Article

Exploring the Relationship between Prison Social Climate and Reoffending*

January 2019
Justice Quarterly 37(1)

January 2019
37(1)

DOI:10.1080/07418825.2018.1538421

Authors:

Katherine M. Auty

University of Cambridge

Alison Liebling

University of Cambridge

This study analyses the relationship between prison moral and social climate and reoffending. It relates data from the measuring the quality of prison life (MQPL) survey carried out in all prisons in England and Wales to official data on proven reoffending from the Ministry of Justice. The sample contains data from 224 prison surveys conducted between 2009 and 2013 (a total of 24,508 prisoners completed the survey). Results indicate that several of the MQPL dimensions were found to be related to rates of proven reoffending for each prison. As the MQPL survey measures the moral, relational and organizational quality of prison life for prisoners, overall these findings suggest that higher moral quality of life, or higher interior legitimacy, supports better outcomes for prisoners on release. This is consistent with theoretical expectations about the links between legitimacy, engagement in prison programs, well-being, and compliance with the law.

What is a ‘good enough’ prison? An empirical analysis of key thresholds using prison moral quality data

Article

Mar 2024
Eur J Criminol

Performance thresholds and minimum standards in prison have preoccupied policy makers and practitioners alike for some time. These standards are based on widely accepted statements of principle, but benchmarks are rarely set or explored empirically. Nor has there been any attempt to describe or define higher-end thresholds; the point at which outcomes become positive, or stated principles are achieved. In this study, we provide an empirical demonstration of how quality of life thresholds may be determined using data from 518 Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) surveys conducted in prisons in England and Wales (2009–2020) and examine their relationship to five violence outcomes: serious prisoner on prisoner assaults, serious assaults on staff, self-harm incidents requiring hospital treatment, self-inflicted deaths, and homicides. The results suggested that thresholds exist for most of the MQPL dimensions. A set of lower ‘unsafe’ and higher ‘minimally safe’ thresholds were produced. We found that the scores of prisons below the lower threshold had a very strong relationship with each of our five serious forms of violence in prison. Similarly, prisons that did not manage to cross the ‘minimally safe’ threshold also had strong relationships with incidents of violence in their prison but were at slightly lower risk of those incidents occurring. Striking differences in mean incidents rates were found when comparing prisons below the lower threshold to prisons above the ‘minimally safe’ threshold. Our findings suggest that to operate a safe enough (and therefore legitimate) prison, a combination of harmony, security and professionalism dimensions above a certain threshold should be achieved.

Perceived Environmental Quality Indicators as Health-Enabling Elements Within Prisons

Article

Feb 2024
PRISON J

This study evaluates the transition from an older to a new prison facility in Italy to help researchers understand the health-enabling features within prisons from incarcerated persons' point of view. A total of 216 inmates completed a questionnaire that measured the prison's environmental quality and quality-of-life related constructs. Bivariate correlations show that as inmates' environmental perceptions improve, so does their place evaluation. When the older and newer prisons were compared, the results revealed the newer prison was more positively evaluated in terms of care of significant spaces, presence of light, beauty, safety, sociability, concentration, and satisfaction.

Previous prison experience and evaluation of the quality of prison life

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2024

In the paper, the authors analyse the relationship between the prison social climate and recidivism, that is, they connect the data obtained by measuring the quality of prison life (MQPL) with the dimension of previous prison experience. The paper examines the hypothesis that on some/ certain aspects there will be differences in the perception of the prison social climate depending on whether the respondents are in prison for the first time, or they have already had prison experience. The main goal of the paper is to examine whether there are differences between persons who have previously served a prison sentence and those who have not, with regards to the perception of the quality of prison life. The research was carried out in the course of 2022, on a sample of 578 convicted adults, who are serving a prison sentence in Sremska Mitrovica Prison, Požarevac-Zabela Prison, Niš Prison, Belgrade Prison and Požarevac Prison for Women. Descriptive statistics and t-test were used in the paper. The most important results show that there are significant differences regarding the assessment of the quality of prison life in the following categories: Harmony Dimensions, Professionalism Dimensions and Wellbeing and Development Dimensions, and that each of those three categories is statistically significantly better rated by those who are not penological returnees. When it comes to the general assessment of the quality of prison life, the results showed that there are no significant differences between persons who have previously served a prison sentence and those who have not.

Integrating standard and network psychometrics to assess the quality of prison life in Serbia

Article

Nov 2023

In the present research, we analysed the properties of the Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) survey in Serbia; it assesses five dimensions of prisoners’ wellbeing (Harmony, Professionalism, Security, Conditions and Family Contact, and Wellbeing and Development) composed of 21 narrow scales. The participants were 650 prisoners serving sentences in five prisons. Reliabilities (measured by both Cronbach’s alphas and test-retest correlations) were high for most narrow scales and excellent for global scales. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a satisfactory fit of the model although the MQPL dimensions showed high intercorrelations (indicating elevated informational redundancy). The validity of the scales was established by detecting positive correlations with the WHOQOL-BREF quality of life scale and by capturing the differences between the five prisons in which the data were collected. We used network analysis to detect the most central nodes in MQPL: analysis on the dimension level revealed that Harmony, Professionalism, and Wellbeing and Development had high centrality. Estimating the network on the level of narrow scales demonstrated that prisoners’ wellbeing, organisation and consistency in prison activities, and help and assistance from prison staff were central aspects of their quality of life. Therefore, the present findings show that MQPL scales have high reliability and validity, the model fits the empirical data, and the central aspects of prisoners’ quality of life are identified; at the same time, we also analysed the limitations of MQPL. In general, the results suggest that MQPL is a valuable tool for assessing the quality of life and social climate in prisons.

Risk management in open prisons: A critical analysis and research agenda

Article

May 2023

Open prisons offer a unique contribution to the community resettlement of those serving custodial sentences. However, the evidence base for the efficacy of open prisons is limited and their existence is frequently scrutinised following adverse events including prisoner absconding and re-offending. This paper critically evaluates open prisons’ efficacy and the effective management of risk in this environment. We present a research agenda which aims to delineate the potential mechanisms of open prisons that rehabilitate offenders, while maintaining the safety of these environments. We emphasise the importance of an improved understanding of risk manifestation, and the need to evaluate existing risk management protocols.

Five Minute Interventions (FMI): Long-term effects of training on custodial staff attitudes towards prisoners, motivation and ability to support rehabilitation, and job stress and satisfaction

Technical Report

Full-text available

Dec 2022

AIM To examine the extent that short-term effects of FMI training on custodial staff rehabilitative attitudes and job experiences have improved, been sustained, or declined over the longer term. FINDINGS A total of 121 custodial staff completed three waves of surveys examining their attitudes towards prisoners, their motivation and ability to support offenders' rehabilitation, and their subjective perceptions of organisational and operational job demands, job stress and job satisfaction. The surveys were completed prior to commencing FMI training (baseline), 6 weeks after training (first follow-up) and 12 months after training (second follow-up). We found significant improvements in rehabilitative attitudes between baseline and both the first and second follow-up surveys. On average, staff attitudes towards prisoners and perceptions of their ability to support offenders' rehabilitation improved between baseline and the first follow-up 6 weeks after training. This increase remained significant at the second follow-up survey approximately 12 months after training. Staff also reported significant improvements in their long-term motivation to support offenders' rehabilitation at second follow-up, compared to responses at the baseline and first follow-up surveys. We did not find evidence of significant changes in staff perceptions about their job demands, job stress or job satisfaction. In sum, this study supports previous findings for short-term effects of FMI training on staff rehabilitative attitudes and indicates that improvements in attitudes towards prisoners and ability to support offenders' rehabilitation are maintained over the longer term, whereas motivation to support offenders' rehabilitation continues to grow over time. While the observed effects of FMI on global job satisfaction and stress were not significant, the current study reflects long-term changes in custodial staff attitudes and orientations that may be further supported by ongoing refresher training and other initiatives to enable a rehabilitative prison environment over time.

Assessment and experience of prison climate in NSW correctional centres

Technical Report

Full-text available

Dec 2023

AIM To examine assessments of prison climate using the Essen Climate Evaluation Schema (EssenCES), and inmates' experiences of prison climate, in the context of NSW correctional centres. FINDINGS The EssenCES and other measures were administered to 208 men and women housed at two correctional centres in NSW, using online surveys delivered through in-cell digital tablets. The EssenCES showed signs of good psychometric properties, including strong internal consistencies within factors, and modest correlations between factors that each contributed to a higher order construct of global prison climate. Respondents gave the most positive ratings for the safety factor of the EssenCES, followed by inmate cohesion and staff support respectively. Compared to other factors, the staff support factor was relatively dynamic and showed associations with multiple individual and situation variables, including respondents' age, assessed risk of recidivism, previous experience of custody, and time served during the index custodial episode. Factors on the EssenCES were found to be statistically marginal predictors of post-release recidivism outcomes, with ratings of inmate cohesion having a positive association with reoffending and ratings of safety having a negative association with reoffending. Follow-up analyses indicated that associations between ratings of safety and reoffending persisted after adjusting for actuarial indicators of the respondents' recidivism risk. Scores on the EssenCES were not predictive of program completion outcomes in custody. We concluded that the EssenCES shows promise for application as an index of prison climate in NSW correctional centres. The results give preliminary insights into idiographic factors that may be important towards developing flexible and responsive prison climates, while also highlighting a need for best practice approaches to measurement and analysis in order to integrate assessments of climate into an understanding of correctional centre performance.

Monitoring prisoners preparing for release: Who ‘fails’ in open prison conditions?

Article

Jul 2023
Eur J Criminol

Open prisons play a vital role in offender rehabilitation and resettlement but absconds, temporary release failures (TRFs) and re-offences have damaging implications for the legitimacy of these institutions. Identifying and mitigating the risk for such ‘failures’ is crucial. The present study examined predictors of failure in a sample of 316 adult male prisoners in two open prisons in England and Wales. Almost one-third ( n = 100) of the sample failed in open conditions, the greatest proportion ( n = 83 , 26.3%) instigated by the prison to maintain security and good order (security recall). Yet, only seven re-offended in the year following custodial release . Absconds, custodial re-offences, and TRFs were rare events. Regression analysis identified five factors predicting security recall. Current behaviour, rather than static/historical risk factors, more reliably predicted such failures. Behavioural monitoring and systemic policy re-evaluation are proposed as way of mitigating failures in open prisons.

Quality of Prison Life of Female Prisoners in Serbia: Key Challenges and Areas of Strength

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2024

Despite a range of differences between male and female prisoners, research on the female prison population has been lacking due to their smaller representation worldwide. To address this gap, the study aimed to understand the overall prison experience of female prisoners in Serbia by analysing the quality of prison life and examining various dimensions across five overarching categories of the prison climate. A descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted using the convenience sample of 91 female prisoners serving prison sentences in the Correctional Institution for Women in Požarevac. The Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) survey and a one-way repeated-measures ANOVA with post-hoc Bonferroni adjustments were used. Significant variations in ratings of the prison climate were identified. The overall prison experience was rated relatively low with only one quarter of the sample giving a positive rating. The highest-ranked MQPL dimensions were Prisoner Adaptation and Distress, while the lowest were Well-being, Bureaucratic Legitimacy, Organisation and Consistency, and Decency. The proposed holistic approach with practical interventions offers the potential to enhance prison life quality and support the well-being of female prisoners, who represent a vulnerable and marginalised group in society.

Resocializacijos įgyvendinimo problemos ir galimybės Lietuvos kalėjimuoseProblems and Possibilities of Implementing Resocialisation in Lithuanian Prisons

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2023

Lithuania‘s strategic documents point out that the main purpose of the execution of sentences is the resocialisation of convicts. The article analyses the problems and possibilities of the implementation of resocialisation of convicts in Lithuanian prisons today, based on the ideas of positivist and critical criminology. The research comprised an analysis of scientific literature and strategic documents in Lithuania, and an empirical qualitative study, which included twenty semistructured interviews with Lithuanian prison staff and experts from the penitentiary system. The data analysis was based on thematic analysis. The study reveals that resocialisation as a priority becomes a secondary goal of imprisonment during implementation, pursued in a demotivating and desocialising prison environment and punitive culture. The gap between the prison‘s stated objectives of resocialising prisoners and the human and financial capacity to achieve this is noted. Positivist and critical criminology ideas broaden the perception and analysis of resocialisation as a phenomenon and make it possible to rethink the functional and institutional distinction between the punishment of convicted persons and their treatment, assistance, and motivated personal transformation as different activities. The study suggests that the success of resocialisation of an individual requires the disaggregation and implementation of the stages of resocialisation, not only in prison but also in institutions that focus on helping without retribution and punishment.

Evaluation of an enhanced behavioural monitoring system in UK open prisons

Article

Nov 2023

Behavioural monitoring has efficacy in predicting recidivism. As an intervention however, the proven effectiveness is limited. This study is an evaluation of the Enhanced Behaviour Monitoring scheme operating across open prisons in England and Wales, to reduce instances of failure (e.g. abscond, re-offending). Utilising a matched sample design, logistic regression analyses showed Enhanced Behaviour Monitoring had null effects on serious recidivistic outcomes (e.g. abscond, reoffending). Those allocated to Enhanced Behaviour Monitoring were more likely to get recalled before completing the intervention. In essence, Enhanced Behaviour Monitoring was utilised primarily as a surveillance programme – to defend against risk exposure – resulting in recalls to closed prisons misaligned to the community recidivism risk; undermining the open prison concept. We discuss the findings in the context of the adverse effects of ‘surveillance only’ community supervision programmes. We argue for developing the rehabilitative potential within Enhanced Behaviour Monitoring and mitigating against excessive risk exposure through systems level policy change.

Moran et al (eds) 2022 Palgrave Handbook of Prison Design

Book

Mar 2023

Dominique Moran

Empirical research on the impact and experience of open prison: state of the field and future directions

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2021

The term ‘open prison’ can be used to mean different things depending on the jurisdiction or institution, but generally refers to a prison into which residents are not fully or always locked. Relative to their ‘closed’ counterparts, open prisons generally afford detainees a greater connection to the outside world, often through access to family and day release for employment, volunteering and education. As such, progressive prison reformers and scholars often tout the potential benefits of open conditions for the wellbeing and reintegration of people in custody — relative, at least, to the generally deleterious effect of entirely closed regimes.3 Yet, compared with research on closed prisons, there remains only a modest quantity of empirical work on open prisons, even considering the low proportion of incarcerated people in open prisons in most countries. Similarly, few studies attend to the experience of staffing open prisons, despite a burgeoning literature on prison officers. There must be further research on the impact and experiences of living or working in open prisons to enhance our understanding of different prison regimes and inform penal policy.

Violencia en la Penitenciaría: observaciones, atribuciones y limitaciones desde los custodios

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2022

Los autores analizan cómo un grupo de funcionarios penitenciarios observa la violencia entre internos al interior de la ex Penitenciaría de Santiago (Chile), una de las cárceles más grandes de Latinoamérica. La metodología fue predominantemente cualitativa y consistió en una serie de entrevistas conversacionales a funcionarios de trato directo en el lugar de trabajo, sumadas a un año de observaciones no-participantes y notas de campo. Los testimonios revelan que la violencia es un fenómeno cotidiano; ligado a contextos sociales de desventaja y marginación social desde la infancia; y que obedecería diversas motivaciones: conflictos anteriores en los barrios; violencia vicaria contra un miembro de otro clan; o bien por disputas generadas al interior de la propia prisión, o una combinación de ellas. Si bien por momentos los relatos de los funcionarios tienden a naturalizar la violencia y omitir el rol y la responsabilidad de la administración penitenciaria en la violencia, el grado de observación de primera mano que ellos poseen respecto a la población penal sugiere que existe un potencial de los funcionarios de trato directo que, con un re-entrenamiento adecuado pudiera ser mejor aprovechado en las iniciativas para reducir la violencia carcelaria, sumándolos como un actor relevante.

The Dark Figure of Prison Violence in Uruguay: An Exploratory Mixed-Method Study

Article

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Feb 2024

Dynamics of wellbeing and needs satisfaction among people in prison

Technical Report

Full-text available

Dec 2023

AIM To explore experiences of wellbeing and needs satisfaction among people in prison, and how these are associated with their perceptions of correctional centre climate in addition to measurable rehabilitation outcomes. FINDINGS Surveys were administered via in-cell digital tablets to n = 208 men and women housed at two correctional centres in NSW. Measures of wellbeing and needs satisfaction had strong positive correlations, and satisfaction of specific needs relating to autonomy, competence, and relatedness were also highly correlated. Ratings on these measures did not vary significantly as a function of Aboriginal cultural background, gender, or age. Ratings of wellbeing and needs satisfaction in prison showed correspondence with perceptions of correctional climates, and were positively correlated with factors of the Essen Climate Evaluation Schema (EssenCES). Scores were most strongly correlated with inmate cohesion and progressively weaker for safety and staff support. Conversely, ratings on the measures were not significantly associated with time spent in prison. Wellbeing and needs satisfaction were also not significantly predictive of program completion in prison, post-release recidivism outcomes, or actuarial indicators of recidivism risk. We concluded that people's experiences of wellbeing and needs satisfaction in prison are closely related, and appear to be responsive to features of the correctional climate. However, there was little evidence that such factors were related to rehabilitative outcomes. This does not preclude the importance of these factors in behaviour change processes, although raises implications for the utility of assessing relevant constructs in understanding an individual's rehabilitation pathway. Regardless, wellbeing and needs satisfaction are fundamental human goods that warrant advancement in correctional climates, in concert with further research to explore how they contribute to outcomes for people in prison.

Five Minute Intervention (FMI) skills acquisition by correctional staff: The role of manager buy-in

Technical Report

Full-text available

Dec 2023

AIM To examine correctional staff perceptions of manager buy-in for FMI, and how this relates to their responsiveness to the initiative in the form of acquisition of FMI-related skills. FINDINGS Correctional staff completed assessment measures prior to commencing FMI training (n = 480) and again at a specified interval after training (n = 49). At each assessment, staff were asked to rate their perceptions of manager buy-in and completed a series of situational judgement tests (SJTs) relating to their knowledge for and endorsement of FMI-related skills in staff-inmate interactions. Results indicated slightly favourable perceptions of manager buy-in prior to FMI training among staff on average. Ratings of manager buy-in had a small but statistically significant positive correlation with SJT scores prior to training. Staff perceptions of manager buy-in did not show significant change when assessed before and after training. A blocked regression model analysis indicated that both perceptions of manager buy-in prior to training, and change in those perceptions over time, were not significantly associated with the magnitude of change in SJT performance after training. We concluded that while perceptions of manager buy-in had some relationship with endorsement of FMI-related skills, for many staff these perceptions did not appear to be a significant precondition for acquisition of those skills during and after training. The influence of manager buy-in on both acquisition of FMI-related skills and application of those skills may be more pronounced in the event that training is accompanied by concerted and sustained increases in promotion of the initiative by senior staff. There was promising initial evidence that FMI training was associated with increased SJT performance, and future research intends to further examine factors that may impact upon acquisition and maintenance of FMI-related skills.

Human Rights in Chilean Prisons: Advances and Pending Challenges from a Social Work Perspective

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2023

Guillermo Enrique Sanhueza

Prison conditions and the treatment of incarcerated individuals in Chile have improved a great deal when compared to the end-of-the-dictatorship period at the beginning of the 1990s. Along with rapid societal changes over the last decade, the Chilean prison system has been transformed in many ways. Today, human rights are more visible within the prison system through a variety of indicators, both quantitative and qualitative. On the other hand, it still has pending tasks and faces new challenges, such as: historical deficit on infrastructure and material conditions, violence inside prison walls, insufficient program access, the COVID-19 crisis, changes in its population, or the threat of organized crime. Although Chile is currently under a democratic regime, the authoritarian legacy still persists and can be traced to how the prison system is operated and structured. Today, the prison service depends on the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and houses about 45,000 incarcerated individuals, a rate of approximately 236 per 100,000 inhabitants (ICPS, 2022). Some have argued that the Chilean prison system is in better shape than neighboring countries, but others criticize its similarities to the rest of the region, which are far from adequate standards when compared to developed countries. This paper utilizes quantitative and qualitative data to describe some of the efforts that have been made to improve the human rights of the incarcerated, critically analyze some pending challenges, and identify current roles and opportunities for social work professionals inside Chilean prisons.

Assessing the impact of Five Minute Interventions (FMI) training on behavioural indicators of correctional centre safety and order: An interrupted time series analysis

Technical Report

Full-text available

Oct 2023

AIM To examine if FMI training is associated with measurable changes on objective indicators of inmate and staff behaviours relating to the level of safety and order within correctional centres. FINDINGS A total of 17 correctional centres and five outcome indicators were examined in this study. The outcomes of interest were the weekly rates of offences in custody related to order violations, alcohol and other drugs and proven violent offences; all assault incidents, including alleged and suspected; and staff use of force responses. We applied ARIMA modelling to examine if trends in these outcome indicators differed significantly before and after FMI training was implemented. Results indicated that FMI training was linked to a significant gradual reduction in proven violent offences in custody. We also found that implementation of FMI was associated with marginal reductions in assaults and order-related offences in custody. We did not find evidence of significant associations between FMI training and staff use of force responses, or alcohol and other drug related offences in custody. We concluded that implementation of FMI training can have measurable impacts on key correctional centre outcomes relating to safety and order. This study supports previous findings for the effects of FMI, while being the first to test such effects using quantitative indicators of inmate and staff behaviour in a quasi-experimental design. As FMI is intended to facilitate broader behavioural and cultural shifts within correctional centre climates, the impacts of FMI may be expected to develop further over the longer term, which may be better understood through subsequent analyses using similar research designs over extended timeframes.

Reducing Correction Officer Stress by Improving Prison Climate: The Importance of Support and Safety

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2023

Reducing Corrections Officer Stress by Improving Prison Climate: The Importance of Support and Safety

Article

Sep 2023

Prior research has identified the importance of social climate in psychiatric and correctional facilities. In studies of corrections officer (CO) stress, organizational measures are typically the strongest correlates. This article combines these research areas, examining the relationship between prison climate and corrections officer stress. Analyzing data from a sample of 239 officers in a northeastern state, findings indicate that prison climate, particularly system maintenance, contributes to both officers’ work-related and generalized stress and anxiety. Perceptions of inmates’ personal growth are also associated with decreased generalized stress and anxiety. Officers should feel supported and safe at work to improve the prison climate and reduce officer stress.

Exploring the Relationship Between Education and Rehabilitation in the Prison Context

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2021

Lorraine Higgins

This article examines the relationship between education and rehabilitation within the prison context. It begins by exploring the concept of rehabilitation, examining if prison re- habilitation is possible or if it is what Pat Carlen describes as a “penal imaginary”. Drawing on this idea, it considers how rehabilitation may act as a way of legitimising imprisonment and whether rehabilitation is in fact damaging and criminogenic. It then moves to explore other models of rehabilitation and imprisonment that may offer a more person-centred approach. Section two of the article begins by discussing understandings of adult education. It examines conflicting interpretations of education, settling on an understanding that is underpinned by principles of freedom. It then moves to explore how adult education is practised and under- stood within the prison context. Finally, this article analyses the relationship between prison education and prison rehabilitation, considering what kinds of education and rehabilitation may be conducive to supporting the holistic development of the person in prison.

An Opportunity to Find Oneself at the End of a Paintbrush: Exploration of an Artist-Led Prison Intervention Model Bringing People From Prison and Local Community Together

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2023

A growing body of research has explored the contribution of prison art interventions indicating that these hold substantial rehabilitative value. Recent literature in this area has drawn attention to the need to expand social action and community-enhanced art interventions with the aim of aiding incarcerated individuals to reconnect to the community. The following research focused on a unique artist-led prison intervention model, wherein participants who are currently imprisoned create alongside participants who are art students from the local university. This joint space aimed to connect people by providing opportunities to engage with creativity in ways that are both individually and socially transformative. Through a phenomenological approach, this model was explored, aiming to yield relevant insights into the quality and processes of change it enhanced. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 18 participants involved in the workshop, and data were analyzed aiming to establish an insider’s conceptualization of the meaning for them of the art group experience. The findings point to participants’ experience of the workshop as a unique space in which barriers and stigmatic preconceptions were broken and where a sense of acceptance, belonging, and bonding developed in a nonjudgmental atmosphere of joint creativity. Understandings of the way these essential elements of the joint creative experience served to promote implicit processes toward growth and positive trajectories of change are discussed in light of the broaden-and-build and polyvagal theories.

Integrated Safety and Health Promotion among Correctional Workers and People Incarcerated: A Scoping Review

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2023
Int J Environ Res Publ Health

Improving safety and health for correctional workers and people who are incarcerated are widespread yet separate initiatives. Correctional workers and people who are incarcerated experience similar challenges involved with poor workplaces and living conditions, including mental health crises, violence, stress, and chronic health issues, and the available resources lack integration with respect to safety and health promotion. This scoping review sought to contribute to an integrated approach for correctional system safety and health resources and identify studies of correctional resources that address health promotion among correctional workers and people who are incarcerated. Guided by PRISMA, a search of gray literature, also termed peer-reviewed literature, published between 2013–2023 (n = 2545) was completed, and 16 articles were identified. Resources primarily targeted individual and interpersonal levels. At every level of intervention, resources improved the environment for both workers and those incarcerated, with trends of less conflict, more positive behaviors, and improved relations, access to care, and feelings of safety. The corrections environment is impacted by changes from both workers and people who are incarcerated and should be examined using a holistic approach. Future health and safety resources should target the larger correctional environment by utilizing practices, policies, and procedures to improve safety and health for incarcerated people and workers.

Measuring Experience of Inpatient Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

Article

Full-text available

May 2023
Int J Environ Res Publ Health

There has been an important drive towards embedding feedback and experience data to improve health services in the UK. The current paper examines the gap in evidence and the lack of adequate measures of inpatient CAMHS experience. It presents the context of inpatient CAMHS and what factors influence care experience, before exploring the current practices for measuring experience and the implications for young people and families. The paper explores the dialectic that—given the nature of the work balancing risk and restrictions in inpatient CAMHS—it is essential that patient voice is at the centre of quality measures, and achieving this comes with a great complexity. The health needs of adolescents are unique, as are the interventions of psychiatric inpatient care, but current measures in routine use are often not developmentally adapted and lack validity. This paper looks to interdisciplinary theory and practice to consider what the application of a valid and meaningful measure of inpatient CAMHS experience might incorporate. It makes the case that the development of a measure of relational and moral experience of inpatient CAMHS would have significant implications for the quality of care and safety of adolescents during a period of acute crisis.

Five Minute Interventions (FMI): Custodial staff views and experiences of implementing FMI

Technical Report

Full-text available

Apr 2023

1 Executive Summary 1.1 Background and methods In 2020 Corrective Services New South Wales (CSNSW) commenced the roll-out of a new training initiative for all custodial staff across the 34 correctional centres in NSW. The Five Minute Interventions (FMI) initiative was introduced under the NSW Premier’s Priority to reduce reoffending by 5% by 2023 and focuses on delivering a prison environment that enables rehabilitation. FMI is undergoing a state-wide rollout, with training sessions attended by a mix of uniformed and non-uniformed custodial staff including custodial officers (COs), Corrective Services Industries (CSI) overseers and offender services and programs (OSP) staff. FMI training equips staff with a set of 10 skills including Socratic questioning, giving hope, active listening and rolling with resistance that they can apply to turn everyday conversations with inmates into rehabilitative opportunities. The current study involved 36 semi-structured interviews with custodial staff in varying roles across four NSW correctional centres. Participating staff had completed FMI training on average 12 months prior to being interviewed. The study is the first qualitative evaluation of FMI in the NSW correctional context and examines staff perceptions about the training they received, the usefulness of the initiative, their experiences with using FMI, the facilitators and barriers they encounter with implementing FMI, and how these perceptions, views and experiences vary across different staff groups. 1.2 Key findings 1.2.1 Five Minute Interventions (FMI) training Overall, most staff identified the FMI training as one of the best courses they had completed during their time with CSNSW. The mixed and diverse nature of the group participating in the training, as well as the experienced and professional trainers delivering the training, were identified as the primary factors contributing to the positive views and experiences of the training. Some staff felt the training was not geared towards them because it covered much of what they believed they already did. The few staff who had negative perceptions of the training attributed this to the course being mandatory or to feeling the course was either too lengthy or that they were required to participate in activities they felt were irrelevant. Several suggestions were provided regarding the ongoing rollout of the initial two-day FMI training, including: having a combination of COs and OSP staff working together to deliver the training; inviting previously trained staff who have been using FMI in real-world scenarios to attend training and share their experiences; providing more intensive training of the same nature to new staff; and incorporating more opportunities for role-playing to help boost confidence and understanding of the type of situations where FMI could be used with inmates. 1.2.2 Five Minute Interventions (FMI) in practice Views about the overall purpose and benefits of FMI varied across roles, which were largely attributed to the type of interactions staff had with inmates. COs indicated FMI was a negotiation and de-escalation technique and communicated care and understanding to inmates. CSI overseers identified using FMI to teach and develop inmates, while OSP staff associated FMI with taking quality time to check in on inmates, humanising and connecting with inmates, and planting seeds for creating hope. ii Two skills mentioned by almost all staff, ‘building trust, confidence and rapport’ and ‘active listening’, were identified as the foundation upon which all other skills could be used successfully. Other important skills identified varied by staff group and aligned with the overall purpose and benefits each group associated with FMI. ‘Giving hope' was most likely to be used by COs, ‘giving and receiving feedback’ was important for CSI overseers, and both ‘rolling with resistance’ and ‘Socratic questioning’ were most often discussed by OSP staff. The remaining FMI skills were discussed to varying degrees by staff. For some of these skills few examples were provided of how they had been correctly and successfully applied. Other skills were rarely discussed and indicated staff were not entirely confident with when or how they could apply those skills. 1.2.3 Facilitators and barriers to using Five Minute Interventions (FMI) The prevailing attitudes of staff were among the most prominent factors that facilitated or hindered staff using FMI. Staff noted concerns over how they would be perceived by both other staff and inmates. The situation itself was also a significant factor that determined whether staff felt it was appropriate to use FMI. How receptive inmates were during an interaction was crucial, with staff safety and an inmate’s frame of mind both important considerations. Length of service or level of experience among staff was also noted, although findings were mixed regarding whether newer or less experienced officers would be more open and willing to implement FMI compared to those who had more experience working with inmates. Several additional factors that contributed to whether staff used FMI included manager support for FMI, understanding different ways other staff interact with inmates, staffing and time constraints, and limited opportunities to use FMI. Staff strongly supported the implementation of refresher training to facilitate ongoing use of FMI. They also suggested strategically placed FMI posters and merchandise and sharing success stories or reminders about key skills during meetings or via email communication would encourage staff to continue using FMI. Others also felt having managers, senior staff or mentors that work with staff to develop key skills would also help boost the use of those skills. 1.3 Conclusions Findings from the current study present primarily positive staff views regarding the implementation of FMI in NSW correctional centres. While both perceptions and experiences of FMI differed across staff groups, this was largely based on the types of inmate interactions staff regularly experience. Results highlighted several factors that staff felt both facilitated and hindered their use of FMI. The barriers were particularly centred around how staff felt they were perceived by other staff and by inmates and whether the situation was both appropriate and safe to engage inmates in challenging conversations. Such barriers may be overcome with continued support from managers and senior staff, and as FMI becomes business-as-usual.

Art Therapy in Australian Prisons: A Research Agenda

Article

Full-text available

May 2023
INT J OFFENDER THER

Art therapy in prisons remains widely under-researched in Australia and beyond and represents a major gap in the literature. Despite evidence that art therapy can be a tool for social change, to date, there are no recorded studies in Australia which have investigated the therapeutic benefits of art in prison populations with measured outcomes. Literary analysis suggests that research tends to be hampered by limitations in methodological approaches that are suited to prison environments. By engaging "inside" with inmates over the course of an 8-week art therapy program, this research design addresses this knowledge gap. Building on 5 years of piloting, the research methodological design presented in this paper embodies a prototype that promises to overcome the limitations of previous research approaches. This research agenda promises to facilitate creative interventions through sensitively attuned art therapy delivery. Benefits are expected to accrue to diverse stakeholder groups, including inmates, chaplaincy and parole services, voluntary facilitators, policymakers, criminologists, and taxpayers, among others.

Women Incarcerated in Rural Southern Prisons in the United States: A Review of Existing Multidisciplinary Literature and Suggestions for Future Directions

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2023

Prisons in the Southern United States are a particularly unique kind of rural institutions not only because of their geographic locations, social climates informed by the rural cultures of staff and prisoners, and, for many older Southern prisons, their roots in plantation agriculture. Despite these realities, rural criminology has yet to systematically synthesize and explore what existing research indicates about the everyday lives of over 30,000 women currently serving time in state prisons throughout the Southern United States. The present study attempts to fill this gap in the literature by synthesizing all the available literature on women incarcerated in rural Southern prisons and identifying four prevailing themes in this body of work: regional culture in historical context, relationships and social dynamics, victimization and wellbeing, and journeys through the system from sentencing to reentry.

Mood and Emotions among Inmates after COVID-19 Pandemic

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2023
Int J Environ Res Publ Health

Background: During imprisonment, inmates face many difficulties in adapting to life behind bars. The aim of the study was to find out (a) how challenging for inmates were the selected COVID-19 pandemic-related changes and stressors, (b) what moods and emotions are most commonly experienced by prisoners just after the difficult period of the COVID-19 pandemic, and (c) which of the selected factors determine the positive and negative mood of inmates. Methods: The research was conducted in July 2022 in six randomly selected Polish prisons. Prisoners (N = 250) were invited to participate. Comparative and regression analyses were carried out. Two scales measuring moods: the General Mood Scale and the Mood Scale (positive and negative), the Emotions Questionnaire by B. Wojciszke and W. Baryła, and a proprietary questionnaire were used. Results: Sanitary restrictions implemented in prisons resulted in a moderate experience of discomfort among prisoners, mainly in terms of not being able to have direct contact with family and friends, limitation in their personal freedoms to do their jobs, self-development, and deterioration of mental and physical health. A depressed mood predominated among the prisoners, making them feel unhappy, discouraged, tense, and uptight. They reported dominant feelings of alienation, distress, anxiety, and worry at the time of the survey. The mood of inmates was changing from more positive to more negative; on average, it was described as moderate. Based on the regression coefficients, the significant predictors of inmates' positive mood were perceived happiness (for those who got sick with COVID-19 during their prison sentence) and joy, angst, and contentment (for the healthy ones). In the group of SARS-CoV-2-infected prisoners, unhappiness, age, concern, cheerfulness, and rage were found to be predictors of their negative mood. The feeling of joy appeared to be a significant predictor of negative mood for those inmates who had no personal experience with COVID-19. Conclusions: It is necessary to provide convicts with continuous psychological care and to monitor their mood. Such measures should be the foundation for restorative interventions.

The Effectiveness of Prison Criminal in Changing the Behavior of Inprison-ers (Study at Class II B Penitentiary in Lubuk Pakam)

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2023

Hotmaida Simanjuntak

The existence and effectiveness of imprisonment in changing the behavior of convicts is quite interesting to study, considering the facts that exist show that imprisonment through the correctional system has not been able to change the behavior of convicts significantly. The problems in this study are regarding the existence of imprisonment and prison conditions as a place for implementing coaching for convicts, regarding coaching and its influence on the behavior of convicts while serving their sentences in Correctional Institutions and the effectiveness of imprisonment as the implementation of criminal sanctions and at the same time a means to change the behavior of convicts. This type of research is empirical juridical research, using a statute approach and a conceptual approach. This research uses field studies and literature studies that aim to collect primary and secondary data. The data analysis used is qualitative data analysis. Based on the results of research and discussion, imprisonment is still quite effective in changing the behavior of convicts. This is in accordance with the objectives of the penitentiary system regulated in the penitentiary law and there is also a change in the behavior of some inmates who have undergone the coaching process. The conclusion of this study is that the existence of imprisonment as a means of implementing coaching for convicts is still quite relevant to be applied in the criminal justice system in Indonesia. Considering that the implementation of imprisonment in Indonesia is not only a form of retaliation (punishment) against perpetrators, but also aims to restore the situation, namely to rehabilitate perpetrators and at the same time protect society from the perpetrator's actions to repeat his crime. Coaching carried out by Correctional Institutions has an influence on changes in the behavior of convicts. Although in the implementation of the coaching there are still various weaknesses that indicate the failure of the coaching process. Imprisonment as the implementation of criminal sanctions and at the same time a means to change the behavior of convicts is still quite effective, although it cannot be said that it is a very effective means to change the behavior of convicts.

Safety First! Residential Group Climate and Antisocial Behavior: A Multilevel Meta-analysis

Article

Jun 2024
INT J OFFENDER THER

A systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis was performed (28 studies and 313 effect sizes) on the relation between residential group climate (i.e., safety, atmosphere, repression, support, growth, structure) and antisocial behavior, including aggression and criminal recidivism. A systematic search was conducted in PsychINFO, ERIC, and OVID Medline up to February 2023. Results showed a small but significant association (r = .20) between residential group climate and antisocial behavior, equivalent to a 23% reduction of antisocial behavior in all clients receiving care in a residential facility with a therapeutic group climate. Moderator analyses showed that experienced safety was more strongly related to antisocial behavior (r = .30) than the other dimensions of group climate (.17 < r < .20), while the effect size was somewhat larger for adults (r = .24) than for youth (r = .15). We conclude that residential facilities should consider safety as a priority and should involve clients in a positive process of change through the development of a therapeutic environment and delivery of evidence-based treatment, addressing their needs from the perspective of rehabilitation.

How effective is the “Reasoning and Rehabilitation” (R&R) program in changing cognitive and behavioral skills? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Article

May 2024
AGGRESS VIOLENT BEH

A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis of the construction of people of colour (POC) as criminals in UK and US print media following the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests

Article

Feb 2024

The Development of a Relational Practice Movement

Chapter

Feb 2024

For too long public services have pursued a narrow, managerial performance framework: with the unintentional consequences of reducing access to what people most need, and reducing staff performance. We need a new vision to ensure that facilitative and non-toxic environments are available in all interactions with, and within, state-funded agencies to make them more helpful than harmful. Relational practice gives priority to relationships over procedure and is the foundation upon which effective interventions are made. It forms the conditions for a healthy and enabling environment. It is the antidote to dehumanisation, commodification and the loss of human dignity and agency.

Approaches to Successfully Delivering Rehabilitative Services in Prison: Perspectives from Non-Uniform Correctional Staff in Eight States

Article

Jan 2024

Non-uniform staff help create prison social climate by providing services that include educational and vocational classes, mental health counseling, employment and reentry preparedness, and family-strengthening activities. The present study examines how non-uniform correctional staff perceive their association with successful delivery of rehabilitative services in correctional settings. After accompanying hundreds of non-uniform prison staff throughout their daily professional routines and conducting interviews with them in institutions supervised by eight different U.S. state prison systems, a threefold typology of approaches to successfully delivering rehabilitative services in prison was identified: holistic, pragmatic, and community-oriented.

Incarcerated Veterans and their Adaptation to Prison

Article

Jan 2024
Am J Crim Justice

In 2016, an estimated 107,400 veterans were incarcerated in the U.S. (Maruschak et al., 2021), comprising part of the population known as “justice-involved veterans,” veterans involved in the criminal justice system. The current study explores the influence military training had on the way justice-involved veterans “do time” in prison. In sharp contrast to the misconduct literature, which utilizes quantitative data and links variables statistically to some measurement of prison misconduct, the current study is one of the first to qualitatively explore how incarcerated veterans connect their military experiences to their adjustment to prison life by giving voice to the veterans themselves. Forty-three currently incarcerated veterans in a Midwestern state were interviewed. They described how they acclimatized to the correctional environment utilizing the discipline and adherence to structure learned during their military service. If justice-involved veterans adapt to the prison environment by relying on their military training, then it may be possible to help them further utilize that training to succeed in rehabilitation and reentry.

Personality Disorder: Clinical and Policy Responses and the ‘OPD Pathway’

Chapter

Dec 2023

Victimization in Prison. A Study of Victimization and Prison Climate Dimensions in Belgian Prisons

Article

Dec 2023

Prisoner victimization introduces significant challenges to penal institutions worldwide. Researchers across the globe already provided extensive knowledge on risk factors from community crime theories for prison victimization. Other scholars are focusing on prison climate. The present study contributes to previous works by exploring both the role of community crime theory (individual, prisoner related) risk factors and prison climate dimensions in explaining prisoner victimization in Belgium. Three climate dimensions relationships , safety and autonomy-were analyzed. Specifically, the study examined a sample of 1,006 prisoners using bivariate and multivariate regression analyses. The multivari-ate results showed that prison climate dimensions significantly contribute to explaining prisoner victimization, in addition to the other risk factors. These findings suggest that deprivation and strain theories remain relevant for understanding prison violence. Future researchers should study other prison climate dimensions, as well as environmental characteristics that may facilitate victimization. This paper also highlights the importance of investments in prison climate, such as dynamic security through relationships, in addition to hard security.

Human Rights in Chilean Prisons: Advances, Setbacks and Challenges for Prison Reform

Chapter

Dec 2023

Guillermo Enrique Sanhueza

Chile currently exhibits high levels of inequality in a variety of domains, including but not limited to income distribution, elementary and secondary educational system, quality of healthcare, urban segregation, an increasing number of neighborhood taken by drug lords and, overall, an absence of state in these territories. These societal characteristics and dynamics are speedily impacting prison life and challenging the prison system as never before. In this regard, the landscape of human rights in Chilean prisons has evolved in recent years, and many aspects have improved in comparison to a decade ago. Examples of improvement have to do with a greater “human rights awareness” by the Ministry of Justice and the prison administrations; human rights are now a topic in official discourses; there have also been organizational changes to protect and promote human rights inside the prison system (such as the creation of a specialized HR unit under the direct supervision of the national director); sincere efforts to improve the training for guards and officers, among others. Based on a variety of sources of information including quantitative data (administrative records and survey information), qualitative reports and secondary sources, this chapter will review advances, setbacks and challenges for implementing prison reform in light of a human-rights agenda, by trying to always keep in mind this dynamic relation between major society and prisons and the common human-rights challenges.

The Moral Value of Authority: Reflections on the Work of Prison Officers

Chapter

Dec 2023

Alison Liebling

Good prison officer work is invisible because at the end of a successful working day it looks like nothing has happened. This is a basic misunderstanding of the complexity and challenges of order creation in prison. Order is much more than the absence of trouble. Understanding the peacekeeping role of prison officers, and the distinction between ‘good’ and ‘right’ relationships, helps us to explore the concept of legitimate authority as it is practised. It is skilled work. Decent prisons depend on high levels of staff professionalism, but this is understudied. The fundamental existential problems posed by prison work (in particular, the possession of authority and the use of coercive power) can lead either to professional excellence, and character growth, or moral breakdown. ‘Role model’ prison officers identified by prisoners have clear boundaries, moral strength, verbal skills, an awareness of their power, a ‘professional orientation’, an optimistic but realistic outlook, keep calm under pressure, and are reliable in the eyes of prisoners and colleagues. They use their discretion well and with professional confidence. More emphasis should be placed on understanding and supporting this orientation.

(Re)constructing Prisoner Death Investigations: A Case Study of Suicide Investigations from England and Wales

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2023

Because states must rebut the presumption of responsibility, all prisoner deaths must be investigated. These investigations frequently illustrate the tip of an iceberg of rights abuses and systemic hazards but have largely escaped analysis in prison-monitoring scholarship. Focusing on suicides, we assemble some of the first evidence illustrating how the staff of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, who investigate prisoner deaths in England and Wales, seek to prevent further deaths. Ombudsman investigations are widely regarded as ineffective, yet there are competing constructions regarding why this is and what could be done to improve outcomes. As a result of organizational norms and constraints, ombudsman staff have offered narrow accounts of prisoner suicides, focusing on the failure of frontline staff to comply with prison policies. By contrast, prison staff and coroners have focused on systemic hazards or “accidents waiting to happen,” including imprisoning people with severe mental illness, illegal drugs, unsafe facilities, and inadequate staffing. These differing constructions lock penal actors into an unproductive cycle of blame shifting that contributes to high suicide numbers. We reconceptualize prisoner deaths as occurring at the intersection of systemic hazards, organizational contexts, and individual errors. We hope that this reconceptualization facilitates broader investigations that are more likely to prevent prisoner deaths.

38. Reconfiguring and reimagining penal power

Chapter

Sep 2023

This chapter examines changing forms and consequences of power in contemporary prisons in England and Wales. It begins by discussing the ways in which power has been treated within the penological literature, critiquing the tendency among some scholars to focus on its most coercive forms. It goes on to consider the connections between prisoner experiences and the use of authority by prison staff, detailing the different textures that result according to the specific ways that staff exercise their power. The chapter then considers the implications of these differences with regard to matters such as ‘respect’ in prison, the centrality of staff professionalism to prison life, the self-legitimacy of prison officers, and ‘good’ uses of penal power. After detailing recent transitions in the prison system in England and Wales, the chapter explores the consequences of these changes in relation to prisoner behavior, power-sharing between staff and prisoners, and other staff practices. It concludes by identifying the connections between different modes of penal authority, order and legitimacy.

Reproduziert kriminologische (qualitative) Forschung Ungleichheitsstrukturen? Überlegungen zur Praxis der empirischen Forschung

Chapter

Sep 2023

http://krimg.de/drupal/system/files/9783964100399.pdf

Narratives of Rehabilitation in a South African Prison

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2023

Anton Symkovych

How individuals incarcerated in the Global South engage with the official rehabilitative model remains largely under-documented. Through analysis of the narratives of men and women living in a large, medium-security correctional complex in Gauteng, South Africa, I argue that the grandiloquent official discourse of rehabilitation constitutes an important resource for those incarcerated. Highlighting the importance of local context in debates about carceral rehabilitation, I demonstrate that not only prisoners’ personal circumstances, but also the wider socio-economic context of enduring colonial legacies of structural inequalities shape their interactions with the penal regime. By foregrounding what those subjected to penal power make of their incarceration, I argue that the official rehabilitative discourse helps many to make sense of their predicament, actualise their lives, and sustain hope. I highlight how individual narrative strategies are channeled by and mapped on the official discourse of rehabilitation, free will, and personal responsibility, attesting to the success of the disciplinary project of the post-apartheid prison. I demonstrate how prisoners incorporate engagement with the rehabilitative model into a moral order of carceral cohabitation. I suggest that narrative work in the prison constitutes a nexus of individual needs and private aspirations and structural regimes of inequality, poverty, deprivation, and neglect.

Prisoners’ experiences of custodial parkrun in the UK: links to rehabilitation culture and desistance

Article

Jun 2023

Purpose Parkruns are weekly, free, community-based, 5 km runs around open spaces, with a growing body of research indicating their social, physical and psychological benefits. Thirty-one custodial establishments in England and Wales regularly offer parkruns. The purpose of this paper is to consider prisoners' experiences of parkrun in custodial settings, and these are discussed in the context of the evidence base regarding parkrun in the community and the wider literature on prison sport, desistance, and rehabilitation culture. Design/methodology/approach Using an inductive, qualitative approach, data was collected at three English prisons, via semi-structured interviews with 24 adult male prisoners who participated in parkrun. Data was subjected to thematic analysis. Findings In total, five themes reflecting positive experiences associated with custodial parkrun were identified: connection with others; healthy living; a safe and predictable exercise environment; a sense of purpose; and a re-humanising experience. Factors appearing frequently in the wider parkrun research are present in the perceptions of parkrunners in custody. In addition, factors deemed important to desistance and promoting a rehabilitation culture were also found in the experiences of the sample. Practical implications The work emphasises the successes of His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and parkrun working in partnership to support custodial events. By highlighting the positive experiences of custodial parkrun on prisons and prisoners, the authors anticipate that their findings may encourage further sites to consider launching parkrun events and prompt existing sites to consider their events in line with efforts to promote desistance and a rehabilitation culture. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to explore custodial parkrun. The findings indicate that custodial parkrun supports HMPPS strategic goals by offering an opportunity for prisons to promote desistance.

Historische Entwicklung psychosozialer Behandlungsmaßnahmen und ihrer Wirksamkeit

Chapter

May 2023

Friedrich Lösel

Emancipation Versus Forced Social Education: Normalizing the Social Dimension in Prison

Chapter

Apr 2023

Helene De Vos

For a human being, living a normal life is only possible by maintaining interpersonal contacts in an essentially social environment. This is as true inside prison as it is outside. Prison, however, is a very different context from the world outside. Any effort to normalize the social environment of a prison is inevitably an attempt to set the right atmosphere, indirectly providing the right context for meaningful and normal relationships to thrive. This chapter therefore aims at outlining to what extent and in which ways the normalization of the social environment has been reflected in prison legislation and in the four prisons under scrutiny.

Designing a Rehabilitative Prison Environment

Chapter

Dec 2022

Człowiek w izolacji więziennej - między rygoryzmem a permisywizmem. W kręgu dylematów resocjalizacji

Book

Dec 2022

Witold Kędzierski

La Disposición Final Primera de la Ley Orgánica General Penitenciaria como respuesta jurídica al motín carcelario y mecanismos de preservación de la seguridad penitenciaria

Article

Jan 2023

Sara Carou-García

El presente texto analiza, desde la óptica jurídica, la Disposición Final Primera de la Ley Orgánica 1/1979, de 26 de septiembre, General Penitenciaria, mecanismo jurídico excepcional, destinado a solucionar situaciones especialmente críticas para la seguridad en el ámbito penitenciario, como lo es el caso del motín. La citada previsión legal conlleva dos consecuencias relevantes: por un lado, la suspensión de los derechos reconocidos a los internos y, por otro lado, la asunción por parte de las Fuerzas y Cuerpos de Seguridad de las competencias en materia de vigilancia y custodia de los reclusos.

The effects of imprisonment on families and children of prisoners

Chapter

Full-text available

Jan 2005

Joseph Murray

Researchers have only begun to explore the far-reaching effects of imprisonment beyond prison walls. Unintended consequences highlighted so far include: the social disorganisation of communities (Clear et al 2001); reduced job opportunities for ex-prisoners (Holzer et al 2004); diversion of funds away from schools and universities (Hagan and Dinovitzer 1999); and psychological and financial burdens on families. Families are an important influence on many aspects of prisoners’ lives. Family and parenting variables are key predictors of criminal behaviour through the life-course (Farrington 2002; Loeber and Stouthamer-Loeber 1986). Loss of outside relationships is considered the most painful aspect of confinement for prisoners (Flanagan 1980; Richards 1978). Family contact is associated with lower rates of selfharm while inside prison (Harvey, this volume; Liebling 1992). Families are one of the most important factors affecting prisoners’ rehabilitation after release (Social Exclusion Unit 2002). Unfortunately, prisoners’ families have been little studied in their own right. The effects of imprisonment on families and children of prisoners are almost entirely neglected in academic research, prison statistics, public policy and media coverage. However, we can infer from prisoners’ backgrounds that their families are a highly vulnerable group. Limited research to date suggests that imprisonment can have devastating consequences for partners and children. As such, issues of legitimacy

Assessing the social climate of Australian prisons

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2011

Although in some ways communities appear to be increasingly more risk aversive and punitive in their attitudes toward offenders, the development and proliferation of a range of rehabilitation programs that aim to address the problems that lead to offending represents an important component of contemporary criminal justice policy in Australia. This research is based on the premise that the social climate of a prison will exert a profound influence on rehabilitative outcomes. In this paper, the authors present their validation of the Essen Climate Evaluation Schema (EssenCES) measure of prison social climates and the findings offer further support for measuring and identifying the means by which a prison’s social climate can be assessed. It is proposed that the measure be routinely used to audit the social climate of a prison or prison unit on an annual basis. This would enable changes over time to be assessed, standards and targets set, and the need for additional resources or interventions identified and responded to. Further research is required to establish how a social climate might be modified or changed in a way that would enhance rehabilitative outcomes.

Introduction: The effects of imprisonment revisited

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2005

Beyond procedural justice: A dialogic approach to legitimacy in criminal justicespi

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2012
J CRIM LAW CRIM

The question of legitimacy has become an increasingly important topic in criminological analysis in recent years, especially in relation to policing and to prisons. There is substantial empirical evidence to show the importance of legitimacy in achieving law-abiding behavior and cooperation from citizens and prisoners, especially through what has been described as procedural justice (that is, quality of decisionmaking procedures and fairness in the way citizens are personally treated by law enforcement officials). Yet the dual and interactive character of legitimacy, which necessarily involves both power-holders and audiences, has been largely neglected. This situation has arisen because criminologists have not fully explored the political science literature on legitimacy; hence adequate theorization has lagged behind empirical evidence. The principal aim of this Article is therefore theoretical: we aim to advance the conceptual understanding of legitimacy in the contexts of policing and prisons, drawing on insights from wider social science literatures, but applying them to criminal justice contexts. A central contention is that legitimacy is dialogic, involving claims to legitimacy by power-holders and responses by audiences. We conclude by exploring some broad implications of our analysis for future empirical studies of legitimacy in criminal justice contexts.

Imprisonment and Reoffending

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2009
CRIME JUSTICE

Imprisonment is the most severe punishment in democratic societies except for capital punishment, which is used only in the United States. Crime prevention is its primary rationale. Imprisonment may affect reoffending in various ways. It may be reduced by some combination of rehabilitation and what criminologists call specific deterrence. Sound arguments can be made, however, for a criminogenic effect (e.g., due to antisocial prison experiences or to stigma endured upon release). Remarkably little is known about the effects of imprisonment on reoffending. The existing research is limited in size, in quality, in its insights into why a prison term might be criminogenic or preventative, and in its capacity to explain why imprisonment might have differential effects depending on offenders' personal and social characteristics. Compared with noncustodial sanctions, incarceration appears to have a null or mildly criminogenic effect on future criminal behavior. This conclusion is not sufficiently firm to guide policy generally, though it casts doubt on claims that imprisonment has strong specific deterrent effects. The evidence does provide a basis for outlining components of an agenda for substantive and policy relevant research.

EssenCES a short questionnaire for assessing the social climate of forensic psychiatric wards

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2008

A supportive ward atmosphere is considered by many to be a precondition for successful treatment in forensic psychiatry, but there is a clear need for a valid and economic climate evaluation instrument. To validate a short questionnaire, designed for assessing forensic psychiatric wards. Climate dimensions measured with the 'Essen Climate Evaluation Schema' (EssenCES) are 'Therapeutic Hold', 'Patients' Cohesion and Mutual Support' and 'Safety' (versus threat of aggression and violence). In 17 forensic mental hospitals in Germany, patients and staff completed the EssenCES and other questionnaires. Problematic events were recorded over a period of 3 weeks on each ward. The anticipated three factor structure of the instrument was confirmed. The pattern of correlations also provided support for the validity of the subscales. The climate questionnaire is an economic and valid instrument for assessing the ward atmosphere in forensic psychiatry. Findings from a pilot study in England give confidence to the structural validity of the English version too.

Bringing Sense and Sensitivity to Corrections: From Programs to "Fix" Offenders to Services for Supporting Desistance Bringing Sense and Sensitivity to Bringing Sense and Sensitivity to Corrections: From Programs to Corrections: From Programs to " " Fix Fix " " Offenders to Services for Supporting Offenders to Services for Supporting Desistance Desistance

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2010

Frankj Porporino

Scaling up from convictions to self-reported offending

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2014
Crim Behav Ment Health

AimThe main aims of this article are to estimate the number of offences that are committed for every one that leads to conviction, and to estimate the probability of an offender being convicted.Method In the Pittsburgh Youth Study, 506 boys were followed up from age 13 to age 24 years, in interviews and criminal records. Self-reports and convictions for serious theft, moderate theft, serious violence and moderate violence were compared.ResultsOn average, 22 offences were self-reported for every conviction. This scaling-up factor increased with age and was the highest for moderate theft and the lowest for serious theft. The probability of a self-reported offender being convicted was 54%. This percentage increased with the frequency and seriousness of offending and was always higher for African American boys than for Caucasian boys. These race differences probably reflected differences in exposure to risk factors.Conclusions More research is needed on scaling-up factors, on frequent and serious offenders who are not convicted, on self-reported non-offenders who are convicted and on why African American boys are more likely than Caucasian boys to be convicted. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Liberal Polity, Criminal Sanction, and Civil Society

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2013

Jonathan Aaron Jacobs

The article explores an intersection of moral psychology and political principles regarding criminal sanction. A liberal state cannot require that persons acquire certain states of character or lead certain specific kinds of lives; it cannot require virtue. Moreover, it would be wrong for the state to punish offenders in ways that damage their capacities for agency, and in ways that encourage vice. In the U.S. the terms and conditions of punishment often have deleterious effects on agential capacities, undermining the ability to reintegrate in civil society. Prison experience is often antithetical to maintaining or acquiring the dispositions of prudence, accountability, trust, and trustworthiness needed for participation in civil society, raising significant questions concerning the legitimacy of punishment. © 2013 © 2013 John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York.

Prisons Do Not Reduce Recidivism The High Cost of Ignoring Science

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2011

One of the major justifications for the rise of mass incarceration in the United States is that placing offenders behind bars reduces recidivism by teaching them that “crime does not pay.” This rationale is based on the view that custodial sanctions are uniquely painful and thus exact a higher cost than noncustodial sanctions. An alternative position, developed mainly by criminologists, is that imprisonment is not simply a “cost” but also a social experience that deepens illegal involvement. Using an evidence-based approach, we conclude that there is little evidence that prisons reduce recidivism and at least some evidence to suggest that they have a criminogenic effect. The policy implications of this finding are significant, for it means that beyond crime saved through incapacitation, the use of custodial sanctions may have the unanticipated consequence of making society less safe.

Moral performance, inhuman and degrading treatment and prison pain

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2011

Alison Liebling

Empirical research on the moral quality of life in prison suggests that some prisons are more survivable than others. Prisoners describe stark differences in the moral and emotional climates of prisons serving similar functions. The ‘differences that matter’ concern interpersonal relationships and treatment, and the use of authority, which lead to stark differences in perceived fairness and safety and different outcomes for prisoners, including rates of suicide. These identifiable differences between prisons in one jurisdiction may provide the beginnings of a framework for addressing the broader question of standards being set by the European Court of Human Rights. Concepts like ‘dignity’ and ‘humanity’ are difficult to operationalize and practise. Prisoners are articulate about them, however, and know the difference between ‘feeling humiliated’ and ‘retaining an identity’. The worlds of ‘moral measurement’ and ‘human rights standards’ in penology should be brought closer together in a way that deepens the conversation about prison life and experience.

Respect in Prisons: Prisoners' Experiences of Respect in Public and Private Sector Prisons

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2012

Interpretations of ‘respect’ in prison have tended to be narrow, focusing on courteous and considerate staff–prisoner relationships. In a recent study, we found that respect was defined by prisoners not just in terms of interpersonal relationships but also ‘getting things done’ (what might be called ‘organizational respect’). We expected prisoners in the study, which compared quality of life in public and private sector prisons, to rate private prisons well in terms of respect, due to previous research findings and the history and self-declared values of the companies who run them. The findings from the study revealed a more complex picture. There was mixed support for previous claims that the private sector offers a more courteous prison environment than the public sector, and, among the matched prisons in our study, the public sector establishments were better than the private sector prisons at ‘getting things done’: a distinct component of respect in prison, according to prisoners. These differences influenced prisoners’ evaluations of the ‘respectfulness’ of their treatment in each sector.

Perceptions of Institutional Experience and Community Outcomes for Serious Adolescent Offenders

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2012
CRIM JUSTICE BEHAV

Social scientists have long recognized that individual experiences in particular settings shape behavior, and as a result, many service sectors regularly evaluate client perceptions. This is not the case in the juvenile justice system. Using a sample of 519 serious juvenile offenders (92% male, ethnically diverse) from two sites, this study evaluated the impact of youth perceptions along eight dimensions of an institutional experience on recidivism following release, with recidivism measured as self-reported antisocial activity, rearrest, or a return to a facility. The authors demonstrated that more positive perceptions within and across dimensions of the juvenile setting reduce involvement in the outcomes assessed, even after controlling for individual characteristics and facility type. Implications for juvenile justice practice and policy are discussed.

A Method for Measuring Organizational Functioning in Juvenile Justice Facilities Using Resident Ratings

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2010
CRIM JUSTICE BEHAV

Institutional care is an enduring component of the continuum of care in the juvenile justice system, yet youth perceptions of the placement experience are often overlooked as a source of information about this practice. Little attention is paid to how institutional placements are received by youth as opposed to how they are conceived by the justice system. This article offers an empirically based framework for assessing organizational climate in facilities housing serious young offenders based on youth self-reports. The authors provide evidence that juvenile offenders can provide reliable and internally consistent ratings regarding several dimensions of an institution’s environment, using straightforward and relatively easily administered instruments. This work lays the foundation for the development of methods for ongoing monitoring of juvenile justice facilities and the testing of whether aspects of the environments of these facilities affect the subsequent community adjustment of their residents.

Rehabilitation: Beyond the Risk Paradigm

Book

Full-text available

May 2007

Over the last two decades, empirical evidence has increasingly supported the view that it is possible to reduce re-offending rates by rehabilitating offenders rather than simply punishing them. In fact, the pendulum's swing back from a pure punishment model to a rehabilitation model is arguably one of the most significant events in modern correctional policy. This comprehensive review argues that rehabilitation should focus both on promoting human goods (i.e. providing the offender with the essential ingredients for a 'good' life), as well as reducing/avoiding risk. Offering a succinct summary and critique of the scientific approach to offender rehabilitation, this intriguing volume for students of criminology, sociology and clinical psychology gives a comprehensive evaluation of both the Risk-Need Model and the Good Lives Model. Rehabilitation is a value-laden process involving a delicate balance of the needs and desires of clinicians, clients, the State and the public. Written by two international leading academics in rehabilitation research, this book argues that intervention with offenders is not simply a matter of implementing the best therapeutic technology and leaving political and social debate to politicians and policy makers.

A Comparative Recidivism Analysis of Releasees From Private and Public Prisons

Article

Full-text available

Jan 1999
CRIME DELINQUENCY

This research compared the recidivism rates of groups of releasees from privately and publicly operated prisons. The study consisted of 198 male releasees from two private facilities in Florida who were precision matched with releasees from public prisons. Recidivism over one year was measured in alternative ways. The private prison group had lower rates of recidivism. Those released from private prisons who reoffended committed less serious subsequent offenses than did their public prison counterparts. The two groups were similar in how long it took for rearrest or for the first recidivism event to occur.

The Transfer of Juveniles to Criminal Court: Reexamining Recidivism Over the Long Term

Article

Full-text available

Oct 1997
CRIME DELINQUENCY

A long-term recidivism study was conducted in Florida on matched pairs of juveniles, where one subject in each pair had been transferred to the adult system in 1987 and the other had not. Rearrest information on the pairs from their release from sanctions through November 1994 was used to determine the probabilities of rearrest and the times to rearrest of transfers and nontransfers, adjusting for time at risk. Transfer diminished the rearrest chances for property felons, an advantage that was offset by an enhanced probability of rearrest among transfers for other offense categories. Survival analysis showed that transfers were rearrested more quickly and were rearrested more times on average.

Appreciative Inquiry and Relationships in Prison

Article

Full-text available

Jul 1999

Staff-prisoner relationships are at the heart of the prison system and a stable prison life depends to a large extent on getting these relationships right, particularly in long-term maximum security establishments in the UK. Despite their significance, few studies have explored empirically how these relationships develop and operate. Understanding staff-prisoner interactions requires a detailed and firmly grounded appreciation of the broader tasks prison officers carry out and the nature of prison officer work. Staff-prisoner relationships are invested with an unusual amount of power. This power is, however, `held in reserve' most of the time, as Sykes argued in 1958. Previous studies have generally regarded prison staff superficially and critically. The study reported in this article employs an innovative `appreciative' methodology, seeking to allow staff to focus on the best aspects of their work and role, and the conditions in which they function especially well. Two important features of their work - the peacekeeping aspects and the use of discretion - must be considered in any attempt to describe how staff-prisoner relationships are accomplished.

Reducing Prison MisconductsWhat Works!

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2006
CRIM JUSTICE BEHAV

A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effectiveness of correctional treatment for reducing institutional misconducts. Sixty-eight studies generated 104 effect sizes involving 21,467 offenders. Behavioral treatment programs produced the strongest effects (r = .26, CI = .18to .34). The numbers of criminogenic needs targeted and program therapeutic integrity were found to be important moderators of effect size. Prison programs producing the greatest reductions in misconduct were also associated with larger reductions in recidivism. The magnitudes of various indices of treatment effect size with respect to misconducts were remarkably similar to results in the correctional treatment literature where community recidivism is the criterion. Recommendations are made that will assist prison authorities to manage prisons in a safe and humane manner.

'What works' for juvenile prisoners: The role of group climate in a youth prison

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2009

The Dutch juvenile justice system locks up an increasing number of adolescent boys and girls at a cost of approximately 250,000 for each inmate annually (Boone & Moerings, 2007; Tonry, 2005). Questions have been raised, however, about the cost-effectiveness of treatment in closed institutions. This study, with a sample of 49 adolescents residing in a Dutch youth prison, examined the role of group climate in establishing and maintaining treatment effects. Results show that an open group climate, with group workers paying more attention to the psychological needs of the adolescents and giving them ‘space’ to experiment, led to inmates feeling that they were ‘being understood by the group workers’. This perception of being understood was associated with greater treatment motivation and higher internal locus of control. Positive prison workers in the living group turned out to be a key factor in building an open group climate and subsequently higher internal locus of control and greater treatment motivation.

Measurement of prison social climate: A comparison of an inmate measure in England and the USA

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2008

We review and describe prison climate measurement studies. We compared the factor patterns and stability from three domains of the Prison Social Climate survey (PSC) (Environmental quality of life; Personal well-being; and Safety and security). Stability was compared using randomly split halves of inmate responses from 10 selected US federal prison samples (n = 950): there were no significant differences. Factor patterns on the same instrument were compared between the US sample and an English purposive sample (n = 186) of inmates. There were no significant differences between US and English factor patterns, although at a slightly lower level of factor constraint. Factors as factor-scored according to the US factor pattern showed significant differences between the USA and England on the Environmental quality of life scales and the Personal well-being scales, and significant differences on only two of six of the Safety and security dimensions. Data suggest that the PSC is stable within the US sample, and is also stable in its factor pattern between the US and English samples. Prison climate, as measured by the three domains of the PSC selected, appears a stable measure across similar western penal systems and inmate cultures.

Prisons and their Moral Performance: A Study of Values, Quality, and Prison Life

Book

Oct 2023

This book constitutes a critical case study of the modern search for public sector reform. It includes a detailed account of a study aimed at developing a meaningful way of evaluating difficult-to-measure moral dimensions of the quality of prisons. Penal practices, values, and sensibilities have undergone important transformations over the period 1990-2003. Part of this transformation included a serious flirtation with a liberal penal project that went wrong. A significant factor in this unfortunate turn of events was a lack of clarity, by those working in and managing prisons, about important terms such as ‘justice’, ‘liberal’, and ‘care’, and how they might apply to daily penal life. Official measures of the prison seem to lack relevance to many who live and work in prison and to their critics. The author proposes that a truer test of the quality of prison life is what staff and prisoners have to say about those aspects of prison life that ‘matter most’: relationships, fairness, order, and the quality of their treatment. The book attempts a detailed analysis and measurement of these dimensions in five prisons. It finds significant differences between establishments in these areas of prison life, and some departures from the official vision of the prison supported by the performance framework. The information revolution has generated unprecedented levels of knowledge about individual prisons, as well as providing a management reach into establishments from a distance, and a capacity for ‘chronic revision’, that was unimaginable fifty years ago. Another major transformation – the modernisation project – brought with it a new, but flawed, ‘craft’ of performance monitoring and measurement aimed at solving some of the problems of prison management. This book explores the arrival and the impact of this concept of performance and the links apparently forged between managerialism and moral values.

Ethical Loneliness: The Injustice of Not Being Heard

Book

Sep 2015

Jill Stauffer

Ethical loneliness is the experience of being abandoned by humanity, compounded by the cruelty of wrongs not being heard. It is the result of multiple lapses on the part of human beings and political institutions that, in failing to listen well to survivors, deny them redress by negating their testimony and thwarting their claims for justice. Jill Stauffer examines the root causes of ethical loneliness and how those in power revise history to serve their own ends rather than the needs of the abandoned. Out of this discussion, difficult truths about the desire and potential for political forgiveness, transitional justice, and political reconciliation emerge. Moving beyond a singular focus on truth commissions and legal trials, she considers more closely what is lost in the wake of oppression and violence, how selves and worlds are built and demolished, and who is responsible for re-creating lives after they are destroyed. Stauffer boldly argues that rebuilding worlds and just institutions after violence is a broad obligation and that those who care about justice must first confront their own assumptions about autonomy, liberty, and responsibility before an effective response to violence can take place. In building her claims, Stauffer draws on the work of Emmanuel Levinas, Jean Améry, Eve Sedgwick, and Friedrich Nietzsche, as well as concrete cases of justice and injustice across the world.

Crime, Justice, and Social Order: Essays in Honour of A. E. Bottoms

Article

Jan 2022

Professor Sir Anthony Bottoms is unique in British criminology. He has achieved mastery of all the disciplines which rightly require attention if criminological questions are to be adequately addressed, including law, social science, social theory, moral philosophy, and matters of ‘administrative criminology’: from uses of the fine, to the origins and functions of the probation service. He was, of course, once a probation officer. This is one of the keys to his outstanding contribution to our field. He combines an unusually broad range of intellectual interests, with a steadfast dedication to ‘the person’ living a troubled life (in a specific place). He has conducted outstanding empirical research in each of these areas, addressing each subject in a way that generates clear and original theoretical and normative analysis. This volume pays tribute to Tony and his work. It is a collection of specially commissioned original essays, organised around his key interests. They are written by friends and colleagues, many of whom are key criminologists in their own right. Each honours Tony’s contribution to the field and to his scholarship in the fields of crime, justice, and social order.

Prisons, Punishment and the Pursuit of Security

Article

Jan 2012

Deborah H. Drake

Appreciative Inquiry, Generative Theory, and the “Failed State” Prison

Chapter

Dec 2017

Alison Liebling

Legitimacy and criminal justice: International perspective

Book

Jan 2007

Tom R. Tyler

The police and the courts depend on the cooperation of communities to keep order. But large numbers of urban poor distrust law enforcement officials. Legitimacy and Criminal Justice explores the reasons that legal authorities are or are not seen as legitimate and trustworthy by many citizens. Legitimacy and Criminal Justice is the first study of the perceived legitimacy of legal institutions outside the U.S. The authors investigate relations between courts, the police, and communities in the U.K., Western Europe, South Africa, Slovenia, South America, and Mexico, demonstrating the importance of social context in shaping those relations. Gorazd Meško and Goran Klemencic examine Slovenia's adoption of Western-style "community policing" during its transition to democracy. In the context of Slovenia's recent Communist past-when "community policing" entailed omnipresent social and political control-citizens regarded these efforts with great suspicion, and offered little cooperation to the police. When states fail to control crime, informal methods of law can gain legitimacy. Jennifer Johnson discusses an extra-legal policing system carried out by farmers in Guerrero, Mexico-complete with sentencing guidelines and initiatives to reintegrate offenders into the community. Feeling that federal authorities were not prosecuting the crimes that plagued their province, the citizens of Guerrero strongly supported this extra-legal arrangement, and engaged in massive protests when the central government tried to suppress it. Several of the authors examine how the perceived legitimacy of the police and courts varies across social groups. Graziella Da Silva, Ignacio Cano, and Hugo Frühling show that attitudes toward the police vary greatly across social classes in harshly unequal societies like Brazil and Chile. And many of the authors find that ethnic minorities often display greater distrust toward the police, and perceive themselves to be targets of police discrimination. Indeed, Hans-Jöerg Albrecht finds evidence of bias in arrests of the foreign born in Germany, which has fueled discontent among Berlin's Turkish youth. Sophie Body-Gendrot points out that mutual hostility between police and minority communities can lead to large-scale violence, as the Parisian banlieu riots underscored. The case studies presented in this important new book show that fostering cooperation between law enforcement and communities requires the former to pay careful attention to the needs and attitudes of the latter. Forging a new field of comparative research, Legitimacy and Criminal Justice brings to light many of the reasons the law's representatives succeed-or fail-in winning citizens' hearts and minds.

Perceptions of Social Climate and Aggressive Behavior in Forensic Services: A Systematic Review

Article

Aug 2016

Social climate is a term used to describe the environment of a particular setting which may influence the moods and behaviors of the people inhabiting that setting. This review explores perceptions of social climate in secure forensic services and the associations with aggression. Article searches were conducted using electronic databases, hand-searching reference lists, and contacting experts. Inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied to each study, and quality screens conducted on the remaining articles to establish those for inclusion. A total of seven studies were identified. Factors which were found to have an association with aggression included patients’ perceptions of safety, the level of cohesion between patients, the atmosphere of the environment, and an open group climate. It is argued that services which create positive social climates for both staff and patients are more likely to observe lower levels of aggression.

Prison environment and behavioral outcomes

Article

Jan 1993

K.N. Wright

Reoffending After Release: Does Procedural Justice During Imprisonment Matter?

Article

Oct 2015
CRIM JUSTICE BEHAV

Reoffending rates after release from prison are high in most Western countries. Knowledge on how certain aspects of prison life affect postrelease recidivism could be useful to effective crime-control. One aspect of prison life that may potentially affect prisoners’ reoffending behavior refers to the extent to which prisoners feel treated fairly and respectfully. This notion is central to procedural justice theories, which argue that people will be more likely to comply with the law when they feel treated in a just and decent way by actors who enforce the law. At present, it is unknown whether or not a procedurally just treatment during imprisonment can reduce postprison reoffending rates. This study examined (a) whether prisoners’ procedural justice perceptions influence their postrelease offending behavior, and (b) whether the relationship between procedural justice and reoffending was mediated by prisoners’ perceived legitimacy of the criminal justice system. Associations were explored with survey and registered conviction data of 1,241 Dutch prisoners from the Prison Project. Although the effect was small, prisoners who felt treated in a procedurally just manner during imprisonment were less likely to be reconvicted in the 18 months after release. No evidence was found for a mediating role of legitimacy. © 2015, 2015 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology.

Rehabilitation and prison social climate: Do 'What Works' rehabilitation programs work better in prisons that have a positive social climate?

Article

Aug 2014

Richard Harding

The What Works' literature has established that prison-based rehabilitation programs can reduce post-release re-offending rates amongst some offenders. Validated tools for measuring prison social climate have reliably identified regime factors that tend to make the prison experience less negative for prisoners. Experience in other human service areas would suggest that programs delivered in a positive prison social climate should be more effective than those delivered in a negative climate. However, the two lines of research exist in parallel without directly intersecting. This article examines research evidence that is laterally or tangentially relevant. The conclusion is that it would be perverse to structure penal administration policies around the view that a positive prison social climate cannot make any difference to re-offending rates. The evidence is that a good prison social climate would seem likely, other things being equal, to improve the outcomes achievable through proven What Works' rehabilitation programs. The research methodology to establish this correlation is complex. The article concludes by addressing these complexities and suggesting a viable methodology.

Governing Prisons: A Comparative Study of Correctional Management

Article

Dec 1988

A Review of Questionnaire Measures for Assessing the Social Climate in Prisons and Forensic Psychiatric Hospitals

Article

Apr 2015
INT J OFFENDER THER

Matthew Tonkin

Significant time and resources are devoted to the monitoring of social climate in secure settings. However, if these efforts are to help (rather than hinder) attempts to improve the functioning of such units, the monitoring of social climate must be based on sound psychometric methods. The aim of this review was to determine what questionnaires exist to measure the social climate in secure settings and what evidence exists regarding their psychometric properties. Twelve questionnaire-based measures of social climate were identified. The Essen Climate Evaluation Schema has received the most consistent empirical support, but this questionnaire does not provide as much of an in-depth, detailed insight into social climate as that provided by other social climate questionnaires. Although more extensive measures of climate exist, they have not yet received sufficient validation to justify their routine use in practice. Nevertheless, there is growing evidence that some questionnaire-based measures can provide a reliable and valid assessment of the social climate in secure settings, which has important clinical and theoretical implications. © The Author(s) 2015.

Privatizing Prisons: Rhetoric and Reality

Article

Sep 1998

Towards a Strength-Based Juvenile Correctional Facility: Sustainability and Effects of an Institutional Transformation

Article

Oct 2012

In 2006, the administration of a state-run, secure juvenile correctional facility initiated an attempt to transform its institutional culture using a strength-based approach to assessment and case planning. This resulted in a rapid improvement in institutional climate. The current study revisits this setting several years later to see if those improvements were sustained, if they have produced better outcomes for youth, and if the assessment and case planning practices demonstrate fidelity to the intended approach. Results suggest that the institutional climate remains greatly improved and that recidivism results are encouraging, but that implementation of the practice model could be strengthened.

The Disturbed Violent Offender

Article

Jun 1991

Examines the relatively few people who are both violent criminals and mentally ill. Presents a typology based on a large-scale study of convicted offenders. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Coping, Behavior and Adaptation in Prison Inmates.

Article

Jan 1990

Heavy-light, absent-present: Rethinking the 'weight' of imprisonment

Article

Sep 2014
BRIT J SOCIOL

Since King and McDermott (1995), following Downes (1988), defined the psychological oppressiveness of incarceration in terms of ‘weight’, little has been written about the ‘weight of imprisonment’. None the less, it is generally assumed that prisons that are ‘light’ are preferable to those that are ‘heavy’ – in part because of an assumption among many penologists that power, and its application, is dangerous and antagonistic. This article does not dispute that ‘heavy’ prisons are undesirable. Its argument is that there can also be dangers if prisons are excessively light. Many of these dangers are linked to the under-use of power. The tone and quality of prison life depends on the combined effects of institutional weight with the ‘absence’ or ‘presence’ of staff power. Drawing on prisoners' descriptions of their experiences in public and private sector prisons, and their assessments of important aspects of their quality of life, the article outlines what these concepts mean in practice. The authors develop a four-quadrant framework for conceptualizeng penal legitimacy and the experience of penal authority.

Staff-Prisoner Relationships, Staff Professionalism, and the Use of Authority in Public- and Private-Sector Prisons: Public-Private Prisons

Article

Sep 2014
LAW SOCIAL INQUIRY

Prison privatization has generally been associated with developments in neoliberal punishment. However, relatively little is known about the specific impact of privatization on the daily life of prisoners, including areas that are particularly salient not just to debates about neoliberal penality, but the wider reconfiguration of public service provision and frontline work. Drawing on a study of values, practices, and quality of life in five private-sector and two public-sector prisons in England and Wales, this article seeks to compare and explain three key domains of prison culture and quality: relationships between frontline staff and prisoners, levels of staff professionalism (or jailcraft), and prisoners' experience of state authority. The study identifies some of the characteristic strengths and weaknesses of the public and private prison sectors, particularly in relation to staff professionalism and its impact on the prisoner experience. These findings have relevance beyond the sphere of prisons and punishment.

Offender Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Communities: Enabling Change the TC Way

Book

Jan 2013

Alisa Stevens

Offender rehabilitation has become increasingly and almost exclusively associated with structured cognitive-behavioural programmes. For fifty years, however, a small number of English prisons have promoted an alternative method of rehabilitation: the democratic therapeutic community (TC). These prisons offer long-term prisoners convicted of serious offences the opportunity to undertake group psychotherapy within an overtly supportive and esteem-enhancing living environment. Drawing upon original research conducted with ‘residents’ (prisoners) and staff at three TC prisons, Offender Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Communities provides a uniquely evocative and engaging portrayal of the TC regime. Individual chapters focus on residents’ adaptation to ‘the TC way’ of rehabilitation and imprisonment; the development of caring relationships between community members; residents’ contributions towards the safe and efficient running of their community; and the greater assimilation of sexual offenders within TCs for men, made possible in part by a lessening in ‘hypermasculinity’. By analyzing residents’ own accounts of ‘desistance in process’ in the TC, this book argues that TCs help offenders to change by enabling positive developments to their personal identity and self-narratives: to the ways in which they see themselves and their life. The radically ‘different’ penal environment allows its residents to become someone ‘different’.

Legitimacy in Corrections: A Randomized Experiment Comparing a Boot Camp with a Prison

Article

Feb 2010

Research Summary To extend research on legitimacy to the correctional system, we study a sample of 202 adult inmates randomly assigned to serve their 6-month sentence at one of two institutions—a traditional prison or a military-style correctional boot camp. Findings show that perceptions of justice system legitimacy changed during the course of incarceration, that the prison (but not the boot camp) proved delegitimizing, and that certain regime characteristics explained why. Policy Implications Across academic disciplines, studies continue to link compliance with perceived legitimacy. Compliance with the law, for instance, is related closely to the legitimacy of the justice system and its actors. These findings suggest implementing legitimacy-building policies such as procedurally fair treatment and decision making by police officers and judges. This article, by finding legitimacy to be malleable even at the final stage of the justice process, proposes the efficacy of similar policies in the correctional system. As research from England and Wales has shown, legitimizing strategies in this context could increase compliance both during and after incarceration.

Grendon: A Study of a Therapeutic Prison

Book

May 1995

Grendon Prison opened in 1962, originally intended to investigate and treat prisoners whose crimes had recognisable psychiatric causes. Thirty years later, its radical ideas of the rehabilitation of prisoners through psychological or psychotherapeutic treatment have been embraced by the Woolf Report, which clearly committed the Prison Service to a rehabilitation ambition. Based upon interviews with prisoners and prison staff, this new study of a 'model' prison will be of interest to criminologists, penologists and prison staff everywhere.

Prison Privatization in Florida: Promise, Premise, and Performance

Article

Feb 2005

Gerald G. Gaes

The abstract for this document is available on CSA Illumina.To view the Abstract, click the Abstract button above the document title.

Do Inmate Survey Data Reflect Prison Conditions? Using Surveys to Assess Prison Conditions of Confinement

Article

Jun 1999

Scott D. Camp

This study examines whether survey data collected from inmates can be used to create group-level measures of prison conditions. Inmates often carry a stigma that they are never to be trusted. A subset of a national survey of inmates was used to examine how inmates incarcerated in prisons operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons answered questions about safety, noise, and job assignments at their prisons. In particular, this report demonstrates that inmate answers to the questions vary in a systematic fashion that lends credence to using survey data from inmates to obtain information about the prisons in which they are incarcerated. However, proper techniques for using survey data have not been practiced in existing evaluation studies comparing public and private prisons.

Developing the Prison Environment Inventory

Article

Aug 1985
J RES CRIME DELINQ

KEVIN N. WRIGHT

Climate, a popular conceptualization used to describe contextual properties of prisons that may have significant influence on individual behavior, is generally considered to be multidimensional and can be used to describe what it is like to live and work in prison. Past efforts to apply the conceptualization to organizations in general and specifically to prisons have been faulted for three reasons: inadequate theoretical specification, lack of attention to psychometric details, and a failure to consider the individual effects arising in aggregate measures. This article describes a new correctional climate instrument, the Prison Environment Inventory (PEI), which was attentive to these three issues. Hans Toch's eight environmental concerns—Privacy, Safety, Structure, Support, Emotional Feedback, Social Stimulation, Activity, and Freedom—were used as the dimensions of the instrument. The 80-item Inventory was created in a series of steps in which versions of the instrument were submitted to rigorous evaluations to assure its reliability and validity. Factor analyses of data indicate that the theoretical structure of the instrument is empirically patterned. Scale analyses confirm the integrity of the dimensions of climate, although some scales appear to be better defined than others. Final assessments indicate the individual effects do not greatly bias climate measurement with this instrument.

The Assessment of the Social Climates of Correctional Institutions

Article

Jul 1968
J RES CRIME DELINQ

Rudolf H. Moos

This article describes the development of a Social Climate Scale, which differentiates between the social climates of correc tional institutions. An initial form of the scale was given to resi dents and staff in sixteen correctional units, including educational and vocational training schools, juvenile halls, and boys' camps. The second form of the scale consists of items which significantly differentiated between units for residents and for staff. This form includes twelve subscales—e.g., spontaneity, support, affiliation, aggression, variety, and autonomy—each of which measures the emphasis on one dimension of institutional climate. Profiles that compare the average resident perceptions of different units were constructed. The importance of developing measures of psycho logical environments and implications relating to the individual- environment fit are discussed.

Increasing consensus in the evaluation of offender rehabilitation? Lessons from recent research syntheses

Article

Jan 1995

Friedrich Lösel

Recent years have seen a revivification of correctional treatment. Meta-analysis has played an important role in this trend. However, the discussion on these results has been just as controversial as the reviews on the “nothing works” debate 20 years ago. This controversy is due to a mixing up of facts and values. The present paper should contribute to the consensus on facts. First, it reports on an update of a meta-analysis on the treatment of adult offenders in German social-therapeutic prisons. This is followed by an overview of North American meta-analyses that have concentrated mostly on programs with juveniles. The outcomes show fairly consistent but low overall effects. Most meta-analyses also tend to agree on differential effects (e.g., modes of treatment, design characteristics, settings). Nonetheless, there are still major deficits in evaluation research. Finally, future perspectives of the revived discussion on offender rehabilitation are discussed.

Becoming: Basic Considerations for a Psychology of Personality

Article

Jan 1955

Gordon W. Allport

The Transfer of Juveniles to Criminal Court: Does it Make a Difference?

Article

Apr 1996
CRIME DELINQUENCY

Recidivism of 2,738 juvenile offenders who were transferred to criminal court in Florida in 1987 was compared with that of a matched sample of delinquents who were retained in the juvenile system. Recidivism was examined in terms of rates of reoffending, seriousness of reoffending, and time to failure, with appropriate adjustments made for time at risk. By every measure of recidivism employed, reoffending was greater among transfers than among the matched controls.

Psychosocial Climate in Correctional InstitutionsWhich Attributes Describe It?

Article

May 1990

Dean Ajdukovic

This article presents an attempt to find out whether supplementing the original nine subdimensions of the widely used Correctional Institutions Environment Scale (CIES) with a few additional ones provides any significant new information about institutional climate. Three new subscales containing 39 items were developed. They were named Judiciary System, Socio-spatial Conditions, and Physical Environment Conditions. The instrument was administered to all 398 male residents in both a maximum and a minimum security correctional facility. The factor analysis showed that the new subscales were related to the same general factor as the original ones. The linear stepwise regression indicated that the Physical Environment Conditions and Socio-spatial Conditions subscales were superior to the six original ones in discriminating between the two very different penal institutions. The proposed nine subdimensions of the CIES seem to be neither the only nor the most distinctive attributes of the correctional social climate.

Exploring the Relationship between Prison Social Climate and Reoffending*

Abstract

No full-text available

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