in street crime.
compared with other groups, while discrimination
occurs when people or groups is treated differently LO 11.4 Examine why the criminal justice system has not
because of who they are rather than their abilities or been race neutral in its treatment of people of color.
something they did.
• Police, courts, and correctional practices have had the
LO 11.2 State some of the history of racial-ethnic minority effect of increasing the disproportionate incarceration
group members in this country. of minority group members. DWB, the drug war
generally, and the harsh sentencing for crack cocaine
• American history includes a racist past that has affected specifically, along with the disenfranchisement that
the operation of correctional entities and the criminal comes with a felony conviction (and in some states stays
justice system generally. with a felony conviction), all serve to reinforce disparity
in treatment by the criminal justice system of racial and LO 11.6 State the statistics related to employment of people
ethnic minorities. of color in the correctional system.
LO 11.5 Discuss the special challenges faced by • The number of racial and ethnic minorities working in
racial-ethnic minority group members in corrections. corrections has increased substantially over the years,
and for Black people at least, it appears that they mirror
• Physical and sexual victimization in prisons varies their numbers in the community.
by type of victimization and by race and ethnicity,
although the total amount of such victimization appears
to be similar for all racial and ethnic groups.
KEY TERMS
Discrimination 271 Driving while Black or Brown Jim Crow laws 283
Disparity 271 (DWB) 285 Race 270
Ethnicity 271
1. What sorts of criteria differentiate race and ethnicity? 4. How and why is adjustment in corrections affected by
Why might it not always be clear what race or one’s race or ethnicity?
ethnicity a person is? Are there reasons to make such
5. Discuss how we might reduce the amount of disparity
distinctions?
and discrimination against people of color in the
2. What evidence is there of disparity and discrimination United States. What specific steps can be taken
against racial and ethnic minorities in the United States in this direction? What are the likely barriers to
in the past? accomplishing these changes?
3. What evidence is there of disparity and discrimination
against racial and ethnic minorities in the United States
currently?
iStockphoto.com/grandriver
12 Juveniles and
Corrections

Test your current knowledge of juvenile delinquency and juvenile Upon completion of this chapter, the reader
corrections by answering the following questions as true or false. should be able to:
Check your answers on pages 388–389 after reading the chapter.
12.1 Define delinquency and status offenses.
1. Juveniles commit a disproportionate number of criminal
acts. 12.2 Explain why we see the age–crime
2. Juvenile antisocial behavior is normal in that most adolescents curve in terms of adolescent
engage in it. development.
3. Special juvenile courts began in England.
12.3 Discuss the history and philosophy of
4. The ultimate source of responsibility for a juvenile’s behavior is juvenile justice.
the state.
5. Juveniles can be tried in adult courts and sent to adult prisons
12.4 State the court cases that led to
in some circumstances. extending due process to juvenile
offenders.
6. Juveniles have always enjoyed the same rights as adults in
criminal courts. 12.5 Describe the practices related to
7. Juveniles can be sentenced to life without parole for any community and institutional juvenile
offense. corrections.
8. It was never permissible in the United States to execute those
12.6 Explain the processes involved in
who committed murder while they were juveniles.
restorative justice.
12.7 State the criteria for sending juveniles
to institutions and the operating
principles of those institutions.
TOO YOUNG FOR LIFE
Joe Harris Sullivan was a 13-year-old tearaway when he and two other boys broke into the
home of a 72-year-old woman in Pensacola, Florida, and stole jewelry and coins. One of
the boys returned later and beat and raped her. Sullivan was convicted of the rape on the
testimony of the other two boys (who received light sentences) and was sentenced to life
without parole (LWOP). Sullivan’s presentence report showed that he had committed 17
offenses (some serious, some not) prior to the burglary and rape. He was a troublemaker
while in juvenile detention for previous offenses and assaulted other juveniles. Under
Florida’s sentencing guidelines, Sullivan scored 263 points above the minimum required to
impose a life sentence.
In July 2003, 16-year-old Terrance Jamar Graham and two accomplices attempted to rob
a restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida. Graham was charged as an adult and placed on
probation after he pleaded guilty. In December 2003, Graham was arrested for a number
of home invasion robberies and sentenced to LWOP for the robbery and probation violation
when he was 17.
In both the Sullivan and Graham cases, the sentencing judges made certain remarks
indicating that they were certain the boys were beyond hope of rehabilitation. Both boys were
raised in abusive and neglectful homes (Graham’s parents were both crack addicts) and lived
(Continued)
293
294 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
in the worst ghettoes of their respective cities. While these circumstances cannot excuse
their behavior, they make it understandable. In appealing these boys’ cases, their attorneys
made much of neuroscience evidence relative to the immaturity of the adolescent brain. We
all know that adolescence is a time of rebellion, but most of us limit that revolt to being a
little experimental with our lives and being—from a parental point of view—a pain in the rear.
We will see, however, that there is a small subset of people who begin committing antisocial
acts prior to adolescence and continue to do so over the life course. Is LWOP the only
solution to such predators, or can their deficiencies be addressed and the community be
protected in some other way? Should Sullivan and Graham have been sentenced in adult
court anyway? Are individuals who commit rapes and armed robberies “children” as we
think of them, and should they be treated differently from adults? These are some of the
things to think about as you read about the differences between the adult and juvenile
justice systems in the United States.
Introduction: Delinquency
and Status Offending
LO 12.1 Define delinquency and status offenses.
The juvenile justice system generally falls under the broad umbrella of civil law rather than
criminal law. This placement emphasizes the distinction the law makes between adults
and juveniles who commit the same illegal acts. Juveniles who commit acts that are crim-
Delinquents: Juveniles who inal when committed by adults are called delinquents rather than criminals, conveying
commit acts that are criminal
when committed by adults.
the notion that the juvenile has not done something they were supposed to do (behave law-
fully) rather than done something they were not supposed to do (behave unlawfully). This
difference is a subtle one that reflects the rehabilitative, rather than punitive, philosophy of
American juvenile justice.
Juveniles are subject to laws that make certain actions that are legal for adults, such as
smoking, drinking, not obeying parents, staying out at night to all hours, and not going to
Status offenses: Offenses that school, illegal for them. These acts are called status offenses because they apply only to indi-
apply only to juveniles, such as viduals having the status of a juvenile, and they exist because the law assumes that juveniles
smoking and disobeying parents.
lack the maturity to appreciate the long-term consequences of their behavior. Many of these
acts can jeopardize juveniles’ future acquisition of suitable social roles because they may
lead to defiance of all authority, inadequate education, addiction, and teenage parenthood
(Binder, Geis, & Bruce, 2001). If parents are unwilling or unable to shield their children from
harm, the juvenile justice system becomes a substitute parent. Status offenses constitute the
vast majority of juvenile offenses and consume an inordinate amount of juvenile court time
and resources (Bynum & Thompson, 1999). Because of this, some states have relinquished
court jurisdiction over status offenses to other social service agencies, where terms such as
“child in need of supervision” (CHINS) and “person in need of supervision” (PINS) are used
Status offenders: Juveniles to differentiate status offenders from juveniles who have committed acts that are crimes
who commit certain actions when committed by adults. In this chapter, we discuss the extent of juvenile delinquency and
that are legal for adults but not
for children, such as smoking
status offending, their likely causes, the history of dealing with children in corrections, and
and not obeying parents. current processing of delinquents in the system.
The Extent of Delinquency

According to the 2010 U.S. census (Howden & Meyer, 2011), the percentage of the population
between the age of responsibility (the age at which juveniles can be held responsible for their
CHAPTER 12 Juveniles and Corrections 295
All Arrests 8% FIGURE 12.1 Juvenile Proportion

Arson 26% of Arrests by
Offense, 2016
Robbery 20%
Source: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Vandalism 20% Prevention (2017).
Motor Vehicle Theft 18% Note: The most recent data available upon publication
are shown. The Violent Crime Index includes the
Disorderly Conduct 18%
offenses of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter,
Liquor Laws 16% rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The Property
Crime Index includes the offenses of burglary,
Burglary 15% larceny–theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Running
away from home and curfew and loitering violations are
Larceny-Theft 13%
not presented in this figure because, by definition, only
Weapons 12% juveniles can be arrested for these offenses.
Other Assaults 12%

Stolen Property 12%
Aggravated Assault 7%
Murder 7%
Drug Abuse Violations 6%
Offenses Against the Family 4%
Fraud 4%
Prostitution 1%
Drunkenness 1%
DUI 1%
0% 10% 20% 30%
actions) and the age of adulthood, averaged across all states, was about 15.5% in 2010. From
Figure 12.1 we see that juveniles commit 8% of all crimes. They are thus underrepresented in
crimes overall but overrepresented for crimes from arson (28%) to liquor laws (16%).
Figures such as these are troubling, but antisocial behavior is normative (although
not welcome) for juveniles; juveniles who do not engage in it are statistically abnormal
(Moffitt & Walsh, 2003). Adolescence is a time when youths are “feeling their oats” and
temporarily fracturing parental bonds in their own personal declaration of independence.
Looking at data from 12 different countries, Junger-Tas (1996) concluded that delinquent
behavior is a part of growing up, and the peak ages for different types of crimes were similar
across all countries (16–17 for property crimes and 18–20 for violent crimes). Biologists tell
us that adolescent rebellion is an evolutionary design feature of all social primates. Fighting
with parents and seeking out age peers with whom to affiliate “all help the adolescent away
from the home territory” (Powell, 2006, p. 867). As Caspi and Moffitt (1995) put it, “Every
curfew broken, car stolen, joint smoked, or baby conceived is a statement of independence”
(p. 500). The juvenile courts are thus dealing with individuals at a time in their lives when
they are most susceptible to antisocial behavior.
The Juvenile Brain and Juvenile Behavior

LO 12.2 Explain why we see the age–crime curve in terms of adolescent development. Age–crime curve: Formed from
the statistical count of the number
of known crimes committed in
Figure 12.2 shows prevalence rates for criminal behavior over the life course from different a population over a given period
times and different countries. This pattern is known as the age–crime curve. The age–crime mapped according to age.
296 CORRECTIONS
curve is formed from the statistical count of the number of known crimes committed in a
population over a given period mapped according to age. The curve reflects a sharp increase
in offending beginning during early adolescence, a peak during midadolescence, and then a
steep decline during early adulthood followed by a steadier decline thereafter. The peak may be
higher or lower at different periods, and the peak age may vary by 1 or 2 years at different times
or in different places, but the peak remains. This pattern has been noted throughout history of
all cultures around the world and has been called “the most important regularity in criminol-
ogy” (Nagin & Land, 1993, p. 330) and a “law of nature” (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990, p. 124).
FIGURE 12.2 Illustrating the Age–Crime Curve in Different Countries and Times

Source: Ellis and Walsh (2000). Reprinted with permission.
(A) (B)
United States Finland
4,000 Property crime arrest rates
Arrest Rate per 100,000
Age-Eligible Population
80
peak at age 16, Male
70
3,000 drop by half by age 22 Female
Frequency 60
50
2,000 Violent crime arrest rates 40
peak at age 18
30
1,000 20
10
0 0
10 20 30 40 50 60 65+ 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Age Age
(C) (D)
Norway Germany
Offenses for males
10 600 1929
500 Theft
8 Assault
Convictions
400 Fraud
Percent
6 Embezzlement
300
Vandalism
4 School Assault
200
Murder
2 100
0 0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70
70+
14–16
16–18
18–21
21–25
25–30
30–40
40–50
50–60
60–70
Age
Age
The age–crime curve has long puzzled criminologists. Hirschi and Gottfredson (1983)
noted, “The age distribution of crime cannot be accounted for by any variable or combina-
tion of variables currently available to criminology” (p. 554). However, with the tremen-
dous advances made by the neurosciences over the past three decades, we are in a much
better position to understand adolescent offending. Neuroscience research has thrown
light on why there is a sharp rise in antisocial behavior during adolescence across time and
cultures, and some very important court decisions in juvenile justice (such as the abolition
of the juvenile death penalty) have been influenced by this research (Garland & Frankel,
2006). What has emerged from this research is that the immaturity of adolescent behavior
is matched by the immaturity of the adolescent brain. White’s (2004) summation of the
key messages from the 2003 conference of the New York Academy of Sciences made this
quite clear:
1. Much of the behavior characterizing adolescence is rooted in biology intermingling

with environmental influences to cause teens to conflict with their parents, take
more risks, and experience wide swings in emotion.
2. The lack of synchrony between a physically mature body and a still maturing ner-
vous system may explain these behaviors.
3. Adolescents’ sensitivities to rewards appear to be different than in adults, prompting
them to seek higher levels of novelty and stimulation to achieve the same feeling of
pleasure.
4. With the right dose of guidance and understanding, adolescence can be a relatively
smooth transition. (p. 4)
The onset of puberty also brings with it a 10- to 20-fold increase in testosterone in boys,
a hormone linked to aggression and dominance seeking (Ellis, 2003), and brain chemicals
that excite behavior increase during adolescence while chemicals that inhibit it decrease
(Collins, 2004; Walker, 2002). Many other events are reshaping the adolescent’s body and
brain during this period that lead to the conclusion that there are physical reasons why ado-
lescents often fail to exercise rational judgment and why they tend to attribute erroneous
intentions to others. When the brain reaches its adult state, a more adult-like personality
emerges, with greater self-control and conscientiousness (Blonigen, 2010). It is important
to understand these biological processes, and it is especially important to note the last of
the New York Academy of Sciences’ messages: “With the right dose of guidance and under-
standing, adolescence can be a relatively smooth transition” (quoted in White, 2004, p. 4).
Indeed, by the age of 28, about 85% of all former delinquents have desisted from offending
(Caspi & Moffit, 1995).
It has long been known that the vast majority of youths who offend during adoles-
cence desist, and only a small number continue to offend during adulthood. Moffitt (1993)
called the former adolescent-limited (AL) offenders and the latter life course–persistent
(LCP) offenders. LCP offenders begin offending prior to puberty and continue well into
adulthood. It is typically found that LCP
offenders are saddled with neuropsycho-
logical and temperamental deficits that are
manifested in low IQ, hyperactivity, inat-
tentiveness, negative emotionality, and low
impulse control that arise from a combina-
tion of genetic and environmental effects
on brain development. LCP offenders
constitute only about 7% of all delinquents
but are responsible for at least 50% of all
Oneinchpunch/Shutterstock.com
delinquent acts. Moreover, LCP offend-

ers tend to commit serious crimes such
as assault, robbery, and rape, whereas AL
offenders tend to commit relatively minor
offenses such as petty theft and vandalism
(Moffitt & Walsh, 2003).
AL offenders, on the other hand,
have developmental histories that place Photo 12.1 The immaturity of adolescent behavior is matched by the immaturity of the
them on a prosocial trajectory that is adolescent brain.
298 CORRECTIONS
temporarily derailed at adolescence. They are not burdened with the neuropsychological
problems that weigh heavily on LCP offenders; they are “normal” youths adapting to the
transitional events of adolescence and whose offending does not reflect any stable personal
deficiencies. More teens than in the past are being diverted from their prosocial life trajec-
tories because better health and nutrition have lowered the average age of puberty, while
the average time needed to prepare for participation in an increasingly complex economy
has increased. These changes have resulted in about a 5- to 10-year maturity gap between
puberty and entry into the job market.
History and Philosophy

of Juvenile Justice
LO 12.3 Discuss the history and philosophy of juvenile justice.
Up until about 300 years ago, the concept of childhood was not recognized; children were
considered not much different from property, and no special allowances for children were
recognized in matters of determining culpability and punishment. The minimum legal age
of criminal responsibility was defined in early English common law as 7. In the United States
today, it ranges from 6 in North Carolina to 10 in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Pennsylvania,
and Wisconsin, the same as it is in modern England (Snyder, Espiritu, Huizinga,
Loeber, & Petechuck, 2003). Under the increasing influence of Christianity, English courts
during the Middle Ages began to exempt children below the age of 7 from criminal responsi-
bility, and children between the ages of 7 and 14 could be held criminally responsible only if
it could be shown that they were fully aware of the consequences of their actions. The cutoff
age between childhood and adulthood was 14 for the purpose of assigning adult criminal
responsibility because individuals were considered rational and responsible enough at this
age to marry (Springer, 1987).
Ever since the formation of the English chancery courts during the 13th century, there
has been movement toward greater state involvement in children’s lives. Chancery courts
Parens patriae: A legal adopted the doctrine of parens patriae, which literally means “father of his country”
principle giving the state the right
but practically means “state as parent.” Parens patriae gave the state the right to intercede
to intercede and act in the best
interest of a child or any other in loco parentis (“in the place of parents”) and to act in the best interest of the child or
legally incapacitated person, any other legally incapacitated person, such as a mentally disabled individual who is deemed
such as a mentally disabled
individual who is deemed unable unable to make reasonable decisions. This meant that the state and not the parents had the
to make reasonable decisions. ultimate authority over children and that children could be removed from their families
if they were being delinquent and placed in the custody of the state (Hemmens, Steiner, &
Mueller, 2003).
Despite parens patriae, the family was still considered the optimal setting for children
to be reared in, and as such orphans or children with inadequate parents were assigned to
foster families through a system known as binding out. Children whose parents could not
control them or who were too poor to provide for them were apprenticed to richer families
who used them for domestic or farm labor. This period saw the establishment of the first
laws directed specifically at children, including laws that condemned begging and vagrancy
(Sharp & Hancock, 1995). The concern over vagrancy led to the creation of workhouses in
which “habits of industry” were to be instilled. The first one, called a bridewell, was opened
in 1555, and in 1576 the English Parliament passed a law establishing bridewells, or work-
houses (also discussed in Chapter 2), in every English county (Whitehead & Lab, 1996).
These places were generally dank, harsh, and abusive, but the idea behind them was that
if vagrant youths were removed from the negative influences of street life, they could be
reformed by discipline, hard work, and religious instruction.
Childhood in the United States

American notions of childhood and how to deal with childhood misconduct were imported
whole from England. On the basis of the bridewell model, the New York House of Refuge
was established in 1825 to house orphans, beggars, vagrants, and juvenile offenders. Several
other cities, counties, and states soon established their own homes for “the perishing and
dangerous classes,” as they were viewed (Binder et al., 2001, p. 202). Children in houses of
refuge (discussed in Chapter 10) lived highly disciplined lives and were required to work
at jobs that brought income to the institutions. The indeterminate nature of children’s res-
idence allowed the institutions a great deal of latitude in their treatment. Children were
required to work long hours, often received little or no training, and were frequently mis-
treated (Whitehead & Lab, 1996).
It was a frequent practice for poor parents to place their children in residence for idle
and disorderly behavior, making it clear that the courts would need to create standards
for admission. The courts did this in Ex Parte Crouse (1838). The subject of the case was a
child named Mary Ann Crouse, who was placed in the Pennsylvania House of Refuge by
her mother against the wishes of her father. Mary’s father argued that it was unconstitu-
tional to incarcerate a child without a jury trial, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled
that parental rights are superseded by the parens patriae doctrine. This landmark decision
established parens patriae as settled law in American juvenile jurisprudence (Del Carmen,
Parker, & Reddington, 1998).
The Beginning of the Juvenile Courts

Greater concern for children’s welfare during the 19th century created an impetus for
change in the way juvenile offenders were handled as it became increasingly obvious that
adult criminal courts were not equipped to apply the spirit of the parens patriae doctrine.
In 1899, Cook County, Illinois, enacted legislation providing for a separate court system
for juveniles, and by 1945 every state in the union had established juvenile court systems
(Hemmens et al., 2003). These courts combined the authority of social control with the
sympathy of social welfare in a single institution and afforded judges a great deal of
latitude in determining how “the best interests of the child” could be realized. The creation
of a separate system of justice for juveniles brought with it a set of terms describing the
processing of children accused of committing delinquent acts that differentiated it from
the adult system. These terms reflect the protective and rehabilitative nature of the juvenile
system, in contrast to the punitive nature of the adult system. Table 12.1 lists the terms used
to describe the procedure or event from initial contact with authorities to the last one in
both the adult and juvenile justice systems today.
TABLE 12.1 Comparing Procedural and Event Terminology in Adult and Juvenile
Court Systems
PROCEDURE OR EVENT ADULT SYSTEM JUVENILE SYSTEM

Police take custody of offender Placed under arrest Taken into custody
Official who makes initial decisions about Magistrate/judge Intake officer

entry into the court system
Place accused may be held pending Jail Detention

further processing
(Continued)
300 CORRECTIONS
TABLE 12.1 (Continued)
PROCEDURE OR EVENT ADULT SYSTEM JUVENILE SYSTEM

Document charging the accused with Indictment or information Petition
specific act
Person charged with illegal act Defendant Respondent
Accused appears to respond to charge(s) Arraignment Hearing
Accused verbally responds Enters a plea of guilty, not Admits or denies

guilty, or no contest
Court proceeding to determine whether Public jury trial Adjudicatory hearing

accused committed the offense
Decision of the court as to whether Verdict of jury Adjudication by judge; no

accused committed the offense jury; not public
Standard of proof required Beyond a reasonable Beyond a reasonable

doubt doubt
Court proceeding to determine what to Sentencing hearing Dispositional hearing

do with person found to have committed
offense
Institutional confinement Prison Juvenile correctional

facility
Community supervision Probation; parole if had Probation; aftercare if

been imprisoned had been confined to
juvenile correctional
facility
Processing Juvenile Offenders

LO 12.4 State the court cases that led to extending due process to juvenile offenders.
Figure 12.3 illustrates the flow of juvenile cases through the juvenile courts in the
United States in 2009 (Knoll & Sickmund, 2012). We see that only 55% of the juveniles
taken into custody (“arrested”) or otherwise referred to juvenile court were petitioned
(formally charged). Among those not petitioned, most had their cases dismissed,
some are placed on informal probation (probation without a formal adjudication of
delinquency, sometimes known as diversion), and “other sanctions”—this could be
something as minor as a written apology to something as serious as placement in a
mental institution.
When a petition has been filed by the juvenile court prosecutor, the court has to decide
if it should take jurisdiction of the case. In about 99% of the cases, the court does accept
jurisdiction, and about 66% of the time, the juvenile is adjudicated delinquent (found
guilty). Note that in 32% of the cases without a finding of adjudication, 30% of those cases
were not outright dismissed. In adult court, a finding of “not guilty” always means the
defendant is now a free person. Under the principle of parens patriae, however, the juvenile
court has the power to intervene in a child’s life as a proactive measure even though they
have been found not guilty of any wrongdoing. If the juvenile court does not accept juris-
diction, it means the case is waived to adult court, which is one of the most controversial
issues in juvenile justice.
FIGURE 12.3 Juvenile Court Case Processing

Source: Knoll and Sickmund (2012), National Center for Juvenile Justice, Pittsburgh, PA.
4 Waived
77 Placed
Adjudicated
299 delinquent 188 Probation
34 Other sanction
556 Petitioned
75 Probation
Not adjudicated
253 delinquent 32 Other sanction
Case Flow for a Typical 1,000
Delinquency Cases 147 Dismissed
105 Probation
444 Not petitioned 163 Other sanction
175 Dismissed
Juveniles Waived to Criminal Court

As noted earlier, juveniles can sometimes be waived (transferred) to adult criminal court,
where they lose their status as minors, become legally culpable for their alleged crimes, and
are subject to criminal prosecution and punishments. A transfer to adult court is called a
waiver because the juvenile court waives (relinquishes) its jurisdiction over the child to the Waiver: Refers to a process
by which a juvenile offender
adult system. Waivers are designed to allow the juvenile courts to transfer juveniles over a is “waived” (transferred) to an
certain age who have committed particularly serious crimes, or who have exhausted the juve- adult court because they have
nile system’s resources in trying to rehabilitate chronic offenders, to a more punitive system. committed a particularly serious
crime or is habitually delinquent.
Juveniles become increasingly likely to be waived if they are chronic offenders approach-
ing the upper age limit of their state’s juvenile court’s jurisdiction. Note from Figure 12.3
that only about 1.0% of juvenile cases nationwide are waived to adult criminal court.
There are three primary (non–mutually exclusive) ways juveniles can be waived to
criminal court:
1. Judicial waiver: A judicial waiver involves a juvenile judge’s deciding after a “full Judicial waiver: Involves
a juvenile judge’s deciding
inquiry” that the juvenile should be waived. (Currently, 48 states use this judicial dis- after a “full inquiry” that the
cretionary model.) In some states, there are mandatory waivers for some offenses, juvenile should be waived
but juvenile judges are involved in determining whether the criteria for a mandatory to the adult system.
waiver are met. Currently, 12 states use a system of presumptive waivers in which
the burden of proof is on juveniles to prove that they are amenable to treatment and
therefore should not be waived; the burden of proof is not on the prosecutor to prove
that they should.
2. Prosecutorial discretion: This model allows prosecutors to file some cases in either Prosecutorial discretion: Allows
adult or juvenile court. In such cases (usually limited by age and seriousness of the prosecutors to file some cases in
either adult or juvenile court.
offense), the prosecutor can file the case directly with the adult court and bypass the
juvenile court altogether. Currently, 14 states and the District of Columbia allow
prosecutorial discretion waivers.
302 CORRECTIONS
Statutory exclusion: Waivers in 3. Statutory exclusion: These are waivers in cases in which state legislatures have statu-
cases in which state legislatures
have statutorily excluded torily excluded certain serious offenses from the juvenile courts for juveniles older
certain serious offenses from than a certain age, which varies from state to state. These automatic waivers are cur-
the juvenile courts for juveniles
older than a certain age, which
rently found in 31 states.
varies from state to state.
Studies have shown that juveniles waived to adult courts are more likely to recidivate
than youths adjudicated for similar crimes in juvenile court; however, remember that only
the most delinquency-prone youths are waived, so this is no surprise (Butts & Mitchell,
2000). Neither does a waiver necessarily guarantee a more punitive disposition. Waived
juveniles who commit violent crimes are likely to be incarcerated, but juveniles waived
for property and drug offenses often receive more lenient sentences than they would have
received in juvenile courts (Butts & Mitchell, 2000).
Extending Due Process to Juveniles

Contrary to the “best interests of the child” philosophy, juvenile courts often punished chil-
dren in arbitrary ways that would not be tolerated in the adult system, as illustrated in some
famous juvenile cases presented below. Critics argued the parens patriae doctrine allowed
too much latitude for courts to restrict the rights of juveniles and that because the courts
could remove juvenile rights to liberty, juveniles should be afforded the same due process
protections as adults. Supporters of parens patriae countered that it was suitable and proper
for the treatment of children and that any problems concerning juvenile court operation
were problems of implementation, not philosophy (Whitehead & Lab, 1996).
The U.S. Supreme Court maintained a “hands off ” policy with regard to the operation of
the juvenile courts until 1966, when it agreed to hear Kent v. United States. In 1961, 16-year-
old Morris Kent broke into a woman’s apartment, raped her, and stole her wallet. Because of
Kent’s chronic delinquency and the seriousness of the offense, he was waived to adult court.
The adult court found Kent guilty of six counts of housebreaking and robbery, for which he
was sentenced to 30 to 90 years in prison. Had Kent remained in juvenile court, he could
have been sentenced to a maximum of 5 years (the remainder of his minority, which was
until age 21 at the time). Kent appealed, arguing that the waiver process had not included a
“full investigation” and his counsel had been denied access to the court files.
The Supreme Court remanded Kent’s case back to district court, with Justice Abe
Fortas stating,
There is no place in our system of law for reaching a result of such tremendous
consequences without ceremony—without hearing, without effective assistance
of counsel, without a statement of reasons. . . . The admonition to function in a
“parental” relationship is not an invitation to procedural arbitrariness.
Justice Fortas also noted that under the parens patriae philosophy, the child receives the
worst of both worlds: “He gets neither the protections accorded to adults nor the solicitous
care and regenerative treatment postulated for children.” The Kent decision determined
that juveniles must be afforded certain constitutional rights and, thus, began the process
of formalizing the juvenile system into something akin to the adult system (Hemmens
et al., 2003).
The Supreme Court heard a second case concerning juvenile rights 1 year later in In re
Gault (1967). In 1964, 15-year-old Gerald Gault was adjudicated delinquent for making
obscene phone calls and was sentenced to 6 years in the State Industrial School. An adult
convicted of the same offense would have faced a $5 to $50 fine and a maximum of 60 days
in jail. The Supreme Court used this case to establish five basic constitutional due process
rights for juveniles—(a) the right to proper notification of charges, (b) the right to legal
counsel, (c) the right to confront witnesses, (d) the

right to privilege against self-incrimination, and (e) the
right to appellate review—all of which had been denied
to Gault.
A third significant juvenile case is In re Winship
(1970). In 1967, 12-year-old Samuel Winship was
accused of stealing $112 from a woman’s purse taken
from a locker. Winship was adjudicated delinquent on
the basis of the civil law’s “preponderance of evidence”
standard of proof (i.e., is it more likely than not that
the person committed the act they are charged with?)
and was sent to a state training school. On appeal, the
Supreme Court ruled that when the possibility of com-
mitment to a secure facility is a possibility, the “beyond
AP Photo/Al Hartmann
a reasonable doubt” standard of proof must extend to
juvenile adjudication hearings.
In McKeiver v. Pennsylvania (1971), the sole issue
before the Supreme Court was, “Do juveniles have the
right to a jury trial during adjudication hearings?” The
Court ruled that they do not. The Court did not rule Photo 12.2 Meagan Grunwald (right) enters court for her preliminary hearing.
She faces murder charges for helping her boyfriend, who fatally shot a Utah
that the states cannot provide juveniles with this due deputy. What rights would she have during this preliminary hearing?
process right, only that they are not constitutionally
required to do so. And in Breed v. Jones (1975), the Supreme Court ruled that the prohibi-
tion against double jeopardy applied to juveniles once they have had an adjudicatory hear-
ing (which is a civil process and not technically a trial). Breed had an adjudicatory hearing
and was subsequently waived to adult court. The Court ruled that he had been subjected to
the burden of two trials for the same offense and therefore the double jeopardy clause of the
Fifth Amendment had been violated.
Ethical Issue
You are an intake officer at juvenile court and have judgment, John would be better off taking the plea,
processed a 16-year-old boy named John with an but he is adamant that he will not admit anything,
IQ of 80 charged with a string of burglaries. The which is his absolute right. You are convinced
prosecutor has offered him a plea bargain stating that his diminished capacity is contributing to his
that if he admits to the burglaries, he will receive decision, because all of the evidence shows that he
6 months’ detention followed by probation until did commit the burglaries. John’s defense lawyer
he reaches adulthood at age 18. If John refuses is ethically bound to abide by his decision to seek
to admit the charges, the prosecutor indicates a waiver and be tried in adult court, but you are not
she will seek a waiver to adult court, where the sure whether you are similarly bound. How far will
presumptive sentence would be in the range of you go, if at all, to try and convince John to take the
36 to 48 months’ imprisonment. In your professional plea to save him from adult prison?
In the case of Schall v. Martin (1984), the issue before the Supreme Court was whether
the preventive detention of a juvenile charged with a delinquent act is constitutional. The
Court ruled that it was permissible because it serves a legitimate state interest in protecting
both society and the juvenile from the risk of further crimes committed by the person being
304 CORRECTIONS
detained while awaiting their hearing. This ruling established that juveniles do not enjoy the
right to bail consideration and reasserted the parens patriae interests of the state.
The last major juvenile case involves the two boys highlighted in this chapter’s opening
vignette—Sullivan and Graham. Their cases were consolidated as Graham v. Florida (2010),
in which the majority opinion of the Supreme Court overturning the imposition of life with-
out the possibility of parole for juveniles who have not committed homicide stated,
The Constitution prohibits the imposition of a life without parole sentence on a

juvenile offender who did not commit homicide. A State need not guarantee the
offender eventual release, but if it imposes a sentence of life it must provide them
with some realistic opportunity to obtain release before the end of that term.
Juveniles and the Death Penalty

The Supreme Court justices have also needed to wrestle with the moral issue of imposing the
death penalty on individuals who committed their crimes as juveniles. From 1973 to 2003,
a total of 22 such offenders were executed in the United States (Streib, 2003b). The death
penalty has been applied only to juveniles who have murdered in particularly heinous and
depraved ways.
The first such case was Eddings v. Oklahoma (1982). In 1977, 16-year-old Monty Lee
Eddings and several companions stole an automobile. The car was stopped by an Oklahoma
Highway Patrol Officer, and when the officer approached the car, Eddings shot and killed
him. At Eddings’s sentencing hearing, the state presented three aggravating circumstances
to warrant the death penalty, but the judge allowed only Eddings’s age in mitigation. The
Supreme Court vacated Eddings’s death sentence, ruling that in death penalty cases the
courts must consider all mitigating factors (e.g., Eddings had been a victim of abusive treat-
ment at home) when considering a death sentence.
Thompson v. Oklahoma (1988) involved 15-year-old William Thompson, who was one
of four young men charged with the murder of his former brother-in-law. All four were
found guilty and sentenced to death. Thompson appealed to the Supreme Court, claiming
that a sentence of death for a crime committed by a 15-year-old is cruel and unusual punish-
ment. The Court agreed, and using the “evolving standards of decency” principle, it drew the
line at age 16 under which execution was not constitutionally permissible.
Seventeen years later, in Roper v. Simmons (2005), the Supreme Court redrew the age
line at 18 under which it was constitutionally impermissible to execute anyone. Christopher
Simmons was 17 when he and two younger accomplices broke into a home, kidnapped
the owner, beat her, and threw her alive from a high bridge into the river below, where she
drowned. Simmons told many of his friends before the crime that he wanted to commit a
murder, and he bragged about it to them afterward. His crime was a “classical” death penalty
case—premeditated, deliberate, and cruel—and he was totally unremorseful. Nevertheless,
Amicus curiae briefs: “Friend of his sentence drew condemnation from around the world, with amicus curiae briefs (“friend
the court” briefs presented to the
court, arguing in support of one side
of the court” briefs presented to the court arguing in support of one side or the other by
or the other, by interested parties interested parties not directly involved with the case) being filed in favor of Simmons by the
not directly involved with the case. European Union, the American Bar Association, the British Bar Association, the American
Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and 15 Nobel Prize winners,
among others.
In a 5-to-4 opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy noted that the United States was the only
country in the world that gives official sanction to the juvenile death penalty (there are a
number of countries that execute juveniles without giving the practice “official sanction”).
He also noted the growing body of evidence from neuroscience about the immaturity of the
adolescent brain. The majority opinion also cited Atkins v. Virginia (2002). In noting that
the Supreme Court in Atkins had ruled the execution of people with cognitive disabilities
to be cruel and unusual punishment because of the lesser degree of culpability attached to
people with mental challenges, it reasoned that such logic should be applied to juveniles. The
Court also pointed out that the plurality of states (30) either bar execution of juveniles or
have banned the death penalty altogether, thus citing state legislation as part of the impetus
behind its decision.
Figure 12.4 presents a summary of important Supreme Court cases regarding juveniles’
due process rights from Kent (1966) to Miller (2012). Taken as a whole, what these cases
essentially mean is an erosion of the distinction between juvenile and criminal courts. On
the positive side, these rulings have helped create a juvenile court system that more closely
reflects the procedural guidelines established in adult criminal courts. On the negative side,
they have in effect criminalized juvenile courts. To gain due process rights enjoyed by adults,
juveniles have surrendered some benefits, such as the informality of solicitous treatment,
they nominally enjoyed previously. Only time will tell if this convergence of systems results
in more just outcomes for juveniles than they received under unmodified parens patriae.
Ethical Issue
You are an assistant district attorney who has been shot her also. The young man, who committed the
assigned a heinous murder case. In this case, a offense on his 18th birthday, was caught later that
young man was burglarizing a house at night when night. You now need to decide whether you are to
the occupants were sleeping. The man of the house seek the death penalty, which is being demanded
confronted the youth with a baseball bat, but the by an outraged community. Because the young man
youth shot him. The man’s wife screamed and ran was only hours into adulthood when he committed
into the bedroom to call the police, but the youth the crime, you are urged by an anti–death penalty
caught up with her, beat her, raped her, and then colleague not to seek it. What will you do and why?
Juvenile Community Corrections

LO 12.5 Describe the practices related to community and institutional juvenile
corrections.
As seen from Figure 12.5, juvenile corrections mirror the adult system in that the majority
of adjudicated delinquents are placed into some form of community-based corrections, and
just over a quarter are sent to residential facilities. Juvenile community corrections offer a
wide variety of options, all ostensibly designed to implement the three-pronged goal of the
juvenile justice system: (a) to protect the community, (b) to hold delinquent youths account-
able, and (c) to provide treatment and positive role models for youths. This is known as the
balanced approach to corrections (Carter, 2006).
When juveniles are taken into custody, a complicated process of determining how to
best deal with them with the above goals in mind is initiated. Juveniles may be released to
their parents or detained in a detention center until this determination is made. The most
lenient disposition of a case is known as deferred adjudication. Depending on the jurisdic- Deferred adjudication:
tion, a deferred adjudication decision can be made by the police, the prosecutor, a juvenile A decision made by certain criminal
justice personnel to delay or defer
probation officer, or a juvenile magistrate or judge. A deferred adjudication means that an formal court proceedings if a youth
agreement is reached between the youth and a juvenile probation officer, without any formal follows probation conditions.
306
FIGURE 12.4 Supreme Court Cases Altering Juvenile Justice, 1966–2012

CORRECTIONS
In re Gault: Eddings v.
Kent v. In hearings that Oklahoma:
In re Winship:
United States: could result in McKeiver v. All mitigating
The state must
Courts must provide institutional Pennsylvania: factors should
prove guilt
1966 essentials of due 1967 commitment, 1970 1971 Jury trials are not 1982 be considered
beyond a
process when juveniles have required in juvenile in deciding to
reasonable doubt in
waiving juveniles four basic court hearings. apply the death
delinquency matters.
to adult system. constitutional sentence
rights. to juveniles.
Miller v.
Schall v. Martin: Stanford v.
Graham v. Florida: Alabama:
preventive Kentucky
Roper v. Simmons: Life without Life without
detention of It is constitutionally
Death penalty possibility possibility
1984 juveniles is 1989 permissible to 2005 2010 2012
for juveniles is of parole is of parole is
permissible impose the death
unconstitutional unconstitutional unconstitutional
under certain penalty on 16-
for juveniles. for juvenile
circumstances. and 17-year-olds.
murderers.
FIGURE 12.5 Juvenile Delinquency Probation Caseload, 1985–2009

Source: Livsey (2012). U.S. Department of Justice.
Since 1997, the number of cases in which juveniles were placed on probation has
declined steadily.
800,000
700,000
Number of Delinquency Cases
Probation
600,000
500,000
400,000 Other Sanction
300,000
Residential Placement
200,000
100,000
Waived to Criminal Court
0
85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 01 03 05 07 09
Year
court appearance, that the youth will follow certain probation conditions. This form of dis-
position is used only for status offenses or minor property offenses, and as long as the juve-
nile has no further charges, they are discharged from probation within a short time period.
No formal record of the proceedings of the case is made in deferred adjudications.
Other juveniles may be placed on formal probation after adjudication in court by
a juvenile judge. In such cases, there are records of the proceedings, and probationers are
more strictly monitored. As in the adult courts, juvenile judges typically make their dispo-
sitional decisions on the basis of recommendations made by probation officers. Juvenile
probation officers write predisposition reports (analogous to the adult presentence inves- Predisposition report:
tigation reports) and will have a variety of classification instruments very similar to those A report done in juvenile courts
that is analogous to a presentence
used in the adult system, and discussed in Chapters 6 and 14, to help them formulate their investigation report in adult courts.
recommendations.
Once a youth is placed on probation, under the doctrine of parens patriae, the probation
officer becomes a surrogate parent to the youth. But with probation officers being saddled
with a nationwide average of about 42 cases (Taylor, Fritsch, & Caeti, 2007), they can do very
little “parenting.” Probation officers might see their charges only once a month for perhaps
30 minutes, whereas the juveniles’ natural parents see them (or should see them) every day.
Juvenile probation officers therefore insist on parental support in working with their chil-
dren because parental involvement in the rehabilitative effort of juveniles is considered a
“must” (Balazs, 2006). It is a must because while probation serves the positive goal of keep-
ing youths in the community and thus avoiding the stigma of institutionalization and the
exposure to other seriously delinquent youths, the potential danger is that the probationer
may view the disposition as a slap on the wrist and return with more confidence to the old
ways that led to their adjudication.
If the child comes from an antisocial family rife with substance abuse and criminal-
ity, officers are not likely to get any sort of positive support. Even if juvenile probationers
come from prosocial two-parent families, there is often resistance by parents to juvenile
authorities “poking their noses” into family affairs and “picking on” their children, who
308 CORRECTIONS
of course are victims of “bad company” (Walsh & Stohr, 2010, p. 457). If parents are eager
to help their children, however, there are some excellent parent effectiveness training pro-
grams out there. The relatively short-term Prosocial Family Therapy System described by
Bleckman and Vryan (2000) is a good comprehensive system with some very encouraging
results reported.

S K Y L E R B R O U W E R , J U V E N I L E PR O B ATI O N O F F I C E R
Position: Juvenile probation officer • Consistency
Location: Omaha, Nebraska • Motivational
Education: University of Nebraska at Omaha, • Fair

criminal justice • Resilient
How long have you been a juvenile Please describe your typical workday:
probation officer?
Conducting office and field visits with offenders,
Three years. treatment providers, school administrators,
counselors, and teachers to monitor compliance
What are the primary duties and or noncompliance of the court order. Writing
responsibilities of a juvenile probation predispositional (presentence) and other reports
officer? occupies a considerable portion of a juvenile
probation officer’s time. Our department uses
To effectuate positive behavior change in an effort assessment instruments such as the Youth Level
to reduce the likelihood of offenders’ recidivating; of Service/Case Management Inventory and the
to confirm that the offenders are in compliance Adolescent Chemical Dependency Inventory.
with their court orders through face-to-face contact These instruments assist the probation officer with
and from collateral information from treatment assessing the offenders’ major needs, strengths,
and mental health providers, drug testing, and and barriers. The assessment breaks down into the
school information; to assist the offenders and their following categories: prior and current offenses,
families with finding resources in the community education, substance abuse, family, personality and
they can benefit from while on probation and to behavior, leisure and recreation, and attitudes and
motivate the offenders to lead law-abiding and orientation. The Adolescent Chemical Dependency
successful lives (this is all done by building and Inventory is an assessment that is a self-report
maintaining positive rapport with the offenders, test. This assessment obtains a lot of information
their family members, and the community support in a short amount of time. The assessment
systems); and to update the court on progress, or screens the following: substance abuse and use,
lack of progress, through court reports, memos, overall adjustment, and troubled youth concerns.
e-mails, petitions, and face-to-face contact. Other duties include attending court hearings;
communicating with formal and informal supports
What are the characteristics and traits of the offender through voicemails, phone calls,
most useful for a juvenile probation officer? e-mails, and memos; and ensuring the safety of the
community and the offenders through the officer’s
• Honesty
efforts to assist them in their rehabilitation.
• Confidence
• Ability to think outside the box What is your advice to someone who wants
• Empathy to enter your field?
Be able to use your passion to think outside the box
• Innovativeness
and assist people in becoming role models in their
• Excellent writing and communication skills communities.
Intensive Probation
LO 12.6 Explain the processes involved in restorative justice.
There will always be some juveniles who require more extensive supervision and treatment
than others. To meet their needs and the needs of community protection, a variety of meth-
ods have been devised. One such method is intensive supervision probation (ISP), described
in Chapter 6. ISP is usually imposed on youths as a last chance before incarceration. Juvenile
probation officers with ISP caseloads typically supervise only 15 to 20 juveniles and may
carry a gun (Taylor et al., 2007). Officers may make daily contact with their charges, visiting
them at home, school, and work to monitor their behavior and progress in these settings.
Officers will also enlist the help of other agencies (both public and private) that can provide
probationers with more specialized and concrete help of the kind outside the purview of the
juvenile court. These agencies will include mental health clinics, substance abuse centers,
educational and vocational guidance centers, and welfare agencies (to help juveniles’ fami-
lies). ISP officers know that they cannot possibly provide all the needs of their probationers
themselves and that efficient case management consists of their delivering services by using
networks of collaborative providers. Delany, Fletcher, and Shields (2003) pointed out the
importance of collaborative efforts to assist youths with multiple problems: “Without some
level of collaboration among agencies, the odds of relapse and recidivism, which often leads
to repeated institutionalization, are high” (p. 66).
Other forms of more intense supervision include electronic monitoring and/or house
arrest. These sanctions were discussed in Chapters 6 and 9, and because they operate for
juveniles exactly as they do for adults, they are discussed again here.
Youths who commit property crimes are frequently made to pay restitution to their
victims to compensate for the victims’ losses. This both compensates the victim and holds
the youth accountable for their actions. To compensate the community as a whole, an adju-
dicated delinquent may receive a community service order, which is part of a disposition Community service order:
Part of a disposition requiring
requiring probationers to work a certain number of hours doing some kinds of tasks to help probationers to work a certain
their communities. This work can range from cleaning graffiti from walls to picking up trash number of hours doing tasks
along highways or in parks. Restitution and community service orders can go a long way to to help their communities.
help juveniles develop a sense of responsibility and the ability to accept the consequences
of their actions without rancor. For these reasons, community service and restitution have
been called “integral components of the restorative justice philosophy” (Walsh & Stohr,
2010, p. 455).
Recall that restorative justice may be defined as “every action that is primarily oriented
toward justice by repairing the harm that has been caused by the act” and “usually means
face-to-face confrontation between victim and perpetrator, where a mutually agreeable
restorative solution is proposed and agreed upon” (Champion, 2005, p. 154). Restorative jus-
tice defines delinquency as an offense committed by one person against another rather than
against the state, and by doing so it personalizes justice by engaging the victim, the offender,
and the community in a process of restoring the situation to its preoffense status. Restorative
justice thus gives equal weight to the needs of offenders, victims, and the community and
focuses equally on each of these rather than being driven solely by offenders (“What do we
do with them now?”) (Carter, 2006). Victims or their representative are included in the jus-
tice process with the sentencing procedure addressing the needs of the victims, including
their need to be heard and to be restored to wholeness again as far as possible.
Just as the retributive model reemerged after the alleged failure of the medical model,
the restorative justice model has emerged with the apparent failure of “get tough” programs
(Welch, 1996). However, the restorative model might not suit all victims because many vic-
tims understandably feel that things cannot be “put right” so easily and want the offenders
310 CORRECTIONS
punished. However, it would be a mistake to see it as a New Age, “touchy-feely” approach

to corrections. It holds offenders fully accountable for their actions by applying appropriate
punishment and adds the additional dimensions by requiring offenders to accept responsi-
bility for taking action to repair the harm done (Bazemore, 2000).
A meta-analysis showed that restorative justice programs had a weak to moderate pos-
itive effect on victim satisfaction, a weak positive effect on offender satisfaction and recid-
ivism, and a moderate effect on restitution compliance (Latimer, Dowden, & Muise, 2005).
These findings should be viewed in light of the fact that both victims and offenders select
themselves into such programs.
Residential and Institutional

Juvenile Corrections
LO 12.7 State the criteria for sending juveniles to institutions and the operating
principles of those institutions.
One of the dispositional sanctions that can be imposed on adjudicated delinquents is place-
ment in some sort of program in a residential facility. A residential facility or residential
treatment center is not analogous to an adult prison but rather more like a halfway house.
Boot camps, discussed in Chapter 6 on adult probation, are one example of such facilities.
Another one is wilderness or survival programs. These are more self-discipline programs
designed to test delinquents’ characters and coping skills by providing them with structured
challenges. Overcoming these challenges is said to build youths’ confidence and self-
esteem, showing them they are capable and not simply victims of circumstance. In such pro-
grams, there are no drill instructors bawling and spitting in their faces and belittling them;
rather, there are guides who set adventurous challenges for them and provide encourage-
ment. Wilderness programs do seem to be better than boot camps at reducing recidivism,
although it is probably true that, on the whole, fewer serious offenders are assigned to wil-
derness programs than to boot camps. Nevertheless, one review of 22 studies of wilderness
effectiveness showed that wilderness participants recidivated at a rate of 29% versus 37% for
comparison participants (Wilson & Lipsey, 2000). A more recent meta-analysis of a number
of wilderness and survival studies (Clem, Prost, & Thyer, 2015) showed that these programs
did, overall, reduce recidivism by about 8%, with longer periods of engagement in a program
proving more effective.
Another alternative is a group home. Group homes are typically operated by private orga-
nizations that contract with juvenile authorities. These group homes tend to specialize in some
form of programming such as drug treatment or treatment for “troubled girls.” Youths in these
homes remain in their communities and attend school and all the other normal functions of
school-age children, but they live with perhaps 10 to 30 other youths at the home.
A commitment to a juvenile institutional corrections facility is a serious matter and is
typically the disposition reserved for juveniles who have committed violent offenses or
for chronic repeat offenders. There are two broad categories of institutional correctional
facilities: long-term and short-term facilities. Short-term facilities include reception and
detention centers (the equivalent of adult jails) where children may be held while awaiting
release to parents, court adjudication, or release to youth shelters. Long-term facilities are
those used for housing juveniles after adjudication. They include secure detention centers/
training schools (the equivalent of adult prisons) and boot camps and less secure youth
centers/ranches and adventure forestry camps.
Juveniles sent to long-term, secure correctional facilities tend to have committed very
serious delinquent acts or are chronic offenders. A study of juveniles sent to long-term
secure facilities found that 35% were committed for violent offenses and the remaining
65% for property, drug, or status offenses (Sickmund & Wan, 2003). Racial-ethnic minority
youths are even more overrepresented in secure juvenile correctional facilities than minority
adults are in adult prisons. According to Musu-Gillette and McFarland (2016), “The rate of
residential placement for Black males in 2013 was 804 per 100,000, which was 1.6 times the
rate for American Indian/Alaska Native males, 2.7 times the rate for Hispanic males, 5 times
the rate for white males, and more than 16 times the rate for Asian/Pacific Islander males.”
Steiner and Giacomazzi (2007) examined recidivism among juveniles waived to adult
court and placed into a boot camp program compared with a control group of juveniles
who were also waived to adult court but placed on probation rather than into a boot camp
program. They found no difference between the boot camp and control groups on rates of
recidivism, but boot camp juveniles were significantly less likely to be reconvicted, which
may be one bright spot in an otherwise dark performance of boot camps.
Other important differences between juvenile and adult facilities are that juvenile facil-
ities are almost always much smaller (rarely more than 250 juveniles), the costs associated
with incarceration are considerably higher, and much more money is spent on program-
ming relative to security (Taylor et al., 2007). For instance, in 2006 the California Youth
Authority spent 52% of its budget on academic and vocational training, case planning,
counseling, and skills training as opposed to only 13% on custody and security (Taylor et al.,
2007). Since then, California has mandated that only juveniles who commit serious violent
crimes should be placed in residential facilities. This has resulted in a drastic drop in con-
fined youths from 9,572 in 1996 to 661 in 2018 (Steinhart, 2020). Nevertheless, many of the
same problems seen in adult prisons are also seen in juvenile facilities, especially in the larger
institutions with low staff-to-resident ratios. As in adult prisons, gangs form along racial/
ethnic and neighborhood lines, and there is always the danger of violence and sexual assault
against the unaffiliated (Martin, 2005).
JUVENILE JUSTICE PHILOSOPHIES
There are a variety of philosophies regarding criminal courts. The Swedish government has even
juvenile justice around the world, which Reichel abolished imprisonment for youths. All of this is
(2005) classified into four families or models: designed to reduce stigma and support treatment,
welfare, legalistic, corporatist, and participatory but it has led to youths’ knowing that they can
models. The models reflect broad generalities, commit criminal acts almost with impunity
and there is much overlap among the countries (Terrill, 2003).
used to exemplify each. The welfare model reflects
a concern for the well-being of children at the The legalistic model emphasizes the law over
expense of legalities in which “troubled youths” are treatment, although this does not necessarily mean
funneled through a series of nonjudicial agencies that the model is less humanistic. Reichel used Italy
designed to address the problem. Police cautions as an example of this model. Legalism comes in with
(a warning by a senior police officer) and restorative the realization that there is a need to treat juveniles
justice constitute a big part of this model, which differently in the criminal code. (Individuals cannot
Reichel saw the Australian and New Zealand be held responsible for criminal actions in Italy until
systems as exemplifying. Sweden is even deeper they reach age 14.) When an individual over age 14
into the welfare model given that it does not even commits a criminal act, they are treated procedurally
have a juvenile court system. The police turn over just like an adult except for the purposes of
offenders under age 20 to social boards that proceed punishment. In other words, all due process
very informally and only rarely refer a case to the rights afforded adults are also afforded juveniles.
(Continued)
312 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
Reichel saw the welfare and legalistic models as found they have had zero to minimal impact on
opposites in which the problem with the former youth offending (Solomon & Garside, 2009).
is the lack of legal protections and the problem
with the latter is the lack of compassion and Whereas the welfare, legalistic, and corporatist
flexibility. models are all examples of efforts to control
antisocial behavior through formal social control,
Reichel saw the corporatist model, exemplified the final model—the participatory model—seeks to
by England and Wales, as being a compromise control behavior more via informal social control.
between the extremes of the welfare and legalistic This model assumes that reform is best achieved
models. This model seeks the middle ground if youthful offenders are dealt with outside of the
between realizing the lack of maturity of juveniles, formal court system and enlists the aid of family,
and thus wanting to “treat” them, and at the same school, and various neighborhood “committees”
time asserting the need to hold them responsible to control juvenile behavior. This system is
for their actions, and thus wanting to “punish” them. popular in communist and socialist countries that
Juvenile justice in the United Kingdom is primarily (theoretically) see no division between the state
the responsibility of Youth Justice Boards (YJBs), and the people. Such a model would obviously
which are locally managed social institutions set work best in traditional societies in which there
up in 1998 that operate semiautonomously from the was relatively little geographic mobility and
government. There is a great reliance on restorative relatively little racial/ethnic diversity. In other
justice programs in YJBs, but every dispositional words, it would work best in a community where
option available in the United States, including everyone more or less knew everyone else, and
incarceration, is available in the United Kingdom. had known one another for a long time, and where
Despite huge sums of money being poured into everyone held the same values and attitudes. It
juvenile crime prevention in the United Kingdom, does not, therefore, seem like a model that would
a 10-year evaluation of the progress made by YJBs work in modern Western societies.
SUMMARY
LO 12.1 Define delinquency and status offenses. to control children. As society has changed, so have
the expectations regarding juvenile delinquency.
• The juvenile justice system in the United States is Institutional control of wayward youths was the model
based on civil law and deals with status offenses (those from the mid-1500s until the inception of the juvenile
applicable only to juveniles) and delinquency (crimes if courts in the United States during the late 1800s and
committed by adults). early 1900s. The juvenile court follows the doctrine of
parens patriae, but recently there has been a movement
LO 12.2 Explain why we see the age–crime curve in terms
away from the broad discretion formerly accorded to
of adolescent development.
juvenile courts to a model more closely reflecting the
• Juveniles commit a disproportionate number of both constitutional protections afforded adult offenders.
property and violent crimes, and this has always been Much of this change has issued from the increased
true across time and cultures. Recent scientific evidence waivers of juveniles to adult courts and from the often
relates this situation to the hormonal surges of puberty arbitrary control that juvenile justice authorities have
and a brain undergoing numerous changes. Although exercised over juveniles.
most adolescents commit antisocial acts, only a small
proportion continue to do so after brain maturation is LO 12.4 State the court cases that led to extending due
completed. process to juvenile offenders.
LO 12.3 Discuss the history and philosophy of juvenile • The juvenile justice system in the United States has
justice. gradually changed from a totally paternalistic system
governed by civil law procedures to one that now affords
• The history of juvenile justice has three distinct periods. juveniles the same rights as adults. However, some have
Originally, Western culture relied heavily on parents seen this as criminalizing the juvenile justice system.
The greatest success of neuroscience research into the • Restorative justice defines delinquency as an offense
adolescent brain has been the elimination of the juvenile committed by one person against another rather
death penalty. We have also seen how the U.S. Supreme than against the state, and by doing so it personalizes
Court has ruled life without possibility of parole to be justice by engaging the victim, the offender, and the
unconstitutional for juveniles who have not committed community in a process of restoring the situation to its
murder. preoffense status. Restorative justice thus gives equal
weight to the needs of offenders, victims, and the
LO 12.5 Describe the practices related to community and community and focuses equally on each of these rather
institutional juvenile corrections. than being driven solely by offenders.
• Much of what constitutes juvenile corrections mirrors LO 12.7 State the criteria for sending juveniles to
what we have written about in other sections of this institutions and the operating principles of those
book; thus, we have only briefly highlighted differences institutions.
between the juvenile and adult systems. Major
differences include a greater emphasis on rehabilitation, • Juveniles may be sent to short-term or long-term
as exemplified by the ratio of programming to security facilities to aid in helping them get back on the right
spent in juvenile correctional facilities and the lesser track. The avenue for this is related to the severity of
likelihood of juveniles being sent to secure facilities the offense committed and to whether they are repeat
relative to adults. offenders. The youths’ social support systems may also
factor into this decision.
LO 12.6 Explain the processes involved in restorative
justice.
KEY TERMS
Age–crime curve 295 Judicial waiver 301 Status offenses 294
Amicus curiae briefs 304 Parens patriae 298 Statutory exclusion 302
Community service order 309 Predisposition report 307 Waiver 301
Deferred adjudication 305 Prosecutorial discretion 301
Delinquents 294 Status offenders 294
1. Discuss the development of the concept of childhood 4. Which of the models of juvenile justice outlined by
in Western culture. Reichel (2005) do you favor? Give your reasons.
2. Discuss the doctrine of parens patriae in relation to 5. Do you think that a highly dangerous person such as
the development of the juvenile court system in the Terrance Jamar Graham should ever be released back
United States. into the community just because he committed his
crimes as a juvenile?
3. Do you think restorative justice is workable? In what
circumstances would it be or not be?
iStockphoto.com/pmustafa
13 Legal Issues in Corrections
and the Death Penalty

Test your current knowledge of legal issues pertaining to the rights Upon completion of this chapter, the reader
of people under correctional supervision by answering the following should be able to:
questions true or false. Check your answers on page 389 after
13.1 Discuss the evolution of law within the
1. Prison inmates were not afforded any legal protections field of corrections.
until the mid-20th century. 13.2 Identify issues and cases involving the
2. The majority of lawsuits filed by inmates today have to do with First, Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth
claims of innocence. Amendments.
3. Prison inmates have no Fourth Amendment protections
against unreasonable search and seizure. 13.3 State how and why prisoners’ petitions
have been curtailed.
4. Prisoners are the only group of individuals in the United States
with a constitutional right to medical care. 13.4 Discuss the legal and ethical issues
5. Most Americans support the death penalty. surrounding the death penalty.
6. A white murderer is proportionately more likely than a Black 13.5 Explain the difficulty in determining
or Hispanic murderer to be sentenced to death and to be
whether the death penalty is a
executed.
deterrent.
7. The death penalty is cheaper than life in prison without the
possibility of parole. 13.6 Discuss the financial cost/benefit ratio
8. In the United States, it is permissible to execute a person with of the death penalty.
a history of mental illness, but not one with a mental disability
13.7 Analyze the disparities related to race,
(i.e., low IQ).
gender, and disability with regard to
the death penalty.
13.8 Describe the innocence revolution.
PR ISON WITHOUT LAW
Prisons are not nice places; they were never meant to be. This does not mean that society is
ever justified in treating prisoners in less than humane ways. This message never reached
at least two state prison farms in Arkansas where inmates’ labor was used to produce crops
and dairy products, bringing in average yearly profits of $1.4 million. In 1967, a report was
released detailing horrifying conditions at the Tucker and Cummins state penal farms,
including widespread sexual assault, floggings, and extortion by the armed prisoners placed
in positions of power by prison authorities to save on the expense of hiring correctional
officers. A federal judge called the entire Arkansas prison system a “dark and evil world.”
In addition to such medieval tortures as having one’s testicles crushed, a more “modern”
method of torture was the Tucker telephone. This device involved applying an electric
current to the genitals by cranking an old-fashioned telephone. Depending on the offense,
an inmate would receive a local or “long-distance” call.
Worse yet, a number of bodies of former inmates who had been listed as “successful
escapees” were dug from unmarked graves on the orders of the new warden, Tom Murton.
The scandal eventually became too much for the state governor as more bodies were
(Continued)
315
316 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
exhumed, and Murton was fired and told that he had 24 hours to leave the state or be
arrested for grave robbing. Who will protect inmates from exploitation, torture, and murder
if the executive branch of government will not? Only an independent body relatively free
of concerns about the personal consequences of doing the right thing can be trusted to
safeguard prisoners rights. As you read this chapter you may become annoyed at what you
might consider legal mollycoddling of criminals, but think about how bad the prison system
would be without some sort of judicial oversight, which is precisely the way it was in the not-
so-distant past.
Introduction: The History

of Law in Corrections
LO 13.1 Discuss the evolution of law within the field of corrections.
Winston Churchill once said that a civilization is judged by the way it treated its prisoners
(Morris, 2002). We do not treat them very well and never have, but many people see prison-
ers’ getting better treatment than they deserve, as summed up in the line “If you can’t do the
time, don’t do the crime.” Criminals are perhaps the most despised group of people in society
because they are viewed as evil misfits who prey on decent people, so why worry about what
happens to them while they pay their debt to society? But as we incarcerate more and more
people, how these people are treated while incarcerated becomes more pressing. The only
system capable of monitoring the treatment of convicted criminals, other than the criminal
justice system itself, is the court system. The courts have changed their attitudes toward the
treatment of prisoners over the history of the United States, ranging from complete indiffer-
ence to attempting to micromanage a state’s prison system. In this chapter, we review how
inmates in prisons and jails were legally viewed in the past and today.
The Rule of Law

When we discussed Packer’s (1964/1997) crime control/due process model of criminal
justice in Chapter 1, we were essentially asking, “How do we best achieve justice for all
concerned—for society and those who offend against it?” The only way we can be reason-
ably assured that justice resides within a legal system is to determine the extent to which it
Rule of law: The principle that adheres to the rule of law. The idea of the rule of law involves the notion that every member
laws, not people, govern and of society, including lawmakers, presidents, and prime ministers, is subject to the law. The
that no one is above the law.
rule of law has been called “the most important legal principle in the world” (Goff, 1997,
p. 760), and according to Reichel (2005) it contains three irreducible elements:
1. A nation must recognize the supremacy of certain fundamental values and

principles.
2. These values and principles must be committed to writing.
3. A system of procedures to hold the government to these principles and values must
be in place.
All organized societies recognize a set of fundamental values they hold supreme,
whether the ultimate principles are secular or religious. Likewise, all literate societies put
these values and principles in writing in their holy books or national constitutions. However,
the third element is more problematic because it shows whether a country honors its
CHAPTER 13 Legal Issues in Corrections and the Death Penalty 317
fundamental values in practice as well as in theory. The

law is just words on paper if it is not respected by human
actors. If the law is to be consistent with justice, it can be so
only if the procedures followed by its agents are perceived
as just by everyone. The procedures designed to hold the
government to its written principles are articulated by the
concept of due process.
When we speak about something that is due us, we are
referring to something to which we are rightly entitled.
Due process of law is owed to all persons whenever they
are threatened with the loss of life, liberty, or property at
the hands of the state. It is essentially a set of instructions
informing agents of the state how they must proceed in
their investigation, arrest, questioning, prosecution, and
punishment of individuals who are suspected of commit-
ting crimes. The individuals charged with monitoring the
behavior of agents of the state with respect to their adher-
ence to due process principles are the judiciary. If the judi-
ciary is corrupt, lax, or the puppets of politicians or public
opinion, then the rule of law is likely to be ignored, partic-
ularly as it pertains to prisoners.
Public domain
The Hands-Off
Period: 1866–1963 Photo 13.1 During the “hands-off” period, inmates often resided in
dilapidated and overcrowded facilities where they might be overworked,
When discussing prisoners’ rights, legal scholars have underfed, and mistreated by the state and correctional officials.
defined three different historical periods: the hands-off,
prisoners’ rights, and deference periods. Throughout much of American history the atti-
tude of the courts toward prisoners has been called the hands-off doctrine. This doctrine Hands-off doctrine: An early
American court-articulated belief
articulated the reluctance of the judiciary to interfere with the management and adminis- that the judiciary should not
tration of prisons—to keep their “hands off.” The doctrine rested primarily on the status of interfere with the management
prisoners who suffered a kind of legal and civil death upon conviction. Most states had civil and administration of prisons.
death statutes, which meant that those convicted of crimes lost all citizenship rights, such Civil death statutes: Statutes
in former times mandating
as the right to vote, to hold public office, and—in some jurisdictions—to marry. The philo- that convicted felons lose
sophical justification for civil death statutes, ironically, came from the text of the Thirteenth all citizenship rights.
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery in the United States. The
Thirteenth Amendment reads,
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime

whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United
States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Slavery was thus abolished “except as a punishment for crime.” This enabled prison
officials to lease prisoners to local businesses for profit and to use them as unpaid labor
to maintain the financial self-sufficiency of prisons—in short, to treat them like property
(Call, 2011).
In affirming the ruling of a lower court in Ruffin v. Commonwealth (1871), the Virginia
Supreme Court made plain the slavelike status of convicted offenders:
For the time being, during his term of service in the penitentiary, he is in a state
of penal servitude to the State. He has, as a consequence of his crime, not only
318 CORRECTIONS
forfeited his liberty, but all his personal rights except those which the law in its
humanity accords to him. He is for the time being the slave of the State. He is
civiliter mortuus [civilly dead]; and his estate, if he has any, is administered like
that of a dead man.
Ruffin was a state case and thus not binding on other states, but the case was consistent
with the earlier U.S. Supreme Court case Pervear v. Massachusetts (1866). Pervear was the
foundational case that first clearly enunciated the lack of concern for prisoners’ rights con-
tained in the hands-off doctrine. Pervear had been sentenced to 3 months’ hard labor and
a large fine for failing to obtain a license for his liquor store, and he challenged his sentence
on the basis of the “cruel and unusual” clause of the Eighth Amendment. The Supreme
Court made plain the slavelike status of prisoners, ruling that they did not even enjoy the
protections of the Eighth Amendment. Convicts thus found themselves at the mercy of
prison officials and fellow prisoners without any constitutional protection provided by
judicial oversight.
The hands-off doctrine also prevailed because the courts viewed correctional agencies
as part of the executive branch of government and did not wish to violate the Constitution’s
separation of powers doctrine. Prison officials were considered capable of administering to
the needs of prisoners in a humane way without having to deal with the intrusion of another
branch of government. Besides, if prisoners have been stripped of any rights under civil
death statutes, there is nothing for the courts to monitor and protect.
The Prisoners’ Rights Period: 1964–1978

The convict-as-slave approach slowly gave way to the idea that convicted felons retained
a modicum of constitutional rights, but it was the business of the executive and legislative
branches of state government to honor them. States’ rights and fear of an overbearing federal
government were more deeply felt concerns in the past than they are today, and the federal
courts were still reluctant to move too far in the direction of limiting states’ rights or fur-
ther fueling citizens’ distrust of the federal government. We should recognize that the Bill of
Rights was intended to apply only to actions of the federal government. It was not until the
20th century that federal courts began to apply the rights in the Bill of Rights to state actions
in a process known as incorporation (Walsh & Hemmens, 2014). Incorporation essentially
means that due process rights, which formerly needed to be respected only by the federal
government, now needed to be respected by the state governments also.
As part of a growing trend toward an overall greater respect for individual rights during
the mid-20th century, the courts began to enter into the area of prisoners’ rights. The first
significant case leading to the end of the hands-off doctrine was Ex parte Hull (1941). This
case dealt with the denial by prison officials of a Michigan inmate’s petition for an appeal of
the legality of his confinement (the term ex parte refers to situations in which only one party
appears before the court). Although Hull’s petition was denied (Hull had committed a statu-
tory sexual offense, had violated his parole, and was returned to prison to serve out his origi-
nal sentence), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that inmates had the right to unrestricted access
to federal courts to challenge the legality of their confinement.
The major issue in prisoner litigation has been the conditions of confinement. The tech-
Habeas corpus: Latin term nical term for a challenge to the legality of confinement is a writ of habeas corpus. Habeas
meaning “you have the body.”
It is a court order requiring
corpus is a Latin term that literally means “you have the body” and is basically a court order
that an arrested person be requiring that an arrested person be brought before it to determine the legality of their
brought before it to determine detention. Habeas corpus is an important concept in common law that precedes even the
the legality of detention.
Magna Carta of 1215. It has been called the “Great Writ” and was formally codified into
English common law by the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679. Indicative of the respect in which
habeas corpus was held by the Founding Fathers of the United States is that it is one of only
three individual rights mentioned in the Constitution. The other two are the prohibition of
bills of attainder (imposing punishment without trial) and the prohibition of ex post facto
laws (legislation making some acts criminal after the fact). The other individual rights that
Americans enjoy were formalized in the first 10 amendments to the Constitution (the Bill of Bill of Rights: The first
Rights) almost as an afterthought. A writ of habeas corpus is not a direct appeal of a convic- 10 amendments to the
U.S. Constitution.
tion but rather an indirect appeal regarding the legality of a person’s confinement. In Coffin
v. Reichard (1944), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals widened habeas corpus hearings to
include conditions of confinement, but this had little impact for 20 years.
Two cases signaled the end of the hands-off period: Jones v. Cunningham (1963) and
Cooper v. Pate (1964). In Jones, the Supreme Court went further than it did in Hull and ruled
that prisoners could use a writ of habeas corpus to challenge the conditions of their confine-
ment as well as the legality of their confinement. This went way beyond the original meaning
of habeas corpus, which was meant only to address the preconviction issue of the legality of a
petitioner’s detainment. In Cooper, the Court ruled that state inmates could sue state officials
in federal courts under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, which was initially enacted to protect
southern Black people from state officials. This act is now codified and known as 42 USC §
1983, or simply as Section 1983 suits, and any deprivation-of-rights grievance filed under it Section 1983 suits:
A mechanism for state prison
is called a civil rights claim. The relevant part of the act reads as follows:
inmates to sue state officials
in federal court regarding
Every person who under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or their confinement and their
conditions of confinement.
usage of any state or territory, subjects or causes to be subject, any citizen of the
Civil rights claim: A “Section
United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of 1983” claim that a person
any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall has been deprived of some
legally granted right.
be liable to the party injured in an action at law.
What had been a trickle of habeas petitions before Cooper quickly became a flood that
threatened to drown the federal courts with grievances. The most serious petition led to a
federal appeals judge declaring the entire prison system of Arkansas unconstitutional and
a “dark and evil world” when he placed it under federal supervision (Holt v. Sarver, 1969).
As we saw in the opening vignette, inmates were routinely subjected to brutal conditions
in Arkansas prisons. This case gave birth to what has come to be known as a “conditions
of confinement lawsuit.” From then on, the federal courts became heavily involved in the
monitoring the operation of state prison systems. The vast majority of habeas corpus griev-
ances filed today are about the conditions of confinement because inmates’ convictions are
the legal basis for their confinement.
The Deference Period: 1997 to Present

After a short time in which prisoners’ rights were granted and extended, there began an era
called the deference period. This period is a partial return to the hands-off period and refers Deference period: The period
of time when there was a partial
to the courts’ willingness to defer to the expertise and needs of prison authorities. The courts return to the hands-off approach.
have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to place restrictions on prisoners’ rights that It refers to the courts’ willingness
do not apply to nonoffenders because of the need to balance the rights of offenders with the to defer to the expertise and
needs of the authorities.
needs of correctional authorities for safety and security in prisons and jails. The general rule
is that prisoners’ rights must be secondary to the maintenance of institutional order and
security and safety of inmates and staff. The stance of the Supreme Court on this matter has
not changed since it was first enunciated in Bell v. Wolfish (1979), the case widely considered
to be the one that signaled the onset of the deference period:
Simply because prison inmates retain certain constitutional rights does not mean
that these rights are not subject to restrictions and limitations. There must be
a “mutual accommodation between institutional needs and objectives and the
320 CORRECTIONS
provisions of the Constitution that are of general application.” Maintaining insti-

tutional security and preserving internal order and discipline are essential goals
that may require limitation or retraction of the retained constitutional rights of
both convicted prisoners and pretrial detainees.
Application of the Amendments to

the Constitution to Convicted Felons
LO 13.2 Identify issues and cases involving the First, Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth
Amendments.
We begin by looking at certain fundamental rights guaranteed by the First, Fourth, Eighth
and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution and how they apply to convicted felons.
First Amendment
The First Amendment to the Constitution reads,
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibit-

ing the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government
for a redress of grievances.
First Amendment: Guarantees The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, speech, press, and assem-
freedom of religion, speech,
press, and assembly.
bly. It goes without saying that in a prison setting, these freedoms cannot extend to any-
thing that jeopardizes prison safety or security. Cooper v. Pate (1964) was essentially a First
Amendment issue because Thomas Cooper, a Black Muslim, alleged that he was denied
certain religious publications on the basis of his religion. Prison authorities claimed that
Black Muslim literature was dangerous and jeopardized the safety and security of the prison
because it preached violent revolution and sought to recruit new members. The Supreme
Court acknowledged that such literature may have an incendiary effect but ruled that
Cooper’s right to free exercise of his religion trumped what might result in security prob-
lems. Free access to written materials does
not include such things as a manufactur-
er’s guide to prison security locks or por-
nographic materials.
Religious freedom cannot extend to
demanding alcohol or exotic foods to
Brian Vander Brug/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
satisfy real or invented religious require-

ments. But the law is more an ideological
exercise than a science. As if to prove our
point, two federal circuit courts came to
opposite conclusions in the same year
(2008) regarding Muslim inmates’ right
to a halal diet (a diet that prohibits eating
pork and shellfish and in which animals
must be slaughtered in a certain way). The
Eighth Circuit Court ruled that denial of
a halal diet did not place an undue bur-
Photo 13.2 Inmates retain some First Amendment rights, including the right to practice
den on the inmate, but the Ninth Circuit
their religious beliefs, if doing so does not unduly interfere with prison security. Court ruled in a different case that the
refusal to supply a Muslim inmate with a halal diet impinged on his free exercise of reli-
gion rights (Robertson, 2010).
Restrictions on inmates’ rights to free speech can exceed those necessary to ensure safety
and security. In Smith v. Mosley (2008), the plaintiff made a statement in a grievance that
prison authorities saw as insubordinate and false, for which he received disciplinary sanc-
tions. LeRoy Smith sought relief in the federal court, claiming that he had been punished for
exercising his right to free speech. The court disagreed, ruling that although filing a griev-
ance is considered protected speech, the statements made within it are not, and therefore the
imposition of sanctions was constitutionally permissible. Freedom of speech or expression
can also be limited on moral or ethical grounds. For instance, inmates can write and pub-
lish their thoughts or sell personal memorabilia, but “notoriety-for-profit” statutes enacted
by the federal government and most states forbid inmates from profiting monetarily from
those activities (Walsh & Hemmens, 2014).
The right of assembly allows attendance at religious services and visitation from family
and friends, but it obviously cannot be construed as allowing inmates to assemble at a tat-
too conference outside the prison walls. Federal courts have also ruled that although Black
Muslim groups had the right to assemble for worship, their right to hold religious services
could be denied if prison administrators considered such services to constitute potential
breaches of security (Inciardi, 2007).
Fourth Amendment
The Fourth Amendment reads, Fourth Amendment:
Guarantees the right to be
free from unreasonable
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, searches and seizures.
against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no war-
rants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be
seized.
The right to privacy is a paramount concern of the Fourth Amendment, and so it guar-
antees the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. What is reasonable
inside prison walls is, of course, quite different from what is reasonable outside them. For all
practical purposes, inmates have no Fourth Amendment protections because their prison
cells are not “homes” of personal sanctuary deserving of privacy (Hudson v. Palmer, 1984).
The one area in which Fourth Amendment rights have not been completely extin-
guished for inmates is that involving opposite-sex body searches. The courts have needed
to wrestle with conflicting claims on this issue. One is the equal employment claim of female
corrections officers who want to work in male institutions where, because of their size and
scope, promotion prospects are greater than they are in female prisons. Working in all-male
prisons necessarily means that women officers may view inmates undressed or using the
toilet, and they may be required to perform pat-downs and visual body cavity searches
(physical searches of body cavities may be performed only by medical personnel). A
frequent inmate claim is that cross-gender searches are “unreasonable” within the meaning
of the Fourth Amendment.
Bennett (1995) noted that the great majority of cross-gender search complaints are
filed by men, which is not surprising given that men constitute about 94% of all state prison
inmates (Bohm & Haley, 2007). On the other hand, it is surprising given the frequent com-
plaints from female officers that some male inmates take every opportunity to expose them-
selves in their presence (Cowburn, 1998). Of course, this does not mean that many inmates
are not genuinely embarrassed and offended by needing to bear the indignity of female offi-
cers’ observing them using the toilet. However, ever since the doors were opened in Hull, the
322 CORRECTIONS
filing of all sorts of complaints has become a sort of inmate hobby for some that serves the
purpose of relieving boredom, getting “one over” on prison authorities, and possibly getting
one or two rides into town to attend court (McNeese, 2010). There are many legitimate pris-
oner complaints, but Dilworth (1995) reported that 75% of prisoner petitions are dismissed
by courts’ own evaluations, 20% are dismissed in grants of states’ motions, and about 2%
result in trials, of which fewer than half result in favorable verdicts for the prisoners. Thus,
fewer than 1% of prisoner complaints are considered legitimate. Examples of some frivolous
and malicious petitions are given in In Focus 13.1.
In Turner v. Safley (1987), the Supreme Court enunciated what has come to be known
as the balancing test, which means that the courts must balance the rights of inmates
In Focus 13.1
A N Y C O M P L A I N T S T H I S M O R N I N G?
“Any complaints this morning?” was the drill cruel and unusual punishment because he cut
sergeant’s daily cynical question to newly drafted his foot on the glass.
soldiers during World War II. Of course, none of the Prisoner sends for information about prison
draftees confined in the sweltering barracks were security and locks and sues because the warden
ever bold enough to make any complaint, although refused to give him the mail containing the
living conditions were such that they would not be information.
tolerated by the courts if they existed in our prisons
today. We wonder what these old soldiers would say Prisoner sues because his ice cream was half
about the following. melted when it was served to him.
Prisoner sues over unsatisfactory haircut.
In dismissing a lawsuit in one case, the Supreme
Court noted that the majority of prisoner petitions Prisoner sues because jailers cut her sausage
are frivolous and/or malicious, cost taxpayers into small pieces because she had been caught
millions of dollars, and waste precious court previously masturbating with a whole
time. Florida attorney general Bob Butterworth sausage.
asserted, “My office spends nearly $2 million a year Prisoner sues because he was required to eat off
defending that state against inmate suits, most a paper plate.
of which contain ridiculous charges or demands”
(Butterworth, 1995, p. 1). Similarly, Idaho deputy Prisoner files more than 140 actions in state
attorney general Timothy McNeese noted that and federal court over finding gristle in his
fully 27% of all litigation in Idaho’s federal district turkey leg.
courts involve inmate petitions, most of which Prisoner sues to receive fruit juice at meals and
are “meritless,” are “downright frivolous,” and “no an extra pancake at breakfast.
doubt are filed by inmates out of frustration and
Prisoner who murdered five people sues
anger and desire to get even with a correctional
because he was forced to watch network
employee or the ‘system’” (McNeese, 2010, p. 321).
television after lightning knocked out the
Presented below are some examples of frivolous
prison’s satellite dish. These programs
and/or malicious petitions gleaned from Butterworth
contained violent material this multiple
and McNeese that judges must wade through to
murderer said was objectionable.
get to prisoner petitions that are really deserving
of attention. The sheer audacity of these examples Prisoner loses a suit claiming his rights as a
may put a smile on your face, but they are no Muslim were violated because the prison put
laughing matter to the courts, prison administrators, “essence of swine” in his food, then converts to
taxpayers, and prisoners with real grievances whose Satanism and demands tarot cards and “doves’
petitions are lost in the pile: blood.”
Prisoner sues because the disciplinary cell he
Prisoner starts a riot, shatters glass in his cell, was placed in had no electrical outlet for his
and files an Eighth Amendment suit claiming television set.
against the interests of penological concerns of security and order. In ruling that lower
courts were wrong in applying the strict scrutiny standard of review (a standard of review
used by the courts if a “fundamental right” [anything in the Bill of Rights] or a “suspect
classification” [race, religion, or national origin] is involved) to inmates’ constitutional
complaints, the Court ruled that these cases require a lesser standard and involve the issue
of whether a prison regulation that impinges on inmates’ constitutional rights is “reason-
ably related” to legitimate penological interests. This “reasonableness” revolves around a
number of factors, including whether there is a valid and rational connection between the
regulation and a legitimate government interest that is justified in the name of staff and
inmate safety and security.
Ethical Issue
You are a prosecutor in a jurisdiction that is plead guilty. You also tell him that if he does not
determined to stamp down hard on crime. take the plea, you will charge him as a habitual
You have a case before you of a one-legged offender under the state’s three-strikes law. The
man charged with stealing the left boot of a defendant refuses to plea, saying that the theft
pair of cowboy boots worth $300, making the should be a misdemeanor anyway because he
theft a felony. The defendant has two prior stole only one boot. What will you do? After you
felony convictions, and this would be his third have decided, take a look at Bordenkircher v.
if convicted. You want to dispose of the case Hayes (1978) and see what the prosecutor decided
quickly with a plea bargain and offer to reduce and how this case was actually decided by the
the charge to a misdemeanor if the defendant will Supreme Court (yes, it actually happened).
According to the balancing test, viewing of opposite-sex inmates in embarrassing

situations is constitutionally valid if it is reasonably related to legitimate penal interests. The
lower courts have interpreted “reasonableness” and concluded that although female officers
conducting or observing strip searches of male inmates is tolerated in emergency situations,
similar observation and searches by male officers of female inmates are considered unrea-
sonable. This double standard has been justified on two grounds that (a) men do not experi-
ence loss of job opportunities if they are forbidden to frisk female inmates, and (b) intimate
touching of a female inmate by a male officer may cause psychological trauma because many
female inmates have histories of sexual abuse (Bennett, 1995). This raises the question of the
possible legal validity of complaints about same-sex body searches if the complainant can
show prior sexual abuse by a same-sex person. For instance, will such a person then be in a
position to demand an opposite-sex body search?
Inmates’ privacy rights have allowed them the freedom to file fraudulent tax returns
claiming millions of dollars in refunds. In 2004, more than 18,000 false tax returns were filed
claiming $68.1 million in refunds, which rose to nearly 45,000 filed in 2009 claiming $295
million in refunds. The Internal Revenue Service catches most of these frauds, but refunds
issued to these prisoners in 2009 amounted to more than $39 million (U.S. Department of
the Treasury, 2010). Some prisoners (such as those working in prisoner industries) earn
income and thus must file annual income tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service.
Because this income information is considered private, prison officials do not inspect
returns for fraudulent claims.
324 CORRECTIONS
Eighth Amendment
Eighth Amendment: The Eighth Amendment reads,
Constitutional amendment
that forbids cruel and
unusual punishment. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and
unusual punishments inflicted.
The pertinent part of the Eighth Amendment for us is the part that addresses cruel and
unusual punishment. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, cruel and unusual punishment
is punishment applied “maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing
harm” (Hudson v. McMillian, 1992), although the inmate is responsible for proving that the
punishment was so applied. Eighth Amendment protections are denied by prison officials
not only if they do something to inmates they should not but also if they fail to do something
they have a duty to do. Prison officials must provide inmates with the basic amenities of
life, such as food and medical attention, and they must provide them with protection from
the physical and sexual predations of other inmates.
Ethical Issue
You are a district judge hearing the case of two prison officials must limit sexual interactions
male inmates claiming to be in love who have among inmates because of their potential liability
filed a suit demanding to be allowed to marry and regarding allegations of prison rape under
be housed in the same cell. They also claim that PREA. The state also claims that such a thing
prison authorities have purposely housed them is unprecedented and could lead to all kinds of
in separate units so that they have no contact unrest in the prison. The inmates claim that they
with each other. You know that the Prison Rape are genuinely in love, that heterosexual inmates
Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) has been a potent may marry, and that to deny their request is
tool for the selective sanctioning of inmates for discriminatory and a violation of their rights of
any sexual expression at all. The state claims that sexual expression. How will you rule and why?
Liability attaches to prison officials for inmate–inmate assaults if officials display delib-
erate indifference to an inmate’s needs (Vaughn & Del Carmen, 1995). The courts have
struggled to make plain what “deliberate indifference” means, but basically it occurs when
prison officials know of, but disregard, an obvious risk to an inmate’s health or safety (Wilson
v. Seiter, 1991). In other words, prison officials must not turn a blind eye to situations that
obviously imperil the health or safety of inmates entrusted to their care. Purposely placing a
slightly built and effeminate young man in a cell with a known aggressive sexual predator is
an example of a violation of the deliberate indifference standard for which prison authorities
would be liable for any injuries suffered. For inmates to prevail in suits involving deliberate
indifference claims, they must prove that (a) they suffered an objectively serious depriva-
tion or harm and (b) prison officials were aware of the risk that caused the alleged harm and
failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it. Wilson is seen as a key decision favoring correc-
tional agencies because of these stringent proof requirements.
Inmate medical care is also covered by the concept of deliberate indifference. As Cohen
(2008) stated, “Our jails and prisons have increasingly become the de facto clinical depositories
for hundreds of thousands of inmates who are very sick and who require all manner of specialty
medical, dental, and mental health care. Prisons are not only the new mental asylums; they are
the community hospitals and emergency wards for certain segments of the poor” (p. 5).
The medical needs of inmates in today’s prisons are as well addressed as those of the
average free person of similar class background presenting with similar health problems.
Indeed, inmates are the only group of people in the United States with a constitutional right
to medical care. According to a Bureau of Justice Statistics report on inmate mortality, pris-
oners between 15 and 64 years of age had a mortality rate 19% lower than that of the general
population (Mumola, 2007). This is attributable mostly to African American male inmates
under 45, who had a mortality rate 57% lower than the rate of Black men of similar age in
the general population. Of course, not all of this difference is attributable to the medical care
inmates receive, and no one claims that such care is better than, or even equal to, the aver-
age level of medical care available to most people on the outside. The lower mortality rate is
most likely due to the fact that incarceration lowers the probability of being murdered, being
exposed to drugs, having access to alcohol and tobacco, and other such risks.
Fourteenth Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment is a long one, with five sections; we cite only the first Fourteenth Amendment:
Contains the due process clause,
section here: which declares that no state shall
deprive any person of life, liberty, or
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the juris- property without due process of law.
diction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they
reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or
immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person
of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person
within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
This is the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and is the legal basis for
granting limited procedural rights to individuals under correctional supervision. The due
process clause was first applied to inmates facing disciplinary action for infractions of prison
rules in Wolff v. McDonnell (1974). In Wolff, the Supreme Court declared that although
inmates are not entitled to the same due process rights as an unconvicted person on the
outside, they are entitled to some. These rights are (a) to receive written notice of an alleged
infraction, (b) to be given sufficient time (usually 24 hours) to prepare a defense, (c) to have
time to produce evidence and witnesses on their behalf, (d) to have the assistance of nonlegal
counsel, and (e) to have a written statement outlining the disciplinary committee’s findings.
In Sandin v. Conner (1995), the Supreme Court clarified and trimmed back inmate
rights. The Court declared that the above due process rights are triggered only by any dis-
ciplinary action that may result in the loss of “good time,” which amounts to an extension
of an inmate’s sentence. DeMont Conner had been given 30 days of punitive segregation
for making foul and abusive comments to an officer while being subjected to a strip search.
The Court ruled that due process rights are not triggered by actions that result in tempo-
rary placement in a disciplinary segregation unit, which does not amount to an extension of
sentence. The Court also concluded that disciplinary segregation is not an atypical hardship
relative to the ordinary hardships of imprisonment.
Curtailing Prisoner Petitions

LO 13.3 State how and why prisoners’ petitions have been curtailed.
According to Federman (2004), two congressional acts signed into law in 1996—the Prison
Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) and the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
(AEDPA)—have severely curtailed prisoner access to the courts. Both acts were passed
326 CORRECTIONS
in part to reduce the thousands of lawsuits filed by inmates that clog the federal courts. In
the year of the passage of these acts, inmates filed 68,235 civil rights lawsuits in the federal
courts, compared with fewer than 2,000 in the early 1960s (Alvarado, 2009). By 2000, the
number of such lawsuits had dropped to 24,519 (Seiter, 2005), a 64% decrease from the 1996
figure. Despite claims that these acts are “silencing the cells” (Vogel, 2004), the number of
lawsuits filed is still more than 12 times what it was during the 1960s. Figure 13.1 is from a
U.S. Courts (2020) report comparing all kinds of prisoner petitions to federal appeals courts
with other types of cases. In 2019, prisoner petitions were down 16.4% from 2018.
FIGURE 13.1 Prisoner Petitions and Other Cases Filed in Federal Appeals Courts, April 1, 2018, to

March 31, 2019
Source: U.S. Courts (2020).
Note: Beginning in March 2014, data include miscellaneous cases not included previously.
Appeals Court Cases Filed, by Type

(12-Month Periods Ending March 31)
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
2010 2015 2019
Prisoner Petitions Other Civil Criminal

Administrative Agency All Other Appeals
The primary intention of the PLRA was to free prisons and jails from federal court super-
vision and to limit prisoners’ access to the federal courts. Both intentions have largely suc-
ceeded. Among the requirements of the PLRA is one that state inmates cannot bring a Section
1983 (civil rights) lawsuit in federal court unless they first exhaust all available administra-
tive remedies, such as filing a written grievance with the warden. The PLRA also states that
inmates claiming to be unable to afford the required filing fee for the lawsuit may still need to
pay a partial fee, which will be collected whenever money appears in their inmate accounts.
An issue raised by the passage of the PLRA reached the Supreme Court in Jones v. Bock
(2007), which asked whether the PLRA requires inmates bringing federal civil rights suits
to show that they have exhausted all administrative remedies, or the state to prove that they
were not exhausted. In a unanimous opinion, the Court ruled that the exhaustion of admin-
istrative remedies was not required by the PLRA and that prisoners could bring civil rights
lawsuits without the need to demonstrate they have exhausted all administrative remedies.
The opinion did not ignore the flood of frivolous suits but intimated that this concern was
secondary to the genuine complaints prisoners may have. In Jones, Justice Roberts wrote,
Prisoner litigation continues to “account for an outsized share of filings” in federal

district courts. In 2005, nearly 10 percent of all civil cases filed in federal courts
nationwide were prisoner complaints challenging prison conditions or claiming

civil rights violations. Most of these cases have no merit; many are frivolous. Our
legal system, however, remains committed to guaranteeing that prisoner claims of
illegal conduct by their custodians are fairly handled according to law. The chal-
lenge lies in ensuring that the flood of nonmeritorious claims does not submerge
and effectively preclude consideration of the allegations with merit.
As the name implies, the AEDPA is mostly about antiterrorism and the death penalty
rather than an act specifically designed to limit habeas corpus proceedings. It was passed in
response to the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, with the reform
of habeas corpus law attached as a rider. The AEDPA does not eliminate inmates’ rights to
habeas corpus, but it does restrict its availability (Alvarado, 2009). It does so by limiting suc-
cessive petitions and judicial review of evidence and may now apply only to inmates who
have sought, but have been denied, state court remedies available to them. The AEDPA thus
takes habeas corpus partially back along the road to again becoming the preconviction rem-
edy against unlawful imprisonment that it was initially.
A review of Supreme Court decisions on habeas corpus since the AEDPA found that
they have upheld the reforms largely as intended by Congress (Scheidegger, 2006). Although
some may decry both statutes, the Court’s attitude toward them is probably a good thing for
all involved for a number of reasons. First, it frees up the federal courts to deal with pressing
inmate issues that are really repugnant to the Constitution. Second, we all know that “crying
wolf ” too often leads to the dismissal of genuine claims, and if the situation continued as it
was before the 1996 reforms, the solution may just have been the return to a complete hands-
off policy. Third, it saves taxpayers many millions of dollars fighting frivolous lawsuits that
simply relieve the boredom of mischievous inmates (again, this does not mean that there are
no substantively meaningful claims filed). Many states, aware that the courts could swing
back to more active involvement, and of the high cost of defending lawsuits, have established
internal mechanisms to more effectively deal with inmate concerns, such as outside medi-
ators and the creation of ombudspersons. Although the PLRA and AEDPA have limited
inmate access to the courts, in a roundabout way they have given inmates more immediate
and local ways to make their grievances known.
The Death Penalty and Public Opinion

LO 13.4 Discuss the legal and ethical issues surrounding the death penalty.
The most controversial issue in corrections is the penalty of death. Given its finality (there is
no way to put right an execution of someone later found to be innocent), it is understandable
that it has been subjected to intense legal and ethical scrutiny. This has not always been the
case, because throughout human history the death penalty has been considered a legitimate,
appropriate, and necessary form of punishment. As indicated in Figure 13.2, a clear majority
of the American public still favors its retention (Gallup, 2019).
Note from Figure 13.2, showing trends in public opinion from 1930 to 2019, that in 1966
there were more people against the death penalty (47%) than for it (42%) (“no opinion”
answers account for why the percentages in the figure never add to 100%). Note also that
support for the death penalty was greatest during the 1980s and 1990s, with 1994 marking
the highest level of support (80%) in the Gallup Poll’s history. The most logical reason for
this is that public opinion is heavily swayed by the crime rate—as crime goes up, so does sup-
port for the death penalty. According to Uniform Crime Reports data, the violent crime rate
in 1994 was 713.6 per 100,000 population, which is 3.25 times higher than the 1966 violent
crime rate of 220 per 100,000 (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2013).
328 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 13.2 Results of 2019 Gallup Poll on Public Attitudes About the Death Penalty

Source: Gallup (2019). Copyright © 2020 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Are you in favor of the death penalty for a person

convicted of murder?
%Favor %Opposed
100
80
70 80
66 70 69
56 60
50
40
41 26 41
37
20
25 27
22 16
0
‘38 ‘42 ‘46 ‘50 ‘54 ‘58 ‘62 ‘66 ‘70 ‘74 ‘78 ‘82 ‘86 ‘90 ‘94 ‘98 ‘02 ‘06 ‘10 ‘14 ‘18
The currents of public opinion doubtless contribute to the number of states that have
retained the death penalty. Figure 13.3 shows that 25 states, the federal government, and the
U.S. military retain the death penalty, and 22 states have abolished it or placed moratoria on
it. Executions are down 75% since 1996, and only 7 states executed anyone in 2019 (Death
Penalty Information Center, 2020a). The United States, Japan, and South Korea, among the
world’s democracies, retain the death penalty. Figure 13.4 is a graph of the annual number of
executions in the United States from the mid-1970s to January 2020.
FIGURE 13.3 States With and Without the Death Penalty as of 2020

Source: Death Penalty Information Center (2020b).
Death Penalty Status

Death Penalty 25
No Death Penalty 22
Governor-Imposed Moratorium 3
Methods of Execution Used in the United States

The United States has historically used a variety of methods of execution. A short descrip-
tion of each method is provided in Table 13.1.
Legal Challenges to the Death Penalty

There have been a number of legal challenges to the death penalty revolving around the
Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. These were typically
about the constitutionality of the method of execution, not the penalty per se. The first case
to successfully challenge the penalty itself was Furman v. Georgia (1972). William Furman
had shot and killed a homeowner during a home invasion and was sentenced to death.
Furman challenged the constitutionality of his sentence, and the Supreme Court agreed in
a 5-to-4 vote. The Court decided that the death penalty per se was not unconstitutional but
rather that the arbitrary way in which it was imposed was. The Court argued that because
the death penalty is so infrequently imposed, it serves no useful purpose, and that when it
is imposed, judges and juries have unbridled discretion in making life-and-death deci-
sions. Furman was paroled in 1984, sentenced to 20 years in prison for a 2004 burglary, and
paroled again in 2016.
TABLE 13.1 Number, Type, and Description of Methods of Execution in the U.S.
METHOD OF EXECUTIONS,
EXECUTION 1976 TO 2019 DESCRIPTION OF METHOD
Lethal injection 1,332 Lethal injection is currently the preferred method of execution in all states. The condemned
person is strapped to a gurney, and two needles are inserted into the veins in their arms.
These needles are connected to intravenous drips, one of which contains sodium thiopental,
which puts the condemned person to sleep. The next drip is then released, containing drugs
that paralyze the muscular system and stop the person’s breathing, followed by a drip of
potassium chloride that stops the heart.
Electrocution 162 Electrocution was introduced in the late 19th century as a more humane method of
execution than hanging. A person undergoing execution is strapped to the chair by belts
across the chest, groin, legs, and arms. A moist sponge is placed on the person’s shaved
scalp, and an electrode skullcap is attached over it. Electrodes are also attached to the
person’s shaved legs. A 15- or 30-second jolt of between 500 and 2,450 volts is then
applied, after which the current is turned off to allow a physician to determine whether the
person is dead.
Gas chamber 11 The gas chamber was introduced as a more humane alternative to electrocution. The
condemned person is placed in an airtight chamber and strapped to a chair below which
is a bucket containing sulfuric acid. Sodium cyanide is released into the bucket, causing a
reaction that releases hydrogen cyanide gas. Once the prisoner breathes the gas, they die
shortly thereafter because this method prevents the flow of oxygen to the brain.
Hanging 3 Historically the most common form of execution in the United States. The condemned
person’s height and weight must be measured, the rope must be lubricated, and the noose
must be placed around the neck with the knot behind the left ear. If all is done correctly, the
drop should cause a rapid dislocation of the neck; if not, the condemned may suffer slow
asphyxiation.
Firing squad 3 The condemned person is hooded and strapped to a chair. Five correctional officers (one of
whom is issued a blank round) fire simultaneously, thus causing death.
Source: Adapted from Death Penalty Information Center (2019b).

330 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 13.4 Number of Executions in the United States From 1976 to January 2020

Source: Death Penalty Information Center (2020a).
100 98
90 85
80
74
71
70 68
66 65
5960
60 56
53 52
50 45 46
42 4343
38 39
40 37
35
31 31
30 28
25 25
23 23 22
21 20
20 1818
16
14
11
10 5
2 2
0 1 0 0 1 1
0
’76
’77
’78
’79
’80
’81
’82
’83
’84
’85
’86
’87
’88
’89
’90
’91
’92
’93
’94
’95
’96
’97
’98
’99
’00
’01
’02
’03
’04
’05
’06
’07
’08
’09
’10
’11
’12
’13
’14
’15
’16
’17
’18
’19
’20
Because of this Supreme Court decision, states began changing their sentencing proce-
dures. Some states introduced bifurcated (two-step) hearings, the first to determine guilt
(the trial) and the second to impose the sentence after hearing aggravating circumstances
(circumstances that increase the heinousness of the offense) and mitigating circumstances
(circumstances that decrease culpability) to determine whether death was warranted. Other
states removed discretion (the Supreme Court’s main problem with it) and made the death
penalty mandatory for some murders. The Supreme Court decided against mandatory
death sentences in Woodson v. North Carolina (1976), ruling it excessive and unduly rigid.
James Woodson was involved in an armed robbery in which a convenience store cashier was
killed and a customer was seriously wounded.
Georgia revised its statute and opted for the bifurcated hearing. Using this process, Troy
Gregg was sentenced to death for two counts of murder and two counts of armed robbery.
In Gregg v. Georgia (1976), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the bifurcated
hearing and thus of Gregg’s death sentence. Gregg escaped from prison the day before his
scheduled execution, but he was beaten to death in a bar fight that same night.
In Coker v. Georgia (1977), the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty for rape
was unconstitutional. Ehrlich Coker had escaped from prison, where he was serving time
for murder, rape, and kidnapping, and promptly proceeded to commit another rape and
kidnapping. Nevertheless, the Court struck down the Georgia statute authorizing death for
rape under certain circumstances as “grossly disproportionate” and thus repugnant to the
Eighth Amendment. Coker is currently serving multiple life sentences in Georgia.
Other legal challenges to the death penalty have to do with issues such as racial discrimi-
nation; the execution of juveniles, people with cognitive disabilities, and people with mental
illnesses; and challenges to the method of execution. These issues are addressed later in the
chapter or were discussed in the chapter on juvenile corrections (Chapter 12).
Does the Death Penalty Deter?

LO 13.5 Explain the difficulty in determining whether the death penalty is a deterrent.
The death penalty is unique in that it is the only punishment required to demonstrate its
deterrent effect to validate its constitutionality. We take it for granted that penalties applied
to other crimes have a general deterrent effect, if not necessarily the desired specific effect.
We have seen that the major argument for punishing wrongdoers is to deter a specific
wrongdoer from repeating the act and to prevent potential wrongdoers from committing a
similar act. If murderers are executed, it is obvious that they will not be able to harm anyone
else, so specific deterrence is not an issue; rather, the issue is about general deterrence. It is
also obvious that the threat of the death penalty fails to deter every time a murder is com-
mitted, and we can easily document the number of these failures. On the other hand, it is
just as evident that we cannot count the times the death penalty threat may have succeeded
because we cannot count nonevents. That is, we cannot know how many (if any) people who
might otherwise have committed murder did not do so for fear of losing their own lives. The
question thus becomes, “Will the presence of the death penalty deter some unknown num-
ber of individuals from committing murder?” The question does not apply to all murders; it
applies only to the heinous kinds of murder for which the death penalty is an option.
The deterrence argument generates an enormous amount of heat by those who state
“conclusively” that it deters (mostly economists) and those who state just as “conclu-
sively” that it does not (mostly sociologists). Bushway and Reuter (2008) inform us that
“Economists and criminologists have actively butted heads over the topic of deterrence
almost since economists began studying the topic [and] have clashed heatedly over empir-
ical research on the death penalty since the 1970s” (pp. 390–391). According to Shepherd
(2005), while “all modern studies that use panel data [comprehensive data from all 50 states
and/or across time periods] find a deterrent effect . . . in contrast to economics studies, most
of the sociological studies find no deterrence” (pp. 214–218).
Some criminologists and sociologists argue that capital punishment has a brutalizing Brutalizing effect: The
assumption that executions,
effect rather than a deterrent effect. That is, executions are perceived by some as saying that rather than deterring homicides,
it is acceptable to kill people who have offended us, and that a segment of those who perceive actually increase homicides
it this way will act on that perception, and thus executions increase the number of homi- following the executions.
cides. Once again, economists disagree: “The brutalization idea is not one that economists
have given much credence” (Cameron, 1994, p. 206). Most (81.2%) criminologists surveyed
by Radelet and Lacock (2009) joined econ-
omists on this issue, either disagreeing or
strongly disagreeing that the death penalty
has a brutalizing effect.
It is difficult to tease any deterrent
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

effect out of the death penalty for a number
of reasons. First, it is extremely rare; only
about 2% to 6% (depending on jurisdic-
tion) of murders are tried as capital cases
(Berk, Li, & Hickman, 2005). Second, of
that small number, only 15% of people sen-
tenced to death since the death penalty was
reinstated in 1976 have actually been exe-
cuted (Nagin & Pepper, 2012). If a person is
sentenced to death, the time lapse between
conviction and execution increased from
an average of 14.4 months during the 1950s
to an average of 14.5 years in 2010 (Snell, Photo 13.3 The execution chamber in the Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas. Texas has
2011). As we have seen, the deterrent effect executed more than 460 inmates since the death penalty was reinstated in 1982.
332 CORRECTIONS
of punishment depends on its certainty, swiftness, and severity. Although the death penalty
is certainly severe, it is far from being certain or swift. Third, there are so many other vari-
ables to consider for inclusion in statistical models, and the inclusion or exclusion of any one
may completely change the results (Nagin & Pepper, 2012).
These difficulties led the National Academy of Sciences to convene a subcommittee (the
Committee on Deterrence and the Death Penalty [CDDP]) of criminologists, sociologists,
economists, and statisticians to try to reach a conclusion. The CDDP examined the results
of all credible death penalty studies up to 2011 and concluded that the evidence is ambigu-
ous. The committee’s concluded research was “not informative about whether capital pun-
ishment decreases, increases, or has no effect on homicide rates.” The CDDP also concluded
that studies claiming either a deterrent or nondeterrent effect of capital punishment “should
not influence policy judgments” (Nagin & Pepper, 2012, p. 102).
Financial Costs and the Death Penalty

LO 13.6 Discuss the financial cost/benefit ratio of the death penalty.
One of the arguments we frequently hear made is, “Why should the taxpayer pay to house
and feed these crooks for life? Just execute them and be done with it.” But the reality is
that the cost of a capital case, from arrest to execution, far exceeds the cost of pursuing life
Death Penalty Information without parole (LWOP), even if the inmate spends 50 years in prison. The Death Penalty
Center: Major (partisan) source
of information on the death
Information Center (DPIC; 2012) cited a study stating that if the sentences of all pris-
penalty in the United States. oners on California’s death rows were commuted to LWOP, the state would save $170
million per year. The DPIC also cited a Nevada study showing that a capital murder case
costs from $170,000 to $212,000 per case more than the cost of a murder case in which
the death penalty is not pursued. The reason for all this extra cost is the extensive inves-
tigations, expert witnesses, jury costs, deputy costs, and huge attorney fees for seemingly
endless appeals.
The American Civil Liberties Union (2012) also reported that in California there was
a $1.1 million difference between the least expensive death penalty prosecution and trial
(People v. Saurez), which cost $1.8 million, and the most expensive non–death penalty mur-
der prosecution and trial (People v. Franklin), which cost $661,000. The American Civil
Liberties Union also reported that seeking the death penalty for serial killer Charles Ng cost
an astounding $10.9 million. The huge cost is mostly because Ng was in custody in Canada
and fighting extradition. Ng is still on death row in California, and if past is prologue, he is
extremely unlikely to be executed.
When all appeals are finally exhausted, the average death row inmate has already
spent about 15 years on death row, and many have died of other causes. According to
the California Department of Corrections, of the hundreds of people on death row since
1978 in that state, only 13 (9 were multiple murderers) were actually executed (Tempest,
2005). So why do death penalty states continue to invest in such a poor proposition?
Professor Frank Zimring’s answer to this question is, “What we are paying for at such
great cost is essentially our own ambivalence about capital punishment. We try to main-
tain the apparatus of state killing and another apparatus that almost guarantees that it
won’t happen. The public pays for both sides” (quoted in Tempest, 2005, p. B1). The
money spent on pursuing something that perhaps we do not want would be better spent
on other criminal justice practices designed to protect the public from the predations of
criminals. Think of how many police officers, for example, California could hire with
the $170 million it spends pursuing a goal it knows will be thwarted in all but the tiniest
fraction of instances.
Disparity in Death Sentences

LO 13.7 Analyze the disparities related to race, gender, and disability with regard to the
death penalty.
A major concern among criminologists is whether the death penalty is applied in a racially
discriminatory fashion. There is no doubt that African Americans have historically been
convicted of capital crimes and executed in greater numbers than white people (Bohm,
2012). This issue has been a major one since the Supreme Court addressed it in McCleskey
v. Kemp (1987). Warren McCleskey was an African American parolee who had been
sentenced to three life sentences for multiple armed robberies in 1970 but was released
7 years later. In 1978, he shot and killed a white police officer during the course of a
robbery and was subsequently sentenced to death. In challenging his sentence, McCleskey’s
attorneys offered as evidence a statistical study purporting to show that racial bias existed in
death penalty cases in Georgia in that defendants who killed white victims were more likely
to be sentenced to death than defendants who murdered Black victims. In ruling against
McCleskey’s claim, the Court ruled that statistical risk represents averages and does not
establish that a specific individual’s death sentence violates the Eighth Amendment. In other
words, a study of past cases indicating average outcomes does not constitute evidence that
McCleskey himself was denied due process. He was executed in 1991.
Figure 13.5 from the DPIC (2020a) shows that Black defendants are executed dispropor-
tionately to their percentage of the population. African Americans accounted for between
11% and 14% of the U.S. population between 1976 and 2019 but 34.2% of the executions.
Likewise, Black people represent 42% of current U.S. death row inmates. Black people are
thus overrepresented by roughly 3 to 1 in terms of both executions and death row residents.
However, claims of bias cannot be validly evaluated by comparing percentages of each race
executed or on death row with their proportion of the general population, but by comparing
each race’s proportion of murderers with its proportion executed or on death row. In 2018,
53.3% of individuals arrested for murder in the United States were African Americans
and 44.1% were white (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2013). Because the Federal Bureau
of Investigation places Hispanics and non-Hispanic white people into a single “white” cat-
egory (93% of Hispanics/Latinos are defined as white), we cannot make direct Black/
white comparisons between Uniform Crime Reports and DPIC statistics. Steffensmeier,
Feldmeyer, Harris, and Ulmer (2011, p. 209) tell us that the Black homicide rate is 12.7 times
greater than the white rate when Hispanics/Latinos are taken out of the white category. A
comparison of homicide and execution/death row data thus leads to the conclusion that
“although they are overrepresented among death row populations and executions relative
to their share of the U.S. population, blacks are underrepresented based on their arrests and
convictions for murder” (Robinson, 2008, p. 191).
There seems to be an emerging consensus that white people are disproportionately
more likely to both receive a death sentence and be executed compared with the number
of death-eligible homicides they commit. An early post-Furman study (Kleck, 1981) found
that from 1930 onward in the northern states, white people were more likely to receive the
death penalty and that the discrimination evidenced against Black people in death pen-
alty cases during earlier years in the South disappeared during later years. Greenfeld and
Hinners (1985) looked at 1,405 prisoners under sentences of death and found that 15.8 per
1,000 white murderers were sentenced to death versus 11.6 per 1,000 Black murderers. A
large study by Gross and Mauro (1989) looked at death sentences in more than 14,000 cases
and found that white people received death sentences in 26.5% of the cases involving felony
circumstances and in 1.4% of the cases with nonfelony circumstances. On the other hand,
17.2% of Black people convicted in felony circumstances and 0.4% convicted in nonfelony
334 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 13.5 Race of Defendants Executed From 1976 to October 2019 (Left) and U.S. Death Row

Population by Race in 2019 (Right)
Source: DPIC (2020a).
Hispanic
8.5%
Black
42%
Black
34.2%
Hispanic
White
13%
55.7%
White
42%
Other
Other
3%
1.6%
circumstances received death sentences (McAdams, 1998). A U.S. Department of Justice

(2001) study of federal death-eligible cases reached the same conclusion: “United States
Attorneys recommended the death penalty in smaller proportions of cases involving Black
or Hispanic defendants than in those involving white defendants; the Attorney General’s
capital case review committee likewise recommended the death penalty in smaller pro-
portions of cases involving Black or Hispanic defendants. . . . In the cases considered by the
Attorney General, the Attorney General decided to seek the death penalty for 38% of the
white defendants, 25% of the Black defendants, and 20% of the Hispanic defendants.”
Blume, Eisenberg, and Wells (2004) looked at data from the 31 states that sentenced 10
or more individuals to death from 1977 through 1999 (5,953 death sentences) and compared
the proportion of African Americans convicted of murder in each state with the proportion
of inmates on death row. In California, Nevada, and Utah, the percentages of murders com-
mitted by Black people were 33.8%, 30.2%, and 8.6%, and the percentages of Black people on
death row in these states were 35.3%, 33.1%, and 10.5%, respectively. African Americans were
thus overrepresented by narrow margins in these states. However, they were underrepre-
sented in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Missouri by large margins. The percentages of murders
committed by Black people in those states were 60.4%, 77.7%, and 62.6%, and the percentages
of Black people on death row in those states were 33.3%, 59.0%, and 44.1%, respectively.
The Issue of the Victim’s Race

With white defendants being sentenced to death and executed more often than Black defen-
dants, the race issue with regard to the death penalty has largely become “victim centered”;
that is, the focus has moved from bias against Black defendants to bias against Black victims.
To address this bias issue, it should be realized that only a very small fraction of murders
are committed in a fashion that makes perpetrators eligible for the death penalty. For a
murder to be eligible for the death penalty, it must satisfy a number of elements, including
such things as being premeditated, being particularly brutal, involving multiple victims,
being committed during the commission of some other felony such as robbery or rape, or
involving the killing of a law enforcement officer during the commission of their duties.
A prior homicide conviction is also highly relevant.
Nearly all studies do show that before controlling for aggravating and mitigating
factors, killers of white people (regardless of the race of the killer) are more likely to receive
the death penalty than killers of Black people. To assess the issue of victim race in federal
cases, the National Institute of Justice commissioned three different studies by three inde-
pendent teams. In a 209-page report examining these findings, Klein, Berk, and Hickman
(2006) showed that, without controlling for case characteristics, the death penalty is more
likely when victims are white. However, racial disparities disappeared in all three studies
when adjustments were made for the heinousness of the crimes. In other words, after
controlling for all aggravating and mitigating factors that influence sentencing, there was
no evidence of a race effect regardless of whether they were examining just the race of the
victim, the race of the offender, or the interaction between victim’s and defendant’s race.
The Georgia data used in McCleskey v. Kemp (1987) were analyzed by statistician Joseph
Katz (2005), who found 141 cases that involved white victims and Black perpetrators
among the sample of 1,082 homicide defendants. In 67.1% of such cases, the victim was killed
during the course of a robbery, compared with 7.4% in Black-victim cases, and 70.6% of the
time the victim was a stranger, compared with 9.6% in Black-victim cases. Katz also indi-
cated that “white victim homicides show a greater percentage of mutilations, execution style
murders, tortures, and beaten victims, features which generally aggravate homicide and
increase the likelihood of a death sentence” (p. 405). This is augmented by Cassell (2008),
who noted, “Black-defendant-kills-white-victim cases more often involve the murder of
a law enforcement officer, kidnapping and rape, mutilation, execution-style killing, and
torture—all quintessential aggravating factors—than do other combinations” (p. 23–24).
The most recent study at the time of this writing (Sharma, Scheb, Houston, & Wagers,
2013) looked at all first-degree murder convictions in Tennessee from 1976 to 2007.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty for 76% of white defendants and 62.6% of Black
defendants, and 37.3% of white defendants received it versus 23.6% of Black defendants.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty in 64% of the cases in which the victim was white
and in 33% of the cases in which the victim was Black. When controlling for a variety
of aggravating and mitigating factors, as well as demographic and evidentiary variables,
they found that the killing of a law enforcement officer, prior violent offenses, and evi-
dentiary (scientific, co-perpetrator testimony, and eyewitness testimony) variables
mattered most in receiving a death sentence; that is, case characteristics, not race charac-
teristics, were what mattered.
Women and the Death Penalty

Both women and men commit murder, but women have constituted only about 2% of per-
sons executed in the United States since the inception of capital punishment (Robinson,
2008). As of July 19, 2019, there were 55 women on death row, or just over 2% of the total
death row population of 2,656 persons. Women have accounted for only 16 persons (0.9%)
(12 white and 4 Black) actually executed since 1976 (DPIC, 2019a). According to the U.S.
Census Bureau, women constituted 53% of the U.S. population in 2018, which means that
they are massively underrepresented as persons executed or on death row.
Is this indicative of pro-female bias? It would be if women committed approximately the
same number of death-eligible homicides as men, but they consistently commit only about
10% of all homicides each year. Many of these homicides are committed against spouses and
lovers in self-defense situations, and only rarely do we find women committing the heinous
kinds of murders that draw down the death penalty (Hatch & Walsh, 2016). However, Bohm
(2003) estimated that 4% to 6% of female murderers would receive death sentences if both
sexes were treated equally.
336 CORRECTIONS
THE CHIVALRY HYPOTHESIS

The most obvious extralegal factor that leads to reluctance to impose the death penalty on
women vis-à-vis men are the chivalrous and/or paternalistic attitudes about women that
tend to prevail in our society (Reza, 2005). Reza (2005) cited the example of a petition to
the governor of California signed by male inmates of San Quentin prison in 1941 to prevent
the execution of Juanita Spinelli, a career criminal, ex-wrestler, and knife thrower, who mur-
dered a 19-year-old gang member she feared would inform on her. Such an execution, they
wrote, would be “a blot on the reputation of the state and repulsive to the people of California
because of her sex and her status as a mother [italics added]” (p. 183).
The 1998 execution of Karla Faye Tucker, a rock groupie, prostitute, and drug abuser
convicted in 1984 of the pickax murder of a man and a woman when she was 23, produced a
spate of protests even from pro–death penalty sources. Then there is the case of Susan Smith,
who in 1994 strapped her two young sons, ages 3 years and 14 months, into their car seats
and rolled the car into a lake, drowning them both. Smith was attempting to reunite with her
lover, who objected to the presence of her children. Smith was sentenced to life rather than
death for her cold-blooded killings because, according to Reza (2005), she was viewed by the
jury as a jilted victim “and loving mother with severe emotional issues” (p. 188).
THE EVIL WOMAN HYPOTHESIS

The “evil woman” is the counterpart to the chivalry hypothesis to account for the women
who have been executed. Both Tucker and Smith were good-looking young women who
came across to television audiences as matching the stereotype of femininity despite having
committed heinous acts. The evil woman hypothesis avers that women who defy traditional
gender roles by not enacting a feminine identity invite the wrath of the male-dominated
criminal justice system (Reza, 2005). Such women tend to be unattractive and very much
out of prescribed gender roles by acting “manly” and being “man hating.” Two women who
have been executed—Wanda Jean Allen and Aileen Wuornos—fit this description and were
lesbians. Juanita Spinelli deviated from gender role expectations in many ways. Her prison
warden called her the “coldest, hardest character, male or female” and added that she was “a
hag, evil as a witch, horrible to look at” (as cited in Shatz & Shatz, 2011, p. 2).
If female murderers on the whole are treated more leniently on the basis of their sex,
then men are being discriminated against in a system that claims fairness and neutrality.
Victor Streib (2003a), a strong opponent of the death penalty, warned that if women want to
be treated as men’s equals, then if men are eligible for the death penalty, women should be,
too: “Otherwise, women are lumped with juveniles and the mentally retarded as not fully
responsible human beings” (p. 322). Similarly, Elizabeth Reza (2005) opined,
The American judicial system must equalize the capital punishment system so
that all, regardless of gender, are punished in a manner society and the legal sys-
tem has deemed appropriate to impose on those who callously take the lives of
others. For those who believe in the death penalty, the only answer to the sentenc-
ing equity issue is to execute more women convicted of death-eligible murders
until they attain parity with men convicted of similar crimes who are executed or
to reduce the number of men executed. For those who oppose the death penalty,
the only answer to the issue is to execute no one. (p. 211)
The Death Penalty and Mental Disability

Mental disability is “a lifelong condition of impaired or incomplete mental development.
According to the most widely used definition of mental retardation, it is characterized by
three criteria: significantly subaverage intellectual functioning; concurrent and related lim-
itations in two or more adaptive skill areas; and manifestation before age 18” (Mandery,
2005, p. 352). A subaverage level of intellectual functioning is defined as an IQ of 70 or below,

which is at the bottom 2% of the general population. An 18-year-old with an IQ of 70 is func-
tioning at the mental level of a child 12 to 13 years old. This does not mean that people with
mental disabilities cannot be held responsible for their actions; it only means they should be
held to a lower level of culpability than persons operating at higher intellectual levels.
In 1979, paroled rapist Johnny Penry was sentenced to death for a brutal rape and murder
in Texas. Penry appealed to the Supreme Court, claiming that it is cruel and unusual to execute
a mentally disabled person, and the jury was not instructed that it could consider his low IQ
(between 50 and 63) as mitigating evidence against imposing the death penalty. The Supreme
Court held in Penry v. Lynaugh (1989) that the jury should have been so instructed factor when
deciding Penry’s sentence, but imposition of the death penalty on a mentally retarded (the
term in use at the time) defendant is not per se a violation of the Eighth Amendment. However,
Penry’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in light of Atkins v. Virginia (2002).
In Atkins v. Virginia (2002), the Supreme Court overruled itself with regard to executing
people with mental disabilities. The Court concluded that there was a national consensus
against executing people with mental disabilities, and because they are less capable of evalu-
ating the consequences of their crimes, they are less culpable than the average offender. The
Court also noted that mentally disabled individuals are more prone to confess to crimes they
did not commit and therefore are more prone to wrongful execution.
The Death Penalty and Mental Illness

It is constitutionally impermissible to execute people with mental disabilities or the
“presently insane.” The phrase “presently insane” is not the same as saying “insane at the
time of the crime.” In earlier times, if a person was insane “at the time of the crime,” that
person would also be insane “presently” because there was no method of restoring a per-
son to sanity. With a number of effective antipsychotic medications available today, new
Eighth Amendment and due process issues have arisen. The primary legal issues the courts
need to resolve with both mental deficiency and mental illness are the following: (a) Is this
person competent to stand trial? (b) Did this person at the time of the crime have the
requisite ability to form mens rea (guilty mind)? (c) Does this person’s mental condition
warrant a more lenient sentence than would normally attach to this crime? (Dillard, 2012).
It is permissible to execute someone who has a mental illness, but not someone who has
a mental disability. The reasoning behind this is that mental disability is permanent and
unalterable, but mental illness is not necessarily either. Although mental disability cannot be
faked (because there is a long history documenting each case from early childhood), mental
illness can. By adhering to a correctly prescribed medical regimen, most individuals can be
restored to sanity and lead meaningful lives.
In Ford v. Wainwright (1986), the Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment
prohibits execution of “insane people”, but because “insanity” is an affirmative defense
claimed by the defendant; the burden of proof lies with defendants to prove they have a men-
tal illness. In Ford, the Court ruled that society’s retributive goals are served only if persons
are aware of the punishment they are about to suffer and why they will suffer it.
In Panetti v. Quarterman (2007), the Court developed what is known as the “rational
understanding” test for determining competence for understanding why one is being
punished. This test goes beyond the “mere awareness” standard for sanity set in Ford and
essentially means that the condemned must have a sane, logical, and coherent grasp of why
they are being executed in order to show the requisite competence to be executed (Sewell,
2010). The difference between the two standards is that although one might be fully aware that
one is going to be executed (“mere awareness”), they might lack a “rational understanding”
of why. For instance, such a person may believe that they are being executed because of
religious or political views rather than because of a heinous murder.
338 CORRECTIONS
The law on competency for execution is still murky, but currently it boils down to the
fact that condemned individuals can be executed as long as they are mentally coherent
enough to know that they are about to die and to understand the reason why. If someone is
deemed currently incompetent to be executed, that person can be rendered competent with
medication. The issue then becomes whether the state can forcibly administer antipsychotic
drugs to insane inmates facing execution. Neither Ford nor Panetti touched on this issue,
although in Washington v. Harper (1990) the Supreme Court ruled that in a prison environ-
ment an inmate may be involuntarily medicated “if the inmate is dangerous to himself or
others, and the treatment is in the inmate’s medical interest” (Sewell, 2010, p. 1292). To the
extent that medication is voluntary, the insane on death row are confronted with a horrible
choice: madness or execution. To the extent that it is not voluntary, prison physicians are
presented with an ethical dilemma in that if they medicate someone “in the inmate’s medical
interests,” they are simultaneously rendering the person “sane enough” for execution.
Ethical Issue
You are a prison physician with no strong the Thanksgiving slaughter. You can do your legal
beliefs for or against the death penalty. Justin and medical duty and continue to medicate Justin.
Williams, who is on death row in your prison, is You can lie to prison officials about his insanity,
on medication for schizophrenia. You need to or you can slowly reduce his medication until his
declare Justin sane enough to be executed, and insanity again becomes apparent to everyone, and
although you now believe that he is, you start thus you would have no need to lie. Which option
feeling like a farmer fattening up his turkeys for do you think is the ethical one, if any?
T H E D E AT H PE N A LT Y I N C H I N A A N D SAU D I A R A B I A
Both China and Saudi Arabia boast low crime rates (Liu et al., 2012). “Hooliganism” was struck from the
relative to the United States, the United Kingdom, statutes in 2011 but formerly consisted of a grab
and France (France and the United Kingdom do not bag of offenses such as gang fights and indecent
have the death penalty). Perhaps one of the reasons exposure.
we see few chronic criminals in China and Saudi
Arabia is their frequent use of the death penalty. According to the Chinese human rights
Both countries apply the death penalty to numerous organization Dui Hua (2013), there were 3,000
crimes other than murder. executions in China in 2012, but because the
actual number is a state secret, it could be many
more. The 3,000 figure is still nearly 70 times more
China executions than occurred in the United States (43)
China is the world’s leader in the number of in the same year in absolute terms and 18 times
executions it performs each year. The death penalty greater in proportional terms (DPIC, 2013). Amnesty
may be applied for 55 different offenses (down International (2013) reported, “Thousands of people
from 68 prior to 2011), including murder, rape, were executed in China in 2011, more than the rest
economic crimes committed by high-level officials, of the world put together. Figures on the death
counterrevolutionary offenses, and hooliganism penalty are a state secret.” Amnesty International
has stopped publishing figures it collects from punishment individuals may expect if convicted:
public sources in China, as these are likely to grossly “The Saudi courts impose a number of severe
underestimate the true number. physical punishments. The death penalty can be
imposed for a wide range of offences including
There are two types of death sentences: immediate murder, rape, armed robbery, repeated drug use,
and delayed. A delayed sentence is a 2-year apostasy, adultery, witchcraft and sorcery and can
suspension of sentence during which defendants be carried out by beheading with a sword, stoning
must show that they are reformed. If a person is or firing squad, followed by crucifixion” (British
considered rehabilitated, the sentence is usually Foreign Office, 2013, p. 9)
changed to a long period of incarceration; if not,
they are executed. An immediate sentence is carried The crimes mentioned above are hudud crimes, the
out within 7 days of imposition of the penalty. Such a most serious crimes in Islamic law. Oddly, murder is
sentence is imposed when, in the court’s opinion, the not a hudud crime. It is a qisas crime, which means
defendant is beyond rehabilitation. Execution is by a “equal harm” or “retaliation” and in principle means
single shot at the base of the skull or, more recently, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Qisas
by lethal injection, and the condemned person’s crimes are crimes against individuals rather than
family is informed of the execution only after against God. Thus, although the death penalty is
the fact (Dui Hua, 2013). China carries out these prescribed for murder (equal harm), the crime may
executions in specially equipped mobile death vans be forgiven in exchange for diyya (“blood money”)
that move from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and often paid to the victim’s survivors.
“harvest” valuable body parts (kidneys, corneas,
etc.) from the executed persons. The Northwestern Saudi Arabia shares China’s frequent use of the
Law Center for International Human Rights (2011) death penalty. Saudi Arabia “officially” executed 82
claimed that 65% of organ transplants originating people (it is suspected that there are many secret
from China are from executed prisoners. executions also) in 2012—a rate of 3.15 per 1 million
inhabitants (Amnesty International, 2013). To put
this in perspective, the United States executed 43
Saudi Arabia in 2012—a rate of 0.139 per 1 million. Thus, Saudi
Arabia’s rate of execution is at least 23 times higher
Unlike other legal systems that categorize the
than the U.S. rate. Alahmed (2013) reported,
seriousness of crimes and the punishments they
entail by the severity of the damage they cause to
the victim and/or to society, Saudi law characterizes Hundreds of people are executed in Saudi
offenses by the types of punishment they engender. Arabia every year—because executions are
If a punishment is prescribed by the Koran, it tends carried out in secret, no one knows the real
to be more severe than if it is not, regardless of numbers. In 2007, the newspaper Arab News
the seriousness of the crime as Westerners might reported that 400 people remained on death
view it. A publication called Information Pack for row in the province of Makka alone. There
British Prisoners in Saudi Arabia, which the British are 12 other regions in the kingdom, so the
embassy in Saudi Arabia issues to British nationals total number of people awaiting execution
arrested there, provides a frightening picture of the could easily reach several thousand.
The Innocence Revolution

LO 13.8 Describe the innocence revolution.
The huge advances made in the genomic and brain sciences over the past three decades have
revolutionized death penalty discourse in the United States. Abolitionist arguments used to
center on such things as legalities, morality, fairness, financial cost, and deterrence issues.
Although these arguments are still forcefully made, the new and more powerful issue that
now dominates abolitionist arguments is innocence. These arguments appear to have pen-
etrated and influenced public opinion far more than other arguments because guilt and
innocence have substance and are far more easily grasped than other types of arguments
(Marshall, 2004, p. 579). Evidence of possible actual innocence was central in the decision
340 CORRECTIONS
not to reinstate the death penalty in New York in 2004, the repeal of the death penalty in New
Mexico in 2009, and Governor George Ryan’s clearing of Illinois’ death row before he left
office in 2003 (Aronson & Cole, 2009).
The Innocence Project is an organization founded in 1992 by lawyers Barry Scheck and
Peter Neufeld that has taken advantage of modern science to provide scientific and legal exper-
tise for cases (mostly sexual assault cases) in which false convictions may have occurred. The
innocence movement received a large boost when President George W. Bush signed the Justice
for All Act into law in 2004. This act includes a subsection called the Innocence Protection
Act, granting federal inmates the right to petition a federal court for DNA testing to support a
claim of innocence. The act provides for funding to encourage states to take measures to pre-
serve organic evidence and to make DNA testing available to convicts claiming innocence. The
Innocence Project (2019) notes, “As of September 2019, we have documented 365 DNA exon-
eration cases in the United States, including 20 death penalty cases.” In nearly 50% of DNA
exoneration cases, the actual perpetrator was identified by DNA; thus, this technology has
been used to convict the guilty as well as to exonerate the innocent.
A problem confronting death penalty opponents is that despite all the celebrations sur-
rounding DNA exonerations (death row and otherwise), it may breathe new life into argu-
ments supporting the death penalty. That is, if the fear of executing an innocent person is a
major argument against the use of the death penalty, and if the “certainty of DNA” is the tool
that prevents it, then pro–death penalty advocates can now rely on that same “certainty” and
say that we have removed the major obstacle (the possibility of executing the innocent) and
can move forward with a more just death penalty. Thus, touting DNA as some sort of truth
device is a double-edged sword—if it can be used to exonerate the innocent with apparent
certainty, it can be used to condemn the guilty with the same apparent certainty. This kind of
“certainty” can provide what advocates of the death penalty might describe as a “foolproof ”
death penalty. This of course upsets those who oppose the death penalty on moral grounds
regardless of certainty of guilt.

G I N N Y H ATC H , I N V E S TI G ATO R F O R I DA H O I N N O C E N C E PR OJ E C T
Position: Investigator for Idaho Innocence Project, In general, what does a typical day
investigator for Federal Public Defender’s Office working with the Innocence Project
Location: Boise, Idaho look like?
Education: Master of arts in criminal justice, Boise When you work for the Innocence Project, there are
State University no “typical days.” Each day is different and presents
new challenges. This type of work is unique
because I investigate cases that have already been
How long have you been working with the investigated and processed through the criminal
Innocence Project and Federal Defender’s justice system. The Innocence Project typically
Office? takes cases during the postconviction phase(s),
Ten-plus years and 4 years, respectively. after most or all of the appeals have been exhausted.
This can be particularly frustrating because I am
not in control of what has happened in the past, and
What are your primary duties and oftentimes the previous professionals presiding
responsibilities with the Innocence Project? over the case (prosecution and/or defense) are
Investigate claims of innocence and wrongful responsible for the errors that have led to the
conviction cases. wrongful conviction.
In the early phases of investigation, I spend investigative work is completed, what really matters
quite a bit of time reading and abstracting is the battle that takes place in the courtroom—where
important documents associated with the case justice is meted out! If I have learned nothing else
(trial transcripts, appellate briefs and decisions, from working with the Innocence Project, it is that
discovery, etc.). If my investigation leads me to our justice system is not infallible and we must
believe that someone is truly innocent, I must try always fight injustice of any measure.
to figure out how the conviction resulted. In doing
so, I spend a lot of time rereading the case file. After What would be your advice to someone
I have a working knowledge of a case, I look for
either wishing to study or now studying
any discrepancies among or between witnesses.
criminal justice to become a practitioner in
If inconsistencies are found, they are followed up
on accordingly. I often interview witnesses who this career field?
testified during trial as well as witnesses who Innocence Project work requires profound
have not yet been interviewed by the original dedication, a passion for justice, and an inordinate
investigators. Witnesses sometimes change their amount of patience. The job is complex and can
testimony, and they do so for a variety of reasons. almost always be described as an uphill battle. It is
It is my job to listen to their story and document it. extremely difficult to prove a person’s innocence
Sometimes I learn of things that are helpful to my after he or she has been found guilty in our criminal
case and sometimes not, but at the end of the day I justice system. In doing so, you are essentially
am interested only in the truth. admitting that our justice system makes mistakes,
and no one likes to think that innocent people may
There are many factors that lead to wrongful be incarcerated.
convictions, including problems with eyewitness
identification, false confessions, government I strongly recommend that students who are
misconduct, bad science, snitches or informants, interested in working as investigators complete
and bad lawyers. Luckily, there is an abundance internships for the organizations or agencies of
of academic literature on these issues to aid interest to them. Most agencies are looking for
investigators and legal professionals in wrongful experience in their field, so every bit helps. It is
conviction cases. This research helps me understand beneficial to have a bachelor’s degree in criminal
how an innocent person can be convicted of a crime justice, but this is certainly not required. The type of
that he or she did not commit. We often enlist the educational background needed for an investigator
help of expert witnesses to explain to the court position really depends on the type of agency one
what went wrong in a particular case. After all of the wishes to work for.
SUMMARY
LO 13.1 Discuss the evolution of law within the field of the current retreat to a limited hands-off policy. During
corrections. the hands-off period, prisoners were considered slaves
of the state and had no rights at all.
• The only way we can be reasonably assured that justice
resides within a legal system is to determine the extent LO 13.2 Identify issues and cases involving the First,
to which it adheres to the rule of law. That is, a nation Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments.
must recognize the supremacy of certain fundamental
• During the period of extending prisoners’ rights, the
values and principles that have been committed to
federal courts extended a number of First, Fourth,
writing, and there must be a system of procedures to
Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights to them,
hold the government to these principles and values.
although these rights were obviously not as extensive as
• The courts have moved through three general periods they would be outside prison walls. (However, inmates
with respect to inmates’ rights: the hands-off period, a are the only group of Americans with a constitutional
short period of extending many rights to prisoners, and right to medical treatment.)
342 CORRECTIONS
• Because of the granting of these rights, the federal LO 13.7 Analyze the disparities related to race, gender, and
courts became clogged with Section 1983 suits disability with regard to the death penalty.
challenging the conditions of their confinement, the
great majority of which were demonstrably frivolous. • Historically, African Americans have been executed
disproportionately not only to their numbers in the
LO 13.3 State how and why prisoners’ petitions have been population but also to their numbers of murderers.
curtailed. However, today Black murderers are proportionately
less likely to be sentenced to death and to be executed
• The U.S. Congress passed the Prison Litigation Reform than white murderers.
Act (PLRA) in 1996, limiting prisoner access to federal
• The debate has now swung away from discrimination
courts and loosening the grip of the courts on state
against Black defendants to discrimination against
correctional systems because of these excessive suits.
Black victims because killers (regardless of their race) of
Congress also passed the Antiterrorism and Effective
white people are more likely to receive the death penalty
Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) in the same year, with a
than killers of Black people. However, once aggravating
rider limiting inmates’ habeas corpus rights. Numbers
and mitigating circumstances are taken into account,
of prisoners’ petitions to the federal courts dropped
there is disagreement over whether this bias is still in
substantially for the first few years after the passage
evidence.
of the PLRA and AEDPA, but they are now climbing
back up. • Women have constituted only 2% of persons executed
in the nation’s history. They commit far fewer death-
LO 13.4 Discuss the legal and ethical issues surrounding eligible murders than men, but it is estimated that if
the death penalty. they were treated the same as men they would have
constituted between 4% and 6% of those executed in the
• The majority of Americans support capital punishment,
United States.
but their opinions fluctuate with the crime rate and with
the availability of life without parole (LWOP). • The chivalry hypothesis has been advanced to explain
why we executed fewer death-eligible female murderers
• Because the United States stands almost alone among
than death-eligible male murderers, and the evil woman
democracies in retaining the death penalty, the issue
hypothesis has been advanced for females who are
has generated much debate and numerous court cases
executed.
questioning its constitutionality.
• It is constitutionally impermissible to execute people
• A variety of methods of execution have been used in
with mental disabilties (defined as an IQ less than or
the United States, but lethal injection is used almost
equal to 70) in the United States, but it is permissible to
exclusively today in all states with the death penalty.
execute people who are mentally ill. The reasoning is
that mental disability cannot be changed or faked, while
LO 13.5 Explain the difficulty in determining whether the
mental illness can. It is impermissible to execute people
death penalty is a deterrent.
who are “presently mentally ill,” but they can be restored
• The death penalty is often defended for its deterrent to sanity with drugs and then executed.
effect, but there is heated disagreement about whether it
deters. A committee of experts who examined all death LO 13.8 Describe the innocence revolution.
penalty studies up to 2011 concluded that we do not
• Advances in the genomic and brain sciences have led
really know whether it is a deterrent.
to an innocence revolution in death penalty discourse.
LO 13.6 Discuss the financial cost/benefit ratio of the DNA testing has resulted in many wrongly convicted
death penalty. persons being freed and the guilty being convicted.
DNA is not a panacea for death penalty opponents,
• Seeking the death penalty for a murderer is immensely however, because death penalty advocates now say that
more costly than seeking LWOP, and even those given with this advance we can go forth with an “error-free”
the death penalty are rarely executed. death penalty.
KEY TERMS
Bill of Rights 319 Deference period 319 Hands-off doctrine 317
Brutalizing effect 331 Eighth Amendment 324 Rule of law 316
Civil death statutes 317 First Amendment 320 Section 1983 suits 319
Civil rights claim 319 Fourteenth Amendment 325
Death Penalty Information Fourth Amendment 321
Center 332 Habeas corpus 318
1. What were the two main reasons or justifications 5. If you are for capital punishment on the grounds of just
behind the hands-off doctrine? deserts, do you think it is justified in financial terms?
Why or why not?
2. Why does the concept of habeas corpus have such a
revered place in common law? 6. What do you think accounts for the fact that
prosecutors today seek the death penalty
3. Why do you think that the United States retains the
proportionately more often for white people than for
death penalty when nearly all other democracies
people of color, a reversal of past practices?
eliminated it long ago? Should we eliminate it? Why or
why not? 7. Describe the reasoning behind the fact that people
with mental illnesses may be executed but people with
4. Argue your case for whether the death penalty does or
mental disabilities may not.
does not deter.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
14 Correctional Programming
and Treatment

Test your current knowledge of correctional programming and Upon completion of this chapter, the reader
treatment by answering the following questions true or false. Check should be able to:
your answers on page 389 after reading the chapter.
14.1 Define rehabilitation and explain why it
1. Trying to rehabilitate criminals is mollycoddling them and
costs society too much; therefore, we should stop trying. is imperative.
2. Programs to treat offenders and prevent recidivism are the 14.2 State the principles of evidence-based
biggest budget items in corrections after salaries. practices.
3. Even the best run treatment programs reduce recidivism by
14.3 Explain the principles of cognitive-
only about 5%.
behavioral therapy.
4. Personal experience will give you a better understanding of
what will or will not work with criminals. 14.4 Discuss the options for substance
5. Because addiction is a brain disease, the major way of abuse programming and the
attacking it in corrections is through pharmaceutical means. effectiveness of each.
6. Sex offenders are less likely to reoffend than almost any other 14.5 Explain the function and effectiveness
type of offender.
of anger management programs.
7. Most people arrested in major cities test positive for some kind
of illegal drug. 14.6 Describe the special treatment
modalities applied to sex offenders.
8. There are more individuals with mental illness in U.S. jails and
prisons than in mental hospitals. 14.7 Discuss the special problems the
criminal justice system has dealing with
offenders who have mental illnesses.
LIFE’S TURNING POINTS
Kathy Gardener was born to an “all-American” family in Dayton, Ohio. Her parents sent
her to a Catholic girls’ school, where she did well in her studies. All seemed to be going
well for Kathy until she was 16 years old, when she went to a local air force base with two
older friends from the neighborhood to meet the boyfriend of one of the girls. The boyfriend
brought along two of his friends, and the six of them partied with alcohol, drugs, and sex.
It was Kathy’s first time experiencing any of these things, and she discovered she liked all
of them. Thus began a 9-year spiral into alcohol, drug, and sex addiction and into all the
crimes associated with these conditions, such as drug trafficking, robbery, and prostitution.
When Kathy was 25 years old, she was involved in a serious automobile accident in which
she broke her pelvis, both legs, and an arm and suffered a concussion. She was charged
with a probation violation, drunken driving, and possession of methamphetamine for sale.
Kathy spent 10 months recuperating from her injuries, during which she was drug, alcohol,
and sex free. Because of her medical condition, she was placed on probation. Her probation
officer (PO) was a real “knuckle-dragger” who demanded full and immediate compliance
with all conditions of Kathy’s probation but who also became something of a father figure
to her. While she was recuperating, she was often taken care of by a male nurse she
described as “nerdy but nice.” Her parents, who had been estranged from her for some time,
(Continued)
345
346 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
became reacquainted with her, and her PO and nurse taught her to trust men again. She
also occupied her time taking online college courses on drug addiction and counseling. She
eventually married her “nerdy nurse” with her parents’ blessing, and one of the guests was
the “knuckle-dragger.”
Kathy’s story illustrates some core ideas in this chapter. No matter how low a person sinks
into antisocial behavior, they are not destined to continue the downward spiral. There are
a number of treatment programs available for all sorts of problems that get people into
trouble with the law. Of course, not everyone is confronted with such a dramatic turning
point in their life as a major automobile accident, leaving the person plenty of time to
ruminate about life and where they are going. Kathy’s addictive personality got her into
all kinds of trouble, and she knew it. People must come to this realization, and when they
do there must be programs in place to help them turn their lives around or else they will
probably fail and the community will suffer.
Introduction: The Rise and

Fall (and Rise Again) of Rehabilitation
LO 14.1 Define rehabilitation and explain why it is imperative.
As we have seen, there are five primary goals of the correctional system: deterrence, incapac-
itation, retribution, rehabilitation, and reentry. This chapter deals with the fourth of these
goals—rehabilitation. The term rehabilitation means to restore or return to constructive
or healthy activity (habilitation), but many offenders never experienced anything close to
habilitation in the first place, so there is little to restore. Correctional treatment or program-
ming needs to begin at the beginning and try to provide some of the things previously miss-
ing from the lives of offenders. Such programming obviously cannot supply the warmth and
nurturing so critical during the early years of life or the deep sense of attachment and com-
mitment to social institutions that comes from such experiences. However, programming
and treatment can provide some of the concrete rewards, such as an education and job train-
ing, that most of us have had largely thanks to the attachments to the family and other social
institutions we enjoyed as children, and it can do its best to change the destructive thinking
patterns that infect criminal minds.
We try to rehabilitate criminals with the realization that whatever helps offenders helps
the community. As Warren Burger, a former Supreme Court chief justice, opined, “To put
people behind walls and bars and do little or nothing to change them is to win a battle but
lose a war. It is wrong. It is expensive. It is stupid” (as cited in Schmalleger, 2001, p. 439). In
this chapter, we look at various ways treatment personnel have been fighting the war. When
reading this chapter, keep in mind that the vast majority of money assigned to correctional
agencies is spent on surveillance and control functions. According to the National Center on
Addiction and Substance Abuse (2010), among the 1.5 million inmates in jails and prisons
nationwide in 2006, only 11.2% had received professional treatment since admission.
The American Prison Association (now the American Correctional Association)
declared its commitment to rehabilitation in the following excerpt from its Declaration of
Principles, written nearly a century and a half ago (see In Focus 14.1).
Influenced by British pioneers Alexander Maconochie and Walter Crofton, rehabilita-
tion was the goal of the early American prison reformers, such as Zebulon Brockway. The
ideal of rehabilitation reached the pinnacle of its popularity from about 1950 through the
1970s, when the medical model of criminal behavior prevailed. The medical model viewed
crime as a moral sickness that required treatment, and prisoners were to remain in custody
CHAPTER 14 Correctional Programming and Treatment 347
In Focus 14.1
T H E A M E R I CA N C O R R E C TI O N A L
A S S O C I ATI O N’S 1 870 D E C L A R ATI O N O N TR E AT M E N T
Corrections is responsible for providing programs and programming that afford differential controls
and constructive activities that promote positive and services for juvenile and adult offenders, thus
change for responsible citizenship. maximizing opportunity for the largest number.
Opportunity for positive change or “reformation” Corrections leaders should actively engage
is basic to the concept of corrections because the community to assist in the restoration and
punishment without the opportunity for redemption reintegration of the offender.
is unjust and ineffective. Hope is a prerequisite
for the offender’s restoration to responsible Offenders, juvenile or adult, whether in the
membership in society. community or in institutions, should be afforded
the opportunity to engage in productive work,
Sound corrections programs at all levels of participate in programs including education,
government require a careful balance of community vocational training, religion, counseling,
and institutional services that provide a range of constructive use of leisure time, and other activities
effective, humane, and safe options for handling that enhance self-worth, community integration, and
juvenile and adult offenders. economic status.
Corrections must provide classification systems

for determining placement, degree of supervision, Source: American Correctional Association (2013).
under indeterminate sentences until “cured.” Consistent with the switch from a punishment
role to a more rehabilitative corrections role, classification systems, individual and group
counseling, therapeutic milieus, and college classes were added to the usual rehabilitative
fare of labor, basic education, and vocational training (Cullen & Gendreau, 2001).
The rehabilitative goal was questioned and then fell apart with the publication in
1974 of Robert Martinson’s (1974) article “What Works? Questions and Answers About
Prison Reform,” in which the author concluded that “with few and isolated exceptions
the rehabilitation efforts that have been reported so far have no appreciable effects on
recidivism” (p. 25). Unfortunately, the rhetorical question “What works?” got translated
into a definitive “Nothing works” and became a taken-for-granted part of corrections
lore. Before we can decide whether something does or does not work, we need to define
thresholds for what we mean. If we demand 100% success, then we can be sure that
“nothing works.” A program designed to change people is not like a machine that either
works or does not. Human nature being what it is, nothing works for everybody, some
things work for some people some of the time, and nothing will work for anybody all of
the time. High failure rates existed in many fields at their inception, but as practitioners in
those fields learned from their mistakes and their successes, failure rates inevitably dropped.
The Shift From “Nothing Works”

to “What Works?”
Many of the correctional programs Martinson (1974) surveyed sought to change behaviors
unrelated to crime, used programs that were not intensive enough, and used staff who were
not adequately skilled. Few programs were based on the proper assessment of offender risks
and needs, and programs often were faddish “Let’s see what happens” programs, includ-
ing everything from acupuncture to Zen meditation. Although both these practices are
348 CORRECTIONS
beneficial in their own right, they are hardly useful for changing criminal lifestyles. One
probation department actually insisted that male offenders should “get in touch” with their
feminine side by requiring them to dress in female clothes, and another required “poetry
therapy” (Latessa, Cullen, & Gendreau, 2002). Correctional resources are scarce and should
be expended only on programs that have proved themselves useful in reducing recidivism.
Ethical Issue
You are the chairperson of your state’s financial realistic reduction in recidivism of about 10%, and
appropriation committee. The director of state given other pressing needs the state has, would
corrections is again asking for a substantial you recommend appropriating the money or
increase in the prison budget for new treatment simply deny the request without taking it to the
counselors in the state’s five prisons. Given a committee?
How have Martinson’s (1974) conclusions stood up over the past 30 years? Gendreau
and Ross (1987) reviewed a number of studies of treatment programs and concluded, “It
is downright ridiculous to say that ‘Nothing works.’ . . . Much is going on to indicate that
offender rehabilitation has been, can be, and will be achieved” (p. 395). Others have stated
that properly run community-based programs could result in a 30% to 50% reduction in
recidivism (Van Voorhis, Braswell, & Lester, 2000), although on the basis of major litera-
ture reviews, reductions in the 10% to 20% range are more realistic expectations (Cullen &
Gendreau, 2001). A “success rate” is the difference in recidivism between a treatment group
and a control group. A review of studies from prison, jail, probation, and parole settings
conducted by Pearson, Lipton, Cleland, and Yee (2002) found that 55.7% of the subjects in
treatment groups did not reoffend, compared with 43.3% of control group subjects. This dif-
ference translates into an average 22.3% decrease in offending for treatment group members
(55.7 – 43.3 = 12.4/55.7 = 22.3). Although there are still plenty of failures, if treatment pro-
grams managed only half this success rate, the financial and emotional savings to society
would be truly enormous.
Lipsey and Cullen (2007) reviewed numerous studies of a variety of correctional inter-
vention programs conducted from 1990 to 2006 and concluded that treatment works mod-
erately well in reducing recidivism. Lipsey and Cullen believed that the biggest problem in
offender treatment is not that “nothing works” but rather that correctional systems do not
use the available research to determine what works—and then implement it. Rather, they
tend to rely on convenience (“Who is available and what methods do they use?”), custom
(“We’ve always done it this way and see no reason to change”), and ideology (“Criminals are
scumbags; why waste time and money on them?”).
Evidence-Based Practices
LO 14.2 State the principles of evidence-based practices.
Moving from the medical model to the just deserts/risk management model in corrections
did not mean the death of the rehabilitation goal, but terms such as assessment and program-
ming have replaced medical terms such as diagnosis and treatment. The main concern of
corrections is to reduce the risk offenders pose to society, not to improve offenders’ lives.
Of course, the two goals are not incompatible; if more offenders can be taught to walk the
straight and narrow, the risk of community members’ being victimized by them is reduced
proportionately. Even though programs are run on a financial shoestring, prison officials
like programming because it keeps inmates busy and out of trouble. Inmates also like it
because it gives them something to do outside of their cells and looks good on their parole
board records.
The movement to a “what works” frame of mind has resulted in the most progressive
agencies moving to evidence-based practices (EBP). EBP simply means that in order to Evidence-based practices
reduce offender recidivism, corrections must implement practices that have consistently (EBP): Movement in which
in order to reduce recidivism,
been shown by rigorous empirical assessment to be effective in that endeavor. Extensive corrections must implement
research has identified the following eight principles of evidence-based programming as practices that have consistently
been shown to be effective.
formulated by the National Institute of Corrections and illustrated in Figure 14.1:
FIGURE 14.1 Integrated EBP Model Illustrated

Source: Crime and Justice Institute at Community Resources for Justice (2009).
ENGAGE ONGOING ME
AS
SUPPORT IN COMMUNITY UR
E
RE
LE
INCREASE POSITIVE
VA
REINFORCEMENT
NT
PRA
CTICE
SKILL-TRAIN WITH
MENT FEEDBACK
DIRECTED PRACTICE
S
TARGET
INTERVENTION
URE
ENHANCE
AS
INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
ME
RISK/NEED:
ASSESS ACTUARIAL RISK
1. Assess actuarial risk/needs: Assessing offenders’ risk and needs (focusing on

dynamic and static risk factors and criminogenic needs) at the individual and aggre-
gate levels is essential for implementing the principles of best practice.
2. Enhance intrinsic motivation: Research strongly suggests that “motivational
interviewing” techniques, rather than persuasion tactics, effectively enhance moti-
vation for initiating and maintaining behavior changes. Motivational interviewing
is a method of prompting behavior change by helping clients explore and resolve
discrepant thinking, that is, the ambivalent feelings of wanting, and not wanting, to
change. The task of the counselor is to facilitate and engage intrinsic motivation on
350 CORRECTIONS
the assumption that if people can resolve the ambivalence themselves, they will value
it more than if it is resolved by others, and they will develop a “can do” attitude.
3. Target interventions
a. Risk principle: Prioritize supervision and treatment resources for higher risk
offenders.
b. Needs principle: Target interventions to criminogenic needs.
c. Responsivity principle: Be responsive to temperament, learning style, moti-
vation, gender, and culture when assigning to programs.
d. Dosage: Structure 40% to 70% of high-risk offenders’ time for 3 to 9 months.
e. Treatment principle: Integrate treatment into full sentence/sanctions
requirements. Take a proactive approach to treatment using cognitive-behav-
ioral therapy.
4. Skill-train with directed practice: Provide evidence-based programming that

emphasizes cognitive-behavior strategies and is delivered by well-trained staff.
5. Increase positive reinforcement: Apply four positive reinforcements for every one
negative reinforcement for optimal behavior change results.
6. Engage ongoing support in natural communities: Realign and actively engage
prosocial support for offenders in their communities for positive reinforcement of
Risk, needs, and responsivity
desired new behaviors.
(RNR) model: A treatment
correctional model that maintains 7. Measure relevant processes/practices: An accurate and detailed documentation of
that offenders and the community case information and staff performance, along with a formal and valid mechanism
are better served if offenders’
risks for reoffending and their for measuring outcomes, is the foundation of EBP.
needs (their deficiencies,
such as lack of job skills) are 8. Provide measurement feedback: Providing feedback builds accountability and
addressed in a way that matches maintains integrity, ultimately improving outcomes.
their developmental stage.
Risk principle: A principle that

refers to offenders’ probability
of reoffending and maintains
Risk, Needs, and Responsivity (RNR) Model
that those with the highest Taking a closer look at some of these principles, the psychosocial assessment of offenders
risk should be targeted for the
most intense treatment. typically begins with the risk, needs, and responsivity (RNR) model. The RNR model is
Needs principle: A principle
the premier treatment model in corrections today in the United States and in many other
that refers to an offender’s countries (Ward, Melser, & Yates, 2007). The risk principle refers to an offender’s proba-
prosocial needs, the lack of bility of reoffending, and those with the highest risk are targeted for the most intense treat-
which puts them at risk for
reoffending, and that suggests ment (“dosage” under Principle 3). The needs principle refers to offenders’ needs, the lack of
these needs should receive which puts them at risk for reoffending, and suggests that these needs receive high priority.
attention in program targeting.
The responsivity principle maintains that if offenders are to respond to treatment in mean-
Responsivity principle:
A principle maintaining that
ingful and lasting ways, counselors must be aware of their different development stages,
if offenders are to respond to motivation, and learning styles as well as their need to be treated with respect and dignity
treatment in meaningful and (Andrews, Bonta, & Wormith, 2006). The crux of these three principles is that we can no
lasting ways, counselors must
be aware of their different longer rely on “one size fits all” models, and treatment must be tailored to individual offend-
developmental stages and learning ers’ risks and needs.
styles and offenders need to be
treated with respect and dignity.
Actuarial data: Data relating Offenders’ Risks and Needs

to what has actually occurred
and been recorded over many Offenders’ risks and needs are assessed by two separate scales: one for risk and one for needs.
thousands of cases. Evidence-
based treatment modalities
These scales are used to make predictions about offenders’ success/failure based on actu-
are based on actuarial data. arial data (Principle 1), that is, what has actually occurred and been recorded over many
thousands of cases. It has been found time and time again across many professions that deci-
sions made on the basis of actuarial statistical norms trump decisions based on the insight of
individuals the great majority of the time (Andrews et al., 2006). Offender risk refers to the Offender risk: The probability
that a given offender will reoffend
probability that a given offender will reoffend and thus the threat they pose to the commu- and thus the threat that they
nity. This is assessed by assigning numerical scores to the scale according to the extent that pose to the community.
the offender evidences factors known to correlate with recidivism. Risk factors are either
static or dynamic. Static risk factors are those that cannot change (gender, age, ethnicity, and
other background variables). Dynamic risk factors (e.g., substance abuse, attitudes, values,
behavior patterns) are factors that are targeted for change.
Offender needs refer to deficiencies in offenders’ lives that hinder their making a Offender needs: Deficiencies
in offenders’ lives that hinder
commitment to a prosocial pattern of behavior. Scores on the risks and needs sections of their making a commitment to a
the scale tend to be highly correlated—offenders with high risk tend to have high needs. prosocial pattern of behavior.
Table 14.1 identifies and describes risks and dynamic needs that must be addressed; note
that identifying needs mirrors the identification of risk. The other principles of EBP are
either self-explanatory or addressed elsewhere in this book.
TABLE 14.1 Major Risk and/or Need Factors and Promising Intermediate Targets
for Reduced Recidivism
FACTOR DYNAMIC NEED RISK
History of antisocial Early and continuing involvement in Build noncriminal alternative

behavior a number and variety of antisocial behavior in risky situations.
acts in a variety of settings
Antisocial Adventurous, pleasure seeking, Build problem-solving skills,

personality pattern weak self-control, restlessly self-management skills, anger
aggressive management, and coping skills.
Antisocial cognition Attitudes, values, beliefs, and Reduce antisocial cognition,

rationalizations supportive of crime; recognize risky thinking and feeling,
cognitive emotional states of anger, build up alternative less risky
resentment, and defiance; criminal thinking and feeling, adopt a reform
versus reformed identity and/or anticriminal identity.
Antisocial associates Close association with criminal Reduce association with criminal
others and relative isolation from others; enhance association with
anticriminal others; immediate anticriminal others.
social support for crime
Family and/or Two key elements are nurturing and/ Reduce conflict, build positive
marital or caring and monitoring and/or relationships, enhance monitoring
supervision and supervision.
School and/or work Low levels of performance and Enhance involvement, rewards, and
satisfaction in school and/or work satisfactions.
Leisure and/or Low levels of involvement and Enhance involvement, rewards, and
recreation satisfaction in anticriminal leisure satisfactions.
pursuits
Substance abuse Abuse of alcohol and/or other drugs Reduce substance abuse; reduce
the personal and interpersonal
supports for substance-oriented
behavior; enhance alternative to
drug abuse.
Source: Andrews et al. (2006, p. 11). Reprinted with permission of SAGE Publications.
352 CORRECTIONS
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
LO 14.3 Explain the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy.
The therapeutic concepts and methods that proponents of the RNR model find most use-
ful in addressing offender risks and needs are cognitive-behavioral (Ward et al., 2007).
Cognitive-behavioral therapy Most of today’s programming consists of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT is an
(CBT): A counseling approach
that tries to address dysfunctional
approach that tries to solve dysfunctional cognitions, emotions, and behaviors in a relatively
cognitions, emotions, and short time through goal-oriented, systematic procedures and has been called “the most
behaviors in a relatively short time overtly ‘scientific’ of all major therapy orientations” (McLeod, 2003, p. 123). CBT combines
through goal-oriented, systematic
procedures using a mixture of the principles of operant psychology, cognitive theory, and social learning theory. Operant
operant psychology, cognitive psychology asserts that behavior is determined by its consequences (rewards and punish-
theory, and social modeling theory.
ments). Cognitive theory asserts that at a more proximal level, self-defeating behaviors are
the result of unproductive thought patterns relating to our history of rewards and punish-
ments (Wilson, Bouffard, & Mackenzie, 2005). We can do nothing about past experiences,
but we can do something to put the way we think about those things into proper perspective.
Finally, social learning theory is a sociological view of socialization that asserts behavior is
learned by modeling and imitation as well as by our history of rewards and punishments.
Ellis (1989) claimed that the great religious leaders of the past were cognitive-
behavioral therapists because they were trying to get people to change their behavior from
self-indulgence to temperance, from hatred to love, and from cruelty to kindness by
appealing to their rational long-term self-interest. The common message imparted by
religion is the need for personal change and the rewards that such change brings with it:
“Do these things and you will feel good about yourself now, and you will be eternally
rewarded.” This is what CBT tries to do: change offenders’ antisocial and self-destructive
behavior into prosocial and constructive behavior by changing the way offenders think
and by showing them it is in their best interests to do so.
The first lesson of CBT is that criminals think differently from the rest of us. Yochelson
and Samenow (1976) and Samenow (1999) pioneered treatment theories based on chal-
lenging criminal thinking errors when they realized that modalities based on “outside cir-
cumstances” theories did not work. The task is to understand how criminals perceive and
evaluate themselves and their world so that we can change them. Criminal thinking is
destructive; it lands offenders in trouble with family, friends, employers, and the criminal
justice system. Habitual offenders tend to perceive the world in fatalistic fashion, believing
that there is little they can do to change the circumstances of their lives. To illustrate this
fatalism and other criminal thinking patterns, Sharp (2006) cited a cartoon in which one of
the characters named Calvin says,
I have concluded that nothing bad I do is my fault. . . . I’m a helpless victim of

countless bad influences. An unwholesome culture panders to my undeveloped
values and it pushes me into misbehavior. I take no responsibility for my behavior.
I’m an innocent pawn of society. (p. 3)
Criminals think like Calvin in the context of a society where many people prefer to
claim victimhood rather than personal responsibility (“McDonald’s made me fat,” “ciga-
rette companies made me smoke,” etc.). Many mainstream criminological theories locate
the blame for crime on external factors such as poverty and peer pressure rather than on
allowing criminals the dignity of owning responsibility for their behavior. Criminals are
eager to jump on authoritative pronouncements that excuse their behavior, and defense
lawyers are equally quick to argue them in court. All of this reinforces the patterns of crim-
inal denial that treatment providers find so frustrating (Sharp, 2006; Walsh & Stohr, 2010).
Challenging and changing maladaptive thought patterns takes on a central role in treat-
ment as corrections workers strive to impress on offenders that whatever influences exter-
nal factors may have on behavior, before they can affect behavior they need to be evaluated
by individuals. The frustrations we experience do influence our behavior, but the important
thing is not their presence but rather whether we deal with them constructively or destruc-
tively. The task of correctional workers is to teach criminals to stop blaming outside cir-
cumstances for their problems, how to take responsibility for their lives, and how to deal
constructively with adversity.
CBT methods are used to address issues relating to self-control, victim awareness,
relapse prevention, critical reasoning, and anger control (Vanstone, 2000). CBT literally
“exercises the thinking areas of the brain and thereby strengthens the [neuronal] path-
ways by which the thinking brain influences the emotional brain” (Restak, 2001, p. 144).
Receive a high enough “dosage” of CBT, and it can literally reorganize the brain’s wiring
patterns (Vaske, Galyean, & Cullen, 2011). A number of brain imaging studies show that
CBT changes brain processes exactly the way that drugs such as Prozac do (Linden, 2006).
A systematic review of brain imaging studies revealed neurobiological changes in people
undergoing CBT. These studies show that CBT modifies the brain circuits involved in the
regulation of negative emotions and fear extinction in treatment subjects. In short, CBT is
able to change dysfunctions of the brain (Porto et al., 2009). However, these studies have
been conducted only with individuals with problems such as depression, anxiety, and obses-
sive–compulsive disorder, for which patients, unlike most criminals, are intensely motivated
to overcome their problems.
Substance Abuse Programming

LO 14.4 Discuss the options for substance abuse programming and the effectiveness of
each.
Alcohol is at the same time our most popular and most deadly way of drugging ourselves.
Police officers spend more than half of their law enforcement time on alcohol-related
offenses. One third of all arrests (excluding drunk driving) in the United States are for
alcohol-related offenses, about 75% of robberies and 80% of homicides involve a drunken
offender and/or victim, and about 40% of other violent offenders in the United States were
drinking at the time of their offenses (Mustaine & Tewksbury, 2004).
Alcohol is a very powerful and addictive drug and is the biggest curse of the crim-
inal justice system despite the system’s current obsession with illegal drugs. Illegal drug
use presents almost as big a problem, with about 67% of state prisoners and 56% of fed-
eral prisoners being regular drug users prior to their imprisonment (Seiter, 2005). Clearly,
mind-altering substances, both legal and illegal, are strongly associated with criminal
behavior, and as such the tendency of many criminals to overindulge in them must be
addressed by correctional agencies.
Substance abuse problems are extremely difficult to treat because individuals most at
risk for becoming addicted share many of the same traits associated with chronic criminal
behavior, with many of these traits being strongly genetic (Vaughn, 2009). For instance,
alcoholism researchers divide alcoholics into two types: Type I and Type II. Type II alco-
holics start drinking and using other drugs earlier, become more rapidly addicted, and
exhibit many more character disorders, behavior problems, and criminal involvement, both
prior and subsequent to their alcoholism, than Type I alcoholics (Crabbe, 2002). Genetic
researchers maintain that genes are much more heavily involved in Type II alcoholism than
in Type I alcoholism (Crabbe, 2002).
354 CORRECTIONS
It has been shown that drug addiction and criminality are part of a
broader propensity to engage in many forms of deviant and antisocial
behavior (Fishbein, 2003; Vaughn, 2009). The now defunct U.S. gov-
ernment’s Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program col-
lected urine samples from arrestees across the country to test for the
presence of drugs. Figure 14.2 shows the percentage of adult arrest-
ees in five large U.S. cities who tested positive for illicit drugs over a
6-year period. These are the latest data available, but data from pre-
vious ADAM publications show roughly similar percentages from a
number of other large U.S. cities, so we can be assured that they are
little different in any year. The numbers show that illicit drug abuse
is clearly strongly associated with criminal behavior, but the asso-
ciation is not necessarily a causal one. A large body of research indi-
cates that drug abuse does not appear to initiate a criminal career,
© iStockphoto.com/Rapid Eye
although it does increase the extent and seriousness of one (Menard,

Mihalic, & Huizinga, 2001). In other words, research seems to point to
the fact that chronic drug abuse and criminality are part of a broader
tendency of some individuals to engage in a variety of deviant and
antisocial behaviors. Numerous studies have shown that traits char-
acterizing antisocial individuals, such as conduct disorder, impulsive-
ness, and psychopathy, also characterize people with drug addictions
Photo 14.1 Substance abuse often contributes to poor (Fishbein, 2003; McDermott et al., 2000). The large body of research
decision making and criminal engagement for inmates. indicating a strong genetic vulnerability to alcoholism and drug
addiction helps explain why many millions who drink and/or exper-
iment with drugs do not descend into the hell of addiction and why others are “sitting
ducks” for it (Walsh, Johnson, & Bolen, 2012).
FIGURE 14.2 Percentage of Arrestees Testing Positive for Drugs in Five U.S. Cities, 2007–2013

Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy (2014).
*Differences between that year and 2013 are significant at the .05 level or less.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Atlanta Chicago Denver New York Sacramento
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Drug Treatment With Swift Consequences

for Failure: Hawaii’s HOPE Program
The state of Hawaii has a drug treatment program highly touted by the National Institute
of Justice (2012) called Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation With Enforcement (HOPE). The
results of this program are based on 493 drug-using probationers with an elevated risk for
violating probation, two thirds of whom were randomly assigned to the HOPE program,
with the rest being assigned to regular supervision. The program emphasizes a “no non-
sense” delivery of both treatment and “swift and certain” punishment for violations. HOPE
probationers are more closely monitored for drug use and other violations than control pro-
bationers. Figure 14.3 shows that this program had very positive results after 12 months. For
instance, HOPE participants were 55% (47 – 21 = 26/47 = 55.3%) less likely to be arrested
and 72% less likely to have used drugs. This experiment needs to be repeated in other loca-
tions with larger samples, and if results of any further studies come close to Hawaii’s, there is
real cause for optimism.
FIGURE 14.3 Comparison of Outcomes Between HOPE and Control Probationers

Source: National Institute of Justice (2012).
50%
47% 46%
40%
30%
20% 23%
21%
15%
10% 13%
9%
7%
0
Arrested Used Drugs Skipped Probation
Appointments Revoked
Control HOPE
Therapeutic Communities
Therapeutic communities (TCs) are residential settings for drug and alcohol treatment Therapeutic communities
that use the community spirit generated by the influence of peers and various group pro- (TCs): Residential communities
providing dynamic “mutual
cesses to help individuals overcome their addiction and develop effective social skills. Most self-help” environments and
such communities offer long-term (typically 6–12 months) residence, in which opportuni- offering long-term opportunities
for attitude and behavioral change
ties for attitude and behavioral change operate on a hierarchical model, whereby treatment and the learning of constructive,
stages reflect increased levels of personal insight and social responsibility. The interac- prosocial ways of coping with life.
tions of the residents are both structured and unstructured, but they are always designed
to influence attitudes and behaviors associated with substance abuse (Litt & Mallon, 2003).
TCs provide dynamic “mutual self-help” environments, in which residents transmit and
356 CORRECTIONS

M A R G A R E T JAC K S O N , D R U G TR E AT M E N T S PE C I A L I S T
Position: Drug treatment specialist • Be aware of population at hand

Location: Phoenix, Arizona • Know your craft well
Education: BS in criminal justice, Northern • Be reliable
Arizona University; MA in criminal justice • Be a team worker
administration, Boise State University; drug and
alcohol counseling courses, Rio Salado University
• Be able to communicate with multiple agencies
• Be attentive to detail when writing reports and
preparing inmate charts
How long have you been a
drug treatment specialist?
In general, a typical day for a drug
I have been a drug treatment specialist for 3 years; treatment specialist in corrections:
I have been in the correctional field for a total of
almost 5 years. Monday through Friday, the TC starts with a
morning meeting called “community meeting.”
This meeting is an inmate-run self-help meeting,
The primary duties and responsibilities with drug treatment staff supervising. During
of a drug treatment specialist: the treatment meetings and groups, inmates are
My primary duties are to provide drug abuse learning and demonstrating therapeutic language
treatment to inmates in the federal prison system. and actions in a public “community” setting. After
I provide individual and group counseling and community meeting, inmates are separated into
therapy to drug- or alcohol-addicted inmates their appropriate phase groups, on the basis of the
incarcerated in the federal prison system. The date they entered treatment. RDAP, similarly to
Federal Bureau of Prisons provides a voluntary but other TCs, uses a hierarchical form for the
criteria-based program called Residential Drug 9 to 12 months inmates are in treatment. Program
Abuse Program (RDAP), a 9-month (minimum of participants typically have 3.5 hours of treatment
500 hours of direct treatment) modified therapeutic daily; during this time, I am working directly with
community (TC). I provide clinical services using the inmates providing therapy. Therapy consists of
CBT techniques and introduce community as using their RDAP workbooks and a facilitator guide
method to the inmates and develop a working to treat the inmates’ addictions and behaviors. In
system of a therapeutic community. The first step in RDAP, there are three phases of treatment, with
working with inmates in this process is to determine new inmates entering treatment every 3 months
their eligibility to receive counseling/therapy; one of (approximately 25 inmates per phase). With
the tools I use for this is a psychosocial assessment. inmates phasing in and out of treatment, creating
If an inmate is eligible for treatment, I will use the individual treatment plans, review of progress,
psychosocial assessment to create an individual and treatment summaries of each inmate are my
treatment plan for the inmate. Once eligibility and responsibility to maintain and develop.
an assessment for treatment have been conducted, a
team of three other therapists and I are responsible
My advice to someone either wishing to
for providing residential treatment to the offenders. study, or now studying, criminal justice to
The inmates are assigned a series of workbooks become a practitioner in this career field:
and attend daily meetings. I construct the inmates’ It would be important to understand the population
individual therapeutic treatment plans, reviews, and for which you are providing therapy. In this regard,
recommendations for further treatment on release being an intern in a correctional setting would be
from federal prison. beneficial to someone becoming a practitioner
because of the nature of working inside a prison.
The qualities/characteristics that are most Finally, practice development and presentation of
helpful for one in a probation or parole lectures and seminars to groups as this will be a
career: skill used often when providing group therapy.
• Be fair and consistent Note: Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the opinions of the Federal Bureau of Prisons or the
• Have good judgment Department of Justice.
reinforce one another’s acceptance of and conformity with the highly structured and strin-
gent expectations of the TC and of the wider community. Life in a TC is extremely hard on
people who have never experienced any sort of disciplined expectations from others, and as
a consequence there are many dropouts; some residents withdraw voluntarily, and others are
removed by TC staff for noncompliance.
TCs also operate within prison walls and are most often known as residential substance Residential substance abuse
abuse treatment (RSAT) communities. These RSATs typically last 6 to 12 months and are treatment (RSAT): A community
that typically lasts 6 to 12 months
composed of inmates in need of substance abuse treatment and whose parole dates are set and is composed of inmates
to coincide with the end of the program. RSAT inmates are separated from the negativity in need of substance abuse
treatment and whose parole dates
and violence of the rest of the prison and are provided with extensive cognitive-behavioral are set to coincide with the end of
counseling and attend Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings as well the program. RSAT inmates are
separated from the negativity and
as many other kinds of rehabilitative classes (Dietz, O’Connell, & Scarpitti, 2003). Most violence of the rest of the prison
participants in these RSATs are positive about most aspects of their experience, with most and are provided with extensive
cognitive-behavioral counseling
inmates listing cognitive self-change programs as the most positive aspect of their treatment and attend Alcoholics Anonymous
(Stohr, Hemmens, Shapiro, Chambers, & Kelly, 2002). Dietz et al. (2003) also found that most and Narcotics Anonymous
inmates in prison-based TCs were positive about the programs and that they had significantly meetings as well as many other
kinds of rehabilitative classes.
fewer rule violations and rates of grievance filing than inmates in the general population.
An interesting program implemented in a prison setting and transitioning into the com-
munity is the Delaware Multistage Program (Mathias, 1995). In the beginning stage, offend-
ers spend 12 months in a prison-based TC called Key; in Phase 2, they spend 6 months in
a prerelease TC called Crest; and finally, in Phase 3, they receive an additional 6 months of
counseling while on parole or in work release. Figure 14.4 compares drug use and arrest
outcomes for offenders completing all phases (Key, Crest, and Key-Crest) 18 months after
release from prison and a comparison group of offenders who did not participate in any of
the phases. We see that 76% of Key-Crest members remained drug free, and 71% remained
arrest free, compared with only 19% and 30%, respectively, of the control group. Put another
way, 3 times as many Key-Crest participants were drug free after 18 months than the com-
parison group, and 2.37 times more Key-Crest participants were arrest free than the com-
parison group.
FIGURE 14.4 Delaware Multistage Correctional Treatment Program 18 Months After Release From Prison

Source: Mathias (1995).
100
Drug-Free Arrest-Free
80 76%
71%
65%
60
Percent
48%
45%
40
30% 30%
19%
20
0
Com- Key Crest Key- Com- Key Crest Key-
parison Crest parison Crest
358 CORRECTIONS
Inciardi, Martin, and Butzin (2004) followed this same group 5 years after release from
prison. As expected, the greater the time lapse between treatment and evaluation, the greater
the relapse rate. Over the 5-year period, it was found that 71% of drug abusers who went
through a residential treatment program and who received additional treatment on release
(the Key-Crest group) had relapsed and 52% had been rearrested. However, the contrast
with the comparison group still makes the Key-Crest program impressive. Among the com-
parison subjects, 95% had relapsed and 77% had been rearrested. This study shows how
extremely difficult it is to battle addiction even after a long period of forced abstinence and
extensive psychosocial treatment.
Pharmacological Treatment
Leshner (1998) informed us that addiction is a brain disease and a “prototypical psycho-
biological illness, with critical biological, behavioral, and social context elements” (p. 5).
Addiction: A psychobiological Because addiction is basically a brain chemistry problem, pharmacological treatment with
illness characterized by intense drug antagonists (drugs that work by blocking the effects of other drugs) stabilizes brain
craving for a particular substance.
chemistry and renders people with addictions more receptive to psychosocial counseling.
Proponents of pharmacological treatment emphasize that it is not a magic bullet and that it
augments, not replaces, traditional treatment methods.
There are many drug antagonists, but only one has claimed success in curbing both
alcohol and drug addiction—naltrexone. Naltrexone reduces craving among alcohol-
and drug-abstinent addicts and reduces the pleasurable effects of those who continue to
use (Schmitz, Stotts, Sayre, DeLaune, & Grabowski, 2004). A study of people with drug
addictions on federal probation found that about one third of probationers who received
naltrexone plus counseling relapsed, as opposed to two thirds of those who received only
counseling (Kleber, 2003). A new drug called Vivitrol is a slow-release version of naltrexone
(it releases the drug into the bloodstream slowly over a period of days) that controlled
clinical trials have shown to be effective not only in preventing drug abuse relapse but also
in diminishing the cravings that drive it. “Vivitrol is the first non-narcotic, non-addictive,
extended release medication approved for the treatment of opioid dependence—marking
an important turning point in our approach to treatment” (Volkow, 2010).
Proponents of pharmacological treatment claim that the effects of such treatment are
more effective and immediate and wonder why the correctional system is relatively unin-
terested in pharmacological treatment (Kleber, 2003). It could be that corrections profes-
sionals received their training primarily in the social sciences, and there are some who have
genuine ethical problems regarding chemical treatments for behavioral problems. However,
according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (2006), while medication is important for
treating many people with addictions because medication helps them to stabilize their lives,
it must be combined with counseling.
Anger Management
LO 14.5 Explain the function and effectiveness of anger management programs.
A central component of many treatment programs in corrections is anger management,

Anger management programs: particularly in violent, drug, and sex offender treatment programs. Anger management
Programs that consist of a number
of techniques by which someone
programs consist of a number of CBT techniques by which someone with problems in con-
with problems in controlling trolling anger can learn the cause and consequences of anger to reduce the degree of anger
anger can learn the causes and avoid anger-inducing triggers. Anger is often central to violent criminal behavior, and
and consequences of anger to
reduce the degree of anger and given the frustrations resulting from being in custody or under correctional supervision
avoid anger-inducing triggers. in the community, it often leads to violence. Anger is a normal and often adaptive human
feeling that is aroused when we feel we have been offended or wronged in some way. The
tendency to undo that wrongdoing by retaliating is motivated by anger and is adaptive in the
sense that it warns those who have offended or wronged you that you are not to be treated
that way. The problem, however, is not anger per se but rather the inability of some to man-
age it. These individuals often become excessively angry over minor real or imagined slights
to the point of rage.
Anger management classes are taught in groups and designed to increase offend-
ers’ responsibility for ownership of their emotions (anger) and their reactions to them.
Offenders often become frustrated and angry because they think that life is not fair
to them (“I’m a victim of circumstances”) and the world owes them a living. This kind
of destructive thinking must be challenged and replaced by individual responsibility.
Anger management classes also teach such skills as rational thinking (“Did this person
really mean to diss me?”) to increase offenders’ ability to react to frustration and con-
flict in assertive rather than aggressive ways and to develop effective communication
skills (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2009). There appears to be a growing consensus that prop-
erly conducted anger management programs reduce inmate violence and reduce violent
recidivism for program completers versus control subjects by about 8% to 10% (Jolliffe &
Farrington, 2009; Serin, Gobeil, & Preston, 2009). Although this seems like a small return
on a corrections investment, even an 8% reduction in violent offenses prevents much
needless suffering and millions of dollars in expenses.
Ethical Issue
You are the chief psychologist in the largest state you that he operates from a therapeutic theory with a
prison in the state. One of your counselors hasn’t “no nonsense, no excuses” framework and that he’s not
recommended that any inmate be put on a program of going to let these “trailer trash out of here until they’ve
prerelease in 6 months, and you get a lot of complaints completed their full minimums.” What would be your
about his “hard-nosed” attitude. The counselor tells response to this counselor?
Sex Offenders and Their Treatment

LO 14.6 Describe the special treatment modalities applied to sex offenders.
The American public harbors all sorts of very negative images of sex offenders. We lock
them up under civil commitment orders after they have completed their prison terms, and
all 50 states have sex offender registration laws (Talbot, Gilligan, Carter, & Matson, 2002).
However, the term sex offender defines a very broad category of offenders ranging from
“flashers” to true sexual predators, just as property offenders include everyone from petty
shoplifters to career burglars. At least 98% of all sex offenders are either in the community
on probation or parole or will be some day (Carter & Morris, 2002), making the issue of sex
offender treatment of the utmost importance.
However, some particularly heinous sex offenders may never be released from con-
finement, The particularly notorious example is that of NuShawn Williams (aka Shyteek
Johnson). NuShawn was convicted in 1997 of having unprotected sex with numerous girls
and women, including a 13-year-old girl, in drugs-for-sex encounters, knowing that he was
HIV positive. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but at the completion of his sentence
360 CORRECTIONS
the state of New York refused to release him under its Mental Hygiene Law. In 2013, a jury
determined that he was a dangerous sex offender with a cognitive abnormality and should
be detained. In 2014, the New York State Supreme Court ordered that Williams be com-
mitted to a secure treatment facility as a sexual predator. According to Dennis Vacco, who
was the New York attorney general when the state legislature passed the Mental Hygiene
Law, “It was designed to keep the most vicious sexual predators from ever getting back out
on the street, and in this instance, I couldn’t think of anybody who is more eligible for the
application of this statute than Nushawn Williams” (Ewing & Dudzik, 2014). Whatever
your thoughts are about sex offenders in general, Williams had demonstrated his wan-
ton disregard for others, knowingly infecting his victims with a deadly virus. Such mental
hygiene laws have created a category of individuals defined as “abnormal” who may be pun-
ished indefinitely for what they might do (Williams admitted that he would further offend)
if released. Some people consider these laws to be wrong and discriminatory. Others laud
them as protecting the public from predatory and dangerous individuals who can almost be
guaranteed to offend again if released. What do you think?
Notwithstanding true predators such as Williams, sex offenders, as a category of offend-
ers are actually less likely to reoffend than any other category. Looking at many years of
British crime statistics, it was found that burglars are the most likely of all criminals to be
reconvicted (76%) within 2 years of being released from prison, with sex offenders being
the least likely (19%) (Mawby, 2001, p. 182). A review of 61 studies of sex offender recid-
ivism found an average rate of reconviction for sexual crimes of 13.4% over a 4- to 5-year
follow-up (Hanson & Bussiere, 1998). Perhaps the most instructive study of recidivism
conducted to date was a study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, whose researchers tracked
9,691 sex offenders released from prisons in 15 states in 1994 (Langan, Schmitt, & Durose,
2003). Over the 3-year period of follow-up, sex offenders had a lower rearrest rate (43%)
than 272,111 non–sex offenders released at the same time in the same states (68%). Rearrest
rates included all types of crimes and technical violations, such as failing to register as a sex
offender and missing appointments with their parole officers. Only 3.5% of the sex offenders
were reconvicted of a new sex crime during the follow-up period. Because recidivism rates
include only those offenders who have been caught, in common with other types of offend-
ers, the above figures should be considered bare minimums.
State-of-the-art treatment of sex offenders must include a thorough assessment of psy-
chosocial problem areas, deviant arousal patterns, and polygraph (“lie detector”) assessment
(Marsh & Walsh, 1995). Deviant arousal
patterns are assessed by a device called a
penile plethysmograph (PPG), which mea-
sures blood flow in the penis (the level of the
swelling of the penis) when exposed to devi-
ant sexual images. These measures are then
compared with measures in response to con-
sensual adult sexual images. If, for instance,
a man achieves a 10% erection viewing non-
© iStockphoto.com/SDI Productions
deviant heterosexual pornography involving

adults, but achieves a 75% erection viewing
porn involving young boys, we know where
his sexual tastes are—the penis finds it difficult
to lie. Of course, the PPG is far from foolproof.
Counselors are in agreement that effec-
tive treatment is impossible until the full
extent of the offender’s sex offending his-
Photo 14.2 Group work is often used in offender programming both inside and outside of tory is acknowledged by them and known to
correctional facilities. treatment personnel (Walsh & Stohr, 2010).
But sex offenders are notorious for hiding their sexual histories, so polygraph assessment
is needed to access their sexual histories. In comparing self-reports before and after poly-
graph testing across 2 decades of research, it was found that child molesters underreport the
number of sex crimes they have committed by about 500% and overreport their own child-
hood sexual victimization (the “I’m a victim too” excuse) by about 250% (Hindman &
Peters, 2001). The polygraph therefore may be seen as a very useful tool if the first goal of
treatment is to honestly acknowledge one’s sexual history.
Unlike treatment for other problems in corrections, there has been a great deal of interest
in the pharmacological treatment of sex offenders. Numerous researchers have concluded
that optimal treatment (following a thorough psychosocial and physiological assessment)
combines the biomedical and cognitive-behavioral approaches (Walsh & Stohr, 2010). The
biomedical approach involves so-called chemical castration with a synthetic hormone Chemical castration:
A biomedical treatment for chronic
called Depo-Provera, which is also sold as a method of female birth control. Depo-Provera sex offenders in which a synthetic
works in men to reduce sexual thoughts, fantasies, and erections by drastically reducing the hormone called Depo-Provera
is administered. Depo-Provera
production of testosterone, the major male sex hormone. Depo-Provera prevents testos-
works in men to reduce sexual
terone production, and it is testosterone activating a part of the brain called the hypothala- thoughts, fantasies, and erections
mus that controls the male sex drive. Depriving the brain of testosterone allows offenders to by drastically reducing the
production of testosterone, the
concentrate on their psychosocial problems without the distracting fantasies and urges major male sex hormone.
(Marsh & Walsh, 1995).
Following the State of California in 1997, several states now mandate chemical castra-
tion (“castration” is reversible on withdrawal from the drug) for repeat offenders. Not all sex
offenders should be treated with this drug, because there are sometimes negative side effects,
and treatment can be provided only by a medical doctor. However, a number of reviews of
the literature from Europe and America show that antiandrogen drugs such as Depo-Provera
result in recidivism rates for repeat rapists and child molesters that are remarkably low (in
the 2%–3% range) when compared with offenders treated with only psychosocial methods
(Maletzky & Field, 2003). A review of 11 meta-analyses covering 353 separate studies from
1943 to 2009 found that surgical castration had the strongest effect on lowering recidivism,
followed by chemical castration (Kim, Benekos, & Merlo, 2016). Insight-oriented therapies
such as psychoanalysis had essentially no effect, while CBT had a significant effect, but much
less if not combined with some form of antitestosterone medication.
Offenders With Mental Illnesses

LO 14.7 Discuss the special problems the criminal justice system has dealing with
offenders with mental illnesses.
As graphically indicated in Figure 14.5 from the Council of State Governments Justice
Center (2014), mental illness lurks behind many factors that are linked to criminal behavior.
These types of offenders under correctional supervision present a particularly difficult
treatment problem. People with addictions to alcohol and drugs ingest substances that
alter the functioning of their brains in ways that interfere with their ability to cope with
everyday life, although their brains may be normal when not artificially befuddled. They
also have brains that limit their capacity to cope, but that limitation is intrinsic to their
brains, not attributable to intoxicating substances. Studies around the world have found that
people with mental illnesses (mostly schizophrenics and manic depressives) are at least 3
to 4 times more likely to have convictions for violent offenses than persons in general (Fisher
et al., 2006). Most of them, however, are more likely to be victims than victimizers, and many
of their problems are made worse through abuse of alcohol and/or drugs (Walsh & Yun,
2013). It is because of their substance abuse and greater propensity for violence, in addition
to mental hospital deinstitutionalization, that people with mental illnesses are overrepre-
sented in the correctional system.
362 CORRECTIONS
Torrey and his colleagues (2014)

FIGURE 14.5 Mental Illness Lurks Behind Many Other Problems
told us that there were an estimated
Source: Council of State Governments Justice Center (2014). 356,268 inmates with severe mental ill-
ness in prisons and jails in the United
States in 2012 and approximately
Antisocial 35,000 patients with severe mental ill-
Attitudes
Antisocial nesses in psychiatric hospitals. In addi-
Lack of
Education
Personality tion, the Bazelon Center for Mental
Pattern
Health Law (2008) estimated that 16%
of individuals on probation or parole
Poor Antisocial have some form of mental illness. This
Employment Mental Illness Friends and
History Peers state of affairs results from the dein-
stitutionalization of all but the most
Lack of seriously ill patients from mental hos-
Prosocial Substance
pitals that occurred during the 1960s.
Leisure Abuse
Activities
Family and/ For instance, there were 559,000 per-
or Marital
Factors
sons in U.S. mental hospitals in 1955;
in 2000 (with a U.S. population about
80% greater), there were only 70,000
(Gainsborough, 2002), and as we have
seen, it was down to 35,000 in 2012.
Deinstitutionalization of people with mental illnesses from mental hospitals has shifted
to their institutionalization in jails and prisons, which in essence has resulted in the crim-
inalization of mental illness (Lurigio, 2000). Table 14.2 presents the highlights of a Bureau
of Justice Statistics report on the mental health problems of prison and jail inmates (James
& Glaze, 2006).
TABLE 14.2 Prevalence of Mental Health Problems Among Prison and

Jail Inmates
PERCENTAGE OF INMATES IN . . .
STATE PRISON LOCAL JAIL
SELECTED WITH MENTAL WITH MENTAL

CHARACTERISTICS PROBLEM WITHOUT PROBLEM WITHOUT
Criminal record
Current or past violent 61% 56% 44% 36%

offense
Three or more prior 25% 19% 26% 20%

incarcerations
Substance dependence 74% 56% 76% 53%

or abuse
Drug use during month 63% 49% 62% 42%

before arrest
PERCENTAGE OF INMATES IN . . .
STATE PRISON LOCAL JAIL
SELECTED WITH MENTAL WITH MENTAL

CHARACTERISTICS PROBLEM WITHOUT PROBLEM WITHOUT
Family background
Homelessness during 13% 6% 17% 9%

year before arrest
Past physical or sexual 27% 10% 24% 8%

abuse
Parents abused alcohol 39% 25% 37% 19%

or drugs
Charged with violating 58% 43% 19% 9%

facility rulesa
Physical or verbal assault 24% 14% 8% 2%
Injured in a fight since 20% 10% 9% 3%

admission
Source: James and Glaze (2006).

a. Includes items not shown.
Offenders with mental illnesses in jails and prisons are often victimized by other
inmates, who call them “bugs” and exploit them sexually and materially (stealing from
them), although most inmates seek to avoid them. These types of offenders are also pun-
ished by corrections officers for behavior that, although not pleasant, is symptomatic of
their illness. These behaviors include such things as excessive noise, refusing orders or
medication, self-mutilation, and poor hygiene. Obviously, correctional facilities are not
the ideal place for providing mental health treatment, even assuming the staff are aware
who people with mental illnesses are among their charges. Few correctional or probation/
parole officers have any training about mental health issues, and one nationwide survey
of probation departments found that only 15% of them operated special treatment pro-
grams for people with mental illnesses (Lurigio, 2000). It is not that anyone expects cor-
rectional workers to become treatment providers, because that’s a job for psychologists
and psychiatrists. However, they should be expected to recognize signs and symptoms of
mental illness, know how to effectively deal with situations involving people with men-
tal illnesses, and have a basic understanding of the causes of and treatment for the major
mental illnesses.
Treatment for people with mental illnesses in prisons and jails consists primarily of
antipsychotic and antidepressive medication, typically administered by a nurse. Many
individuals, especially paranoid schizophrenics, often refuse to take their medication. It is
permissible in a number of states to forcibly treat inmates with mental illnesses if they meet
state-specific criteria, which is typically if inmates pose a risk to others or themselves. This
is determined on a case-by-case basis by a review committee composed of correctional
and medical professionals (Torrey et al., 2014). Of course, just because such procedures
364 CORRECTIONS
are authorized by the state does not mean they are used or that the inmate will be treated.
According to Torrey and his colleagues (2014),
Given the many legal difficulties in providing treatment for individuals with seri-
ous mental illness in prisons and jails, it is not surprising that many of them,
including those who are most severely ill, receive no treatment whatsoever. This
leaves corrections officers with few options for controlling mentally ill inmates’
psychotic, often violent behavior. One option is seclusion, which often makes the
inmate’s mental illness worse. (p. 10)
What is both morally and fiscally required of the criminal justice system is to provide
offenders with mental illness the support and structure they need to avoid further crimi-
nal behavior. One of the ways this is attempted is through mental health courts modeled on
drug courts in use across the nation (and discussed in Chapter 4). As with drug courts, men-
tal health courts seek to divert offenders from jails and prisons by facilitating their access to
services, providing intensive judicial monitoring, and promoting collaboration among the
court, probation, mental health service, and social service providers.
O F F E N D E R TR E AT M E N T
The treatment of criminal offenders in modern (2007), inmates undergoing Naikan therapy
Western nations is fairly uniformly centered on will spend many hours alone asking themselves
the RNR model. Countries that care little about three questions: “What has my mother (and other
the civil rights and treatment of their citizens in significant persons in my life) done for me?”; “What
general obviously are not very concerned about have I done for her (and other significant persons
the humane treatment of their prisoners. A modern in my life) in return?”; and “What problems have
country concerned with rehabilitation, but with I caused her (and other significant persons in
some different assumptions about how to achieve it, my life)?” (p. 762). Thinking about these things is
is Japan. A large cultural difference between Japan supposed to generate feelings of remorse, sadness,
and Western nations such as the United States is empathy, guilt, and consciousness of responsibility.
that whereas the latter emphasizes individualism The counselor will enter the offender’s cell
and a great degree of personal freedom, the every hour or so to check on progress. Only
Japanese emphasis is on collectivism and individual if the offender displays tendencies to blame
conformity to community norms. Unlike the general outside forces for their criminal behavior, or has
tendency in American criminology to shift the not adequately explored the questions, will the
blame for crime away from the individual and onto counselor intervene to clarify.
“society,” the Japanese place responsibility for
criminal behavior squarely on the shoulders of the Could such introspective methods work with
individuals who commit it. Western prisoners who exist in cultures that seem
to have little respect for individual responsibility?
Western CBT counselors tend to play down Bindzus (2001) expressed “doubts about the physical
introspection (gaining insight into one’s self) as too and psychological ability of European prisoners
time-consuming and believe that criminals need to stick through NAIKAN for a one-week period,
the participation and direction of counselors in with daily sessions up to sixteen hours” (p. 266).
order to benefit. Japanese correctional counselors, What works in one cultural context might not
on the other hand, see their role as a kindly guide work in others for a variety of reasons. Of course,
on the edge rather than as a trainer at the center inmates require some sort of concrete help as well
providing definite directions (Bindzus, 2001). One as introspective self-knowledge even in Japan.
type of counseling favored in Japanese corrections Indeed, Eskridge (1989) listed a large number of
is called Naikan, which means “inside looking” vocational training courses available in Japanese
and is designed to get offenders to see themselves penal institutions, ranging from auto mechanics, to
as others see them. According to Kanazawa seamanship, to welding.
SUMMARY
LO 14.1 Define rehabilitation and explain why it is craving for the substance of abuse, which is something
imperative. that may be significantly alleviated by certain alcohol or
drug antagonists such as naltrexone.
• Although the vast majority of the correctional
budget is spent on security, rehabilitation efforts
LO 14.5 Explain the function and effectiveness of anger
have not completely ceased. The success rates of
management programs.
many rehabilitation programs are low, but outcomes
are significantly better for treated offenders than • Anger management programs consist of a number
for similarly situated offenders who did not receive of techniques by which someone with problems
treatment. in controlling anger can learn the causes and
consequences of anger to reduce the degree of anger and
LO 14.2 State the principles of evidence-based practices. avoid anger-inducing triggers.
• Successful treatment programs implement evidence-
based practices (EBP) that proceed by conducting a LO 14.6 Describe the special treatment modalities applied
thorough assessment of offenders’ risks and needs and to sex offenders.
then address these issues using cognitive-behavioral • Similar observations were made about sex offenders
techniques along with the principles of responsivity. who have difficulty in refraining from acting out their
sexual fantasies with inappropriate targets. Repeat sex
LO 14.3 Explain the principles of cognitive-behavioral offenders treated with Depo-Provera combined with
therapy. cognitive-behavioral counseling have much lower
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a counseling recidivism rates compared with offenders treated only
approach that tries to address dysfunctional cognitions, psychologically.
emotions, and behaviors in a relatively short time
through goal-oriented, systematic procedures using a LO 14.7 Discuss the special problems the criminal justice
mixture of operant psychology, cognitive theory, and system has dealing with offenders with mental illnesses.
social modeling theory.
• These individuals are represented in the correctional
LO 14.4 Discuss the options for substance abuse system by a factor of at least 3 or 4 times their prevalence
programming and the effectiveness of each. in the general population. The correctional system is
not equipped to deal with these incapacitated people,
• Treatment is best accomplished for severe substance who are often victimized by other jail or prison inmates
abusers in therapeutic communities, although even or disciplined by corrections officers for exhibiting
then there is a significant percentage of failure. Much behavior that is basically part of their mental disease
of this failure has to do with the intense psychological syndrome.
KEY TERMS
Actuarial data 350 Evidence-based practices (EBP) 349 Responsivity principle 350
Addiction 358 Needs principle 350 Risk, needs, and responsivity (RNR)
Anger management programs 358 Offender needs 351 model 350
Chemical castration 361 Offender risk 351 Risk principle 350
Cognitive-behavioral therapy Residential substance abuse treatment Therapeutic communities
(CBT) 352 (RSAT) 357 (TCs) 355
366 CORRECTIONS
1. In your estimation, are the time, effort, and finances alcoholics differently from Type I alcoholics if you
spent on rehabilitative efforts worth it given the low were a treatment provider? How about if you were a
success rates? Would longer periods of incarceration probation or parole officer?
better protect the public?
4. Should all sex offenders undergo Depo-Provera
2. Cognitive-behavioral approaches stress thinking and treatment? What are the ethical problems of such
rationality. How about emotions? Do you think that invasive treatment?
human behavior is motivated more by emotions than
5. Discuss the various component parts of the
by rationality?
responsivity principle.
3. Given the greater involvement of genes in Type II
alcoholism, in what ways would you treat Type II
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
©iStockphoto.com/SPmemory
15 Corrections in
the 21st Century

Test your current knowledge about the likely future of corrections Upon completion of this chapter, the reader
in this country by answering the following questions. Check your should be able to:
answers on page 389 after reading the chapter.
15.1 Discuss the mistakes of the past that
1. On the basis of the chapters you have already read in
this book, what do you think are likely to be trends in should inform the future.
corrections in the next several years? 15.2 Describe decarceration and what is
2. Decarceration is likely related to state budgets. (True or false?) causing it.
3. Privatization of corrections leads to greater professionalism of
15.3 Discuss the importance of
staff. (True or false?)
professionalization to the field of
4. Privatization of corrections leads to more safety and security
corrections.
for inmates, staff, and communities. (True or false?)
5. Correctional work is fully professionalized. (True or false?) 15.4 Explain the value of relationships in
corrections.
6. Resource use and waste production by correctional institutions
should be a serious concern for communities. (True or false?) 15.5 Identify the potential problems with
privatization.
CAN WE CURE CRIMINALITY?
Alex DeLarge is the product of a society in which no one takes personal responsibility for
their actions and of a culture that panders to our basest human instincts. He is the leader
of a gang that is into what they call ultraviolence, and Alex engages in all kinds of crime,
especially sadomasochistic rape. Betrayed by his associates, he is eventually caught by
police after raping and murdering a woman. Two years into his sentence for murder, Alex
volunteers as a test subject for an experimental treatment based on aversion therapy. Alex
is given drugs and forced to watch violent images while the drugs make him nauseated.
After 2 weeks of “therapy,” Alex has become incapable of fighting back against a man who
attacks him. The mere thought of violence and sex now make him retch violently. He is
then released from prison as “successfully cured” in order to reduce the financial burden of
imprisonment. Only when he finally freely chooses to desist from crime does he do so.
Some of you may recognize this as the story line of the dystopian futuristic novel
A Clockwork Orange (Burgess, 1962/2001). The book is about an effort to “cure”
criminality and its ultimate failure, as Alex reverts to his former self after the cure wears
off. Another book, Walden Two (Skinner, 1948/2005), this one based on a futuristic
utopian society, contains a similar theme. One of the characters in the book explains the
goal of such a society:
You see, we want to do something—we want to find out what’s the matter with
people, why they can’t live together without fighting all the time. We want to find
out what people really want, what they need in order to be happy, and how they
can get it without stealing it from somebody else.
Efforts to “do something” this time were based on the principles of behaviorist psychology—
principally on positive reinforcement instead of aversion therapy.
(Continued)
369
370 CORRECTIONS
(Continued)
Both books resonate with the perpetual problem of corrections: effectively identifying and
treating the sources of criminality. We still need to “allot a portion of the virgin soil . . . as
the site of a prison,” as Nathaniel Hawthorne predicted in the opening vignette in Chapter 1.
The financial cost of prisons is prohibitive, but we will always need them, barring some
“miracle cure” awaiting us in the distant future. The great physicist Niels Bohr once said,
“Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future,” so we do not speculate about
that here. James Carville, campaign manager for Bill Clinton’s successful presidential
campaign, coined the following phrase: “It’s the economy, stupid.” Economic considerations
have and always will drive corrections policy. We enact mandatory sentencing laws that
imprison people who perhaps should not be imprisoned when state budgets allow, and
then we release prisoners early who should not be released when state coffers are low.
This generates public anger as victims’ tormentors are released, thus renewing calls to “get
tough” on crime, and the whole process recycles. Perhaps legalizing drugs and saving the
prisons for folks like Alex is the only solution at present. These are some of the things to
think about as you read this last chapter.
Introduction: Learning From the Past

So That We Have Hope for the Future
LO 15.1 Discuss the mistakes of the past that should inform the future.
Americans have a tendency to revisit old themes, efforts, and programming every gen-
eration or so—even when such endeavors were clear failures and rejected by generations
past. Perhaps we keep retrying old endeavors because of the media influence that reduces
very complex problems to brief and simplistic messages, and consequently we do not
understand that despite the new packaging and marketing, we have been there and done
that before. Or maybe it is hand-in-glove collusion by the media and politicians in this
reductionism of complex topics and collective memory loss.
Whatever the reason, we do not seem to learn much from the experiences of those who
have come before us, at least as that is related to correctional practice. Or, more accurately,
we certainly could learn more from our past than we have! It is an oft-cited truism, cour-
tesy of the philosopher Santayana, that those who do not know their history are doomed
to repeat it. This adage bears repeating, as it clearly applies here regarding correctional pro-
grams, operation, and practice.
Punitive Policies Yield Overuse of Corrections

To illustrate this point, all we need to do is consider the efforts of the past almost 4 decades
that are declining in popularity—namely, the drug war, mandatory sentencing, supermax
prisons, and abandonment of treatment programming. Spurred by punitive sentiments
that swept the political, social, and economic systems, the statutes, declarations, and prac-
tices that derived from these efforts profoundly changed corrections as Americans expe-
rienced it (Cullen, Jonson, & Stohr, 2014; Whitman, 2003). First, they vastly increased
the use of all forms of corrections in this country. Our imprisonment rate (just for pris-
ons, not including jails) was stabilized at about 125 persons per 100,000 residents for
50 years (1920–1970) until the drug war, mandatory sentences, and other punitive poli-
cies increased it (Ruddell, 2004). At the end of 2009, this number had risen to 502 persons
per 100,000 residents, or more than 4 times the imprisonment rate of that 50-year period.
Notably, by 2018 the number of people held in prison had decreased, yielding a rate of 431
CHAPTER 15 Corrections in the 21st Century 371
per 100,000, but this still represented a 345% increase in the rate of incarceration from
1970 to 2018 (Carson, 2020, p.1).
A comparable steady and swift increase in the use of jails has occurred since punitive
policies were put in place. The number of persons incarcerated in America’s jails more than
quadrupled, or increased by 405%, from 183,988 in 1980 to 738,400 inmates at midyear 2018
(this is, however, down from the peak of 780,200 at midyear 2007; Minton & Zeng, 2015,
p. 2; Zeng, 2020, p. 1).
Similarly astounding increases can be found in the use of probation and parole because
of punitive practices. From 1980 to 2009, the number of people on probation more than
tripled, with an increase of 376% (from 1,118,097 in 1980 to 4,203,967 in 2009; Glaze,
Bonczar, & Zhang, 2010, p. 2), although it decreased to 328% when the 1980 and 2016
figures for probation (3,673,100) are compared (Kaeble, 2018, p. 1; Kaeble, Maruschak, &
Bonczar, 2015, p. 2). Likewise, the number of persons on parole nearly quadrupled during
this time period (from 220,438 in 1980 to 456,000 in 2016) because most people in prisons
and jails do eventually return to their communities (Kaeble, 2018, p. 1; Kaeble & Bonczar,
2017). In sum, what all of these numbers and Figure 15.1 indicate is that because of punitive
policies, the use of corrections—prisons, jails, and community corrections—has increased
by almost unimaginable numbers from 40 years ago, and although it is no longer increasing,
the total number of those under some form of correctional supervision is still well beyond
historical norms.
Yet as best we can tell, we do not have proportionately more crime these days than at
any other period in our history (see Figures 15.1 and 15.2). In fact, on the basis of victim-
ization reports, it appears that by 2018 (the latest year for which we have data), we had one
of the lowest rates of victimization since the National Crime Victimization Survey began
in 1973 (Morgan & Oudekerk, 2019, p. 1; Morgan & Truman, 2018, p. 2). As indicated
in Figures 15.1 and 15.2, violent crime by adults and juveniles did increase in the 1980s
and through the early 1990s, but it has since dropped precipitously (with a 2018 modest
increase in simple assaults and robberies), though clearly the use of incarceration has not
mirrored this decrease. Moreover, property crimes have dropped just as consistently and
sharply, if not more so (Truman & Rand,
2010; Bureau of Justice Statistics [BJS], 2016;
Morgan & Truman, 2018). FIGURE 15.1 U.S. Imprisonment Rate and Violent Crime
In addition, our use of corrections is not Rate, 1985–2017
in sync with what other countries are doing. Source: Morgan and Oudekerk (2019). Bureau of Justice Statistics.
We have similar crime rates (Farrington,
Langan, & Tonry, 2004), yet our incarcera- 800
tion rate is more than 14 times that of Japan; 700
Per 100,000 U.S. Residents
5 to 7 times that of France, Canada, China,

600
England, and Wales; and 3 to 4 times that of
500
Saudi Arabia and Chile (Walmsley, 2015).
Russia is the only other developed nation that 400
gets close to our incarceration rate, and it is 300
a dictatorship, yet the United States still out- 200
paces that nation with 1.5 times its incarcer- 100
ation rate.
0
Second, interestingly enough, these
85
90
95
00
05
10
20 5
17
punitive policies have not had the effect of

1
19
19
19
20
20
20
20
increasing sentencing length. The average

State and Federal Imprisonment Ratea
sentence to prison in state courts in 1992 was
6.5 years, compared with 2.6 years in 2016 U.S. Violent Crime Rateb
(Bonczar, 2011, p. 1; Kaeble, 2018). It is not

372 CORRECTIONS
FIGURE 15.2 Percentage of U.S. Residents Age 12 or Older Who Were Victims of Total Serious, Serious

Violent, and Serious Property Crimes, 1993–2018
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 1993–2018.
6.0%
5.0%
4.0%
3.0%
2.0%
1.0%
0.0%
93
95
00
05
10
15
18
19
19
20
20
20
20
20
Serious Violent Crime Serious Property Crime Total Serious Crime
clear why sentencing length has decreased over this period of time, especially when more
punitive policies were in effect, but more recent decreases may be related to an evolving
“penal help” perspective for corrections (see the discussion below about penal help and
penal harm). It is also possible that decreased sentence length might be one of those unin-
tended consequences of the overuse of incarceration. The capacity of prisons and jails,
along with probation and parole caseloads, has been vastly increased over the past 20 years,
but it may not have increased enough to accommodate the numbers of processed felons
in the courts. What this means is that even when policies are punitive, courts are forced
to adjust their sentences to the lower relative capacity of prisons, and parole boards and
judges are pressured to release inmates as prisons and jails fill up.
Third, punitive policies, as discussed in other chapters, have led to an explosion in the
number of women and minority group members who are incarcerated or under some
form of correctional supervision (Austin & Irwin, 2001; BJS, 2006; Irwin, 2005; Pollock,
2004; Zimring, Hawkins, & Kamin, 2001). Until the current version of the drug war was
resurrected—yes, there were others in American history (Abadinsky, 1993)—the propor-
tion of women to men and of racial and ethnic minorities to white people in prisons, in
jails, and on parole and probation was somewhat stable (BJS, 2006). Although the numbers
of people of color are decreasing in prisons and in jails, the disproportionality in the incar-
ceration of African Americans vis-à-vis white people in particular remains.
Fourth, such policies have favored the use of more isolation, “punishment,” and
warehousing to deal with both bulging correctional populations and recalcitrant inmates.
The number of supermax facilities exploded, as had the number of supermax inmates, as
management of the number of inmates turned to favoring punishment and warehousing
over treatment (Irwin, 2005).
As a result of such policies, a fifth outcome has been the abandonment of a core princi-
ple of some correctional institutions and practices (e.g., probation, parole, minimum secu-
rity institutions, work releases)—namely, treatment—based on insufficient evidence. Some
correctional programs and institutions were formulated on the premise that treatment is
a major goal of corrections. Although the public has continued to believe this (Applegate,
Cullen, & Fisher, 2001), for all intents and purposes, real efforts at treatment—beyond basic
Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, religious, and GED programs—in
prisons, jails, and community corrections received little funding and virtually disappeared
in many places from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s.
Although some of these endeavors and efforts, such as the drug war and mandatory
sentencing, continue and even grow in some communities, for the most part scholars and
some policymakers have deemed the former a failure and the latter a spectacular waste of
money. Furthermore, though the number of supermaxes has grown in the recent past, there
is far less hype about their promise of eliciting inmate reform as in previous years. Finally, all
indications are that the belief in and embrace of treatment programming—albeit primarily
programs that can demonstrate their worth—is on the upswing both in correctional insti-
tutions and in the communities. Although all of these changes in attitudes and perceptions
are positive, it is frustrating to realize that we knew—or should have known from our own
past—that drug wars, mandatory sentencing, isolation, and pure punishment in the form of
warehousing are not likely to reduce crime in this country, let alone reform those under cor-
rectional control. The long and the short of it is that we should have known better because it
had all been tried before.
Decarceration
LO 15.2 Describe decarceration and what is causing it.
As indicated in the foregoing, the numbers of persons incarcerated in jails and prisons and
supervised on community corrections have been declining recently. By 2017, we had seen
10 years of declines, resulting in a 13% overall decline in the imprisonment rate from 2008
to 2017, a 12% decline in the jail incarceration rate from 2007 to 2017, and an 11% decline
in the use of probation (from 2008 to 2016) and mostly increases (as more inmates were
released from prisons) in parole for approximately the same time periods (Bronson &
Carson, 2019; Kaeble, 2018; Zeng, 2019).
These declines were generally at the state level, not the federal level. We should cau-
tion that Attorney General Jeff Sessions called for harsher sentences at the federal level in
the spring of 2017, and his replacement, Attorney General William Barr, has since affirmed
that direction, so we may see more incarceration in the immediate future. These more recent
decreases (and increases in parole) have not been uniform across the states or by region
(Glaze & Herberman, 2013). Only in three northeastern states—New York, New Jersey, and
Maryland—were these declines a discernable trend over the past decade and a half, though
in Illinois, Michigan, Delaware, and Texas, the 2009 declines were preceded by anemic
growth rates earlier in the decade (West, Sabol, & Greenman, 2010). Nor have all states expe-
rienced such declines. The difference about the time period we are in, however, is that for the
first time in a long time, we are seeing some steady, and cumulatively dramatic, declines in
the use of corrections.
Explanations for the Decline

in the Use of Incarceration
What might these declines in the use of incarceration be attributed to? Is it possible that
declining crime, particularly violent crime, has actually begun to affect the use of prisons
in some states? Is it possible that enforcement of the drug war has waned as states have
legalized or medicalized marijuana? Eleven states—Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois,
374 CORRECTIONS
Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada,

Oregon, Vermont, and Washington—and
the District of Columbia had legalized rec-
reational marijuana and most other states
had decriminalized or medicalized its use
as of spring 2020. In only eight states is
its possession and use completely illegal.
Has the drug hype as tied to criminality
(e.g., the hysteria over crack mothers pro-
ducing crack babies) receded in the minds
©iStockphoto.com/1shostak
of the public, politicians, and criminal jus-

tice practitioners? Is it possible, in the case
of the northeastern states, that declines
are tied to reduced state populations—
particularly the reduction of young people,
who are the most engaged in street crimes?
Photo 15.1 People passing a state legal marijuana shop sign in downtown Seattle. Could it be that the reduced use of incar-
ceration for some of these states is a con-
sequence of the recession that hit the United States in 2007 and the resultant declining tax
revenues and increased debts faced by states and localities then that made them realize that
maybe they can no longer afford the bill for spiraling imprisonment?
We think it is possible that all of these scenarios have some value in explaining the
decreased use of incarceration in some states in the past few years and for a few states for the
past several years. These declines mean that prison beds are more likely to be reserved for
the most serious offenders. This is confirmed by the fact that about 55% of those in prison in
the states are violent offenders, perhaps signaling greater attention being paid to them rather
than to drug offenders (Bronson & Carson, 2019).
The Recession and Decreased Use of Incarceration

In 2009, the Pew Center on the States published a report subtitled The Long Reach of
American Corrections in which the authors made the case that “more prison spending
brings lower public safety returns” (Saylor & Iwaszko, 2009, p. 17). The authors argued
that over the past 20 years, we have incarcerated too many first-time and nonviolent
offenders who never needed to be incarcerated. Doing so has cost us billions of dollars
with no collateral decrease in crime, as most of these people either would not reoffend or
could have been handled in a much less expensive and intrusive way in the community.
Moreover, the more we incarcerate, the less we achieve the ideal of incarcerating the seri-
ous repeat offenders (as there are far fewer of these); the more the lower level offenders
are “replaced,” leading to greater involvement of more people in crime; and the less likely
we are to deter current criminals, given that research does not show that longer sentences
deter more effectively. Although Saylor and Iwaszko (2009) acknowledged that the huge
incarceration increase was likely responsible for somewhere between 10% and 35% of
the decrease in violent crime since the mid-1990s (depending on which researcher you
listen to and which model and assumptions they adopt), the authors noted that most
of the drop in crime was likely attributable to factors outside of incarceration. It makes
no sense financially, they argued, to continue to incarcerate low-level, aging, and less
criminogenic offenders.
There are some examples from the recession-era news indicating that some states and
localities came to the same conclusion. For instance, Washington State in April 2011 closed
the 135-year-old McNeil Island prison because of the need to cut the state’s budget; the cut
was projected to save $12.7 million (Mulick, 2010, p. 1). Likewise, for the first time in state
history, Oregon in October 2010 closed a minimum security facility in order to save the
state a projected $33.8 million (Zaitz, 2010, p. 1). In both these instances, Department of
Corrections officials claimed that none of the inmates would be released early because of the
closures. In another example from Washington, this time involving the Thurston County Jail
and its finances, the county manager declined to open the newly built, $45 million facility for
at least a year, because the county could not afford to staff it or pay for its operation (Hulings,
2010, p. A4). Also the new jail was not needed as much because of the declining jail popula-
tion in the county, which happened after construction had begun.
Moreover, in a report by the Sentencing Project, Porter (2011) revealed that in 2010,
“state legislatures in at least 23 states and the District of Columbia adopted 35 criminal jus-
tice policies that may contribute to reductions in prison populations and eliminate barri-
ers to reentry while promoting effective approaches to public safety” (p. 3), such as relaxed
parole rules and eligibility, reduced penalties, adoption of ban-the-box laws that delay ques-
tions about criminal histories for reentering people from prisons or jails, and reduction in
punitive measures for juveniles. Porter noted that developing alternatives to prison contrib-
uted to a 20% drop in incarceration from 1999 to 2009 in both New York and New Jersey. She
argued that though several of these changes in state policies were made to reduce current
and future budgets, they were also made because policymakers were no longer convinced of
the efficacy of mass incarceration as a public safety measure (see also Porter, 2016).
In a more recent example, Connecticut has closed three prisons because of the declin-
ing prison population in that state (Connecticut Department of Corrections, 2019). In a
COVID-19 world where health requirements take their toll on the economies of states and
localities, it is likely that more inmates will be released (we have already seen this as of spring
2020) and more correctional institutions might be shuttered.
Implications of Decarceration
and the Need for a Plan of Action
Should these clear indications of 10 years of decarceration turn into a flood of releases—
dare we say mass decarceration—there will be, and continue to be, many positive out-
comes, such as (a) less incarceration of low-level offenders, resulting in a greater
sense of justice for community members; (b) less incarceration of people of color, also
resulting in a greater sense of justice for all; (c) fewer tax dollars being devoted to incar-
cerating people; (d) a reduction in the growth of the corrections–industrial complex,
at least at the institution level (see a discussion of the complex later in this section); and
(e) more opportunities for people to age out of crime and contribute in a meaningful way
to their communities. However, there are likely some negative outcomes of decarceration
that could occur if policymakers and correctional officials do not plan appropriately, such
as greater unemployment, more low-level crime, and increased use of drugs and alcohol by
ex-inmates. There are also likely to be those working in corrections who oppose the closure
of correctional institutions and programming, as it will threaten their livelihoods (Garland
et al., 2014). Clearly, money will be saved through decarceration, but some of these monies
will likely be needed to fund reentry programs in corrections, work and training programs
for the decarcerated and unemployed staff in communities, and the expansion of drug and
alcohol treatment in communities so that decarcerated people can have the opportunity to
rebuild their lives.
Penal Help Versus Penal Harm

Another explanation for the decreased use of incarceration may be the increased use of
treatment programming that addresses the appropriate risk, needs, and responsivity (RNR)
levels and types of offenders. As indicated in Chapter 14, there is a well-established science
376 CORRECTIONS
behind some of the best-formulated and best-implemented programs. There is evidence

that these programs may be effectuating a decrease in criminal engagement, further con-
vincing correctional managers that expenditures on programming may be a better bet for
reducing crime and costs than is the building of more institutions.
Some scholars have signaled that this shift to treatment over punishment may portend a
Penal harm: Movement in move away from the penal harm movement of the past several decades to an age of reform
corrections based on retribution
in sentencing and the infliction of
embodied by the term penal help (Stohr, Jonson, & Cullen, 2014). The reform of state laws
greater harm while inmates are to liberalize marijuana use, the repeal of harsh sentences, and the reduction in the use of
under correctional supervision. incarceration generally, coupled with the increase in the use of rehabilitation, restorative
Penal help: Movement including justice, and reentry programming, all signal a sea change in the nature of the justice system
the reform of state laws to liberalize
marijuana use, the repeal of harsh and in corrections in particular. Taken together, they indicate there has been a societal shift
sentences, and the reduction in toward penal help over penal harm (Garland et al., 2014; Pollock, Hogan, Lambert, Ross, &
the use of incarceration coupled
with the increase in the use of
Sundt, 2012; Stohr et al., 2014; Tucker, 2014b).
rehabilitation, restorative justice,
and reentry programming.
Altogether there has been a societal
shift away from penal harm as a
Professionalization
guiding principle of corrections.
LO 15.3 Discuss the importance of professionalization to the field of corrections.
As we look to the future, there are a number of problems in addition to the amount of incar-
ceration that should preoccupy those of us concerned about correctional practice. One
issue that affects almost all areas of practice is that of professionalism. As indicated in other
chapters in this book, the effort to professionalize corrections has not yet yielded consis-
tent fruit around the country. Some correctional institutions and programs have moved to
enforce professional standards for their new hires, such as the requirement of a college-level
educational background, sufficient training, and pay that is commensurate with job require-
ments. However, most correctional organizations, perhaps primarily because of a lack of
resources, have failed to move in a similar direction.
Yet hiring and keeping a professional staff is key to moving correctional institutions and
programs into the 21st century. When correctional practitioners do not have the kind of edu-
cation that acquaints them with the history, background, concepts, and research regarding
corrections, then the correctional organization is simply ill prepared to meet the challenges it
faces. Moreover, when turnover is high because training and pay are insufficient, the organi-
zation becomes less stable and less equipped to solve problems regarding pressing concerns.
Therefore, if we ever hope to move beyond the past and its failed correctional endeavors and
perspectives, the ranks of correctional practitioners need to be professionalized.
Corrections Is a Relationship Business

LO 15.4 Explain the value of relationships in corrections.
The correctional experience for clients, offenders, inmates, and staff and the success of
treatment and probation and parole programming all hinge on the relationships among the
people in these organizations. It is often said that the greatest expense for any public service
organization is its staff. A collateral expense for correctional institutions and programs is the
care of their inmates or clients. Notably, these expenses wax and wane to some degree on
the basis of the relationships among the actors. If those relationships are characterized by
respect and concern among staff and respect and care (coupled with a healthy degree of con-
trol) between staff and clients or offenders, then costly lawsuits, staff turnover, riots, and just
general stress that produces discord in the workplace are all less likely.
In his groundbreaking work on less explored and identified types of intelligence—
emotional and social—Goleman (1995, 2006, p. 4) argued that scientific research on the
brain indicates that we are “wired to connect” to others, which means that every time we
engage with other human beings, we affect, and are affected by, their thoughts and conse-
quently their behavior. Those relationships that are the most prolonged and intense in our
lifetimes are most likely to affect us not just socially or emotionally but biologically.
To a surprising extent, then, our relationships mold not just our experience but also our
biology. The brain-to-brain link allows our strongest relationships to shape us on matters as
benign as whether we laugh at the same jokes or as profound as which genes are (or are not)
activated in T cells, the immune system’s foot soldiers in the constant battle against invading
bacteria and viruses (Goleman, 2006, p. 5).
Goleman (2006, p. 5) identified a “double-edged sword” in relationships in that those
that are positive are healthful, but those that are negative can lead to stress, fear, frustra-
tion, anger, and despair—all emotions that can manifest themselves in physical ailments.
Of course, correctional environments are chock-full of stressed, fearful, frustrated, angry,
and despairing people, and we are not just referring to the inmates here! So this means
that unless correctional environments can foster some positive relationships between and
among staff and clients or inmates, both will suffer psychologically and physically.
Recognition of the need to provide opportunities for inmates to maturely cope while
under correctional supervision (see Chapter 7) would appear to be an acknowledgment
that something positive can come out of the decent incapacitation of offenders. Moves to
democratize workplaces and give people a voice and choice in their work (as discussed in
Chapter 8) may serve to reduce some of the negative emotions associated with working
in corrections. More recent attempts to treat rather than just warehouse inmates in insti-
tutions and offenders on probation and parole also represent a move to more positive
relationships and thus a better future for corrections. As indicated by the findings from
the research presented in Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 14, there is reason to believe that
some treatment and supervision tactics can work to help offenders as they endeavor to deal
with their substance and other abuse issues.
Privatization
LO 15.5 Identify the potential problems with privatization.
Privatization in corrections is not a new phenomenon. As discussed in the first chapters of Privatization: Occurs
when services or whole
this book, transportation and the convict lease system were both based on privatization. The correctional institutions are
privatization of parts of prison operations (e.g., health care, food service, work programs) provided or operated by private
continues in many public prisons and jails. And since the 1980s, the number of completely businesses or corporations.
private prisons has grown at both the state and federal levels. Several of those prisons have
experienced problems with escapes, violence, staff turnover, inexperienced staff and defi-
cient staff training, brutality and abuse by staff, and inadequate physical facilities (Camp &
Gaes, 2002).
The Profit Motive in Corrections

In her 1973 book Kind and Usual Punishment: The Prison Business, Jessica Mitford detailed
the misuse of public monies for prisons; instead of improving the diets and opportunities of
inmates after the Attica riot (the causes of the riot), for instance, millions of dollars were used
by prison officials in New York to purchase riot gear and technology and to hire more staff.
Her argument is that closed-off institutions, such as prisons and jails with their relatively
powerless inmates, are particularly susceptible to graft and corruption of both the legal and
the illegal sort. She noted that state legislatures are particularly susceptible to contributions
by private entities that want to do business with corrections.
378 CORRECTIONS
Forms of corruption and abuse of

monies—the illegal sort of graft—are
easy to spot, though they are not always
stopped. As Mitford (1973) complained,
“Convicts will tell you about profitable
deals made with local merchants for sup-
plies in which the warden pockets a hand-
© Brian Cahn/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News
some rakeoff, unexplained shortages in the

canteens, the disappearance of large quan-
tities of food from the kitchen” (p. 172). It is
the legally sanctioned graft in corrections,
however, whereby money from state legis-
latures is intended for one type of purchase
but is diverted to another—such as the
hiring of more administrators rather than
the provision of adequate food—that fas-
cinated her and caused her to characterize
Photo 15.2 A for-profit prison, operated by Corrections Corporation of America, houses men the operation of public-sector corrections
awaiting trial on immigration matters.
in this country in the 1970s as a “business.”
She charged that corrections in many states
were out to make a profit for administrators and their supporters (among vendors and state
legislatures) and not to attend to their core mission of holding people decently and securely
while assisting them in their reform.
Almost 50 years later, if anything, the operation of corrections in the United States has
become even more businesslike in the worst way, with some commentators characteriz-
Corrections–industrial ing the system as the corrections–industrial complex (Welch, 2005). In his last speech,
complex: Collusion among
politicians, business, and criminal
President Dwight Eisenhower warned the nation about the development of the military–
justice officials to make money for industrial complex, or the collusion among politicians, defense contractors, and leaders
themselves and their organizations in the military regarding the value of war and military spending as a moneymaking and
from correctional services,
construction, and operations. power-generating enterprise for all three (Mills, 1956). Similarly, Welch (2005) argued
that corrections has become a similar enterprise among (a) state legislatures, governors,
and city and town leaders (politicians); (b) who receive contributions from prison or jail
contractors, vendors, and private prison corporations (businesses); and (c) directors and
secretaries of corrections, wardens, sheriffs, and probation and parole managers (crim-
inal justice officials) who participate in contracting with business. The criminal justice
officials contract with the private-sector businesses not necessarily because they provide
better services or even less expensive services than the public sector but because they
are pressured to do so by the politicians who appoint or select and fund them. In other
instances, the officials receive kickbacks themselves in terms of remuneration or jobs
when they leave public service for the private sector.
The Walnut Grove Correctional Facility

The perfect example of how this kind of collusion among politicians, business, and crim-
inal justice officials in this corrections–industrial complex can lead to gross injustices can
be found in a small Mississippi town. In the town of Walnut Grove, an hour’s drive east of
Jackson, was the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility for boys and young men (it incarcer-
ated youth up to age 22 to increase the number and, thus, the profit the private corpora-
tion could make). It was the largest juvenile and young adult prison in the country, housing
1,200 juveniles and young people. The state of Mississippi paid the private corporation GEO
Group and, as of 2012, the private prison company Management and Training Corporation
to operate the prison, which they did for a profit (Shahani, 2011). Before August 2010, the
prison was operated by another private prison corporation, Cornell Companies; after this,
it was operated by GEO Group and finally by Management and Training Corporation. The
prison was under a federal consent decree for violating inmate rights beginning in 2012 and
was finally closed in 2016 (Williams, 2016).
In a two-part investigation of the Walnut Grove facility by National Public Radio (NPR),
Burnett (2011) found that violence was set up and encouraged by the correctional officers.
They also found that sexual abuse of the young male inmates by female officers was rife. In
2011, the prison was under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and was
being sued on behalf of 13 inmates by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The NPR report told of the following:
“When we began investigating conditions inside this facility and seeing how
these kids were living with the beat downs and the sexual abuse and violence
and corruption, it became a no-brainer. It became something we had to do,” said
Sheila Bedi, the lead attorney on the case and deputy legal director for the SPLC.
(Burnett, 2011, p. 1)
After 2012, the prison continued to experience problems, including two riots in 2014,
rapes of inmates, denied access to medical care, and a host of other issues (Williams, 2016).
According to Burnett (2011), the crux of the problem at Walnut Grove was the correctional
officers: There were too few of them, there was little supervision of them, some were gang
members themselves, and others were inclined to abuse the inmates either physically or sex-
ually. The national average of officers to inmates for juveniles is 1:10, but the 2009 audit at
Walnut Grove determined that the ratio was 1:60 there. As staff are the most expensive item
for any correctional entity to fund, cutting staff and their salaries is one way to ensure profits
for a moneymaking enterprise such as this prison (the GEO Group, for instance, is traded on
the New York Stock Exchange and made $1 billion in 2010; Burnett, 2011, p. 1). According
to the audit done in 2009, “There were three inmate injuries a day. In the first 6 months of
2010 there was more than one fight a day, an assault on staff at least every other day and nine
attempted suicides” (Burnett, 2011, p. 1).
NPR found after a review of public records that the warden and deputy wardens at
Walnut Grove were receiving supplemental checks from the federal government for admin-
istering educational grants for the juveniles in the amount of $2,500 to $5,000 when they
were already paid by GEO (Burnett, 2011, p. 1). The town of Walnut Grove also “made
money” out of the existence and growth of the prison; the mayor of Walnut Grove (who
was later convicted of a sex offense for taking an inmate to a local hotel for sex) claimed that
it had funded the local police department. “‘It’s been a sweet deal for Walnut Grove,’ Sims
[the mayor] said. Indeed, every month, the prison [paid] the town $15,000 in lieu of taxes—
which comprise[d] nearly 15 percent of its annual budget” (Burnett, 2011, p. 1). In addition,
a vending company owned by the mayor had 18 machines inside the prison. Moreover,
the correctional authority that sent the Walnut Grove prison its grant money was given
$4,500 per month by GEO. Left unexplored in the investigation is the question of why the
Mississippi state legislature and governor’s office authorized the private operation of Walnut
Grove in the first place and why they didn’t shutter it until 2016 despite knowing of the
abuses that had been occurring there for years (Williams, 2016).
Idaho’s Own Private Prison

One of the largest private prison corporations, the Corrections Corporation of America
(CCA; now known as CoreCivic), which had earnings of $1.7 billion in 2012, was volun-
tarily removed as the operator of a private medium security prison it had been operating
near Boise, Idaho, since the 1990s (Boone, 2013b). CCA made $29 million from this Idaho
380 CORRECTIONS
contract alone (Boone, 2013a). CCA stands accused of defrauding taxpayers by severely
understaffing positions that it was paid for and was under investigation by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation for this and the level of violence at the prison. As a result, inmates
have claimed that they were less safe. Counselors and case managers were used to fill secu-
rity positions, thus making it difficult for them to help inmates with programming or
reentry planning. The Idaho Department of Corrections reportedly knew of this under-
staffing for years because its own auditors reported on it. There were lawsuits from inmates
claiming understaffing and excessive violence as a result. In fact, the Idaho Department of
Corrections auditor found that the CCA prison had nearly 3 times the number of inmate-
on-inmate assaults as other publicly operated prisons in the state. As a result of an inmate
lawsuit brought by the ACLU regarding the staffing and violence, CCA settled and promised
more staff. CCA also reported that the mandatory staff positions were filled, but it turns out
it was falsifying those documents, and those staff positions were vacant. This problem came
to light only because an Associated Press request for staffing and payroll information from
CCA spurred the company to confess the truth to the Idaho Department of Corrections. On
Friday, January 3, 2014, Idaho governor Butch Otter, a big fan of prison privatization and
someone who once suggested that more private prison operators should be able to operate
in the state, ended the contract with CCA, saying, “We had better hopes for outcomes in pri-
vatization” (Russell, 2014, p. B1). In May 2016, a federal appellate court upheld a contempt
of court ruling against CCA, which means that the company will need to pay “higher than
normal” attorneys’ fees to the ACLU for its defense of inmates who brought suit because of
the falsified staffing reports by CCA (Boone, 2016, p. 3A).
Ethical Issue
You are an auditor for a state public-prison system, by inmates at this prison. Unfortunately, despite
and it is your job to make sure that all of the prisons your arguments that the problems in your reports
in that system, both public and private, are using should be attended to, your supervisors have paid
state funds appropriately and operating as they them little mind, as the political atmosphere in
should be. Your office has filed more than one the state is very pro-privatization. You know that a
negative audit report in your state on a private lawsuit has been filed by staff at the prison alleging
prison that appears to have an abnormally low that the understaffing endangers both them and
staff-to-inmate ratio. In those reports, you have inmates, and the staff attorneys have contacted
noted that this understaffing has likely contributed you, though they are unaware of the content of your
to the large number of inmate-on-inmate and audit reports. Should you talk to them? If so, what
inmate-on-staff assaults and the relatively large will you tell them? What do you think are the likely
number of medical and psychiatric complaints filed outcomes of your action?
The Extent of Privatization and Its Problems

Currently private adult correctional institutions hold 8% of 27 state and federal inmates (21
states have no private prisons), more than 5% of the jail population and 40% of juveniles
in residential placement (i.e., detention or juvenile prisons and halfway houses; Bronson
& Carson, 2019, p. 16; Gaes, 2019, p. 1; Kirkham, 2013; The Sentencing Project, 2017). BJS
data indicate that the number of adult prison facilities decreased by 5% from 2016 to 2017,
and that included a 19% decrease in federal inmates in private facilities (Bronson & Carson,
2019, pp. 1, 16). The absolute number of people housed in private prisons decreased by 8%
since 2012, when six states (Arkansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Utah, and Wisconsin)
ended their contracts with private prisons because of concerns regarding “safety and
cost-cutting” (The Sentencing Project, 2017, p. 2).
In a surprising reversal of a 30-year trend toward greater privatization of corrections,
and in recognition of the recent history of abuses and scandals involving private prisons, the
DOJ under the Obama administration released a statement in the summer of 2016 indicat-
ing that the federal government would begin the process of ending the use of private pris-
ons, claiming that they are “less safe and effective” than public prisons (Zapotosky & Harlan,
2016, p. 1). This decision was reversed, however, by the DOJ under the Trump administra-
tion in February 2017 (Zapotosky, 2017). Moreover, with proclamations made about the
need to return to punitive policies by Trump administration attorney general Sessions, and
now Barr, as well as the building of immigration correctional facilities by private companies,
decreases in the use of privatization at the federal level, at least in the short term, are not
likely to continue. Notably, neither of these decisions to use or not use private prisons at the
federal level affects what happens in the states.
Although private prisons do not cost less to operate—in fact, they might be more expen-
sive when all costs are accounted for, such as lawsuits and monitoring and assistance from
publicly funded police and fire departments—they are easier and faster to build because
they do not require the authorization of bonds from state legislatures (Camp & Gaes, 2002;
The Sentencing Project, 2017; U.S. General Accounting Office, 1996). In a study of private
prisons at the state and federal level by Camp and Gaes (2002), the researchers, who were
employees of the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the time, found that “the private sector experi-
enced significant problems with staff turnover, escapes and drug use” (p. 427). For instance,
in 1999, secure facility private prisons experienced 18 escapes, while out of all of the Federal
Bureau of Prisons facilities, a system that was larger than all of the private secure prisons
combined, there was only one escape that year (p. 433). The researchers concluded, “The
failures that produce escapes or illegal drug use can result from problems in policy and
procedures, in technology, and in staff capabilities” (p. 445). In a more recent review of the
research on private prisons, Gaes (2019) noted that recidivism appears to be higher among
those who did their time in private prisons (though he cautioned that the research in this
area is not as strong as it could be).
As the two recent examples of private prison failures provided in this section—the
Walnut Grove facility in Mississippi and the CCA prison in Idaho—would indicate, when
profit competes with professional staffing and the just operation of prisons and jails, profit
considerations often win out, with dire consequences for inmates and staff in such facilities.
Concluding Thoughts
It is a stunning realization that much of the future looks like the past, but it is true in a way.
Current trends in corrections mimic those themes we laid out in the early chapters of this
book. However, as has been demonstrated by the research presented throughout this book,
there has also been great progress in refining how we handle correctional practice and
programming.
There is little doubt that most correctional experiences for clients or inmates are not
tinged with violence or brutality. The vast majority of correctional staff in both communities
and institutions act professionally, whether the attributes of their work fit that designation or
not. Basic health care, clean housing, and nutritious food are provided to most incarcerated
persons in the United States. Probation and parole officers do provide referrals to their cli-
ents when time permits and programs are available. Despite crowded caseloads, these offi-
cers usually make every effort to carefully watch the most dangerous of their charges. Jails,
though sometimes overcrowded or, at least, overused, are generally helpful at ensuring the
382 CORRECTIONS
safety of suicide-prone or mentally disturbed inmates or people detoxing from drug- or

alcohol-induced highs. Jails may not represent the best places for such people, but they are
usually safer than the streets and do provide a minimum of much needed services. There
is much more programming available for those incarcerated in prisons and even jails, and
to probationers and parolees, than there was even 10 years ago. In short, though we tend to
repeat our past mistakes, there has been some learning from them as well, and this is mani-
fested in improved correctional practice.
SUMMARY
LO 15.1 Discuss the mistakes of the past that should • Increasing the professionalism in the field of corrections
inform the future. through education, salary, and training will improve
retention rates and increase an understanding of the
• Initiatives that have been tried before, such as the war needs to achieve better outcomes for those in the
on drugs, mandatory sentencing, supermax prisons, system.
and abandonment of treatment programs, should help
inform the future and aid in making improvements to LO 15.4 Explain the value of relationships in corrections.
the correctional experience for all involved.
• The field of corrections is about people, and connections
LO 15.2 Describe decarceration and what is causing it. between people that are positive and supportive will
enhance the experience for all.
• The current decarceration trend in a number of states,
which appears to be catching on in others, is hopeful in LO 15.5 Identify the potential problems with privatization.
that prisons can then be reserved for the truly violent
and serious offenders. This can lead to increasing public • Another currently popular movement, privatization,
safety, reducing racial-ethnic minority community should give us pause, however. As a number of studies
disruption, making the system fairer and more just as and infamous examples indicate, private prisons tend
the punishment fits the crime, increasing the likelihood to have more problems with the humane incarceration
of successful reentry by offenders, and reducing the of inmates and the level of professionalism of their
monetary costs of corrections for the public. staff. For these reasons, and given the susceptibility
of these institutions (and state legislatures and all
• A key component of this movement toward greater
political entities) to corruption and profiteering,
justice, if there is one, is the progress made in providing
the privatization of whole institutions should be
worthwhile treatment and programming—what might
reconsidered.
be termed the penal help movement in corrections.
Should correctional managers and policymakers • As the political winds shift away from purely
continue to support and increase funding for such punishment-oriented corrections, it will be interesting
initiatives, we may witness a true age of reform in to see how correctional organizations, programs,
this generation. and their actors will adjust in terms of privatization,
professionalism, and decarceration.
LO 15.3 Discuss the importance of professionalization to
the field of corrections.
KEY TERMS
Corrections–industrial Penal harm 376 Privatization 377
complex 378 Penal help 376
1. Discuss the evidence that indicates our correctional 5. What are the indicators that a penal help perspective
practices do not fit the amount of crime in the United may come to guide corrections in the future? What
States. Note how we compare with other countries in are the indicators that a penal harm perspective is very
terms of the use of incarceration. much alive in present-day corrections?
2. Review the attributes of a professional and why and 6. Why do you think that private prisons have more
how the presence of those characteristics would serve problems with the operation of their facilities in
to improve correctional operations. terms of both inmate and staff management? Would
you argue that we as a country should continue to
3. What problems do “get tough” policies create for
authorize the construction and operation of private
correctional operations? What benefits, if any, do
prisons and privatization in corrections? Why or why
they provide?
not?
4. What is the connection between biology and
7. In your opinion, what current initiatives in corrections
environment in correctional operations? How
offer the most promise for the future? Support this
do positive and negative environments affect the
opinion with research and readings provided in this
“biology” of those who work in corrections and
section or in the rest of the text.
those who are clients and inmates within and outside
of them?
Answers to Test Your
Knowledge
Chapter 1 4. True.
5. The main difference between the Pennsylvania and
1. True. We have seen that we justify punishment in terms New York models for prisons was that in Pennsylvania,
of retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, inmates were required to be “silent and separate” from
and reintegration. other inmates at all times, and in New York, inmates were
2. False. The strongest deterrent against crime is the cer- required to be “silent and congregate” in that they could
tainty of punishment. work together and do other activities together, but they
must be silent. The New York model was mostly adopted
3. False. While the severity of the crime is the most in the United States because it allowed inmates to work
important consideration, the defendant’s prior record together, and they were able to make more and thus off-
and certain other considerations come into play. set the cost of incarceration more than inmates under the
4. True. The brain’s pleasure centers light up when wrong- Pennsylvania model, who were laboring alone in their cells.
doers are punished, indicating that they have received a 6. False. The Auburn Prison, whose cornerstone was laid
shot of rewarding dopamine. in 1816 and which is still in operation today, was part
of the New York system of “congregate but silent” pris-
5. True. Every legal system in the world assumes this.
ons. Inmates worked together but were housed sepa-
6. True. Philosophies of punishment depend on concepts rately and were to maintain silence no matter whether
of human nature. together or apart.
7. False. Specific deterrence rarely works, as recidivism 7. True. Because inmates could be together for work and
rates aptly demonstrate. sometimes for worship but needed to be “silent,” it was
difficult to always control them. Therefore, Auburn and
8. True. The United States incarcerates people at a higher
Sing Sing staff used the lash frequently, along with soli-
rate than any other country in the world.
tary confinement and marching in lockstep.
8. False. The 1870 Prison Congress was held because the
Chapter 2 promise of the early prison reformers had not been real-
ized, and as a consequence attendees of this congress
1. True. The wealthy and powerful were often able to called for another round of reform.
escape most punishments, and when that was not possi-
ble, they were often able to “buy” their way out of physi- 9. True. Correctional institutions are supposed to “cor-
cal punishments. rect” and therefore include some programming geared
toward achieving that goal.
2. True. The development of sails negated the need for
human power to propel ships.
Chapter 3
3. False. The concept of the “panopticon,” devised by
Jeremy Bentham, included a rounded architecture to 1. False. The only difference is that one is concerned with
enhance the ability to see inmates in their cells and what is right and wrong in the private sphere (morality),
therefore to supervise them more effectively (or that and the other is concerned with what is right and wrong
was the plan anyway). in the public sphere (ethics).
385
386 CORRECTIONS
2. Deontological ethical systems are concerned with

whether the act itself is good, and teleological ethical
Chapter 5
systems are focused on the consequences of the act. 1. False. Most adult jails are operated by counties,
3. True. although a few states and the federal government
administer them as well.
4. True.
2. True. Most jails for juveniles are referred to as detention
5. True. centers, and some adult jails are called this, too.
6. True. Noble cause corruption is concerned with the end 3. False. About 60% of inmates in adult jails have not been
(serving the noble cause) over the means to get there. convicted of a crime.
Correctional organizations tend to employ persons
4. True. The drug war has netted more women and
who are moved by the plight of the victims (“the smell
minority group members because the war has focused
of the victim’s blood”) and by the need to act to make the
on low-level offenders (not the drug kingpins) and
world right (“running to the tower”).
because it has focused on impoverished areas of cities
7. False. Official deviance is unethical or illegal acts that that are disproportionately occupied by minorities.
are done to benefit the organization or organizational 5. True. Jails hold more people with mental illnesses than
members, not the person committing the act. other social institutions in this country because the
8. True. The isolated, secretive nature of much of the work mental health hospitals have steadily decreased their
with clients who are powerless, and workers who have a populations over the past 40 years, leaving no place else
great deal of discretion, makes correctional work more for the police to take people.
susceptible to ethical violations. 6. False. Incarcerated women tend to have more medical
problems than incarcerated men.
Chapter 4 7. True. Female staff are more likely to be the perpetra-
tors of sexual victimization of male inmates than are
1. False. Basic principles of justice mandate that the crimi- male staff. Notably, there are about 10 times more male
nal justice system punish only similarly situated offend- inmates in jails than there are females, making it more
ers (equals) with the same punishment. likely that female staff will supervise male inmates than
that male staff will supervise female inmates.
2. False. Other things include prior record, gang affilia-
tion, and treatment considerations.
3. True. Three-strikes laws are laws that allow states to Chapter 6
imprison a person who has been convicted of a third fel-
1. True. Probation did start during the 1800s and was run
ony for life.
by volunteers.
4. False. He or she may be sentenced to serve concurrent
2. False. Most members of the public consider it “soft on
sentences.
crime.”
5. False. Victims or survivors can have input into the sen- 3. False. Parole occurs after a period in prison; probation is
tencing decision in all 50 states if they wish in the form in lieu of prison.
of a victim impact statement.
4. True. As many as 90% of cases are granted probation.
6. False. Judges receive guidance or advice in the form of
5. True. Law enforcement–type officers achieve better
presentence investigation reports (PSIs) written by pro-
results than social work–type officers, but both do less
bation officers and in the form of sentencing guidelines.
well than “hybrid” officers.
7. False. Most studies find that once legally relevant vari- 6. True. Work release programs perform both functions.
ables are taken into account, it is rarely found that
minorities are subjected to discriminatory sentencing. 7. False. Most hardened criminals would rather have
prison than almost any form of community supervision
8. True. Separate courts do exist for criminals with special other than straight probation.
problems such as drug addiction.
8. False. Boot camps have proven ineffective in rehabilitat-
9. False. Some states do and some states do not. ing criminals of any age.
Chapter 7 2. The five characteristics of a profession are (1) prior edu-

cational attainment involving college, (2) formal train-
1. True. Despite some real reductions in incarceration at the ing on the job or just prior to the start of the job, (3) pay
state and local levels over the past few years, the United and benefits that are commensurate with the work, (4)
States still has the highest incarceration rate in the world. the ability to exercise discretion, and (5) work that is
guided by a code of ethics.
2. False. Although large by comparison with minimum-
security prisons, about three-fifths of all inmates are 3. Generally speaking, police jobs pay the most, then
held in medium- and minimum-security prisons, with probation/parole officer jobs, and then correctional
medium-security prisons holding more inmates overall officer jobs.
than maximum- and minimum-security prisons. 4. Generally speaking, probation and parole officer jobs
3. In medium-security prisons, the exterior security can often require a bachelor’s degree, policing jobs usually
be as tight as it is for the supermax and maximum- require some college if not an associate’s or bachelor’s
security prisons, but internally the inmate has many degree, and correctional officer jobs rarely require a
more opportunities to attend school, treatment, and bachelor’s degree or even some college.
church programming and to work in any number of 5. False. Most depictions of corrections on television and
capacities. There is also greater diversity in rooming in the movies show a distorted view of what corrections
options, from dormitories to single cells, with the more is and what correctional staff in institutions and com-
preferred single or double cells used as a carrot to entice munities do.
better behavior. Visiting and contact with the out-
6. True.
side world are less restricted. Some medium-security
inmates may even be allowed to leave the institution for 7. Stress for correctional staff comes from many sources:
work-related deliveries or on furloughs, although this is shift and evening work that interferes with sleep and
much more common in minimum-security prisons. family relationships; a working environment with peo-
ple who are experiencing a negative time in their lives;
4. Importation occurs when inmates entering a prison
lack of power, control, and voice in their work; low pay
import aspects of their own culture from the outside.
and training; a hack rather than a human service role;
Prisonization occurs when inmates adopt the inmate
and competitive and non-supportive coworkers.
subculture of the institution.
8. True.
5. Gangs are groups of people with similar interests who
socialize together and who may engage in deviant or
criminal activities; they are a common phenomenon in Chapter 9
jails and prisons. They may serve to reinforce the prison
subculture by providing for the needs of inmates and 1. True. Parole began in an Australian penal colony during
thereby reducing their deprivations and pains. Prison the 1830s.
gang members are thought to be more likely to engage
in crime and violence while incarcerated. 2. False. Parole is an executive branch function.
6. There is violence in prisons because incarcerated people 3. False. Many parolees are released on mandatory parole.
are there unwillingly; people are forced to do things they 4. True. At least two-thirds reoffend within 3 years.
normally would not do with people they might not like;
and, most important, some of them are inclined to be 5. True. The parolees most likely to recidivate are property
violent. offenders.
7. True. Transgender inmates, particularly in men’s pris- 6. True or false. There is broad disagreement on this.
ons, are more likely to be sexually assaulted than any 7. False. Parole success is determined differently in differ-
other group of inmates. ent states.
8. True and false. Sanctions such as halfway houses and
Chapter 8 electronic monitoring (EM) cut costs only if they are
used appropriately, and they increase parolee surveil-
1. True. Calling a correctional officer a “guard” can be per- lance only relative to ordinary parole—not relative to
ceived as demeaning the role and thus as an insult. prison.
388 CORRECTIONS
Chapter 10 4. As Bill Quigley indicates, facts indicating that racism

still exists in the criminal justice system include how
1. True. the war on drugs has been prosecuted, driving while
Black or Brown (DWB), more arrests of minority
2. False. In the early prisons, women were an after- group members for drug offenses, longer waits for trial
thought because these prisons were not built for them. while incarcerated for accused minority group mem-
Therefore, they were often placed in attics or out-of- bers, underfunded defense attorneys who serve dis-
the-way places. They were not separated like the men proportionately minority group members, minority
because there wasn’t enough room to do so. They group member exclusion from jury service, the fact
tended to be preyed on by male staff and inmates before that trials are rare, longer sentences for minority group
they were guarded by female matrons. members, disproportionately more of the longest sen-
3. True. Race shaped the incarceration of men and women tences for minority group members, and dispropor-
in southern and northeastern prisons before and after tionate incarceration of minority group adults and
the Civil War because it determined where, how, and youths.
whether certain racial groups were incarcerated. 5. False. Some estimates put the number at 20,000.
4. True. 6. False. Chinese and Japanese immigration was opposed
5. False. in law and in practice, particularly after the railroads
were built.
6. True. Women offenders are sometimes treated as dou-
ble deviants because they are criminal deviants (because 7. In 1942, Japanese Americans were interned in reac-
it is thought that most people don’t commit crimes tion to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the fear that
[there is some debate about this]) and because they are they might conspire to help the Japanese government
gender deviants (in that they do not conform to tradi- win the war. German Americans were not interned,
tional gender expectations). although Germany had started the war and German
Americans were widely dispersed across several states.
7. True. Feminists have advocated for equal treatment and One explanation for the differential treatment is racial
gender-specific programming in corrections. discrimination.
8. True. 8. One basic connection among class, race/ethnicity, and
9. False. crime is that most people who commit street crimes
are poor, and a disproportionate number of minority
group members are poor.
Chapter 11 9. True.
1. True. 10. True.
2. True. 11. False.
3. Nine teenage Black boys riding a train in 1931 were
accused of raping two white girls. They were tried sev-
eral times, and most were found guilty by all-white
juries of rape, sometimes without the assistance of
Chapter 12
counsel, and their convictions kept getting over- 1. True. Juveniles do commit a disproportionate number
turned. At least one of the white girls recanted and said of criminal acts.
the rapes were a fabrication. Four of the youths did
prison time. This case was emblematic of how African 2. True. Juvenile antisocial behavior is normal in that most
Americans were handled by the criminal justice sys- adolescents engage in it.
tem during the first half of the 20th century because it
3. False. Special juvenile courts began in Cook County,
demonstrates how racism permeated every part of the
Illinois.
system from police, to prosecutor, to judge, to jury, to
corrections. 4. True. This is the principle of parens patriae.
5. True. Juveniles can be tried in adult courts and sent to 2. False. The biggest budget outlay in corrections after sal-
adult prisons. aries is for control and surveillance.
6. False. Only relatively recently have they been afforded 3. False. Many well-run programs expect to reduce recidi-
nearly all the same rights as adults. vism by 10% to 20%.
7. False. The Supreme Court has ruled that juveniles can- 4. False. Actuarial data supply a better understanding of
not be sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) for any what does and does not work.
crime other than homicide.
5. False. Correctional officials have been reluctant to use
8. False. It was permissible in the United States to execute pharmaceutical treatment for addicts.
those who committed murder while they were juveniles
6. True. Sex offenders are less likely to reoffend than all
until 2005.
offense categories other than murder.
7. True. In all major cities studied, well over 50% of arrest-
Chapter 13 ees test positive for some kind of illegal drug.
8. True. There are more individuals with mental illnesses
1. True.
in jails and prisons than in mental hospitals in the
2. False. The vast majority of lawsuits filed by inmates are United States.
frivolous.
3. True. Their prison cells are not “homes.” Chapter 15
4. True.
1. Answers will vary.
5. True. Most Americans support the death penalty.
2. True, at least in part, but there are other reasons why
6. True. A white murderer is proportionately more likely correctional populations have been incrementally
than a Black or Hispanic murderer to be sentenced to decreasing.
death and to be executed.
3. False. Privatization of corrections leads to less profes-
7. False. The death penalty is far more expensive than life sionalism of staff because staff are paid less and trained
in prison. less, so educated people are not attracted to the work and
8. True. It is permissible to execute a person with a history it is harder to keep good people who behave ethically.
of mental illness, but not one with a mental disability 4. False. Privatization of corrections does not lead to more
(IQ of 70 or below). safety and security for inmates, staff, and communities
because the staff are less likely to be professional.
Chapter 14 5. False.
6. True, and it rarely is considered by governmental or pri-
1. False. The more criminals we can rehabilitate, the more vate agencies that operate corrections or by the general
society is protected. public.
Glossary
Abu Ghraib: A military prison in Iraq where untrained Brutalizing effect: The assumption that executions, rather
“correctional officers” subjected prisoners to torture. than deterring homicides, actually increase homicides following
the executions.
Actuarial data: Data relating to what has actually occurred and
been recorded over many thousands of cases. Evidence-based Chemical castration: A biomedical treatment for chronic sex
treatment modalities are based on actuarial data. offenders in which a synthetic hormone called Depo-Provera
is administered. Depo-Provera works in men to reduce sexual
Addiction: A psychobiological illness characterized by intense thoughts, fantasies, and erections by drastically reducing the
craving for a particular substance. production of testosterone, the major male sex hormone.
Age–crime curve: Formed from the statistical count of the Civil death statutes: Statutes in former times mandating that
number of known crimes committed in a population over a convicted felons lose all citizenship rights.
given period mapped according to age.
Civil rights claim: A “Section 1983” claim that a person has
Amicus curiae briefs: “Friend of the court” briefs presented been deprived of some legally granted right.
to the court, arguing in support of one side or the other, by
interested parties not directly involved with the case. Classical School: School of penology/criminology that was
a nonempirical mode of inquiry similar to the philosophy
Anger management programs: Programs that consist of a practiced by the classical Greek philosophers—that is,
number of techniques by which someone with problems in “armchair philosophy.”
controlling anger can learn the causes and consequences of
Coequal staffing: Programs that provide comparable pay and
anger to reduce the degree of anger and avoid anger-inducing
benefits for those who work in the jail with that of people who
triggers.
work on the streets as law enforcement in sheriffs’ departments.
Attica Prison riot: The bloodiest prison riot in American Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT): A counseling approach
history began with a spontaneous act of violence by one inmate that tries to address dysfunctional cognitions, emotions, and
against an officer who had tried to break up a fight. Violence behaviors in a relatively short time through goal-oriented,
quickly spread because inmates were frustrated and angry systematic procedures using a mixture of operant psychology,
about the overcrowded conditions, lack of programming, cognitive theory, and social modeling theory.
and other conditions of confinement. Charges of racism were
made by the mostly African American inmates regarding their Community corrections: A branch of corrections defined as
treatment by the mostly White staff. Negotiations broke down, any activity performed by agents of the state to assist offenders
resulting in the prison’s being stormed by the state police and in reestablishing functional law-abiding roles in the community
by correctional staff. Ten hostages and 29 inmates were dead or while at the same time monitoring their behavior for criminal
dying when the prison was secured. Another 80 inmates had activity.
gunshot wounds. Community jails: Organized so those inmates engaged in
Balanced approach: A three-pronged goal of the juvenile educational programs, drug or alcohol counseling, or mental
justice system: (a) to protect the community, (b) to hold health programming in the community will seamlessly receive
delinquent youths accountable, and (c) to provide treatment and such services while incarcerated and again as they transition out
positive role models. of the facility.
Big House prisons: Fortress stone or concrete prisons, usually Community residential centers: Places where offenders
maximum security, whose attributes include isolation, routine, (usually parolees) reside when correctional authorities deem
and monotony. Strict security and rule enforcement, at least them not yet ready to live completely freely.
formally, and a regimented schedule are other hallmarks of such Community service order: Part of a disposition requiring
facilities. probationers to work a certain number of hours doing tasks to
Bill of Rights: The first 10 amendments to the U.S. help their communities.
Constitution. Concurrent sentence: A sentence in which two separate
sentences may be served at the same time.
Bridewells: Workhouses constructed to hold and whip or
otherwise punish “beggars, prostitutes, and nightwalkers” and Consecutive sentence: A sentence in which two or more
later to serve as places of detention. sentences must be served sequentially.
391
392 CORRECTIONS
Contract and lease systems: Systems devised by prisons to hire Determinate sentence: A prison sentence of a fixed number of
out inmates’ labor to farmers or other contractors. years that must be served rather than a range.
Contrast effect: The effect of punishment on future behavior Deterrence: A philosophy of punishment aimed at the
depending on how much the punishment and the usual life prevention of crime by the threat of punishment.
experience of the person being punished differ or contrast.
Discretion: The ability to make choices and to act or not act on
Convict code: Informal rules inmates live by vis-à-vis the them.
institution and staff.
Discretionary parole: Parole granted at the discretion of a
Correctional boot camps: Facilities modeled after military parole board for selected inmates who have earned it.
boot camps where young and nonviolent offenders are subjected Discrimination: Occurs when people or groups are treated
to military-style discipline and physical and educational differently because of who they are (e.g., on the basis of race,
programs. ethnicity, gender, age, disability, religion, nationality, sexual
Correctional institutions: Institutions (prisons) that carefully orientation or identity, or income) rather than their abilities or
classify inmates into treatment programs that address their something they did.
needs and perceived deficiencies. They are also intended to Disparity: Occurs when one group is treated differently and
be places where inmates can earn “good time” and eventual unfairly by governmental actors, compared with other groups.
parole. Correctional institutions use the medical model to
treat inmates, who are believed to be “sick” and in need of a Double deviants: Women and girls who are deviant because
treatment regimen, provided by the prison, that will address they engage in crime and because they have violated societal
that sickness and hopefully “cure” the inmates so they might gender role expectations.
become productive members of society. (This term originally Driving while Black or Brown (DWB): Refers to the practice
applied only to prisons but now can refer to jails as well.) of police focusing law enforcement attention on Black or Brown
Corrections: Functions carried out by government and drivers.
private agencies having to do with the punishment, treatment, Drug court: A special sentence for drug-related nonviolent
supervision, and management of individuals who have been offenders who must then complete an extensive drug treatment
accused or convicted of criminal offenses. program.
Corrections–industrial complex: Collusion among politicians, Due process model: A model of law that stresses the accused’s
business, and criminal justice officials to make money for rights more than the rights of the community.
themselves and their organizations from correctional services,
construction, and operations. Egoism: Needs of the self are most important; acting to satisfy
one’s own wants and needs is acting ethically.
Crime control model: A model of law that emphasizes
community protection from criminals and stresses that civil Eighth Amendment: Constitutional amendment that forbids
liberties can have real meaning only in a safe, well-ordered society. cruel and unusual punishment.
Death Penalty Information Center: Major (partisan) source of Electronic monitoring (EM): A system by which an offender
information on the death penalty in the United States. under house arrest can be monitored for compliance using
computerized technology such as an electronic device worn
Deference period: The period of time when there was a around the offender’s ankle.
partial return to the hands-off approach. It refers to the courts’
willingness to defer to the expertise and needs of the authorities. Elmira Reformatory: Founded in 1876 in New York as a model
prison in response to calls for the reform of prisons from an
Deferred adjudication: A decision made by certain criminal earlier era, it aimed to encompass all of the rehabilitation focus
justice personnel to delay or defer formal court proceedings if a and graduated reward system that reformers were agitating for.
youth follows probation conditions.
Enlightenment: Period in history when a major shift in the way
Deinstitutionalization of people with mental illnesses: people began to view the world and their place in it occurred,
Happened in the United States as a result of the civil rights moving from a supernaturalistic worldview to a naturalistic and
movement and the related effort to increase the rights of people rational worldview.
involuntarily committed to mental hospitals. It was also helped
Ethical formalism: Determines morality on the basis of a
along by the development of pharmaceuticals that purportedly
universal law that includes clear rights and wrongs.
addressed the symptoms of some illnesses and by decreased
federal funding for state hospitals devoted to people with Ethics: The concepts and beliefs about, and study of, right and
mental illnesses. wrong professional conduct.
Delinquents: Juveniles who commit acts that are criminal Ethics of care: A framework centered on good acts in which
when committed by adults. care of and concern for others are paramount.
Deontological ethical systems: Systems concerned with Ethics of virtue: A framework that emphasizes the virtue of
whether an act itself is good. one’s character over actions.
Glossary 393
Ethnicity: Refers to groups of people with a shared culture. Halfway houses: Transitional places of residence for
An ethnic group often has a distinct language as well as correctional clients who are “halfway” between the constant
particular values, religion, history, and traditions. Ethnic supervision of prison and the much looser supervision in the
groups may be made up of several races and have diverse community.
national heritages.
Hands-off doctrine: An early American court-articulated
Evidence-based practices (EBP): Movement in which in order belief that the judiciary should not interfere with the
to reduce recidivism, corrections must implement practices that management and administration of prisons.
have consistently been shown to be effective.
Hedonism: A doctrine maintaining that all goals in life are
Fair Sentencing Act of 2010: An act mandating that the means to the end of achieving pleasure and/or avoiding pain.
amount of crack cocaine subject to the 5-year minimum
Hedonistic calculus: A method by which individuals are
sentence be increased from 5 to 28 grams, thereby reducing
assumed to logically weigh the anticipated benefits of a given
the 100-to-1 ratio to an 18-to-1 ratio (28 grams of crack gets as
course of action against its possible costs.
much time as 500 grams of powder cocaine).
Hostile environment: Occurs when the workplace is
First Amendment: Guarantees freedom of religion, speech,
sexualized with jokes, with pictures, or in other ways that are
press, and assembly.
offensive to one gender.
First Step Act: An act signed by President Trump that seeks to
House arrest: Program that requires offenders to remain in
improve criminal justice outcomes such as reducing the federal
their homes except for approved periods to travel to work,
prison population (the act applies only to the federal system)
school, or other approved destinations.
and creating rehabilitative mechanisms to maintain public
safety. Houses of refuge: Part of the Jacksonian movement (named
after President Andrew Jackson) of the early 1800s to use
Fourteenth Amendment: Contains the due process clause, institutions as the solution for social problems. Their stated
which declares that no state shall deprive any person of life, purpose was to remove impressionable youth, mainly boys but
liberty, or property without due process of law. also girls, from the contamination that association with more
Fourth Amendment: Guarantees the right to be free from hardened adult prisoners might bring.
unreasonable searches and seizures. Human agency: The capacity of humans to make choices and
Galley slavery: A sentence forcing the convict to work as a their responsibility to make moral ones regardless of internal or
rower on a ship. external constraints on their ability to do so.
Gangs: Groups of people with similar interests who socialize Human service: The provision by a correctional officer of
together and support one another but who also engage in goods, services, advocacy, and assistance to help inmates adjust.
deviant or criminal activities. Gangs have a hierarchical Importation: Occurs when inmates bring aspects of the larger
organizational structure and a set and often strict code of culture into the prison.
conduct for members.
Incapacitation: A philosophy of punishment that refers to the
Gender identity: The gender one identifies with, which can inability of criminals to victimize people outside prison walls
differ from one’s assigned sex at birth. while they are locked up.
General deterrence: The presumed preventive effect of the Indeterminate sentence: A prison sentence consisting of a
threat of punishment on the general population. range of years to be determined by the convict’s behavior rather
Global Positioning System (GPS) monitoring: A system than one of a fixed number of years.
of probation and parole supervision whereby probationers Intensive supervision probation (ISP): Probation that involves
and parolees are required to wear tracking units that can be more frequent surveillance of probationers and that is typically
monitored by satellites. limited to more serious offenders in the belief that there is a
Great Law: William Penn’s idea, based on Quaker principles, fighting chance that they may be rehabilitated (or to save the
deemphasized the use of corporal and capital punishment for all costs of incarceration).
crimes but the most serious. Intermediate sanctions: A number of innovative alternative
Habeas corpus: Latin term meaning “you have the body.” It is a sentences that may be imposed in place of the traditional
court order requiring that an arrested person be brought before prison/probation dichotomy.
it to determine the legality of detention. Irish system: A prison system used during the 19th century.
Habitual offender statutes: Statutes mandating that offenders This system involved four stages, beginning with a 9-month
with third felony convictions be sentenced to life imprisonment period of solitary confinement, the first 3 months with reduced
regardless of the nature of the third felony. rations and no work.
Hack: A correctional officer in a prison who is a violent, Jails: Local community institutions that hold people who are
cynical, and alienated keeper of inmates. presumed innocent before trial, convicted people before they
394 CORRECTIONS
are sentenced, convicted minor offenders who are sentenced for and work programming are much more constricted than in
terms that are usually less than a year, juveniles (usually in their medium-security prisons.
own detention centers, separated from adults in adult jails, or
Medical model: Rehabilitation model that assumes criminals
before transport to juvenile facilities), women (usually separated
are sick and need treatment.
from men and sometimes in their own jails), and people for
the state or federal authorities; they serve to incapacitate, Medium-security prisons: Hold a mix of people in terms of
deter, rehabilitate, punish, and reintegrate (depending on the crime categories but who program well. They offer high external
particular jail population being served and the capacity of the security, but inmates are able to move around more freely
given facility). within the “walls.” Some are built like a college campus, with
several buildings devoted to distinct purposes.
Jim Crow laws: Laws devised by southern states following
the Civil War, starting in the 1870s and lasting until 1965 Minimum-security prisons: Created for lower level felony
and the civil rights movement, to prevent African Americans offenders and those who are “short timers,” or people who are
from fully participating in social, economic, and civic life. relatively close to a release date. Inmates are not expected to
These laws restricted the rights and liberties of Black citizens pose escape or behavioral problems. Ability and willingness
in employment, housing, education, travel, and voting. Voter to work are often prerequisites for classification to this type of
disenfranchisement, or preventing African Americans from facility.
voting, was a key part of the Jim Crow laws.
Mortification: Process that occurs as inmates enter a prison
Judicial reprieve: British and early American practice of and suffer from the loss of the many roles they occupied in
delaying sentencing following a conviction that could become the wider world (Goffman, 1961; Sykes, 1958). Only the role
permanent, depending on the offender’s behavior. of inmate is available—a role that is formally powerless and
dependent.
Judicial waiver: Involves a juvenile judge’s deciding after a “full
inquiry” that the juvenile should be waived to the adult system. Mount Pleasant Prison: First prison constructed for women
in the United States. Built in 1839 close to the Sing Sing (New
Justice: A moral concept of just or fair treatment consisting of York) prison for men, it was in part administered by Sing Sing
“treating equals equally and unequals unequally according to but had its own buildings, staff, and administrator.
relevant differences.”
National Probation Act of 1925: The act that initiated the legal
Liberal feminists: People who believe that the problem for girls use of probation in the United States.
and women involved in crime lies more with the social structure
around them (e.g., poverty and lack of sufficient schooling or Natural law: Adherents of this framework believe that what is
training, along with patriarchal beliefs) and that the solution good is what is known to be so.
lies in preparing them for an alternative existence so that they Needs principle: A principle that refers to an offender’s
do not turn to crime. prosocial needs, the lack of which puts them at risk for
Liberty interest: An interest in freedom from governmental reoffending, and that suggests these needs should receive
deprivation of liberty without due process. attention in program targeting.
Life without parole (LWOP): A life sentence with the Newgate Prison (Simsbury, Connecticut): An early colonial
additional condition that the person never be allowed parole. prison (1773–1827) that started as a copper mine. Many of its
inmates would work the mine during the day and sleep in it
Mandatory parole: Automatic parole after a set period of time at night. During the Revolutionary War, some Loyalists to the
for nearly all inmates. English Crown were held here.
Mandatory sentence: A prison sentence imposed for crimes for New-generation, or podular, direct supervision jails: Jails that
which probation is not an option, where the minimum time to have two key components: a rounded, or podular, architecture
be served is set by law. for living units and the direct supervision of inmates by staff.
Marks system: A graduated reward system for prisons in New Mexico State Penitentiary riot: A riot took place over
which, if one behaves, it is possible to earn “marks” that, in turn, the conditions of confinement and crowding, which were at
entitle one to privileges. very high levels. Repeated warnings were given that a riot
would occur, but administration and staff failed to adequately
Mature coping: Occurs in prisons when the inmate deals “with
prepare, resulting in the state’s eventually retaking the prison.
life’s problems like a responsive and responsible human being,
Thirty-three inmates were killed by other inmates over 3 days.
one who seeks autonomy without violating the rights of others,
Numerous inmates, along with staff hostages, were beaten or
security without resort to deception or violence, and relatedness
raped. Millions of dollars in damage was done (Useem, 1985;
to others as the finest and fullest expression of human identity”
Useem & Kimball, 1989).
(Johnson, 2002, p. 83).
New York prison system: Prisons included congregate work
Maximum-security prisons: These facilities have high external
and eating arrangements but silent and separate housing.
and internal security. Maximum-security prisons may have the
same exterior security controls as supermaxes, but they inside Noble cause: A profound moral commitment to make the
inmates are not locked down as much, though the treatment world a safer place to live.
Glossary 395
Norfolk Island: An English penal colony, 1,000 miles off the Penology: Study of the processes and institutions involved in
Australian coast, regarded as a brutal and violent island prison the punishment and prevention of crime.
where inmates were poorly fed, clothed, and housed and were
Positivists: Those who believe that human actions have causes
mistreated by staff and their fellow inmates.
and that these causes are to be found in the thoughts and
Offender needs: Deficiencies in offenders’ lives that hinder experiences that typically precede those actions.
their making a commitment to a prosocial pattern of behavior.
Power: The ability to “get people to do what they otherwise
Offender risk: The probability that a given offender will wouldn’t” (Dahl, 1961).
reoffend and thus the threat that they pose to the
Predisposition report: A report done in juvenile courts that is
community.
analogous to a presentence investigation report in adult courts.
Official deviance: When officials act in a way that benefits Presentence investigation report: Report written by the
their organization but violates laws or formal rules. probation officer informing the judge of various aspects of
Overcrowding: A phenomenon that occurs when the number the offense for which the defendant is being sentenced as well
of inmates exceeds the physical capacity (the beds and space) as providing information about the defendant’s background
available. (educational, family, and employment history), character, and
criminal history.
Pains of imprisonment: Perils described by Sykes (1958) as the
“deprivation of liberty, the deprivation of goods and services, Principle of utility: The supposition that human action should
the deprivation of heterosexual relationships, the deprivation of be judged moral or immoral by its effects on the happiness of
autonomy, and the deprivation of security” (pp. 63–83). the community and that the proper function of the legislature is
to make laws aimed at maximizing the pleasure and minimizing
Panopticon: A prison design in which multitiered cells are the pain of the population—“the greatest happiness for the
built around a hub so that correctional staff can view all inmates greatest number.”
without being observed.
Prisonization: Adoption of the inmate subculture by inmates.
Parens patriae: A legal principle giving the state the right to
intercede and act in the best interest of a child or any other Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA): Act that
legally incapacitated person, such as a mentally disabled mandated that the Bureau of Justice Statistics collect data on
individual who is deemed unable to make reasonable decisions. sexual assaults in adult and juvenile jails and prisons and that it
identify facilities with high levels of victimization.
Parole: The release of prisoners from prison before completing
their full sentences. Prisons: Correctional facilities that have a philosophy of
penitence (hence penitentiary) and that were created as
Parole board: A panel of people presumably qualified to make a grand reform, as they represented, in theory at least, a
judgments about the suitability of a prisoner to be released from major improvement over the brutality of punishment that
prison after having served some specified time of their sentence. characterized early Western, English, and American law and
Patriarchy: Involves attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that value practice.
men and boys over women and girls (Daly & Chesney-Lind, Prison subculture: Norms, values, beliefs, traditions, and even
1988). Members of patriarchal societies hold the belief that language that are distinctive to prisons.
men and boys are worth more than women and girls and also
believe that women and girls, as well as men and boys, should Privatization: Occurs when services or whole correctional
have certain restricted roles to play and that those of the former institutions are provided or operated by private businesses or
are less important than those of the latter. Education and work corporations.
training that help one make a living and better pay are more Probation: A sentence imposed on convicted offenders that
important to secure for men and boys than for women and girls, allows them to remain in the community under the supervision
who are best suited for more feminine and—by definition, in a of a probation officer instead of being sent to prison.
patriarchal society—less worthy professions.
Problem-solving courts: Alternatives to traditional criminal
Penal harm: Movement in corrections based on retribution in courts that cannot adequately address the problems of offenders
sentencing and the infliction of greater harm while inmates are with special needs and other issues such as alcoholism and
under correctional supervision. mental health problems.
Penal help: Movement including the reform of state laws to Profession: Regarding the positions of corrections officers and
liberalize marijuana use, the repeal of harsh sentences, and the staff, distinguished by prior educational attainment involving
reduction in the use of incarceration coupled with the increase college, formal training on the job or just prior to the start of the
in the use of rehabilitation, restorative justice, and reentry job, pay and benefits that are commensurate with the work, the
programming. Altogether there has been a societal shift away ability to exercise discretion, and work that is guided by a code
from penal harm as a guiding principle of corrections. of ethics.
Pennsylvania prison system: Prisons that emphasized silence Professionalization: Includes the enforcement of professional
and isolated inmates in their cells, restricting their contact with standards for their new hires, such as a required college-level
others. They reinforced the need for penitence. educational background, pay that is commensurate with job
396 CORRECTIONS
requirements, training that sufficiently prepares people for the community are better served if offenders’ risks for reoffending
job, and a code of ethics that drives the work practice. and their needs (their deficiencies, such as lack of job skills) are
addressed in a way that matches their developmental stage.
Prosecutorial discretion: Allows prosecutors to file some cases
in either adult or juvenile court. Risk principle: A principle that refers to offenders’ probability
Punishment: The act of imposing some unwanted burden, of reoffending and maintains that those with the highest risk
such as a fine, probation, imprisonment, or death, on convicted should be targeted for the most intense treatment.
persons in response to their crimes. Role: What a person does on the job every day.
Quid pro quo sexual harassment: Involves something for Rule of law: The principle that laws, not people, govern and
something, as in you give your boss sexual favors and the boss that no one is above the law.
allows you to keep your job.
Section 1983 suits: A mechanism for state prison inmates to
Race: The classification of humans into populations or groups
sue state officials in federal court regarding their confinement
based on various factors such as culture, language, social
and their conditions of confinement.
practice, or heritable characteristics.
Rationality: The state of having good sense and sound Selective incapacitation: A punishment strategy that reserves
judgment on the basis of the evidence before us. prison largely for a distinct group of offenders composed
primarily of violent repeat offenders.
Recidivism: When an ex-offender commits further crimes.
Sentence: A punitive penalty ordered by the court after a
Reentry: The process of integrating offenders back into the defendant has been convicted of a crime either by a jury, by a
community after release from jail or prison. judge, or in a plea bargain.
Rehabilitation: A philosophy of punishment aimed at “curing”
Sentencing disparity: Wide variation in sentences received by
criminals of their antisocial behavior.
different offenders that may be legitimate or discriminatory.
Reintegration: A philosophy of punishment that aims to use
Sentencing guidelines: Scales for numerically computing
the time criminals are under correctional supervision to prepare
sentences that offenders should receive on the basis of the
them to reenter the free community as well equipped to do so as
crimes they committed and on their criminal records.
possible.
Religious perspective: A perspective that weighs what is right Shock probation: A type of sentence aimed at shocking
or wrong on the basis of one’s religion. offenders into going straight by exposing them to the reality of
prison life for a short period followed by probation.
Residential substance abuse treatment (RSAT): A community
that typically lasts 6 to 12 months and is composed of inmates in Specific deterrence: The supposed effect of punishment on the
need of substance abuse treatment and whose parole dates are future behavior of persons who experience the punishment.
set to coincide with the end of the program. RSAT inmates are
Split sentences: Sentences that require convicted persons
separated from the negativity and violence of the rest of the prison
to serve brief periods of confinement in a county jail prior to
and are provided with extensive cognitive-behavioral counseling
probation placement.
and attend Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous
meetings as well as many other kinds of rehabilitative classes. Stanford prison experiment: A 1971 experiment conducted at
Stanford University in which volunteer students were divided
Responsivity principle: A principle maintaining that if
into officers and inmates in a makeshift prison. The experiment
offenders are to respond to treatment in meaningful and lasting
ended with about one third of the “officers” engaged in the
ways, counselors must be aware of their different developmental
abuse of “inmates,” and other officers stood by while it was
stages and learning styles and offenders need to be treated with
going on. The experiment was stopped after a few days and is
respect and dignity.
often referenced as an example of how correctional work and
Restitutive justice: A philosophy of punishment driven by the subcultures that develop as part of the job can foster corrupt
simple deterrence and a need to repair the wrongs done. behavior by officers.
Restorative justice: A system of justice that gives approximately Stateville Prison: Built in Illinois as a panopticon in 1925 in
equal weight to community protection, offender accountability, reaction to the deplorable conditions of the old Joliet, Illinois,
and the offender. prison, built in 1860.
Retribution: A philosophy of punishment demanding that Status offenders: Juveniles who commit certain actions that
criminals’ punishments match the degree of harm the criminals are legal for adults but not for children, such as smoking and not
have inflicted on their victims—that is, what they justly deserve. obeying parents.
Retributive justice: A philosophy of punishment driven by a Status offenses: Offenses that apply only to juveniles, such as
passion for revenge. smoking and disobeying parents.
Risk, needs, and responsivity (RNR) model: A treatment Statutory exclusion: Waivers in cases in which state
correctional model that maintains that offenders and the legislatures have statutorily excluded certain serious offenses
Glossary 397
from the juvenile courts for juveniles older than a certain age, U.S. Sentencing Commission: A commission charged with
which varies from state to state. creating mandatory sentencing guidelines to control judicial
discretion.
Street-level bureaucrat: The position of public-sector workers
in entry-level positions in the criminal justice system who often Utilitarianism: Determines morality on the basis of how many
have too much work, too few resources, and some discretion on people were helped by an act.
how to do their work.
Victim impact statement: A statement made by
Subculture: A subset of a larger culture, with its own norms, persons directly affected by a crime (or victims’ survivors
values, beliefs, traditions, and history. in the case of murder) to inform the court of the personal
and emotional harm they have suffered as a result of the
Supermax prisons: High-security prisons, both internally and
defendant’s actions and, in some states, to make a sentencing
externally, that hold those who are violent or disruptive in other
recommendation.
prisons in the state or federal system. Inmates are confined to
their windowless cells 24 hours a day, except for showers three Victim–offender reconciliation programs
times a week (during which they are restrained) and solitary (VORPs): Programs designed to bring offenders and their
exercise time a couple of times a week. Prisoners eat in their victims together in an attempt to reconcile the wrongs offenders
cells, and visiting and programming are very limited. have caused.
Teleological ethical systems: Systems focused on whether the Waiver: Refers to a process by which a juvenile offender is
consequences of an act are good. “waived” (transferred) to an adult court because they have
committed a particularly serious crime or is habitually
Therapeutic communities (TCs): Residential communities
delinquent.
providing dynamic “mutual self-help” environments and
offering long-term opportunities for attitude and behavioral Walnut Street Jail: Originally constructed in 1773 in
change and the learning of constructive, prosocial ways of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and remodeled in 1790 into the
coping with life. first full-fledged prison. The fee system was dropped; inmates
were adequately clothed and fed, regardless of their ability to
Total institution: “A place of residence and work where a large
pay; and they were separated by gender and offense. However,
number of like-situated individuals, cut off from the wider society
because of problems in implementation, by 1816, the prison
for an appreciable period of time, together lead an enclosed,
was reportedly operating no better than before the reform and
formally administered round of life” (Goffman, 1961, p. 6).
remodel.
Transportation: A sentence exiling convicts and transporting
Warehouse prisons: Large prisons, of any security level,
them to a penal colony.
where inmates’ lives and movement are severely restricted and
Truth-in-sentencing laws: Laws that require that there be a rule bound. There is no pretense of rehabilitation;
truthful, realistic connection between the sentences imposed on punishment, incapacitation, and deterrence are the only
offenders and the time they actually serve. justifications.
Unconditional release: A type of release from prison for Work release programs: Programs designed to control
inmates who have completed their entire sentences. They are offenders in a secure environment while at the same time
released unconditionally—with no parole. allowing them to maintain employment.
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Index
Note: Page numbers followed by “t” and “f ” refer to pages containing tables and figures respectively.
Abadinsky, H., 95, 155, 226, 372 Anglin, M., 156

Abu Ghraib, 201–202 Angola Prison, Louisiana, 214
Abuse of power, 213 Annual Survey of Jails, 113
ACA Code of Ethics, 203 Anti-Drug Abuse Act (1988,), 91
Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS), 37 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), 325–327
Actuarial data, 350 Antonio, M. E., 213
Acupuncture, 347 Apel, R., 170
Adams, Samuel, 35 Applegate, B. K., 108, 126, 131, 373
Addiction, 358 Archibold, R. C., 277
Adolescent-limited (AL), 297 Aristotle, 17, 79–80, 97–98
Age–crime curve, 295 Armchair philosophy, 5
Age of Reason, 5 Aronson, J., 340
Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC), 179 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program, 354
Alabama Prisons, 179 Arrest to punishment, 3–10
Alahmed, A., 339 emergence of positivism, 6–7
Alarid, L., 128 emergence of the classical school, 5–6
Albers, P., 103 function of punishment, 7–8
Alcock, J., 7 history of correctional punishment, 4–5
Alcoholics Anonymous, 124, 153, 357, 373 philosophical assumptions, 9–10
Alexander, M., 281, 283–284 theoretical underpinnings, 3–4
Allen, H., 157 Arvanites, T., 229
Alm, S., 148 Aryan Brotherhood disruptions, 175
Alosi, T., 42–44 Ashcroft, J., 86
Alvarado, J., 327 Asian Americans, 278–280
Amaral, B., 92 Associated Press, 188
American Bar Association, 194, 275, 304 Atherton, E., 213
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 72, 118, 188, 256, 332, 379 Atkins v. Virginia (2002), 304, 337
American Correctional Association (ACA), 51, 101, 123–124, 133, Attica Prison riot (1971), 180, 286, 377
194, 202–203, 212, 336, 347 Auburn, 44–47
American Jail Association (AJA), 37, 194 Auburn Prison, 25, 42, 44–47, 164, 245
American Jails magazine, 37, 252 women in, 245
American Medical Association, 194, 304 Austin, J., 12, 372
American Prison Association. See American Correctional Awes, A., 276
Association (ACA) Awes, M., 276
American Prison Congress (1870), 51
American Probation and Parole Association, 194 Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, 4
American Psychological Association, 304 Bachman, R., 91
American Revolution, 34, 36, 41 Bail programs for jails, 134
Amicus curiae briefs, 304 Bail Project, 134
Amnesty International, 202, 338–339 Balanced approach, 158, 305
Anderson, E., 249, 285 Balancing test, 322–323
Andrews, D., 2, 350–351 Balazs, G., 307
Anger management, 358–359 Balshaw-Biddle, K., 129, 206
function and effectiveness of, 358 Banks, C., 200
Angier, J., 278 Bard, S., 202
422
Index 423
Barker, V., 11 Boman, J. H., 133

Barlow, L. W., 131–132 Bonato, S., 212
Barnhill, M. B., 129, 206 Bonczar, T. P., 143, 149, 197, 220–222, 249, 251, 371
Bartollas, C., 68 Bonesana, Cesare, 5–6
Barton, A., 156 Bonta, J., 2, 237, 350
Baumer, E., 20 Bookman, C. R., 132–133
Baunach, P. J., 244 Boone, R., 187, 379–380
Bayer, Robert, 8 Boot camps, 157
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law (2008), 362 Bordenkircher v. Hayes (1978), 323
Bazemore, G., 310 Born criminals, 7
Beare, M. E., 184 Bostaph, Lisa Growette, 227
Beccaria, C., 5–6, 37–38 Bottcher, J., 158
Beck, A. C., 212 Bouffard, L., 352
Beck, A. J., 111, 115, 128–129, 181, 187, 221, 256 Bowen, M., 285
Becker, G., 13 Brame, R., 155
Beckett, K., 285 Braswell, M., 348
Beggars, prostitutes, and nightwalkers, 34 Braswell, M. C., 64
Belbot, B., 272 Brazzell, D., 130
Belknap, J., 244, 251, 254 Breach, S. R., 167
Bell v. Wolfish (1979), 319 Breed v. Jones (1975), 303
Benekos, P., 361 Brent, J., 148
Benekos, P. J., 202 Bridewell, 33–34, 298
Benner, K., 179, 262, 321, 323 Briggs, C. S., 167
Bennett, P., 174 British Bar Association, 304
Bentham, Jeremy, 6–7, 25, 37–38, 66 British Foreign Office, 339
Berg, B., 263 Britton, D. M., 187, 206
Bergner, D., 199 Brockway, Zebulon, 51, 219, 346
Berk, R., 331, 335 Bronson, J., 115–116, 249, 281, 373–374, 380
Berzofsky, M., 115–116, 181, 256 Broussard, D., 123
Bhati, A., 225 Brouwer, Skyler, 308
Big House prisons, 53 Brown, M., 254, 259
Bill of Rights, 319 Brown, T.N.T., 186
Binder, A., 294, 299 Bruce, D., 294
Binder, R. L., 115 Brutalizing effect, 331
Binding out, 298 Buonanno, P., 14
Bindzus, D., 364 Bureau of Indian Affairs, 276
Bissonnette, G., 102 Bureau of Justice Assistance, 85
Black Act, 33 Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), 63, 114, 128, 141, 166, 170, 195,
Black Americans, 272–275 221, 230, 250–251, 274–276, 325, 360, 362, 371–372
Blackburn, A. G., 254 Bureau of Labor Statistics, 151, 196–199, 251
Black, M., 235 Burger, Warren, 346
Blalock, H. M., 276 Burgess, A., 369
Bland, A., 87 Burke, G., 188
Bleckman, E., 308 Burnett, J., 379
Blitz, C. L., 287 Burns, H., 39
Blonigen, D., 297 Burrell, W., 155
Bloom, B., 253, 259 Burton, A. L., 202
Blue, E., 26 Burton, V. S., 263
Blume, J., 334 Burton, V. S., Jr., 202
Blumstein, A., 15 Bush, George W., 201, 281, 340
Board of County Commissioners, 119 Bushway, S., 331
Board of Parole Commission, 224 Bussiere, M., 360
Board of Parole Commissioners, 223 Buttaro, A., 186
Bohm, R., 235, 321, 333, 335 Butterworth, B., 322
Bolen, J., 361 Button, D., 235
424 CORRECTIONS
Butts, J., 302 Civil Rights Act (1964), 205, 249, 261, 289
Butzin, C., 358 Civil rights era, 36
Bynum, J., 294 Civil rights movement, 180, 185, 272, 283
Bynum, R., 283 CivilWarHome.com, 218
Byrne, J. M., 176 Clarke, R., 10
Clark, J., 123
Cahalan, M. W., 248 Classical School, 5
Caldero, M. A., 68 definition, 5
California, female parole agents, 263 emergence of, 5–6
California Penal Code, 11 Classification counselor, 287–288
California Prison System, 25–26 characteristics and traits, 288
California State Prison, 112 primary duties and responsibilities, 287–288
Call, J., 317 typical workday description, 288–289
Camden, J., 181 Clayton, S. L., 202
Cameron, S., 331 Clear, T., 39, 45, 229, 271
Campagna, M., 168 Cleland, C., 348
Campbell, S. P., 124 Clem, J., 310
Camp, S. D., 206, 377, 381 Clemmer, D., 171, 173
Capital punishment, 25, 30, 33, 37, 39, 168, 331–332, 335–336. Clinton, Bill, 281, 370
See also Death penalty Coates, R., 159
Carrigan, William D., 279 Coequal staffing, 133
Carroll, L., 171, 348 Coffin v. Reichard (1944), 319
Carson, E. A., 125–127, 165, 176, 185, 196, 249, 281, 272–273, 278, Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), 352–353
371, 373–374, 380 definition of, 352
Carter, K., 305, 309 principles of, 352
Carter, M., 359 Cognitive theory, 352
Caspar, R., 115, 181, 256 Cohen, A., 118
Caspi, A., 230, 295, 297 Cohen, F., 324
Cassell, P., 335 Cohen, T., 3–4
Castellano, T. C., 167 Coker v. Georgia (1977), 330
Center for Community Corrections, 156 Colbert, D., 276
Center for Constitutional Rights, 275 Cole, Brian, 119–120
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 74, 124 Cole, G., 39, 271
Chambers, B., 357 Cole, S., 340
Champion, D., 92, 158, 309 Collective bargaining, 199–200
Chemical castration, 361 Collins, P. A., 67, 70–71, 133, 181, 194, 198, 205, 213
Cheng, S., 278 Collins, R., 297
Chen, X., 103 Collins, S. C., 212, 262
Cherry Hill, 42 Colonial jails, 39–41
Chesney-Lind, M., 244, 251–252, 256 Newgate Prison, Simsbury, 40
Child in need of supervision (CHINS), 294 Walnut Street Jail, 40
Child Welfare Information Gateway, 258 Columbus, Christopher, 276
China, 17–19, 103, 236, 279, 338–339, 371 Comack, E., 254
community corrections, 236 Committee on Deterrence and the Death Penalty (CDDP), 332
crime control model, 18 Community corrections, 143. See also Probation
death penalty in, 338–339 Community jails, 131–132
immigrants, 278–279 Community meeting, 356
parole, 236 Community Mental Health Act (1963), 186
sentencing, 103 Community residential centers, 234
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, 279 Community service order, 309
Chino State Prison, California, 271 Community supervision, recidivism and, 159
Chivalry hypothesis, 336 Concurrent sentence, 82
Christian missionary and temperance movement, 153 Conditions of confinement lawsuit, 319
Civil death statutes, 317 Conly, C., 232
Civil Rights Act (1871), 319 Connecticut Department of Corrections, 375
Index 425
Connecticut Prison, 246 Correctional programming and treatment, 345–364

Conover, T., 46, 173, 204 anger management, 358–359
Consecutive sentence, 82 cognitive-behavioral therapy, 352–353
Constitutional amendments, 320–325 evidence-based practices, 348–352
Eighth Amendment, 324–325 Hawaii’s HOPE program, 355
First Amendment, 320–321 mentally ill offenders, 361–364
Fourteenth Amendment, 325 offenders’ risks and needs, 350–351
Fourth Amendment, 321–323 pharmacological treatment, 358
number of executions in the United States, 330f rehabilitation, 346
Contract and lease systems, 52–53 rise and fall of rehabilitation, 346–348
Contrast effect, 12 risk, needs, and responsivity (RNR) model, 350
Convict code, 53 sex offenders and their treatment, 359–361
Convict subculture, 173 shift from “nothing works” to “what works,” 347
Conway, Anne Viscountess, 35 substance abuse programming, 353–358
Cooper, A., 221, 284 therapeutic communities, 355, 357–358
Cooper v. Pate (1964), 319–320 Correctional punishment, short history of, 4–5
Cordilia, A., 236 Correctional sanctions by restrictiveness, 156f–157f
Cornelius, G. F., 40 Correctional work, 193–214
Cornish, D., 10 Abu Ghraib, 201–202
Correction abuse of power, 213
classical school, 5–6 ACA code of ethics, 203
comparative corrections, 17 age, 207
contract and lease system, 52–53 burnout, 211
correctional institutions, 53–55 children supervising, 211–213
definitions, 2–9 collective bargaining, 199–200
deterrence, 16t correctional roles, 207–209
ethics and, 61–73 defects of total power, 210–211
incapacitation, 16t definition, 194
industrial prisons, 53 demographic factors, 204
key elements, 16t diversified, 206
penal help perspective for, 372 education and training, 200–204
penology, 2 ethics, 202–203
philosophical underpinnings, 3–4 ethnicity, 205–207
positivism, 6–7 gender, 205–207
rehabilitation, 16t growth in staff and clients or inmates, 195–198
reintegration, 16t hack versus human service, 209
retribution, 16t individual-level factors, 204–207
short history of, 4–5 little understood, 203–204
Southern and Northern Prisons, 52–53 mean annual pay for full-time workers, 196t
theoretical underpinnings, 3–4 perceived benefits of, 198–199
in 20th and, 21st centuries, 52–56 prior military service, 207
Warehouse Prison, 53–55 race, 205–207
Correctional boot camps, 157 role defined, 207–208
Correctional institutions, 26, 53–55 sexual harassment, 206
Correctional officer, 56, 184, 205 staff interactions with inmates, 210–21
advice for future correctional officers, 184 staff stress, 211
characteristics and traits, 184 Stanford Prison experiment, 200–201
duties and responsibilities, 184 state of the work, 195–200
primary duties and responsibilities of a, 56 street-level bureaucrats, 208
typical day for a corrections officer, 56 subcultural values, 209–210
typical workday, 184 subculture and socialization, 209–210
Correctional program manager, 260–261 turnover, 211
characteristics and traits, 261 use of force, 213–214
primary duties and responsibilities, 260 women and racial-ethnic minority group, 206
typical workday description, 261 Corrections Compendium (Clayton), 202
426 CORRECTIONS
Corrections Corporation of America, 379 Death penalty

Corrections director, 119–120 brutalizing effect, 331
challenges faced, 120 in China, 338–339
characteristics of, 119 Chivalry hypothesis, 336
primary duties and responsibilities, 119 difficult to determine, 331
Corrections–industrial complex, 378 disparity in, 333–338
Corrections in the, 21st century, 369–382 evil woman hypothesis, 336
adult correctional population, 1985–2017, 371f execution methods in the United States, 329
corrections–industrial complex, 378 execution method, 329t
decarceration, 373–376 financial costs and, 332–333
decline in the use of incarceration, 373–374 Gallup poll on public attitudes, 328f
extent of, 380–381 juveniles and the, 304–305
Idaho’s own private prison, 379–380 legal and ethical issues, 327
implications of decarceration, 375 legal challenges to, 329–331
military–industrial complex, 378 mental disability and, 336–337
penal help vs. penal harm, 375–376 mental illness and, 337–338
privatization, 377–381 public opinion and, 327–331
professionalization, 376 in Saudi Arabia, 339
profit motive in corrections, 377–378 states with and without (2020), 328f
punitive policies, 370–373 victim’s race issue, 334–334
recession and decreased use of incarceration, 374–375 women and, 335–336
Walnut Grove correctional facility, 378–379 Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), 328–329,
Corrections officer, 56 332–335, 338
Council of State Governments Justice Center, 118, 159, 361–362 De Beaumont, G., 26, 39, 42, 44–45, 47–48, 247
COVID-19, 110, 123, 181, 197, 375 Debus-Sherrill, S., 130
Covington, S., 259 Decarceration, 373–376
Cowburn, M., 321 explanations for the decline, 373–374
Cowhig, M., 109, 196, 276 implications of, 375
Cowhig, M. P., 125–127 penal help vs. penal harm, 375–376
Cowlitz County Youth Services Center, 118 recession and decreased use, 374–375
Cox, N. R., 111 Decker, S., 128, 143
Crabbe, J., 353 Declaration of Principles, 28, 51, 346
Crack babies, 91, 283–284, 374 De Coster, S., 264
Crack versus powder cocaine, 283–285 Dedel Johnson, K., 230
Craig, S. C., 254 Deference period, 319–320
Crank, J. P., 68 Deferred adjudication, 305
Crewe, B., 174, 271 DeFina, R., 229
Crime control model, 16–20 DeHart, D. D., 259
Crisis intervention team (CIT) training, 120 Deinstitutionalization movement, 186
Crofton, Walter, 219, 346 Deinstitutionalization of people with mental illnesses, 185
Crouch, B., 143, 289 Deise, J., 84
Cullen, F., 347–348 Delany, P., 309
Cullen, F. T., 73, 164, 170, 183, 202, 263, 370, 373, 376 De La Torre, M., 269–270
Culley, R., 256–257 DeLaune, K., 358
Cultural comparisons, 16–20 Delaware’s Decide Your Time program, 148
Currie, E., 14 Delaware Multistage Program, 357
Del Carmen, R., 299, 324
Dahl, R., 200, 210 Delinquency, 294–295
Daly, K., 251–252 definition, 294
Damrosch, L., 26 extent of, 294–295
Daniels, D., 86 Delinquents, 294
Data, actuarial, 350 DeLisi, M., 15, 184
Davidson, J., 197 DeLone, M., 272
Davis, K. C., 34–35, 272, 276 DeMichele, M., 235
Davis, R. M., 131 Democracy score, 20
Index 427
Deng, X., 236 Durant, W., 6

Deontological ethical systems, 64 Durkheim, E., 8
Depo-Provera, 361 Durnescu, I., 92
De Quervain, D., 8 Durose, M., 90, 221, 360
Desautels, A., 265 Durose, M. R., 90, 285
Detention centers. See Jails Duwe, G., 232
Determinate sentence, 82 Dworkin, A., 252
Deterrence, 11–13 Dynamic risk factors, 351
contrast effect, 12 Dzur, A., 160
general deterrence, 12–13
recidivism, 11 Early modern prisons, 41–47
specific deterrence, 11 Auburn, 44–47
substantial deterrent effect, 13 New York (Congregate) system, 44–47
de Tocqueville, A., 26, 39, 42, 44–45, 47–48, 247 Pennsylvania Prison model, 42–44
DeValve, E. Q., 263 Sing Sing, 44–47
DeValve, M., 263 Walnut Street Jail, 41–42
Deviant arousal patterns, 360 Early prisons, 48–51
Dewa, C. S., 212 Dorothea Dix’s evaluation, 49–50
Dewan, S., 179 failure of reform, 50–51
Diamond, J., 270, 276 shame of generation, 48
Diaz-Duran, C., 284 Eastern Pennsylvania Prison, 39, 41–44, 49–50, 164
Di Beccaria, Marchese, 5–6 Eastern State Penitentiary, 246
Dietz, E., 357 Economist Intelligence Unit, 18, 20
DiIulio, J. J., 14 Eddings v. Oklahoma (1982), 304
Dillard, A., 337 Effective Death Penalty Act, 325
Dilworth, D., 322 Eggers, A., 89
Direct supervision jails, 131 Egley, A., 128
Discretion, 69 Egoism, 67
Discretionary parole, 221 Eighth Amendment, 324
Discrimination, 271 Eighth Circuit Court, 320
Disparity, 271 Eisenberg, T., 334
Ditton, P., 82 Eisenhower, Dwight, 378
Diversion, 300 Electronic monitoring (ME), 235–237
Dix, D., 35, 48–50, 246, 248 Ellis, A., 352
Dodgson, K., 237 Ellis, B., 118
Doña Ana County Jail, New Mexico, 107 Ellis, L., 296–297
Double deviants, 251 Ellis, T., 152
Dowden, C., 212, 310 Elmira Reformatory, 51–52, 219
Downey, P. M., 130 Endemic criminals, 7
Downs, K., 264 England. See United Kingdom
Dreiband, E. S., 179 Enlightenment, 5, 35–39
Driving while Black or Brown (DWB), 285 Equal Justice Initiative, 272, 279
Drug courts, 86–89 Eskridge, C., 364
Drug Policy Alliance, 73–74, 281 Espinosa, P., 277
Drug-related crimes, 3 Espiritu, R., 298
Drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs), 174 Estelle v. Gamble (1976), 123
Drug treatment specialist, 356–358 Estes, S., 264
primary duties and responsibilities, 356 Ethical formalism, 65
qualities/characteristics, 356 Ethics, 61–73
Drug war, 281–283 defining, 62–64
Dudzik, K., 360 deontological ethical systems, 64
Due process model, 16–20 egoism, 67
Dugan, L., 259 ethical formalism, 65
Duran, J., 35 ethical frameworks, 64
Durant, A., 6 ethical violations, 67
428 CORRECTIONS
Florida’s Youth Services International Private Prisons, 63 Female correctional officers, 259–265
foundation for professional practice, 64–67 equal employment vs. privacy interest of inmates, 262
golden rule, 65 female matrons, 246
morality and, 62 female staff, 249–251
natural law, 66 hostile environment, 264
noble cause corruption, 68–69 male and female correctional employees,
official deviance, 67–68 1984–2005, 260f
prevention of unethical behavior, 70–72 overcoming employment obstacles, 259–261
promotion of ethical work practices, 70–72 qualification, 262–263
religious perspective, 66 quid pro quo sexual harassment, 264
subculture values, 69–70 sexual and gender harassment, 263–264
teleological ethical systems, 64 Female inmates, 122
unethical behavior, 67–69 Female probationer, 204, 258
utilitarianism, 66 Feminism, 251–252
war on drugs, 73–75 double deviants, 251
Ethics in Crime and Justice: Dilemmas and liberal feminists, 251
Decisions (Pollock), 65 Ferdik, F., 89
Ethics of care, 67 Ferraro, K. J., 89
Ethics of virtue, 66 Ferri, E., 13–14
Ethnicity, 112, 205, 270–271, 277–278, 280, 287 Field, G., 361
EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, 103 Figlio, R., 15
Evans, Carl David, 163 Finney, C., 212
Evidence-based practices (EBP), 260, 348–352 Finn, P., 151
integrated EBP model, 349f Firestone, J. M., 264
offenders’ risks and needs, 350–351 First Amendment, 320
principles of, 348 First jails, 31, 33
risk, needs, and responsivity (RNR) model, 350 First Step Act, 91–92
Evidence-based Stepping Up Program, 118 Fishbein, D., 354
Evil woman hypothesis, 336 Fisher, B. S., 373
Ewing, C., 360 Fisher, W., 361
Ex Parte Crouse (1838), 299 Five keys charter, 115
Ex Parte Hull (1941), 318 Flagg, A., 72
Ex Parte United States, 1916, 141 Flavin, J., 265
Expressive violence, 179 Fleisher, M. S., 256
Extreme criminals, 7 Fletcher, B., 309
Ezell, M., 158 Flores, A. R., 186
Florida’s Youth Services International Private Prisons, 63
Fair Sentencing Act (2010), 91–92 Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC), 72, 175
Fallock, Brian, 146–147 Folsom Prison, 26
Fang, H., 15 Ford v. Wainwright (1986), 337
Farabee, D., 156 Fortas, Abe, 302
Farbstein, Jay, 131 Foster, B., 219
Farkas, M. A., 209, 212, 262–263 Foucault, M., 27, 33
Farmer, G., 157 Foul-mouthed ignorance, 38
Farole, D. J., 90 Fourteenth Amendment, 325
Farrington, D., 12, 371, 359 Fourth Amendment, 321
Fazel, S., 11 France, 17–20, 34, 104, 237, 338, 371
Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2019, 3, 89, 333 due process model, 18
Federal Bureau of Prisons, 92, 165, 185, 356, 381 sentencing, 104
Federman, C., 325 Frankel, L., 35
Feeley, M., 34, 134 Frankel, M., 296
Feeney, Tom, 102 Franklin, Benjamin, 35, 39
Fehr, E., 8 Franklin, L. V., 179
Feldmeyer, B., 333 Freedom for Immigrants, 277
Fellner, J., 168 Freedom of Information Act, 72
Index 429
Freiburger, T., 90 Goldkamp, J. S., 124

Freilich, J. D., 167 Goleman, D., 376–377
French, M., 15 Gong, J., 236
French Revolution, 35 Gonnerman, J., 180
Freudenberg, N., 133–134 Gonzalez-Barrera, A., 269
Fuleihan, B., 89 Goodstein, L., 265
Function of punishment, 7–8 Gordon, J., 263
restitutive justice, 8 Gottfredson, M., 296
retributive justice, 8 Grabowski, J., 358
Furman v. Georgia (1972), 11, 329 Graduated sanctions, 149–151, 232–237
electronic monitoring, 235
Gachter, S., 8 global positioning systems, 235
Gaes, G., 2, 11 halfway houses, 232–234
Gaes, G. G., 377, 380–381 house arrest, 235
Gainey, R., 235 Graham v. Florida (2010), 304
Gainsborough, J., 362 Grand reforms, 26–30
Galley slavery, 33 Grant, P., 263
Gallup, 328 Graterford Prison, 286
Galyean, K., 348 Gray, T., 172, 253, 257
Gangs, 125, 128, 174–176 Great law, 39
Gaol fever, 37 Great writ, 318
Gardener, Kathy, 345 Greenfeld, L., 333
Gardner, L., 152 Greenfield, L. A., 285
Gard, R., 153 Greenman, S. J., 373
Garland, B., 133, 164, 249, 296, 375–376 Greenwald, R., 188
Garland, D., 30–31 Gregg v. Georgia (1976), 330
Garofalo, R., 7 Gross, S., 333
Garside, R., 312 Grusec, J., 148
Gates, G. J., 186 Guy, R., 221
Geis, G., 294
Gender identity, 186 Haarr, R., 253
Gendreau, P., 148, 347–348 Habeas corpus, 318–319, 327
General deterrence, 12 Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, 318
Geneva conventions, 201 Habitual offender statutes, 83
Gentleman’s Agreement, 280 Hack, 209
Gettinger, S. H., 131 Hahn, L. D., 68
Get tough on crime movement, 166 Halemba, G. J., 173, 206, 262–263
Giacomazzi, A., 311 Haley, K., 235, 321
Giallombardo, R., 252, 258 Halfway houses, 232–234
Gibbs, A., 235 Hamada, J. N., 122
Gilbert, E., 255, 257 Hamilton, Z., 184
Gilliard, D. K., 111 Hancock, B., 298
Gilligan, C., 67, 359 Hands-off doctrine, 317
Gilligan, L., 359 Hands-off period, 317–318
Gilman, E., 206 Haney, C., 200
Ginder, S., 122, 185 Hansen, T., 159
Glaze, L., 3, 196, 229, 373 Hanson, K., 360
Glaze, L. E., 222, 115, 362–363, 371 Harlan, C., 381
Glenn, S., 206 Harrington, P. E., 261
Global Positioning System (GPS), 235–237 Harris, C., 333
Gobeil, R., 359 Harris, J., 30–31, 42–43, 45, 51–52, 247
Goff, Lord of Chieveley, 316 Harris, R. J., 264
Goffman, E., 170–171 Harsher sentences, 373
Golden Rule, 64–66 Hassine, V., 204, 286
Goldfarb, R., 40, 48 Hastings, P., 148
430 CORRECTIONS
Hatch, Ginny, 340 Hochstetler, A., 184

Hatch, V., 90, 335 Hockenberry, S., 249
Havercamp, R., 237 Hogan, N. L., 212, 263
Hawaii Opportunity Probation With Enforcement (HOPE), 148, 355 Hogg, C., 184
Hawkes, M. Q., 252, 261, 272 Holcomb, I., 146
Hawkins, G., 372 Holtfreter, K., 184
Hawkins, H. C., 285 Holt v. Sarver (1969), 319
Hawthorne, N., 1, 140 Hostile environment, 264
Hayes, L. M., 126 House arrest, 235–237
Haynes, S., 90 Houser, K. A., 257
Hays, T., 118 Houses of refuge, 247
Hays, Z., 184 Houston, D., 335
Hedonism, 9 Howard, J., 37
Hedonistic calculus, 10 Howard, John, 35–38, 40–41
Hefferman, E., 252 Howden, L., 294
Heinrich, Kay, 260–261 Hua, Dui, 338–339
Hemmens, C., 6, 17, 19, 103–104, 173, 213, 236, 263, 272, 298–299, Hudson v. McMillian (1992), 324
302, 318, 321, 357 Hudson v. Palmer (1984), 321
Henderson, H., 181–182 Hudud crime, 103, 339
Henriques, Z. W., 253, 255, 257 Hughes, K., 195, 219
Hensel, J., 212 Hughes, R., 219
Hepburn, J. R., 263 Hughes, T., 221
Herberman, E., 3, 373 Huizinga, D., 298, 354
Herman, J. L., 186 Hulings, N., 375
Herraiz, D., 86 Human agency, 10
Hersh, S. M., 201 Human service, 209
Hicken, M., 118 Hume, Scotsman David, 35
Hickman, L., 331, 335 Hummer, D., 176
Hight, M., 131 Hypothalamus, 361
Hight, S., 131
Hindman, J., 361 Idaho’s Own private prison, 379–380
Hinners, D., 333 Ideal-type models, 16
Hirsch, A. J., 27, 42 Ignatieff, M., 33
Hirschi, T., 152, 296 Immigrant advocacy group, 277
Hispanics, or Latinx, 277–278 Immigration prisons, 188
History of correctional punishment, 4–5 Impey, E., 32
History of corrections Importation, 171
American Prison Congress (1870), 51 Imprisonment, Pains of, 171–173
bridewells, 33 Incapacitation, 13–15
Catholic Church’s influence, 31 selective incapacitation, 14–15
colonial jails, 39–41 Incarceration
Elmira reformatory, 51–52 Asian Americans, 280
Enlightenment, 35–39 Native Americans and Alaska Natives in jails, 276
first jails, 31, 33 rate of, 19f
galley slavery, 33 Inciardi, J., 321, 358
grand reforms, 26–30 Incorporation, 318
key events, 28f–29f Inderbitzin, M., 211
themes, 55 Indeterminate sentence, 81
transportation, 34–35 Industrial prisons, 53
type of corrections, 30–5 Inmate–inmate assaults, 324
History of law in corrections, 316–320 Inmates’ lives and movement, 54
deference period, 319–320 Inmates’ rights movement, 54
hands-off period, 317–318 Innocence Project, 340
prisoners’ rights period, 318–319 Innocence revolution, 339
rule of law, 316–317 In re Gault (1967), 302
Index 431
In re Winship (1970), 303 mentally ill inmates, 120

Instrumental violence, 179 new-generation, 131–132
Intensive supervision probation (ISP), 155, 309 novel coronavirus and, 123–124
Intermediate sanctions, 154–160 older inmates, 122
boot camps, 156–158 origin of, 108
intensive supervision probation, 155–156 overcrowding, 110–112
parole, 156–158 people with mental illnesses, 116–122
shock probation, 156–158 podular, 131–132
victim-offender reconciliation programs, 158–160 poor peoples in, 116–112
work release program, 155 poverty, 115–117
Investigator for IDAHO Innocence Project, 340–341 predictors of suicide, 127f
primary duties and responsibilities, 340 processing of inmates, 109–110
typical day working, 340 race, 112–116
Ireland, 17, 35, 153 reentry programs for, 133–134
Ireland, C., 263 release on recognizance, 134
female parole agents, 263 rights to medical care, 123
Irish system, 219 serious psychological distress (SPD), 115
Irwin, J., 12, 31, 33, 40, 53–54, 55, 114, 133, 372 sexual violence, 128–130
Irwin, K., 256 solitary confinement, 118
Islamic law, 103, 339 substance abuse and, 115–117, 124
Ismaili, K., 3 suicides, 121, 125–128
Iwaszko, A., 374 transgender inmates, 120
trends in jail populations, 110–122
Jacksonian movement, 247 types of, 108–109
Jackson, Margaret, 356 victimization, 117
Jacobs, B., 143, 237 James, D. J., 115, 362–363
Jacobs, James, 53 James, J., 124
Jacobs, J. B., 52, 54, 173, 175, 204 Japanese immigrants, 279
Jaffee, S., 230 Japan, immigrants, 278
Jails, 107–134 Jefferson, Thomas, 35
bail programs for, 134 Jenness, V., 187
booking process, 110 Jiang, S., 236
coequal staffing, 133 Jim Crow, 25, 272, 281, 283
colonial, 39–41 John Howard Award, 37
community jails, 131–132 Johnson, H., 361
definition of, 108 Johnson, R., 72, 172–173, 182–183, 204, 209, 212
direct supervision jails, 131 Johnson, W., 185–186
double-bunk jail cell, 110 Johnston, N., 31, 33, 36, 39, 42–43
ethical issue, 129 Jolliffe, D., 359
ethnicity, 112–116 Jones, A., 3
female inmates, 122 Jones v. Bock (2007), 326
female jail inmate, 114 Jones v. Cunningham (1963), 319
gangs, 128 Jonson, C. L., 73, 164, 170, 370, 370, 376
gender, 112–116 Jonson, W. W., 263
high Schools in, 115 Jordan, K., 90
homelessness, 115–117 Jordan v. Gardner (1993), 257
immigrants and, 118, 120, 118 Joseph, J., 272
innovations in, 130–134 Judicial reprieve, 140
juvenile inmates, 122–123 Judicial waiver, 301
juveniles and, 112–116 Junger-Tas, J., 295
medical problems, 122–125 Jung, H., 134
mental health, 121 Jurik, N. C., 173, 206, 252, 262–263
mental health indicators, 116t Just deserts model, 10
mental health status of prisoners, 116f Justice, 80
mental illness, 115–117 Justice for All Act, 340
432 CORRECTIONS
Justifications of punishment, 10–16 “touchy-feely” approach to corrections, 310

deterrence, 11–13 waived to criminal court, 301–302
incapacitation, 13–14 wilderness or survival programs, 310
rehabilitation, 15
reintegration, 16 Kachnowski, V., 225
retribution, 10–11 Kadela, K., 183, 232
selective incapacitation, 14–15 Kaeble, D., 3, 141–142, 196, 220, 228, 249, 273, 278,
Juvenile courts, beginning of the, 299–300 371, 373
Juvenile drug court, 88. See also Drug courts Kamin, S., 372
Juvenile inmates, 122–123 Kanazawa, Y., 364
Juvenile Justice Trainers Association, 202 Kang, W., 249
Juvenile probation officer, 308 Kansal, T., 89
characteristics and traits, 308 Kant, Immanuel, 65
duties and responsibilities of, 308 Karberg, J., 124, 176, 260
typical workday description, 308 Kassebaum, G., 167, 175, 209
Juveniles, 293–311 Katz, J., 335
adolescent-limited (AL) offenders, 297 Kauffman, K., 69
age–crime curve, 295–296 Keil, T. J., 272
behavior, 295–298 Kelley, T., 206
boot camp program, 311 Kelly, L., 357
brain, 295–298 Kennedy, R., 91
childhood in the United States, 299 Kent v. United States (1966), 302
community corrections, 305–308 Kerle, K., 34, 37, 40, 108, 123–124, 131, 133, 244
community service order, 309 Kiehl, Laura, 95
death penalty and, 304–305 Kigerl, A., 184
deferred adjudication, 305 Kim, A.-S., 263
delinquency, 294–295 Kim, B., 361
extending due process to juveniles, 302–304 Kimball, P. A., 180
extent of delinquency, 294–295 Kind and Usual Punishment (Mitford), 377
group homes, 310 King, D., 235
“hands off ” policy, 302 King, J., 13
history of juvenile justice, 298–300 King, K., 167
inmates in jails, 122–123 King, R., 83
institutional corrections, 310–311 Kirkham, C., 63, 380
jails and, 112–116 Kirshon, J., 180
justice philosophies, 311–312 Kitano, H.H.L., 276
juvenile courts, 299–300, 301f Klebe, K. J., 257
juveniles waived to criminal court, 301–302 Kleber, H., 358
life course–persistent (LCP) offenders, 297 Kleck, G., 333
neuroscience research, 296 Klein, Michael, 184, 205
offenders, 300–305 Klein, S., 335
parens patriae, 298 Klingele, C., 147, 149, 155
philosophy of juvenile justice, 298–300 Klofas, J. M., 111
predisposition report, 307 Knoll, C., 300–301
probation, 309–310 Knowles, D., 103
probation caseload, 1985–2009, 307f Knuckle-dragger, 345–346
procedural and event terminology, 99t–300t Komatsu, S., 277
proportion of arrests by offense, 2016, 295f Koran (Islam’s holy book), 17
prosecutorial discretion, 301 Kramer, J., 140
residential corrections, 310–311 Krebs, C., 115, 181, 256
restorative justice, 309 Krienert, J. L., 256
status offenders, 294 Kuck, S., 151
status offending, 294–295 Kuhn, T., 36
status offenses, 294 Ku Klux Klan, 272
statutory exclusion, 302 Kyckelhahn, T., 3–4, 195
Index 433
Lab, S., 298–299, 302 Locke, John, 35–36

Lacock, T., 331 Loeber, R., 298
Lambarth, C., 86 Logan, C., 2, 11
Lambert, E. G., 212, 263 Lombardo, L. X., 173, 209
Land, K., 296 Long, G. I., 200
Langan, P. A., 12, 221, 285, 360, 371 Long Reach of American Corrections, The, 374
La Nuestra Familia, 175 Loose, P., 281
Latessa, E., 234 Loper, A. B., 254
Latessa, W., 348 Lopez, M. H., 269
Latimer, J., 310 Lovrich, N. P., 212, 263
Laub, J., 152 Lowenkamp, C., 234
La Vigne, N. G., 130 Lubitz, R., 97
Lawes, L. E., 46–47, 52 Lucas, L., 86
Law in corrections Lundman, R. J., 285
Constitutional Amendments, 320–325 Lurigio, A., 281, 362–363
curtailing prisoner petitions, 325–327 Lutze, F. E., 173, 184, 204, 263–264
deference period, 319–320 Lux, J. L., 202
evolution of law, 316 Lynching, 272, 279
hands-off period, 317–318 Lynds, Elam, 45
history of, 316–320
prisoners’ rights period, 318–319 Macher, A. M., 123
rule of law, 316–317 MacKenzie, D., 89, 155, 352
Lawrence, R., 264 Mackin, J., 86, 88
Lawrence, S., 229, 231 Maconochie’s Gentlemen, 35
Lee, J. A., 67 Maconochie, Alexander, 35, 218–219, 346
Leigey, M., 91 Madison, James, 35
Leip, L. A., 212 Maguire, K., 290
Lennon, T., 278–279 Mahan, S., 264
Leshner, A., 358 Mahoney, Pat, 56
Lester, D., 348 Mai, C., 167, 170
Levin, D., 221 Maletzky, B., 361
Levin, D. J., 285 Malley, S., 254
Levy, R., 237 Mallicoat, S. L., 265
Lewis, C., 152 Mallon, S., 355
Leyton-Brown, K., 259 Manchak, S., 147–148, 155
LGBTQ+ Mandatory parole, 221
inmates, 186–188 Mandatory sentence, 82
gender identity, 186 Mandatory sentencing, 82
needs of, 186 Mandery, E., 336
Li, A., 331 Mann, C. C., 270, 276
Liberal feminists, 251 Marcus-Mendoza, S. T., 258
Liberty interest, 239 Margin of error (MOE), 282
Library of Congress, 39 Marion, N., 155, 234
Lieb, S., 186 Marks system, 51
Life course-persistent (LCP) offenders, 297 Marquart, J. W., 129, 173, 206, 254
Life without parole (LWOP), 83, 293, 332 Marshall, L., 339
Lightfoot, C., 131–133 Marsh, R., 129, 206
Light, M. T., 269 Martinez, D. J., 277
Linden, D., 353 Martin, G., 277, 311
Lin, N., 183 Martin, S., 148, 252, 358
Lipsky, M., 208, 211, 310, 348 Martinson, R., 347–348
Lipton, D., 348 Maruschak, L. M., 123, 122, 143, 149, 185, 221–222, 371
Litt, M., 355 Maryland Prison, 246
Liu, J., 236, 338 Maryland State Penitentiary, 245–246
Livsey, S., 249, 307 Maschke, K. J., 262
434 CORRECTIONS
Masham, Damaris Cudworth, 35 Mental Hygiene Law, 360

Maslow, A. H., 172, 183 Mental illness, 65, 115, 117–118
Mathias, R., 357 death penalty and, 337–338
Matson, S., 359 Mentally ill offenders, 361–364
Mattick, H. W., 31 offender treatment, 364
Mattise, J., 188 prevalence of mental health problems, 362t–363t
Mature coping, 182 schizophrenics and manic depressives, 361
Mauer, M., 20, 83 special problems, 361
Mauro, R., 333 Mercier, M., 279–280
Mawby, R., 143, 237, 360 Meredith, C., 85
Maximum-security prisons, 169 Merlo, A., 361
May, D. C., 108, 143, 157, 234–235, 287, 289 Merlo, A. V., 202
Mayer, M., 237 Messinger, S., 173
Mays, G. L., 108, 172, 212, 253, 263 #MeToo movements, 36
Mays, L. G., 172 Metzner, J. L., 168
McAdams, J., 334 Mexican mafia, 128, 174–175
McAuliffe, K., 270 Meyer, J., 294
McBride, E., 230 Mihalic, S., 354
McCarthy, B. J., 64 Miller, B., 263
McCarthy, B. R., 64 Miller, H. A., 168, 305
McCleland, J., 167–168 Miller, W. T., 202
McCleskey v. Kemp (1987), 335 Mills, C. W., 378
McCleskey, Warren, 333 Minimum-security prisons, 168
McCollister, K., 15 Minor, K., 143, 234
McDermott, P. A., 354 Minton, T., 196
McFarland, J., 311 Minton, T. D., 109, 112, 276, 371
McKeiver v. Pennsylvania (1971), 303 Mitchell, O., 89, 302
McLean, R. L., 133–134 Mitford, J., 378
McLeod, J., 352 Mitford, Jessica, 377
McNeese, T., 322 Model, 350
McNeill, F., 153 Moe, A. M., 89
McNiel, D. E., 115, 117 Moffitt, T., 15, 230, 295, 297
Meade, B., 176 Mom-and-pop jails, 259
Mears, D., 90 Mooney, J., 143, 234
Mears, D. P., 166–167, 181, 184 Moore, N., 157, 235
Medicaid, 133 Moore, R. W., 179
Medical model, 53, 81 Morash, M., 184, 252–254
Medical needs of inmates, 123, 325 More, Elizabeth I. Sir Thomas, 32
Medical problems in jails, 122–125 Morgan, K., 253–254
female inmates, 122 Morgan, R. E., 371
juvenile inmates, 122–123 Morris, L., 359
novel coronavirus, 123–124 Morris, N., 35, 204, 218, 316
older inmates, 122 Morrissey v. Brewer (1972), 238
rights to medical care, 123 Mortification, 171
substance abuse, 124 Mount Pleasant Prison, 245
Medium-security prisons, 168–169 women in, 245
Megan’s Law, 217 Moynihan, J. M., 40
Mellow, J., 167 Mueller, C. W., 264
Melser, J., 350 Mueller, D., 298
Mempa v. Rhay (1967), 238 Muise, D., 310
Menard, S., 354 Mule Creek State Penitentiary, California, 169
Mendoza, M., 188 Mulick, S., 374
Menke, B. A., 212 Mullings, J. L., 254
Menninger, K., 7 Mulvaney, K., 92
Mental disability, death penalty and, 336–337 Mumola, C. J., 126–127, 230, 325
Index 435
Mupier, R., 230 Novel coronavirus, Jails and, 123–124

Muraskin, R., 253 Nyrop, K., 285
Murphy, D. W., 173, 263–264
Murrah Federal Building bombing, Oklahoma, 327 O’Connell, D., 148, 357
Mustaine, E., 353 O’Connor, M. L., 68
Musu-Gillette, L., 311 O’Donohue, W., 264
O’Keefe, M. L., 167
Naday, A., 167 O’Sullivan, S., 204
Nagel, W. G., 42–43 Obama, Barack, 91, 281, 381
Nagin, D., 13, 296, 331–332 Obamacare, 123
Nagin, D. S., 170 Offender managers, 153
Naikan, 364 Offender needs, 351
Narag, R. E., 167 Offender risk, 351
Narcotics Anonymous, 124, 357, 373 Offender treatment, 364
Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1 Offenses against morality, 246
National Center for Juvenile Justice, 301 Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 273–274
National Center for State Courts (NCSC), 97 Office of National Drug Control Policy, 354
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 346 Official deviance, 67–68
National Center on Institutions and Alternatives (NCIA), 125–126 Ohio Penitentiary, 245
National Commission on Correctional Health Care, 123 Older inmates, 122
National Conference of State Legislatures, 277 Old Testament, 31
National Crime Victimization Survey, 371 Olivero, J. M., 167
National Institute of Corrections (NIC), 125, 132, 349 Olson, S., 160
National Institute of Justice, 130, 236, 335, 355 Omaha Trust Company (OTC), 93
National Institute on Drug Abuse, 358 On Crimes and Punishment (Beccaria), 5, 37
National Offender Management Service (NOMS), 153 Oosting, J., 188
National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, 130 Orange Is the New Black (Netflix show), 255
National Probation Act of 1925, 141 Orland, L., 27, 30–31, 33–35, 42–43, 47, 51
National Public Radio (NPR), 379 Osher, F. C., 133
Native Americans, or American Indians, 276 Oshinsky, D. M., 52, 246, 272
Natural law, 66 Osterhoff, W. E., 111
Needs principle, 350 Oudekerk, B. A., 371
Nelson, W. R., 131 Overcrowding, 110–112
Nettler, Gwynn, 4 Owen, B., 114, 172–173, 252–253, 257–259
Neubauer, D., 82, 84 Owens, E. G., 170
Newgate Prison (Simsbury, Connecticut), 36, 40, 178
women in, 244–245 Packer, H., 16–17, 316
New-generation, or podular, direct supervision jails, 131–132 Padfield, N., 104
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Paine, Thomas, 35, 39
(Alexander), 281 Pains of imprisonment, 171–173
New Mexico State Penitentiary riot of 1980, 180 Palla, S., 229
Newton, Isaac, 35 Panetti v. Quarterman (2007), 337
New York Academy of Sciences, 297 Panopticon, 38
New York (Congregate) System, 44–47 Paoline, E. A., 131, 212
New York prison system, 39, 44 Paparozzi, M., 148, 221
Ney, B., 252–253 Paquette, C., 85
Nixon, Richard, 281 Parens patriae, 298
Noble cause corruption, 68–69 Parker, L., 148
Noncustodial sentences, 84 Parker, V., 299
Noonan, M., 122 Parnell, G., 32
Noonan, M. E., 122, 124, 126–127, 185 Parole, 157, 218–225
Norfolk Island, 35 basic principles, 218
Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, 120 characteristics of, 220f
Northwestern Law Center for International Human Rights, 339 creation of, 52
Norway, democracy score, 20 determining parole “success,” 231
436 CORRECTIONS
discretionary parole, 221 Personal protective equipment (PPE), 124

example of parole conditions, 223–224 Person in need of supervision (PINS), 294
history of, 218–220 Pervear v. Massachusetts (1866), 318
Irish system, 219 Petechuck, D., 298
legal challenges, 238–239 Petersilia, J., 143, 221, 229–230, 238
liberty interest, 239 Peters, J., 361
mandatory parole form, 225–226 Pew Research Center, 75, 374
modern parole system, 220–226 Pfingst, L., 285
parolee recidivism, 221–226 Pharmacological treatment, 358
perils of, 217 Phelps, R., 40
philosophical foundation of, 218 Philadelphia, Western Pennsylvania Prison, 39
purpose of, 218 Philosophical assumptions, 9–10
“success” of, 231–232 hedonism, 9
ticket of leave (TOL), 219 hedonistic calculus, 10
unconditional release, 220 human agency, 10
See also Reentry rationality, 10
Parole Boards, 226–228 Piehl, A., 14
duties of the, 226 Pie-shaped cells, 40
roles of, 226 Pinto, S., 237
Parole Commission, 228 Piquero, A., 15, 285
Parole Commissioner, 227–228 Pitts, L., 284
characteristics and traits, 227–228 Pizarro, J. M., 167
duties and responsibilities of, 227 Plan of Construction of a Panopticon Penitentiary House
typical workday, 228 (Bentham), 38
Parolee recidivism, 221–226 PLRA, 326–327
Parole Officers, subcultural values of, 70 Podular direct supervision (PDS) jails, 132
Parole violations, 232–237 Pogrebin, M. R., 264
electronic monitoring, 235 Polcin, D., 234
global positioning systems, 235 Police court missionaries, 153
halfway houses, 232–234 Pollock, J., 64–67, 69, 244, 249, 251, 253–254, 372, 376
house arrest, 235 Polygraph (“lie detector”) assessment, 360–361
Pastore, A. L., 290 Poole, E. D., 264
Paternoster, R., 13, 84 Porter, N. D., 375
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, 123 Porto, P., 353
Patriarchy, 252 Positivism, emergence of, 6–7
Payne, B., 235 Positivists, 7
Payne v. Tennessee (1991), 84 Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 140
Pearson, F., 348 Potter, R. H., 187
Pearson, J., 118 Powell, K., 295
Peculiarities, 7 Pratt, T. C., 184
Penal harm, 376 Predisposition report, 307
Penal help, 376 Prendergast, M., 156
Pennsylvania House of Refuge, 299 Presentence investigation report (PSI), 79, 92–95
Pennsylvania model prisons, 39, 41 Presentence Investigator, 95–96
Pennsylvania Prison model, 42–44 duties and responsibilities, 96
Pennsylvania Prison Society, 41 Preston, D., 359
Pennsylvania prison system, 26, 42 Principle of utility, 6
Penn, W., 38–39 Principles of Morals and Legislation (Bentham), 6
Penology, 2 Prison, Elmira, 26
Penry v. Lynaugh (1989), 337 Prisoner rights movement, 272
People v. Franklin, 332 Prisoners’ rights period, 318–319
People v. Saurez, 332 Prisonization, 171
Pepper, J., 331–332 Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) (1996), 325–327
Perroncello, P., 131 Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA), 128, 130,
Perry, S., 195, 276 176, 257, 324
Index 437
Prisons, 163–188 demographic characteristics of offenders, 141–142

amount of violence, 176 ethical issue, 148
attributes of, 170–173 graduated sanctions, 149–151
classification, 164 incarceration costs, 145f
colonial, 39–41 intensive supervision probation, 155–156
cost benefit analysis, 170 intermediate sanctions, 154–160
current state of, 164–165 judicial reprieve, 140
debtor’s prisons, 33 number of offenders, 141–142
Dorothea Dix evolution, 49–50 origins of, 140–141
early modern, 41–47 parole, 157
gangs, 174–176 probation officer stress, 151–152
immigration prisons, 188 probation supervision models, 147–149
importation, 170–171 probation violations, 149–151
industrial, 53 purpose of, 140–141
LGBTQ+ inmates, 186–188 recidivism and, 159
maximums, 168 role of probation officers, 145–149
mediums, 168–169 shock probation, 156–158
minimums, 169–170 victim–offender reconciliation programs, 158–160
mortification, 170–171 violations, 149–151
older people, 184–186 work release, 155
pains of, 171–173 Probation and parole (P&P) agent, 146
people with physical and mental illnesses, 184–186 Probation and Parole Officer, 70, 93–94, 144–147, 151, 197
prisonization, 170–171 authoritarian officers, 148
rioting, 178–181 characteristics and traits, 146
sexual assaults, 176 dual roles, 145
Southern and Northern, 52 duties and responsibilities, 146
strategies to reduce violence, 181–184 “hybrid” approach, 147
subculture, 173–176 role of, 145–149
supermax prisons, 166–168 stress, 151–152
total institutions, 170–171 subcultural values of, 70
types and levels, 164–170 typical workday, 146–147
violence, 176–184 Problem-solving courts, 85–89
warehouse, 53–55 collaboration, 85
Prison warden, 8 disparity literature, 91
primary duties, 8 drug courts, 86–89
qualities/characteristics, 8–9 early identification of potential candidates, 85
responsibilities, 8 Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, 91
Privacy rights, 323 First Step Act, 91
Privatization, 377–381 focus on outcomes, 85
extent of, 380–381 judicial involvement, 85
Idaho’s own private prison, 379–380 nontraditional roles, 85
potential problems, 377 role of, 85
problems of, 380–381 screening and assessment, 85
profit motive in corrections, 377–378 system change, 85
Walnut Grove Correctional facility, 378–379 Profession, 194
Probation, 140–160 Professionalization, 209
adults under community supervision, 142f Progressive era, 36
advantage of, 143 Property crime index, 295
boot camps, 157 Prosecutorial discretion, 301
characteristics of individuals, 142f Prosocial family therapy system, 308
community corrections, 143 Prost, S., 310
community engagement, 152–154 Proulx, B., 263
community supervision and, 159 Pryor, J., 264
community supervision costs, 145f Pseudo-families, 257–258
creation of, 52 PSI, example of a, 93–94
438 CORRECTIONS
Puberty, 15, 297–298 policies and practices, 281–285

Public correctional policy, 101 probation or prison, 287, 289
Pugh, R. B., 34 racial profiling, 285–286
Pulido v. State of California (1994), 264 rate of imprisonment, 2017, 278f
Punishment, 3–10 victimization by race and ethnicity, 287
certainty, 5 Racial discrimination, 89
classical school, 5–6 Racial profiling, 285
definition, 4 Racism, 271–280
deterrence, 11–13 Asian Americans, 278–280
elements of, 5–6 Black Americans, 272–275
first jails, 31, 33 examples in criminal justice system, 274–275
function of, 7–8 Hispanics, or Latinx, 277–278
galley slavery, 33 institutional racism, 272
history of correctional punishment, 4–5 Native Americans, or American Indians, 276
incapacitation, 13–14 Scottsboro case, 273
in westernized countries, 30–35 Radelet, M., 331
justifications, 10–16 Radzinowicz, L., 13
philosophical assumptions, 9–10 Rafter, N. H., 244–246, 251–252
positivism, 6–7 Rand, K. R. L., 262
positivist school, 5–6 Rand, M. R., 371
rehabilitation, 15 Rantala, R. R., 128–129, 177–178
reintegration, 16 Raphael, S., 14
retribution, 10–11 Rationales, 79, 81
selective incapacitation, 14–15 Rationality, 10
sentencing, 79–102 Rational understanding test, 337
severity, 5 Reagan, Ronald, 84, 281, 283–284
swiftness, 5 Reaves, B. A., 202
Tower of London, 32 Recidivism, 11, 152–154, 221, 237, 351
transportation, 34–35 community supervision and, 159
Punitive policies, 370–372, 381 dynamic need, 351t
Puzzanchera, C., 249 factors, 351t
reentry and, 237–238
Qisas crimes, 103 risk, 351t
Quid pro quo sexual harassment, 264 Reddington, F., 299
Quigley, B., 275 Reentry, 133–134, 228–231
Quinlan, M., 181 control and restore, 230
Quinsey, V., 4 impact of Imprisonment and, 229–230
issues, 228
Rabuy, B., 3 protect and prepare, 230
Race, 270–280 recidivism and, 237–238
adjustment to incarceration, 286–289 reintegration into the community, 228
Asian Americans, 278–280 sustain and support, 230
Asian racial groupings, 271 See also Parole
Black Americans, 272–275 Reform, 51–52
color and corrections, 270–271 American Prison Congress (1870), 51
connection between class and race or ethnicity, 280–281 Elmira, 51–52
crack versus powder cocaine, 283–285 probation and parole, 52
definition, 270–271 renewed promise of, 51–52
disparity and discrimination, 271 Reform of judicial and penal systems, 5–6
driving while black or brown, 285 Rehabilitation, 15
drug war, 281–283 Reichel, P., 311, 316
Hispanics, or Latinx, 277–278 Reid, S., 237
inmates by race or ethnicity, 2019, 277f Reilly, R. J., 130
Native Americans, or American Indians, 276 Reintegration, 16
people of color working in corrections, 289–290 Reintegrative shaming theory, 236
Index 439
Reisig, M. D., 39, 184, 214, 271 Rose, D., 229

Reitzel, J. D., 285 Rosenfeld, R., 13
Release on recognizance, 134 Rosenmerkel, S. P., 90
Religious freedom, 320 Rosky, J., 184
Religious perspective, 66 Ross, J. L., 287
Remarks on Prisons and Prison Discipline in the United States Ross, R. R., 348
(Dix), 49 Ross, T., 97
Rembert, D. A., 181–182 Rotary jails, 40
Rengert, G., 237 Roth, M., 219
Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), 356 Rothman, D. J., 27, 50–52
Residential substance abuse treatment (RSAT), 357 Routh, D., 187
Responsivity principle, 350 Rucker, L., 253
Restak, R., 353 Ruddell, R., 108, 126, 128, 259, 370
Restitutive justice, 8 Ruffin v. Commonwealth (1871), 317
Restorative justice, 158 Rule of law, 316–317
Restricted housing and isolation. See Solitary confinement elements, 316
Retribution, 10–11 Rummel v. Estelle, 1980, 83
Retributive justice, 8 Russell, B., 380
Reuter, P., 331 Ryder, J., 229
Reutter, D. M., 129
Rexroat, J., 129 Sabol, W. J., 185, 373
Reynolds, M. O., 12 Salazar et al. v. City of Espanola, (2004), 255–256
Reynolds, R., 97 Salisbury, E. J., 254
Reza, E., 336 Samenow, S., 352
Rice, S. K., 285 Same-sex body searches, 323
Richards, S. C., 167, 287 Sampson, R., 152
Richmond, K. M., 254 Sandin v. Conner (1995), 325
Rideau, W., 173, 199, 213–214, 286 San Quentin Prison, California, 264
Rigby, M., 123 Santayana, G., 27
Rights to medical care, 123 Sato, M., 152
Riot Act, 33 Saudi Arabia, 17–20, 103, 338–339, 371
Rioting, 178–181 crime control model, 18
Attica Prison riot, 180 death penalty, 339
New Mexico State Penitentiary riot, 180 death penalty in, 338
Risk, needs, and responsivity (RNR), 253, 350, 375 democracy score, 20
Risk principle, 350 information pack for British prisoners in, 339
Robarge, J., 133 sentencing, 103
Roberts, J., 39, 42–43, 45 Sawyer, W., 274
Roberts, J. B., 167 Saylor, W., 374
Roberts, J. W., 42, 104 Saylor, W. G., 206
Robertson, J., 321 Sayre, S., 358
Robertson, J. E., 133 Scarpitti, F., 357
Robinson, G., 153 Schaffner, L., 253–254
Robinson, J. C., 115 Schall v. Martin (1984), 303
Robinson, M., 11, 333, 335 Scheb, J., 335
Rocheleau, A. M., 182 Scheidegger, K., 327
Rodney, E., 230 Schmalleger, F., 141, 346
Rodriguez, N., 265 Schmitt, E., 360
Rohloff, H., 122 Schmitz, J., 358
Rohr, J. A., 64 Schoeler, M., 263
Role, 207 Schofield, M., 202
Roman, J., 88 Schwirtz, M., 65
Rooney, J., 237 Scotland, 17, 153
Roper v. Simmons (2005), 304 Scott, D. L., 132
ROR programs, 134 Scottsboro Case, 273
440 CORRECTIONS
Scott Sisters, harsh justice, 284 Sex offenders, 359–361

Scroggins, J. R., 254 chemical castration, 361
Seabrook, N., 118 state-of-the-art treatment, 360
Section 1983 suits, 319 treatment modalities, 359
Security threat group (STG), 289 Sexton, L., 187
Seiter, R., 183, 218–219, 232, 326, 353 Sexual assaults, 176
Selective incapacitation, 14–15 Sexual violence, 128–130
Selling, D., 126–127 jails and, 128–130
Sellin, T., 15 Shahani, A., 378
Sentence, 80 Shapiro, B., 357
Sentencing, 82–103 Shapiro, N., 118
comprehensive guideline, 98f–100f Sharma, H., 335
concurrent sentence, 82 Sharp, B., 352
consecutive sentence, 82 Sharp, P., 298
definition, 80–81 Sharp, S. F., 258
determinate, 82 Shatz, N., 336
disparity, 89 Shatz, S., 336
drug courts, 86–89 Shaw, V., 236
ethical issue, 83 Shelden, R. G., 244
future of sentencing guidelines, 102 Shepherd, J., 331
guidelines, 96–100 Sherman, L., 7
habitual offender statutes, 83 Sherman, S. G., 133
illegitimate, 89–92 Shields, J., 309
indeterminate, 81 Shi, J., 287
justice, 80 Shilton, M., 234
legitimate, 89–92 Shock probation, 84, 156–158
life without parole (LWOP), 83 Sickmund, M., 300–301, 311
mandatory sentence, 82 Siegel, L., 89
noncustodial sentences, 84 Siennick, S. E., 181
presentence investigation report, 92–95 Simon, H., 72–73
problem-solving courts, 85–89 Simons, R. L., 181
PSI controversies, 94–95 Simpson, S. S., 259
punishment, 79–102 Sing Sing, 25–26, 39, 41, 44–47, 49–50, 52, 245–246
purpose and use of sentencing guidelines, 96 Sitren, A. H., 126
rationales of, 81 Skeem, J., 147–148, 155
research, 89 Skinner, B. F., 369
sentencing disparity, 89–92 Skolnick, J., 221
sentencing options, 84 Slate, R., 151, 212
shock probation, 84 Slate, R. N., 185–186
split sentence, 84 Slavery, 33, 272, 317
structured sentencing, 96–100 Smith, A., 174
structuring sentencing, 92–95 Smith, D., 254
truth-in-sentencing laws, 82 Smith, L. G., 348
types of, 81–83 Smith, P., 265
victim impact statements, 84–85 Smith, R., 235
vindictive vs. sensible sentencing, 79–80 Smith, S. K., 285
Sentencing Project, 83, 274–275, 283, 375, 380–381 Smith v. Mosley (2008), 321
Serin, R., 359 Smith, W. A., 265
Serious psychological distress (SPD), 115 Smykla, J., 251
Serious violent crimes, 15, 311 Snell, T., 331
Serrano, R. A., 202 Snyder, H., 221, 298
Service Public Française, 104 Social capital, 152
Severson, M., 115 Social learning theory, 352
Sevigny, E., 89 Sokol, C., 110, 123
Sewell, M., 337–338 Solitary confinement, 72–73
Index 441
Solomon, A., 225, 230–231 Structure of Scientific Revolution, 36

Solomon, E., 312 Sturgess, A., 123
Solomon, R. C., 64 Subculture, 69
Southern and Northern Prisons, 52 Subramanian, R., 167, 170
Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), 63, 179, 379 Substance abuse programming, 353–358
Specific deterrence, 11 effectiveness of, 353
Spelman, W., 13 jails and, 124
Spjeldnes, S., 134 Substantial deterrent effect, 13
Split sentence, 84 Suicides, 125–128
Spohn, C., 272 jails and, 125–128
Springer, C., 298 Sullivan, Joe Harris, 293
Sridhar, S., 11 Sumner, J. M., 187
Staff. See Correctional work Sundt, J. L., 167
Stanford prison experiment, 200–201 Supermax prisons, 166–168
Stannard, D. E., 276 Surratt, H. L., 254
State of the prisons, 37 Sweeten, G., 170
Stateville: The Penitentiary in Mass Society (Jacobs), 53 Sykes, G. M., 171–175, 204, 211
Stateville Prison, Illinois, 53, 39f Sykes, Gresham, 210
Static risk factors, 351
Staton-Tindall, M., 254 Ta’zir (rehabilitation) crimes, 103
Status offenders, 294 Talbot, T., 359
Status offenses, 294 Tally, H., 123
Statutory exclusion, 302 Tapia, M., 128
Stauch-Gang, 175 Tartaro, C., 126, 131
Steffensmeier, D., 333 Tatusian, A., 72
Steiger, T. L., 206 Taylor, A., 230
Steiner, B., 167, 176, 182, 298, 311 Taylor, D., 272
Steinhart, D., 311 Taylor, R., 309, 311
Stephan, J., 176 Teleological ethical systems, 64
Stephan, J. J., 165–166, 195–197, 250, 260 Tellier, C., 212
Stergiopoulos, E., 212 Tempest, R., 332
Stewart, E. A., 181 Terrill, R., 18, 311
Stinchcomb, J. B., 212 Tewksbury, R., 187, 212, 262, 353
Stohr, M., 2, 80, 92, 147, 154–155, 158, 202, 308–309, 352, 360–361 Theoretical underpinnings of corrections, 3–4
Stohr, M. K., 61–62, 67, 70–71, 73, 131–133, 164, 172, 181, 187, Therapeutic communities (TCs), 355–358
193–194, 198, 205, 212–213, 243–244, 249, 251, 253, 261, 263, Therapeutic theory, 359
357, 370, 376 Thompson, C., 72
Stoller, L. M., 264 Thompson, D., 170
Stotts, A., 358 Thompson, H. A., 180–181
Strategies to reduce violence, 181–184 Thompson, J. A., 108
activities, 182 Thompson v. Oklahoma (1988), 304
classification, 181 Thompson, W., 294
facilities that are not overcrowded, 181 Thyer, B., 310
formal grievance procedures, 182 Ticket of leave (TOL), 219
mature coping, 182–183 Tonry, M., 371
official reporting, 182 Torrey, E., 362–364
ombudsman, 182 Total institution, 171
open architecture, 182 Tower of London, 32
personnel, 181 Town, J. E., 179
policymakers and the public, 182 Tracy Neal v. Michigan Department of Corrections, 256
professional subculture, 181 Transportation, 34–35
social support, 183–184 Travis, A., 153
supervision, 181 Travis, J., 228–231
Street-level bureaucrat, 208 Triple threat, 9
Streib, V., 304, 336 Truman, J. L., 371
442 CORRECTIONS
Trump, Donald, 281 Victim–offender reconciliation programs (VORPs), 158–160

Truth-in-sentencing laws, 82 balanced approach, 158
Tsoutis, A., 196 restorative justice, 158
Tsui, M. L., 278 Violence in prisons, 176–184, 177f
Tucker, E., 115, 376 amount of violence, 176
Tucker, K. A., 212 reason for violence, 176
Tuerk, E. H., 254 rioting, 178–181
Tufel, A., 118, 120 sexual assaults, 176
Turner v. Safley (1987), 322 strategies to reduce, 181–184
Tursun, G., 236 Violence, staff-on-inmate victimization, 177
Violent Crime Index, 295
Ulmer, J., 90, 140, 333 Virtual birthing of prisons, 26
Umbreit, M., 159 Visano, L. A., 67
Unconditional release, 220 Viscountess, Anne, 35
Undocumented workers, 269–270 Visher, C., 148
Uniform Crime Reports, 89, 327, 333 Vito, G., 157
United Kingdom, 11–12, 17–18, 20, 103–104, 153, 174, 312, 338 Vito, G. F., 272
childhood misconduct, 299 Vivitrol, 358
colonial jails, 40 Vogel, R., 212, 326
community correction in, 153 Volkow, N., 358
democracy score, 20 Vryan, K., 308
due process model, 18
sentencing, 103–104 Wagers, K., 335
United States Wagner, P., 3
childhood in, 299 Waiver, 301
death penalty in, 329 Walker, E., 14, 297
drug courts, 86 Walker, S., 272–273
due process model, 18 Wallace-Capretta, S., 237
hard or soft on crime?, 19–20 Walmsley, R., 19, 371
public views on drug policy, 75f Walnut Grove correctional Facility, 378–379
United States v. Booker (2005), 102 Walnut Street Jail, 26, 39–42, 164
United States v. Knights (2001), 239 Walsh, A., 2, 6, 15, 17, 19, 80, 90, 92, 103–104, 147, 154–155, 158,
U.S. Census Bureau, 195, –196, 248, 277–278, 281–282, 290, 335 236, 295–297, 308–309, 318, 321, 335, 352, 360–361
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), 72, 86, 118, 130, 156, 174, 177, Wang, X., 90
179, 181, 230, 274, 307, 334, 379, 381 Wan, Y., 311
Useem, B., 180 Ward, D., 167, 175, 209
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention Ward, T., 350, 352
centers, 117 Warehouse prison, 53–55
U.S. Marshals Service (2012), 144 Big House prisons, 53
U.S. Sentencing Commission, 91, 97, 275, 284–285 convict code, 53
Utah criminals, 231 definition, 54
Utilitarianism, 66 medical model, 53
Stateville Prison, 53
Vacco, Dennis, 360 War on drugs, 3, 29, 61, 73–75, 101, 274, 281
Van den Haag, E., 13 collateral effects of, 74
Vanstone, M., 141, 153, 353 outcomes, 73–74
Van Tongeren, D. R., 257 US Drug Policy, 75f
Van Voorhis, P., 254, 348 Warr, J., 174
Vaske, J., 348 Washington State Department of Corrections (WADOC), 260
Vaughn, M., 324, 353–354 Washington v. Harper (1990), 338
Vaughn, M. S., 348 Wasilchick, J., 237
Vengeance is sweet, 8 Watkins, James, 287–288
Vera Institute of Justice, 134 Webb, Clive, 279
Vestal, S., 124 Wei, W., 278–279
Victim impact statements (VISs), 84–85 Welch, M., 27, 33–34, 39, 114, 309, 378
Index 443
Wells, M., 334 male vs. female inmates, 2017, 250f

Wells, T., 151 misconduct, 257–258
Welsch, W., 257 needs and programming, 252–255
Welsh, W., 112 pseudo-families, 257–258
Wener, R., 131 race in early prisons, 245–246
Wennerberg, I., 237 sexual victimization among adult inmates, 256f
Wesley Johnson, W., 151 sexual victimization among juvenile inmates, 257f
Western, B., 231 Wood, M., 263
Western Pennsylvania Prison, 39, 41–42, 44, 164 Wood, P., 143, 157, 234–235
West, H. C., 373 Wood, P. B., 108, 287, 289
Wetstein, S., 72–73 Wood, S., 186
White, A., 296–297 Woodson v. North Carolina (1976), 330
Whitehead, J., 298–299, 302 Wooldredge, J., 90, 182
White, M. D., 124 Wooldredge, J. D., 125
Whitman, J. Q., 114, 370 Woo, Y., 184
Whittick, A., 252 Work release or day reporting facilities, 165
Williams Institute, 186 Work release programs, 155
Williams, J., 251 Wormith, J., 350
Williams, NuShawn, 359 Wright, E. M., 254
Williams, T., 379 Wright, Emily, 254
Wilson, D., 82, 89, 221, 352 Wright, K. N., 206
Wilson, G. L., 263 Wright, R., 11, 13, 143, 237
Wilson, J., 13 Wu, H., 90
Wilson, S., 310
Wilson v. Seiter (1991), 324 Xiong, H., 236
Winfree, L. T., 125
Wingeard, L. M., 213 Yahner, J. L., 259
Winter, M. M., 125–126 Yamatani, H., 134
Wodahl, E. J., 133 Yates, H. M., 252, 261
Wolff, K., 20 Yates, P., 350
Wolff, N., 287 Yeater, E., 264
Wolff v. McDonnell (1974), 325 Yee, D., 348
Wolfgang, M., 15 Yochelson, S., 352
Wollstonecraft, Briton Mary, 35 Young, G. R., 168
Women’s movement, 36 Young, J. L., 213
Women Young, M., 83
accused of “wifely disobedience,” 19 Young, V. D., 52, 245–246, 251, 272
Chivalry hypothesis, 336 Youth Justice Boards (YJBs), 312
death penalty and, 335–336 Youth Services International (YSI), 63, 67
evil woman hypothesis, 336 Yukhnenko, D., 11
Women in corrections, 243–264 Yun, I., 361
abuse, 255–257
adjustment, 257–258 Zaitz, L., 375
challenges faced by women and girls, 252 Zapotosky, M., 381
current status, 262–265 Zedlewski, E., 14
discipline in women’s prisons, 246 Zeng, Z., 109, 111–114, 165, 196–197, 249, 272–273, 278, 371, 373
female correctional clients, 249 Zen meditation, 347
feminism, 251–252 Zhang, F., 371
“gender-responsive” problems, 254 Zhang, L., 236
growth in numbers of women and girls, 248 Zhao, R., 236
growth of female correctional population, 250f Zimbardo, P., 200
health care needs of, 255 Zimmer, L., 251, 262–263
hiring of female matrons, 246 Zimring, F. E., 372
history of, 244–245 Zimring, Frank, 332
houses of refuge for girls and boys, 247–248 Zupan, L. L., 31, 39–42, 108, 131–133, 212, 249, 251
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corre

the essentials the e

corrections the essentials

the field, Corrections: The Essentials, addresses

the most important topics in corrections in a

brief yet comprehensive format. Authors Mary

K. Stohr and Anthony Walsh introduce students

to the history and development of correctional

institutions while offering a unique perspective

on ethics and special populations. The Fourth

Edition provides insights into the future of

corrections, as well as updated coverage of the

most important issues impacting the field today.

Cover Photo: © iStock.com/naphtalina

MARY K. STOHR | ANTHONY WALSH

Stohr_Corrections_Essentials_4e_pbk.indd 1 10/12/20 2:52 PM

Sara Miller McCune founded SAGE Publishing in 1965 to support

Los Angeles | London | New Delhi | Singapore | Washington DC | Melbourne

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Acquisitions Editor: Jessica Miller This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Chapter 1 • The Philosophical and Ideological

Answers to Test Your Knowledge 385

Chapter 1 • The Philosophical and Ideological

Chapter 2 • Early Corrections: From Ancient Times to

Chapter 3 • Ethics and Corrections 61

Chapter 4 • Sentencing: The Application of Punishment 79

Chapter 5 • Jails and Detention Centers 107

Chapter 6 • Community Corrections: Probation and

Chapter 8 • The Corrections Experience for Staff 193

Chapter 9 • Community Corrections:

Chapter 10 • Women and Corrections 243

Chapter 11 • People of Color and Corrections 269

Chapter 13 • Legal Issues in Corrections and

Chapter 14 • Correctional Programming and Treatment 345

Chapter 15 • Corrections in the 21st Century 369

Answers to Test Your Knowledge 385

Structure of the Book

New to This Edition

Reviewers of the Fourth Edition

Reviewers of the Third Edition

Reviewers of the Second Edition

Reviewers of the First Edition

Mary K. Stohr is a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology

Anthony Walsh, is a professor of criminology at Boise State University. He received

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Introduction: What Is Corrections?

For instance, in 1963 the violent crime

From Arrest to Punishment

The Theoretical Underpinnings of Corrections

100 Felony Defendants 42 Detained 8 Diversion or Other Outcome

1 Acquittal 3 Convictions 24 Jail

A Short History of Correctional Punishment

The Emergence of the Classical School

Certainty: “The certainty of punishment, even if it be moderate, will always make

Severity: “For a punishment to attain its end,

Beccaria made clear that punishments must outweigh

decreed by written criminal codes, and the discretionary

The Emergence of Positivism: Should

the manner of the thinkers of classical Greece (hence the term

Stock Montage/Getty Images