The correctional melting pot: Race, ethnicity, citizenship, and prison violence

The United States prison population is becoming more diverse and comprised of increasingly more violent inmates. Although race has been cited as a risk factor for inmate violence, most prior research had narrowly investigated White/Black differences in inmate misconduct. Using a sample of 1,005 inmates from the southwestern U.S., the current study explored racial, ethnic, and citizenship correlates among male and female prisoners. Negative binomial regression models indicated that net of controls, Hispanics and Native Americans were the most violent male prisoners, while African Americans and Native Americans were the most violent female inmates. The current study was admittedly modest in scope; however, the findings were couched within a broader, imperative sociological framework that lamented the increasing interplay between communities and prison and the role of prison as a social institution.     

Social support and inmate rule violations: A multilevel analysis

Social support theory is important in explaining inmate behavior within prison but has been largely ignored in the research. Using multilevel analysis, the study examined the effect of social support on inmate misconduct measured by disciplinary infractions in the 1997 Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities in the United Slates. Findings indicate that several social support variables at both the inmate level and prison level affect inmate rule violations per month.     

Exploring cynicism toward prison administrations as a mediator of the association between quality of treatment and inmate misconduct

This study explores the ability of inmate cynicism to mediate the relationship between perceptions regarding quality of treatment and inmate misconduct in a prison setting. Using a sample of inmates from prisons in South Korea, the generalizability of the process-based model is tested. Also, the indirect effect of quality of treatment on inmate misconduct through cynicism is estimated using a bias-corrected bootstrapped mediation analysis. The findings show that quality of treatment was negatively and significantly associated with inmate misconduct in South Korean prisons. Additionally, results indicate that the quality of treatment and social support are significant predictors of inmate cynicism. Finally, a regression-based path analysis reveals that cynicism mediates the relationship between quality of treatment and inmate misconduct. While quality of treatment was found to predict inmate misconduct significantly, mediation analyses support the hypothesis that inmate cynicism partially mediates this association. The findings suggest that correctional policies should pay more attention to reducing inmates’ cynicism.

     

Does Inmate Behavior Affect Post-Release Offending? Investigating the Misconduct-Recidivism Relationship among Youth and Adults

Recent scholarship has highlighted the potential implications of in-prison experiences for prisoner reentry and, in particular, recidivism. Few penological or reentry studies, however, have examined the relationship between one experience that may be especially consequential, inmate misconduct, and recidivism. The goal of this study is to address this gap in the literature by employing a matching design that estimates the effect of inmate misconduct on reoffending, using data on a release cohort of Florida prisoners. The results indicate that inmates who engage in misconduct, violent misconduct in particular, are more likely to recidivate. Consistent with prior scholarship, we find that this relationship holds only for adult inmates. These findings underscore the importance of prison experiences for understanding recidivism, examining youthful and adult inmate populations separately, and devising policies that reduce misconduct.     

Comparing Self-Report to Official Measures of Inmate Misconduct

Studies have revealed systematic measurement errors in self-report data on crime and deviance resulting from poor recall and/or underreporting by certain groups of respondents. Official crime data have also been criticized, but for different reasons (e.g. gross underestimations of less serious offenses). Very similar observations have been made in studies of inmate crime (misconduct committed by prison inmates). Despite these criticisms, official data on inmate misconduct continue to be the most frequently used data in related studies. This study compared self-report and official data on inmate assaults, property thefts, and drug offenses for samples of inmates from 46 correctional institutions for adults in Ohio and Kentucky. Findings revealed that officially recorded misconduct underestimates the total volume of inmate crime. Analyses designed to uncover sources of the divergence between self-reported misconduct and officially recorded misconduct revealed far more consistencies than differences in the magnitude of inmate and facility effects on the different types of offenses. A few important differences did emerge in the magnitude of effects such as amount of time served (at the individual level) and facility population size (at the aggregate level).     

Causes and correlates of prison inmate misconduct: A systematic review of the evidence

Purpose

Inmate rule violations or “misconducts” reflect offending within a prison, and this study involved a systematic review of studies of the causes/correlates of inmate misconduct published between 1980 and 2013.

Methods

An exhaustive search of relevant high impact journals yielded 98 studies of causes/correlates of inmates misconduct published between 1980 and 2013. The final models from these studies were examined to assess the impact of the predictor variables on misconduct.

Results

Findings revealed that predictor variables reflecting inmates’ background characteristics (e.g., age, prior record), their institutional routines and experiences (e.g., prior misconducts), and prison characteristics (e.g., security level) all impact misconduct.

Conclusions

Researchers should apply general theories of crime and deviance (e.g., control) that can incorporate all of the empirically relevant inmate and prison characteristics to the study of offending in prison (misconduct). Researchers should also examine the sources of variability in the effects of predictor variables across studies.     

Therapeutic communities and prison management: an examination of the effects of operating an in-prison therapeutic community on levels of institutional disorder

There is a growing emphasis in corrections on the treatment of inmates with drug problems. The typical method of evaluating drug treatment programs is to examine how the treatment affects the inmate in terms of relapse and recidivism. This study examines the institutional consequences of operating a therapeutic community located in a medium/high-security male institution. The effect on management is examined from a perspective of institutional disorder. Disorders, from less severe inmate rule violations to more serious assaults, and rates of grievance filing are examined within the treatment unit and compared with rates in the general population. The inmate's perception of the environment, whether in treatment or non-treatment, is also examined. Findings indicate that in-prison therapeutic communities have lower levels of disorder than nontreatment housing units and tend to produce more positive perceptions of the living environment among the inmates living there. The impact of these findings for prison management is discussed.     

Race and the apprehension of inmate misconduct

Race differences in the apprehension of inmate misconduct were examined within a medium security Federal Correctional Institution. Significant race differences were found such that disproportionately more conduct reports (shots) were written on black than white inmates. Explanations of these differences are given. Considering three sets of findings, it was concluded that the probability of racial bias affecting criminal justice decision making will vary according to the status of that decision point on two dimensions: (1) the amount of discretion afforded the decision maker, and (2) the extent to which the decision maker is held accountable for this decision. Therefore, racial bias would be expected to exert its greatest impact upon decision points which allow considerable discretion and which prossess minimal accountability.     

INSTITUTIONAL AND POSTRELEASE BEHAVIOR OF FURMAN-COMMUTED INMATES IN TEXAS*

In 1972, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty as administered constituted cruel and unusual punishment. This ruling also invalidated the death sentences of over 600 inmates in the United States, who subsequently had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. This article examines the institutional and postrelease behavior of the 47 Furman inmates in Texas from 1973 to 1986. Prior to the release of these inmates into the general prisoner population, prison officials and clinicians stated that they were dangerous and constituted a substantial threat to other inmates and to the security staff. The institutional and release behavior of the Furman inmates is compared with that of a cohort of like violent offenders. The Furman inmates committed few serious rule violations. They did not kill other inmates or staff. A minority of inmates in both groups committed the majority of prison rule violations. Of the 31 Furman inmates released on parole, 1 committed a new homicide. No cohort inmate killed again. The conclusion is that the execution of these 47 inmates would not have greatly protected society.     

Impact of drug use on inmate misconduct: A multilevel analysis

Despite the importance of drug use problems among offenders, relatively little was known about whether drug use history affected inmate behavior in prison. Using data from the 1997 survey of inmates in state facilities in the U.S., this study examined the following relationships: the effect of drug use prior to incarceration on substance rule violations per month during incarceration and the effect of drug use prior to incarceration on non-substance rule violations per month in prison. This study revealed that the variable drug use history was a significant predictor of substance rule violations per month and of non-substance rule violations per month in prison. The implications of the findings are also discussed.     

Punishment within Prison: An Examination of the Influences of Prison Officials’ Decisions to Remove Sentencing Credits

Despite considerable research directed toward understanding the factors that affect punishment decision‐making leading to imprisonment, few studies have examined the influences of punishment decisions within prisons. Punishment decisions made within prisons can affect an individual's liberty during their imprisonment and/or the timing of their release from prison if the punishment results in the loss of sentencing credits or influences parole decision‐making. Moreover, if punishment disparities result from these decisions, then some offender groups may endure a greater loss of liberty relative to others. In this study, we examine the factors that influence prison officials’ decisions to remove sentencing credits in response to prison rule violations. Analysis of collected data from a Midwestern state prison system reveal that prison officials are primarily influenced by the seriousness and type of the rule violation, along with an inmate's violation history. Other relevant factors include those proximately connected to an inmate's risk of subsequent misbehavior such as gang membership and those that are linked to practical consequences and constraints associated with the organizational environment and particular inmates such as the proportion of their sentence an inmate has served and whether an inmate has mental health problems.     

Examining the Use of Disciplinary Segregation within and across Prisons

Prison officials have historically been afforded considerable discretion to administer sanctions designed to maintain order and security within a prison. Such discretion can generate disparate treatment of offender groups, but few studies have investigated whether sanction disparities exist within prisons, despite considerable research on sanctioning decisions made by other criminal justice actors. We use data collected from a nationally representative sample of inmates housed in state operated confinement facilities to examine potential influences of prison officials’ decisions to impose one type of sanction—disciplinary segregation. Multi-level analyses reveal that both legally relevant criteria such as prior misconduct history and extralegal factors such as age and holding a prison job affected whether an inmate was placed in disciplinary segregation for a rule violation. Also, prisons in which a greater proportion of the inmate population is involved in prison work and prisons with a higher density of inmates classified minimum-security use disciplinary segregation less frequently.     

Recommendations for Correctional Leaders to Reduce Boundary Violations: Female Correctional Employees and Male Inmates

The correctional profession continues to report boundary-violating behavior by correctional employees with inmates, such as aiding an inmate in an escape and engaging in sexual contact with an inmate. These criminal behaviors obviously threaten the safety within the institutions and the community; however, these types of actions are normally preceded by minor boundary crossings within the institution. Therefore, all types of boundary violations and crossings between an inmate and an employee must be examined and eliminated. This article offers correctional leaders recommendations for organizational change that may reduce the number of boundary violations and crossings between female employees and male inmates. These recommendations are built on a larger qualitative study that used portraiture methodology, by interviewing 4 former female correctional employees who developed relationships with male inmates.     

The ties that bind or the ties that break: Examining the relationship between visitation and prisoner misconduct

Purpose

Prior theory and research suggest that inmate visitation can reduce misconduct in prison. However, prior studies have not accounted for the longitudinal and heterogeneous nature of these experiences. This paper addresses this research gap by examining variation in visitation experiences and the relationship between patterns of visitation and misconduct.

Methods

Using a cohort of offenders incarcerated in Florida between 2000 and 2002, group-based trajectory model analyses were used to identify groups of inmates based on their visitation and misconduct patterns. Dual trajectory analysis was used to then assess the extent to which the development of visitation and misconduct patterns are interrelated.

Results

Visitation, and more consistent visitation in particular, is associated with less prison misconduct.

Conclusions

Visitation may reduce inmate misconduct. Implications for future research, theory, and policy are discussed.     

RACE AND PRISON VIOLENCE*

Data from 58 male institutions in the federal correctional system were used to test for racial differences in both violent and alcohol/drug misconduct, controlling for a large number of individual, prison environment, and community background variables. Because “structurally” the in-prison station of black and white inmates is essentially identical, the data provide a unique methodological opportunity to test deprivation versus importation models of prison adjustment as well as more encompassing structural versus cultural theories of violence. The major findings are that, net of controls, black inmates have significantly higher rates of violent behavior but lower rates of alcohol/drug misconduct than white inmates. These patterns parallel those of racial differences in the larger society. We interpret these findings as supporting the importation theory of prison adjustment and the subculture of violence thesis regarding high rates of black violence in the larger society.     

The effect of faith program participation on prison misconduct: The Life Connections Program

Faith-based programming is one of many potential tools for preparing inmates for successful reentry into society. The current study used official records of inmate misconduct and attitudinal survey data to investigate whether participation in a faith-based program reduced the likelihood of prison misconduct. The results indicated that program participation did lower the probability of engaging in serious forms of misconduct. No effect was discovered, though, for less serious forms of misconduct or for both types of misconduct considered simultaneously.     

Unintended consequences: experimental evidence for the criminogenic effect of prison security level placement on post-release recidivism

Most prison systems use quantitative instruments to classify and assign inmates to prison security levels commensurate to their level of risk. Bench and Allen (The Prison Journal 83(4):367-382, 2003) offer evidence that the assignment to higher security prisons produces elevated levels of misconduct independent of the individual’s propensity to commit misconduct. Chen and Shapiro (American Law and Economics Review, 2007) demonstrate that assignment to higher security level among inmates with the same classification scores increases post-release recidivism. Underlying both of these claims is the idea that the prison social environment is criminogenic. In this paper we examine the theoretical premises for this claim and present data from the only experiment that has been conducted that randomly assigns inmates to prison security levels and evaluates both prison misconduct and post-release recidivism. The experiment’s results show that inmates with a level III security classification who were randomly assigned to a security level III prison in the California prison system had a hazard rate of returning to prison that was 31% higher than that of their randomly selected counterparts who were assigned to a level I prison. Thus, the offenders’ classification assignments at admission determined their likelihood of returning to prison. There were no differences in the institutional serious misconduct rates of these same prisoners. These results are contradictory to a specific deterrence prediction and more consistent with peer influence and environmental strain theories. These results also raise important policy implications that challenge the way correctional administrators will have to think about the costs and benefits of separating inmates into homogeneous pools based on classification scores.

An empirical test of the social support paradigm on male inmate society

While social support theory has been applied to a variety of criminal justice settings, there has been little empirical research on the effect of social support on inmate behavior. In this article, we test Cullen’s proposition that social support, in whatever form it manifests itself, has an effect on Korean inmates’ experiences. Specifically, we examine whether social support in an all-male prison environment explains inmate misconduct, victimization, fear of victimization, and the intent to commit crime in the future. We build upon previous research by using unique measures of the instrumental and the expressive dimensions of social support to determine their effect on reducing criminogenic engagement in a prison setting. The results indicate that social support is an important factor in reducing prison violence, enhancing pro-social behavior, and potentially reducing recidivism.     

The impact of determinate sentencing on prisoner misconduct

Purpose

The shift from indeterminate to determinate punishment policies over the past three decades may have the unintended consequence of increasing prisoner misconduct due to the elimination or reduction of parole and earned gain-time to provide incentives for inmates to comply with institutional rules. This paper advances the existing scholarship addressing this issue.

Methods

Data on a cohort of 305,228 inmates admitted to prison in Florida over a twelve year period before and after the enactment of a “truth-in-sentencing” law in 1995 requiring all felons sentenced to prison to serve a minimum 85% of their sentence are examined to assess the impact of determinate punishment on whether inmates commit disciplinary infractions and the frequency of misconduct.

Findings

The data show that determinate punishment has had the unintended consequence of significantly increasing the level of inmate misconduct in general and across different types of misconduct; violent, property, and disorderly.

Conclusion

The findings indicate that states which currently have or are considering the implementation of determinate sentencing should examine potential changes in policies and practices to alleviate the impact of reductions in inmate incentives to abide by institutional rules.     

Too Close for Comfort: Exploring Gender Differences in Inmate Attitudes Toward Homosexuality in Prison

Since the inception of the Prison Rape Elimination Act in 2003, there has been increased interest in not only sexual victimization among incarcerated populations, but all aspects of prison sexuality. Correctional policies have focused on the homosexual population in attempts to protect these individuals from victimization and in attempts to decrease sexual relationships between inmates. While recent research has focused on the prevalence of homosexual behavior and the prevalence of sexual victimization among incarcerated populations, there has been little research on inmate attitudes toward homosexuality and same-sex sexual encounters in prison. The present study adds to the literature base by examining gender differences in attitudes toward inmate homosexuality among a sample of male and female inmates in a large Southern prison system. Findings revealed that male inmates, older inmates, and heterosexual inmates had significantly more negative attitudes toward homosexual inmates. Implications based on these findings are discussed.