research paper topics about prisons

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153 Prison Essay Topics & Corrections Topics for Research Papers

Welcome to our list of prison research topics! Here, you will find a vast collection of corrections topics, research papers ideas, and issues for group discussion. In addition, we’ve included research questions about prisons related to mass incarceration and other controversial problems.

🏆 Best Essay Topics on Prison

✍️ prison essay topics for college, 👍 good prison research topics & essay examples, 🎓 controversial corrections research topics, 💡 hot corrections topics for research papers, ❓ prison research questions.

• Prisons Are Ineffective in Rehabilitating Prisoners
• Prison Reform in the US Criminal Justice System
• Alcatraz Prison and Its History With Criminals
• Overcrowding in Prisons and Its Impact on Health
• Prison Culture: Term Definition
• The Issue of Overcrowding in the Prison System
• The Electronic Monitoring of Offenders Released From Jail or Prison
• The Comfort and Luxury of Prison Life The main aims of the penal system are the rehabilitation of criminals and the reform of their behavior to make them model citizens as well as the deterrence of crime in society.
• American Prisons as Social Institutions The prison system of the U.S. gained features that distance it from the theoretical conception of a redemptive control mechanism.
• Early Prison Release to Reduce a Prison’s Budget The primary goal of releasing nonviolent offenders before their sentences are finished is cutting down on expenses.
• Prison Staffing and Correctional Officers’ Duties The rehabilitative philosophy in corrective facilities continually prompts new reinforced efforts to transform inmates.
• The Stanford Prison Experiment Review The video presents an experiment held in 1971. In general, a viewer can observe that people are subjected to behavior and opinion change when affected by others.
• The Canadian Prison System: Problems and Proposed Solutions The state of Canadian prisons has been an issue of concern for more than a century now. Additionally, prisons are run in a manner that does not promote rehabilitation.
• Prisons as a Response to Crimes Prisons are not adequate measures for limiting long-term crime rates or rehabilitating inmates, yet other alternatives are either undeveloped or too costly to ensure public safety.
• Rehabilitation Programs Offered in Prisons The paper, am going to try and analyze some of the rehabilitation programs which will try to deter the majority of the inmates from been convicted of many crimes they are involved in.
• Basic Literacy and School-to-Prison Pipeline Basic literacy is undoubtedly important for students to be successful in school and beyond, but it is not the only factor in stemming the school-to-prison pipeline.
• The Stanford Prison Experiment Analysis Abuse between guards and prisoners is an imminent factor attributed to the differential margin on duties and responsibilities.
• The Stanford Prison Experiment’s Historical Record The Stanford Prison Experiment is a seminal investigation into the dynamics of peer pressure in human psychology.
• The Lucifer Effect: Stanford County Prison In 1971, a group of psychologists led by Philip Zimbardo invited mentally healthy students from the USA and Canada, selected from 70 volunteers, to take part in the experiment.
• The Prison Effect Based on Philip Zimbardo’s Book This paper explores the lessons that can be learned from Philip Zimbardo’s book “The Lucifer Effect” and highlights the experiment’s findings and their implications.
• Ethical Decision-Making for Public Administrators at Abu Ghraib Prison The subject of prisoner mistreatment at Abu Ghraib Prison has garnered global attention and a prominent role in arguments over the Iraq War.
• Bruce Western’s Book Homeward: Life in the Year After Prison The book by Bruce Western Homeward: Life in the Year after Prison provides different perspectives on the struggles that ex-prisoners face once released from jail.
• Psychology: Zimbardo Prison Experiment Despite all the horrors that contradict ethics, Zimbardo’s research contributed to the formation of social psychology. It was unethical to conduct this experiment.
• Economic Differences in the US Prison System The main research question is, “What is the significant difference in the attitude toward prisoners based on their financial situation?”
• Transgender People in Prisons: Rights Violations There are many instances of how transgender rights are violated in jails: from misgendering from the staff and other prisoners to isolation and refusal to provide healthcare.
• The Prison-Based Community and Intervention Efforts The prison-based community is a population that should be supported in diverse spheres such as healthcare, psychological health, social interactions, and work.
• Prison Population by Ethnic Group and Sex Labeling theory, which says that women being in “inferior” positions will get harsher sentences, and the “evil women hypothesis” are not justified.
• The State of Prisons in the United Kingdom and Wales Since 1993, there has been a steady increase in the prison population in the UK, hitting a record highest of 87,000 inmates in 2012.
• Drug Abuse Demographics in Prisons Drug abuse, including alcohol, is a big problem for the people contained in prisons, both in the United States and worldwide.
• Norway Versus US Prison and How They Differ The paper states that the discrepancies between the US and Norwegian prison systems can be influenced or determined by various factors.
• My Prison System: Incarceration, Deterrence, Rehabilitation, and Retribution The prison system described in the paper belongs to medium-security prisons which will apply to most types of criminals.
• The Criminal Justice System: The Prison Industrial Complex The criminal justice system is the institution which is present in every advanced country, and it is responsible for punishing individuals for their wrongdoings.
• Penal Labor in the American Prison System The 13th Amendment allows for the abuse of the American prison system. This is because it permits the forced labor of convicted persons.
• Mental Health Institutions in Prisons Mental institutions in prisons are essential and might be helpful to inmates, and prevention, detection, and proper mental health issues treatment should be a priority in prisons.
• Private and Public Prisons’ Functioning The purpose of this paper is to discuss the functioning of modern private and public prisons. There is a significant need to change the approach for private prisons.
• “Picking Battles: Correctional Officers, Rules, and Discretion in Prison”: Research Question The “Picking Battles: Correctional Officers, Rules, and Discretion in Prison” aims to define the extent to which correctional officers use discretion in their work.
• Understanding Recidivism in America’s Prisons One of the main issues encountered by the criminal justice system remains recidivism which continues to stay topical.
• Researching of the Reasons Prisons Exist While prisons are the most common way of punishing those who have committed a crime, the efficiency of prisons is still being questioned.
• “Episode 66: Yard of Dreams — Ear Hustle’’: Sports in Prison “Episode 66: Yard of dreams — Ear hustle’’ establishes that prison sports are an important aspect of transforming the lives of prisoners in the correctional system.
• The Concept of PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) Rape remains among the dominant crimes in the USA; almost every minute an American becomes a victim of it. The problem is especially acute in penitentiaries.
• Recidivism in the Criminal Justice: Prison System of America The position of people continuously returning to prisons in the United States is alarming due to their high rates.
• Prisonization and Secure Housing Units in Prisons The main issue of SHUs is that the absence of community forces a person to experience a significant mental crisis because humans are social creatures.
• How Education in Prisons Help Inmates Rehabilitate Criminal justice presupposes punishments for committing offenses, which include the isolation of recidivists from society.
• Prison’s Impact on People’s Health The paper explains experts believe that the prison situation contributes to the negative effects on the health of the convicted person.
• Mass Incarceration in American Prisons This research paper describes the definition of incarceration and focuses on the reasons for imprisonment in the United States of America.
• Prisons and the Different Security Levels Prisons are differentiated with regard to the extent of security, including supermax, maximum, medium, and minimum levels. This paper discusses prison security levels.
• Prisons in the United States In the present day, prisons may be regarded as the critical components of the federal criminal justice system.
• Understanding the U.S. Prison System This study will look at the various issues surrounding the punishment and rehabilitative aspects of U.S. prisons and determine what must be done to improve the system.
• American Criminal Justice System: Prison Reform Public safety and prison reform go hand-in-hand. Rethinking the way in which security is established within society is the first step toward the reform.
• Private Prisons: Review In the following paper, the issues that are rife in connection with contracting out private prisons will be examined along with the pros and cons of private prisons’ functioning.
• Women Serving Time With Their Children: The Challenge of Prison Mothers The law in America requires that mothers stay with their children as a priority. Prisons have therefore opened nurseries for children of mothers who are serving short terms.
• Prison System Issues: Mistreatment and Abuse This research paper suggests solutions to the issue of prisoner abuse by exploring the causes of violence and discussing various types of assault in the prison system.
• Arkansas Prison Scandals Regarding Contaminated Blood A number of scandals occurred around the infamous Cummins State Prison Farm in Arkansas in 1967-1969 and 1982-1983.
• State Prison System v. Federal Prison System The essay sums that the main distinction between these two prison systems is based on the type of criminals it handles, which means a difference in the level of security employed.
• Prisons in the United States Analysis The whole aspect of medical facilities in prisons is a very complex issue that needs to be evaluated and looked at critically for sustainability.
• Sex Offenders and Their Prison Sentences Both authors do not fully support this sanction due to many reasons, including medical, social, ethical, and even legal biases, where the latter is fully ignored.
• Security Threat Groups: The Important Elements in Prison Riots Security Threat Groups appear to be an a priori element of prison culture, inspired and cultivated by its fundamental principles of power.
• Criminal Punishment, Inmates on Death Row, and Prison Educational Programs This paper will review the characteristics of inmates, including those facing death penalties and the benefits of educational programs for prisoners.
• Prison System for a Democratic Society This report is designed to transform the corrections department to form a system favorable for democracy, seek to address the needs of different groups of offenders.
• Healthcare Among the Elderly Prison Population The purpose of this article is to address the ever-increasing cost of older prisoners in correctional facilities.
• Women’s Issues and Trends in the Prison System The government has to consider the specific needs of the female population in the prison system and work on preventing incarceration.
• What Makes Family Learning in Prisons Effective? This paper aims to discuss the family learning issue and explain the benefits and challenges of family learning in prisons.
• Prison System in the United States Depending on what laws are violated – federal or state – the individuals are usually placed in either a federal or state prison.
• Overcrowding in Jails and Prisons In a case of a crime, the offender is either incarcerated, placed on probation or required to make restitution to the victim, usually in the form of monetary compensation.
• Unethical and Ethical Issues in the Prison System of Honduras Honduras has some of the highest homicide rates in the world and prisons in Honduras are associated with high levels of violence.
• Prison Makes Criminals Worse This paper discusses if prisons are effective in making criminals better for society or do they make them worse.
• Prison Reform in the US Up until this day, the detention facilities remain the restricting measure common for each State. The U.S. remains one of the most imprisoning countries.
• Whether Socrates Should Have Disobeyed the Terms of His Conviction and Escaped Prison? Socrates wanted to change manners and customs, he denounced the evil, deception, undeserved privileges, and thereby he aroused hatred among contemporaries and must pay for it.
• The Role of Culture in the School-to-Prison Pipeline The school-to-prison pipeline is based on many social factors and cannot be recognized as only an outcome of harsh disciplinary policies.
• Psychological and Sociological Aspects of the School-to-Prison Pipeline The tendency of sending children to prisons is examined from the psychological and sociological point of view with the use of two articles regarding the topic.
• School-to-Prison Pipeline: Roots of the Problem The term “school-to-prison pipeline” refers to the tendency of children and young adults to be put in prison because of harsh disciplinary policies within schools.
• US Prisons Review and Recidivism Prevention This research paper will focus on prison life in American prisons and the strategies to decrease recidivism once the inmates are released from prison.
• Discrimination in Prison Problem The problem of discrimination requires a great work of social workers, especially in such establishments like prisons.
• Administrative Segregation in California Prisons In California prisons, administrative segregation is applied to control safety as well as prisoners who are disruptive within the jurisdiction.
• Meditation in American Prisons from 1981 to 2004 Staggering statistics reveal that the United States has the highest rate of imprisonment of any country in the world, with the cost of imprisonment of this many people is now at twenty-seven billion dollars.
• How ”Prison Life” Affects Inmates Lifes As statistics indicate, 98% of those released from American prisons, after having served their sentences, do not consider themselves being “corrected”.
• Impact of the Stanford Prison Experiment Have on Psychology This essay will begin with a brief description of Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment then it will move to explore two main issues that arose from the said experiment.
• Use of Contingent Employees at the Federal Bureau of Prisons Contingent employment is a staffing strategy that the Federal Bureau of Prisons can use to address its staffing needs as well as achieve its budgetary target.
• Privatization of Prisons in the US, Australia and UK The phenomenon of modern prison privatization emerged in the United States in the mid-1980s and spread to Australia and the United Kingdom from there.
• Death Penalty from a Prison Officer’s Perspective The death penalty can be considered as an ancient form of punishment in relation to the type of crime that had been committed.
• Prison Reform: Rethinking and Improving The topic of prison reform has been highly debated as the American Criminal Justice System has failed to address the practical and social challenges.
• Recidivism in American Prisons At present, recidivism is a severe problem for the United States. Many prisoners are released from jails but do not change their criminal behavior due to a few reasons.
• The Grizzly Conditions Prisoners Endure in Private Prisons The present paper will explore the issue of these ‘grizzly’ conditions in public prisons, arguing that private prisons need to be strictly regulated in order to prevent harm to inmates.
• Keeping Minors and Adult Inmates Separate to Address the Problem of Violence in Prisons Managing aggressive behaviors in prison and preventing the instances of violence is a critical issue that warrants a serious discussion.
• Evaluation of the Stanford Prison Experiment’ Role The Stanford Prison Experiment is a study that was conducted on August 20, 1971 by a group of researchers headed by the psychology professor Philip Zimbardo.
• Women in Prison in the United States: Article and Book Summary A personal account of a woman prisoner known as Julie demonstrates that sexual predation/abuse is a common occurrence in most U.S. prisons.
• Prison Life in Nineteenth-Century Massachusetts In the article Larry Goldsmith has attempted to provide a detailed history of prison life and prison system during the 19th century.
• American Prison Systems and Areas of Improvement The current operation of the prison system in America can no longer be deemed effective, in the correctional sense of this word.
• Prison Crowding in the US Most prisons in the United States and other parts of the world are overcrowded. They hold more prisoners that the initial capacity they were designed to accommodate.
• School-to-Prison Pipeline in Political Aspect This paper investigates the school-to-prison pipeline from the political point of view using the two articles concerning the topic.
• School-to-Prison Pipeline in American Justice This paper studies the problem by reviewing two articles regarding the school-to-prison pipeline and its aspects related to justice systems.
• The Stanford Prison Experiment The Stanford prison experiment is an example of how outside social situations influence changes in thought and behavior among humans.
• Prison Population and Healthcare Models in the USA This paper focuses on the prison population with a view to apply the Vulnerable Population Conceptual Model, and summarizes US healthcare models.
• Prisoners’ Rights and Prison System Reform Criminal justice laws are antiquated and no longer serve their purposes. Instead, they cause harms to society, Americans and cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
• Contracting Out Private Prisons The issue of contracting the private prisons for accommodating the inmates has been challenged by various law suits over the quality of service that this companies offer to the inmates.
• Drugs and Prison Overcrowding There are a number of significant sign of the impact that the “war on drugs” has had on the communities in the United States.
• Prison Dog Training Program by Breakthrough Buddies
• Prison Abuse and Its Effect On Society
• The Truth About the Cruelty of Privatized Prison Health Care
• Prison Incarceration and Its Effects On The United States
• The United States Crime Problem and Our Prison System
• Prison Overcrowding and Its Effects On Living Conditions
• General Information about Prison and Capital Punishment Impact
• Problems With The American Prison System
• Prison and County Correctional Faculties Overcrowding
• People Who Commit Murder Should Be A Prison For An Extended
• African American Men and The United States Prison System
• Prison Gangs and the Community Responsibility System
• Prison Overcrowding and Its Effects On The United States
• Prison Should Not Receive Free College Education
• Pregnant Behind Bars and The United States Prison System
• Prison Life and Strategies to Decrease Recidivism
• Penitentiary Ideal and Models Of American Prison
• The Various Rehabilitation and Treatment Programs in Prison
• Prison and Mandatory Minimum Sentences
• Prisoner Visit and Rape Issue In Thai Prison
• Private Prisons Are Far Worse Than Any Maximum Security State Prison
• Prison Gangs and Their Effect on Prison Populations
• Overview of Prison Overcrowding and Staff Violence
• Classification and Prison Security Levels
• Prison and Positive Effects Rehabilitation Assignment
• Can Prison Deter Crime?
• What Are the Two Theories Regarding How Inmate Culture Becomes a Part of Prison Life?
• What Prison Is Mentioned in the Movie “Red Notice”?
• What’s the Worst Prison in Tennessee?
• What Causes Students to Enter the School of Prison Pipeline?
• How Can the Prison System Rehabilitate Prisoners So That They Will Enter the Society as Equals?
• Should Prison and Jail Be the Primary Service Provider?
• How Can Illegal Drugs Be Prevented From Entering Prison?
• How Does the Prison System Treat Trans Inmates?
• What Is the Deadliest Prison in America?
• Should Prison and Death Be an Easy Decision for a Court?
• Why Is It Called Black Dolphin Prison?
• Does Prison Strain Lead to Prison Misbehavior?
• Why Is the American Prison System Failing?
• What Country Has the Best Prison System?
• Does Prison Work for Offenders?
• Should Prison for Juveniles Be a Crime?
• What Is the Most Infamous Prison in America?
• What Is the World’s Most Secure Prison?
• What Do Russian Prison Tattoos Mean?
• What Causes Convicted Felons to Commit Another Crime After Release From Prison?
• What Are the Implications of Prison Overcrowding and Are More Prisons the Answer?
• Can Private Prisons Save Tax Dollars?
• Is Incarceration the Answer to Crime in Prison?
• What Are Prison Conditions Like in the US?
• Who Escaped From Brushy Mountain Prison?
• Why Does the Public Love Television Show, Prison Break?
• What Is the Scariest Prison in the World?
• When Did Brushy Mountain Prison Close?
• Which State Has the Most Overcrowded Prison?

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These essay examples and topics on Prison were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on June 24, 2024 .

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103 Prison Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Prison Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Prisons are an integral part of the criminal justice system, serving as a means of punishment, rehabilitation, and deterrence for individuals who have committed crimes. Writing an essay on prison-related topics can be a thought-provoking and challenging task. To help you get started, here are 103 prison essay topic ideas and examples:

• The effectiveness of prison as a form of punishment
• The impact of incarceration on mental health
• The role of prisons in reducing recidivism rates
• The overcrowding crisis in prisons
• The ethics of for-profit prisons
• The impact of prison privatization on inmate rights
• The experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in prison
• The racial disparities in the criminal justice system
• The challenges faced by elderly inmates
• The impact of the war on drugs on mass incarceration
• The rehabilitation programs offered in prisons
• The use of solitary confinement as a punishment
• The mental health treatment available to inmates
• The impact of prison labor on inmate rights
• The role of education in prisoner rehabilitation
• The impact of family visitation policies on inmates
• The experiences of women in prison
• The impact of the death penalty on prison populations
• The debate over juvenile sentencing and incarceration
• The impact of COVID-19 on prison populations
• The role of faith-based programs in prisoner rehabilitation
• The impact of parole policies on recidivism rates
• The experiences of individuals with disabilities in prison
• The impact of immigration detention on inmates
• The role of mental health courts in diverting individuals from prison
• The impact of mandatory minimum sentencing laws on prison populations
• The experiences of transgender individuals in prison
• The role of restorative justice programs in prisoner rehabilitation
• The impact of drug addiction on incarceration rates
• The use of technology in prison management
• The experiences of individuals with mental illnesses in prison
• The impact of mass incarceration on communities of color
• The role of reentry programs in reducing recidivism rates
• The impact of the school-to-prison pipeline on youth incarceration rates
• The experiences of individuals serving life sentences
• The impact of pretrial detention on inmates
• The role of mental health diversion programs in reducing incarceration rates
• The impact of retribution on prison policies
• The experiences of individuals serving long-term sentences
• The impact of the criminalization of poverty on incarceration rates
• The role of prison industries in inmate rehabilitation
• The impact of solitary confinement on mental health
• The experiences of individuals serving death row sentences
• The impact of mandatory drug sentencing laws on prison populations
• The role of restorative justice in reducing recidivism rates
• The impact of the cash bail system on pretrial detention rates
• The experiences of individuals who have been wrongfully convicted
• The impact of the school-to-prison pipeline on youth of color
• The role of community-based alternatives to incarceration
• The impact of the war on drugs on incarceration rates
• The experiences of individuals serving life without parole sentences
• The role of for-profit prisons in the criminal justice system
• The impact of solitary confinement on inmate mental health
• The role of rehabilitation programs in reducing recidivism rates
• The impact of overcrowding in prisons
• The ethics of capital punishment
• The impact of racial disparities in the criminal justice system
• The impact of the privatization of prisons
• The role of mental health treatment in inmate rehabilitation
• The experiences of juvenile inmates
• The impact of restorative justice programs on recidivism rates
• The role of parole boards in determining release dates
• The impact of mandatory sentencing laws on prison populations
• The impact of immigration policies on inmate populations
• The impact of reentry programs on reducing recidivism rates
• The role of technology in prison management

These essay topic ideas cover a wide range of issues related to prisons and incarceration. Whether you are interested in the ethics of for-profit prisons, the impact of mental health treatment on inmate rehabilitation, or the experiences of transgender individuals in prison, there is a topic here for you. Use these ideas as a starting point for your research and writing, and delve deeper into the complex and challenging world of prisons and the criminal justice system.

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112 Prison Research Topics & Essay Examples

📝 prison research papers examples, 👍 good prison essay topics to write about, 💡 essay ideas on prison, ❓ prison research questions.

• Life in Prison and Death Penalty Comparison Law essay sample: This paper examines various research findings to determine whether prisoners should spend the rest of their lives in prison if they are convicted of murder.
• Recidivism Among Juvenile Offenders: Effect of Prison Programs Law essay sample: The efficacy of prison programs has been a controversial subject because they have not been successful in reducing the recidivism rates.
• Incarceration Rates in the U.S. Law essay sample: Measures directed at prevention with more emphasis on police action could be one of the solutions that could decrease crime rates and lower the burden on the penitentiary system.
• Effectiveness of Prison Substance Abuse Treatment Law essay sample: The criminals with drug abuse related problems who are released from prisons without undergoing proper treatment and counseling continue abusing drugs as soon as they are set free.
• The U.S. Penal System and Alternative Correctional Programs Law essay sample: The current correctional system in the United States has various programs for offenders and provides them with ample opportunities to reenter society.
• The US Prison System's Size and Costs Issues Law essay sample: The prison population and facilities in the US have been increasing over the past decades. The rise in the prison population is attributed to changes in the political system.
• Researching of Juvenile Incarceration System Law essay sample: There is no minimum age for criminal responsibility on a general basis; in others, such commitment begins at 10, 12, or 13 years.
• The Problem of Imprisonment Injustice in the USA Law essay sample: The United States has the second-highest incarceration rate globally, after China, despite a slight decline over the past two decades.
• Research about the Death of Ashley Smith in Custody Law essay sample: Ms. Smith's death highlights flaws in federal incarceration and a shortage of dialogue and collaboration between provincial and federal bodies dealing with psychological disorders.
• Multiculturalism in Corrections System Law essay sample: Cultural diversity can be observed in different spheres of human life, and one of the most popular is the justice system. Multiculturalism is very close to the policy of tolerance.
• The Prison System’s Failure and Its Key Aspects Law essay sample: Prisons are botched correctional systems that focus on punishing inmates instead of rehabilitating them. This work covers several aspects proving the prison system’s failure.
• Prison: Ideology, Crime, and Criminal Justice Law essay sample: Prison as a social institution is an ambiguous phenomenon for society. On the one hand, this is a place for the punishment of criminals.
• Drug Trafficking, Money-Laundering, Corruption, and Assaults in Jails and Society Law essay sample: Drug trafficking is the illegal trade non-medicinal substances subjected to drug laws and money laundering is the illicit process of money converting earned from illegal activities.
• Human Services in Correctional Institutions Law essay sample: It is critical to establish internal and external controls in order to effectively address the ethical challenges that plague correctional facilities.
• Why Abolition of Private Prisons Is Needed Law essay sample: This essay thesis states that private prisons should be abolished as their economic model is contrary to the social mission of prisons.
• The Problem of Prison Overcrowding Law essay sample: A number of factors contribute to prison overcrowding. The criminal justice policies, the war against drugs, and pre-trial detention increase the population in prisons.
• The Issues of Women’s Prisons in America Law essay sample: One of the particular challenges that affect the women category of prisoners is the inability to communicate consistently with their children.
• The Prison Fellowship Faith-Based Program Law essay sample: Prison Fellowship continues to think that religion is an essential component of rehabilitation and assisting former inmates in leading crime-free life.
• The Issue of Life Imprisonment for Minors Law essay sample: Prison sentences for minors are the subject of a wide discourse, especially regarding life sentences in custody.
• Alternative Incarceration in California Law essay sample: Alternatives to imprisonment are disciplinary or alternative treatments for offenders that do not include incarceration in a prison or jail.
• The Stigma of Former Imprisonment Law essay sample: The stigmatization of prisoners by society has always been a problem for the American system, however, the state practically does not pay attention to post-prison socialization.
• Should Youth Be Jailed for Non-Violent Crimes? Law essay sample: There are polarized views regarding non-violent crime in principle, but a more peaceful solution is increasingly being expressed for young people.
• Ethics Regarding Juvenile Youth in Adult Prisons Law essay sample: Juvenile delinquency and crime are prevalent social problems in the USA. The government has built jails for young adults below 18 years to curb their malignant behavior.
• Intermediate Sanctions, Probation and Parole Officers, Prisons, and Jails Law essay sample: To protect citizens who follow the law from those who break it, the criminal justice system and the judicial branch were created.
• Female Professionals and Arrestees in the Criminal Justice System Law essay sample: This article will cover the experiences of both female criminal justice professionals and the arrestees in the criminal legal structure.
• Lack of Air Conditioning in Prisons as Punishment Law essay sample: Lack of air conditioning in prisons violates the Eighth Amendment, which protects inmates from cruel and unusual punishment.
• Corrections, Sentencing, Imprisonment, and Death Penalty Law essay sample: Corrections should not be privatized, sentencing should shift towards restoration, and the death penalty should be abolished following Christ’s example.
• Inmates’ Rights for Air Conditioning in US Jails Law essay sample: This paper discusses the lack of air conditioning in most US jails and prisons, which can cause health risks for inmates, especially during extreme temperatures.
• Correctional Populations in the United States Law essay sample: The authors found that the population of people who were under some form of supervision had dropped past 6.4 million.
• Comparison of Institutional and Non-Institutional Corrections Law essay sample: In recent years, it has become evident that non-institutional corrections are more effective as it allows offenders to remain in the community to complete their punishments.
• A Criminal Justice Facility's Issue and Solution Law essay sample: The paper states that criminal justice plays a crucial role in ensuring a stable society as it is how violators of social norms are corrected and rehabilitated back.
• Institutionalization in the Prison System Law essay sample: The formation of hierarchical casts, the progression of unlawful behavior despite incarceration, and the presence of psychological stagnancy generate institutionalization.
• Prison Education Programs, Incarcerations, and Recidivism Law essay sample: The challenge of reoffending, commonly known as recidivism, is critical to many prison systems or rehabilitation centers.
• The Structure of the Main County Jail Law essay sample: The Main County Jail has had many officer brutality cases, drawing the public's attention. These issues have been attributed to poor structural organization.
• Australian Indigenous Youth Incarceration Law essay sample: The incarceration of Australian Aboriginal youth is one characterized by immense injustice. These youths are imprisoned as early as 10 years.
• Prisoner’s Dilemma: Voluntary False Confessions Law essay sample: False confessions given voluntarily are overturned, even though they are generally viewed with skepticism and are less reliable than those made.
• The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Law essay sample: In this paper, the jurisdiction is the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The CDCR has a wide variety of programs and services.
• Evaluation of Mass Incarceration Policy Law essay sample: The paper states that mass incarceration is a common policy that characterizes the nature of the American criminal justice system.
• Imprisonment as a Part of Corrections Law essay sample: The purpose of prisons and the correctional system is to ensure that a person changes his or her behavior in order to avoid committing crimes after release.
• A Comprehensive Analysis of Rape in Correctional Settings Law essay sample: The paper will focus on examining how gender and sexual orientation affect being victimized by sexual assault in correctional settings.
• Prison Labor: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Law essay sample: According to John Oliver, "over 60 percent of people in prison actually have jobs," and "prisons are basically operated by the inmates."
• The Impact of Race and Ethnicity on Prison Sentencing
• Corrections and the Effects of Prison Overcrowding
• The Evolution of Prison Systems in Modern Legal Frameworks
• Deterrence and the Optimal Use of Prison, Parole, and Probation
• The Impact of Prison Overcrowding on Legal Reforms
• Examining Disordered Offenders Within the Prison System
• The Role of Rehabilitation in Contemporary Prison Practices
• Exploring the Ethics of Solitary Confinement in Prison
• The Use of Technology in Prison Surveillance and Inmate Management
• Prison Labor: Legal Perspectives and Ethical Concerns
• The Role of International Law in Shaping National Prison Policies
• Factors Affecting Prison Culture and Inmate Code
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• How Do Poverty-Related Issues Intersect with the Functioning of Prisons?
• In What Ways Does Media Portrayal Influence Public Perception of Prison Systems and Their Effectiveness?
• How Can Legal Mechanisms Balance the Need for Security with the Protection of Prisoners’ Civil Liberties Within Prison Walls?

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Challenges and Strategies for Research in Prisons

Zoltán l. apa.

1 School of Nursing, Columbia University, New York, New York

Dhritiman V. Mukherejee

2 Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York

4 Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York

Carolyn T. A. Herzig

Carl koenigsmann.

3 New York State Department of Corrections, Albany, New York

Franklin D. Lowy

Elaine l. larson.

In this article, we discuss some of the challenges encountered while conducting research in two maximum security prisons and approaches we found helpful to facilitate the research process through the development of collaborative relationships, the establishment of prison contacts, and the implementation of rigorous research methods. As a result of our experiences, we have been successful at maintaining a high rate of inmate participation (>80%) and a well-functioning multidisciplinary team. The approaches described may be useful to other investigators planning to conduct research in a challenging setting such as prisons.

Over 9.8 million people are incarcerated throughout the world, with the United States having the highest incarceration rate at 756 per 100,000 of the national population ( Walmsley, 2009 ). Although a decline in the growth rate of the overall prison population has been seen in recent years, the number of adults under correctional supervision increased about fourfold between 1980 and 2009, from 1,840,400 to 7,225,800 ( Walmsley, 2009 ). Inmates are a vulnerable population at high risk for violence, substance abuse, mental illness, and infectious diseases. As a result, correctional facilities are an important site for public health research. There is a growing body of literature regarding prison inmates, and a few publications have provided guidance regarding the challenges and strategies for public health research conducted within these facilities ( Byrne, 2005 ; Fox, Zambrana & Lane, 2011 ; Innes & Everett, 2008 ; Patenaude, 2004 ; Quina et al., 2007 ; Wakai, Shelton, Trestman & Kesten, 2009 ). This article adds to the existing literature by addressing research challenges and approaches using our study (Risk Factors for Spread of Staphylococcus aureus in Prisons, 5R01AI82536) in two New York State maximum security prisons as a framework. Aims of this article are to propose methods to (a) develop a collaborative research relationship between an academic institution and a department of corrections, (b) establish prison contacts, and (c) maintain rigorous research methods in the context of sustaining security and confidentiality ( Table 1 ). Although the collaborative and methodological procedures described below were tailored to our research goals, they can serve as a general guideline for investigators seeking to conduct research within the maximum security prison environment.

Essential Components and Approaches for Conducting Research with a Department of Corrections

Essential Component	Steps to Be Taken	Suggested Approaches
Develop a collaborative research relationship	Know the system	Review Department of Corrections rules and regulations; Establish early contact with decision makers at the state and prison levels
	Obtain appropriate permissions	Obtain approval from Institutional Review Board and from Department of Corrections; Obtain OHRP Certification Letter
	Emphasize mutual goals	Identify a senior corrections administrator as collaborator/co-investigator; Discuss research interests and aims with facility superintendents for feedback and modification; Clarify benefits to each facility
Establish the prison contacts	Work with administrative personnel, health care staff, security personnel, and inmates	Identify key personnel; Establish and maintain a professional relationship; Emphasize their importance in carrying out the study; Keep them fully informed throughout the study
Maintain rigorous research methods	Accommodate to variations in prison cultures	Learn how each facility is set up; Know and follow the rules; Identify strategies to cope with differences between facilities; Manage time to accommodate different recruitment and interview requirements
	Data collection, maintain inmate’s privacy	Maintain security and confidentiality during interviews and data collection; Obtain Certificate of Confidentiality

Develop a Collaborative Research Relationship

Know the system.

By nature of its mission, The Department of Corrections must maintain a controlled, secure setting ( Wakai et al., 2009 ). As part of the National Institute of Justice’s appraisal action aimed at developing more effective decision tools, however, efforts are being made to develop cooperative relationships with research institutions ( Welsh & Zajac, 2004 ). Hence, correctional facilities administrators have become more receptive to collaborations with universities and other research-based organizations in recent years ( Welsh & Zajac, 2004 ). To facilitate successful research within correctional facilities, researchers need to acquire a basic knowledge of the administrative system within the Department of Corrections, and the various stakeholders and decision makers, to identify appropriate research partners and to get a realistic sense of what types of research methods and approaches are possible and acceptable in the context of a setting in which safety and security are primary ( Fox et al., 2011 ; Greifinger, 2007 ; Vanderhoff, Jeglic & Donovick, 2011 ; Welsh & Zajac, 2004 ).

The involvement of key correctional officials, such as the Chief Medical Officer and the correctional facility Superintendent and Facility Health Services Director, is crucial for conducting public health research. As the Department of Corrections is a top down/hierarchical institution, all approvals must be granted first by the head of the appropriate departments. To properly set the stage for successful research, it is extremely important to identify a senior prison administrator as co-investigator. The close collaboration and support of the Chief Medical Officer of the New York State Department of Corrections as a collaborator on our study was essential to its successful implementation.

Obtain appropriate permissions

This study’s initial challenge was to obtain the necessary approvals from both the Columbia University Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Central Office of the NYS Department of Corrections. For studies involving inmates, IRBs are required to have a prisoner advocate who reviews the protocol. In addition, certification from the Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP) Division of Policy and Assurance is necessary ( http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/policy/populations/prisoncertlet.html ). Because protocols must be reviewed and approved by both the Department of Corrections and the IRB, there may be considerable negotiations to request changes and clarifications. It may be difficult to determine whether it is more efficient to submit for approval simultaneously or serially as IRB approval and approval from the Department of Corrections are generally contingent upon each other. The appropriate staff at the Department of Corrections can be helpful in providing guidance throughout the review process, but researchers should not underestimate the amount of time required to review protocols that involve vulnerable populations such as prisoners ( Fox et al., 2011 ).

Emphasize mutual goals

Even with approval from top administrators, however, difficulties in the day-to-day operational aspects of the project may be encountered at lower administrative levels and among staff in direct contact with inmates. Hence, other correctional staff must also be well informed and involved in ongoing planning and discussions ( Appelbaum, 2008 ; Greifinger, 2007 ). To facilitate the development of mutually agreed-upon goals, meetings to discuss research interests and aims with facility superintendents, for feedback and modifications, are essential. Clarifying benefits of the research with the superintendents can deepen their involvement as stakeholders throughout the project ( Trulsona, Marquartb & Mullingsb, 2004 ). Properly aligned negotiations best succeed at the intersection of common interests.

We used a variety of mechanisms to enhance mutual goals. For example, we formed an Advisory Council, which included prison leaders who met on a regular basis. In addition, these prisons also had Inmate Liaison Committees (ILCs) with whom we meet to keep inmates updated and to obtain their feedback. Furthermore, we identified a “point person” within each prison to facilitate communication. Depending on the nature of the study, the position of this person may vary; in our case, the “point person” was a member of the health care staff who advised us as we navigated the system. We also met with correctional officers (COs) to describe the study and respond to any concerns, published an article in the state prison newsletter, and planned co-authorship opportunities with prison staff. Early in the project, at the request from one of the prison superintendents, we produced a video describing the study to inmates and correctional staff in which inmates were offered the opportunity to volunteer as “actors” in the video.

Establish the Prison Contacts

Prisons are unique, restricted, and, at times, unpredictable environments that operate as secure settings where each group has a well-defined, discrete role. To successfully carry out our prison research, we built collegial relationships within the prison system to establish a positive rapport with four distinct groups of personnel: administrative staff, health care staff, security staff, and inmates.

Administrative staff

Once appropriate approvals and clearances are obtained, a researcher’s interactions with the administrative staff are likely to be minimal. However, the researcher must maintain a positive relationship by keeping administrators well informed of the status of the project. Administrators need to hear directly from the researcher of progress, as well as any problems encountered, so that they are fully involved and understand any untoward or unexpected events that occur.

Health care staff

Health care staff, including physicians, nurses, and physician assistants, provide needed health care services for the inmate population. Studies that investigate different elements of inmates’ health require that researchers establish professional relationships with these key medical providers, who can help to facilitate the study.

Security staff

The prison security staff comprised largely COs whose role is to ensure security among the prison population and to help coordinate inmate activities. Thus, researchers will frequently interact with COs. In terms of security logistics, COs are empowered to delay or suspend inmates’ activities. Much depends on level of security-minimum, medium, and maximum. All visitors to the prison, including researchers, must be screened to enter. The steps in this process include having an appointment (i.e., being expected), carrying proper identification, and electronic or manual scanning. Depending on the prison security level, approved visitors might be stamped before entering the facility. For additional security in some prisons, visitors may be required to carry personal alarm pagers within the prison grounds. Electronic devices, such as computers and cell phones, are not allowed within the maximum security prisons; thus, all data collection must be in paper form in such security level prisons.

The research team is usually escorted by a CO to the data collection site(s). Developing a positive relationship with COs is important not only to ensure that research steps are completed effectively but also for the researchers’ safety. In addition, a positive relationship can help reduce concerns or suspicions that COs may have about the nature of the research being conducted and whether they will be expected to contribute or participate in any way. Responding to issues raised by COs and working with them to allay any concerns will prevent delays and greatly facilitate navigating the prison system. COs may be reluctant to express concerns, so it is essential that the research team members are sensitive and attuned to potential issues that may arise. During the course of our study, we found that efficient movement within the prison was greatly influenced by the security personnel; thus, being courteous and respectful to COs encouraged them to help us surmount encountered obstacles. This included making sure that inmates were present for interviews and obtaining as well as equipping the interview rooms.

The inmates are the largest group in prison settings. In our study, meeting with the ILCs to discuss our study aims and solicit their suggestions for ways to approach recruitment and data collection was the most effective means to communicate with the inmates. Through working with such representative bodies, relationships can be developed based on openness and mutual respect to maximize understanding and support for the study.

Maintain Rigorous Research Methods

Accommodate variations in prison cultures.

Although the overall goals of prisons may be similar, each prison has established its own culture and system. We recruited inmates from a women’s and a men’s maximum security prison in NYS, and the major challenge was learning their respective systems and finding the best ways to accommodate and plan for variations in access to inmates and data sources. For example, like most correctional facilities, both sites operated around a scheduled inmate routine. In one facility, the research team was allowed to interact with inmates only in the medical unit and only during their free time. In the other facility, we were allowed to directly recruit inmates from different sites during their assigned programs. Similarly, we were allowed to walk unescorted within one facility but were escorted by bus within the other facility, which required considerably more time. Such differences require careful planning and time management to account for mandated variations in prison systems and their individual requirements.

There were logistical advantages and disadvantages within each system. Although having to wait for a bus at one site prolonged our time, this process allowed the researchers to approach inmates directly and talk with them about the study. In contrast, the other facility’s system called out inmates to the medical unit which limited the number of interviews/participants due to issues such as inmates not receiving the call, deciding not to show up, or simply refusing to participate because they may not have been accurately informed about the study. Emphasizing the importance and overall benefit of this research to COs who delegated the calls minimized these issues.

In the beginning of our recruitment process at both facilities, we learned that explaining the study to a group of inmates, instead of individually, could have adverse effects. If a single inmate made a negative comment about the study, it was then amplified by the group so that other inmates were less likely to express interest in participating. In addition, we distributed approximately 50 flyers describing the study to recruit inmates, and only received a single response informing us that an inmate had moved. Subsequently, we found more appropriate ways to invite study participation such as getting support from the ILC to inform inmates of our study and talking to each inmate separately to avoid miscommunication.

Data collection

At the inception and before each phase of our study, we performed extensive pilot testing to assure that data collection methods were feasible, minimally disruptive, and acceptable to staff and inmates. We vetted the questionnaire with inmates at the outset and throughout the study. In addition, we have conducted meetings, formal presentations, and discussions with prison personnel and inmates to obtain feedback on a regular basis throughout the project. These activities have greatly facilitated the smooth functioning of the project.

A wide variety of data sources are available, each with advantages and disadvantages. Thus, researchers have increasingly combined a mix of data sources to achieve their research goals ( Greifinger, 2007 ). We reviewed medical files and computerized records, collected nares/oropharynx swab samples for microbiologic examination, and conducted interviews with inmates. Any study that uses self-reported information must address the possibility of under-reporting or over-reporting due to issues such as inaccurate or untruthful responses or misinterpretation of the questions ( Fox et al., 2011 ; Harrison, 1997 ; Singer, 1978 ; Stephenson et al., 2006 ). For example, inmates may be reluctant to respond accurately to questions related to personal information such as drug use or involvement in physical fights for fear of being reported to prison authorities. Hence, whenever possible we compared data available from medical records with information obtained from inmate interviews. In general, agreement between information provided by the inmates and information abstracted from records was high for information available from both sources, but information from records was sometimes unavailable or difficult to locate. In addition, much of the data needed for our study was only available by self-report. Overall, the inmates appeared very open and willing to provide information. In fact, we found a number of duplicate interviews from inmates who enrolled more than once, making it possible to assess whether their responses were similar at different time points. In other instances, inmates may have no interest in participating or may refuse certain procedures. In our study, for example, some inmates expressed concerns that the nasal and oropharyngeal samples being obtained were actually contaminating them.

Maintain inmate’s privacy

It is vital to carefully consider privacy and inmates’ rights, as they may feel coerced to participate or fear that their information will be shared with others. To alleviate such concerns, we worked to establish a positive rapport with the inmate population to earn their trust and respect. We requested that the interviews be conducted in private, without the presence of COs or other inmates, to reassure them that our research team was not affiliated with the correctional system and that no individual information from the research study would be reported to the Department of Corrections or a third party ( Fox et al., 2011 ; Noaks, Wincup & ebrary, 2004 ; O’Brien & Bates, 2003 ; Patenaude, 2004 ; Quina et al., 2007 ). To address these concerns, we provided clear and accurate information and obtained a Certificate of Confidentiality from the National Institutes of Health ( http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/coc/ ) to help protect inmate privacy. Using these strategies, we were able to attain a recruitment rate of 90.6% in the male and 81.6% in the female maximum security prisons, a rate higher than has been previously reported ( Fox et al., 2011 ; Moser et al., 2004 ; Peterson, Braiker, Polich & Rand Corporation, 1981 ; Struckman-Johnson, Struckman-Johnson, Rucker, Bumby & Donaldson, 1996 ).

The purpose of this article was to describe some of the challenges and solutions derived from the development and implementation of our research study in two maximum security prisons. Although not all prisons have the same issues and policies, many of the challenges we faced are likely to resonate with others. Researchers must not underestimate the amount of time and preparation required for approval from the IRB and Department of Corrections as well as access into the correctional facilities. Once granted access, it is crucial for researchers to establish and maintain a positive relationship with the COs and inmates, to understand rules and security issues to navigate swiftly through the prison system for data collection, and to consider all limitations and obstacles throughout the process. Such strategies have proven successful in establishing and maintaining a high rate of study participation and high-quality data collection in this challenging research setting.

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Looking Beyond Recidivism: New Research on Well-Being in Prisons and Jails From the National Institute of Justice

Angel E. Sanchez is an attorney committed to making education more accessible to people who are incarcerated. He also spent more than a decade in a Florida prison, the source of many experiences that fuel his advocacy for reform.

“I served over 12 years in a system where the highest level of education available to me was a GED,” he said. “The reality is that all my successes were not because of prison, but rather in spite of it — in spite of the lack of support, the lack of benefits, the lack of encouragement and hope that one ought to find there for one to turn their life around.”

At the National Institute of Justice’s (NIJ) 2023 National Research Conference, Sanchez led a discussion on corrections research that looked beyond preventing recidivism to explore evidence-based ways of improving individual experiences and institutional culture within prisons and jails. The conversation was a direct outgrowth of Sanchez’s belief that services focused on improving people’s lives after prison cannot come at the expense of efforts to expand their opportunities while inside.

The discussion brought together three researchers working to evaluate and implement corrections programs: Stephen Tripodi, associate professor at the Florida State University College of Social Work; Marina Duane, research fellow at the University of Chicago’s Chapin Hall; and Daniel O’Connell, senior scientist at the University of Delaware’s Center for Drug and Health Studies who, like Sanchez, was formerly incarcerated. [1]

Sanchez, a visiting fellow at the Bureau of Justice Assistance, linked the researchers’ work to a broader movement in corrections focused on well-being — and to his own experience of incarceration and the barriers he encountered on his path to earning a law degree after release from prison.

Redefining Success

Sanchez stressed that recidivism, traditionally the most important metric in evaluating the effectiveness of corrections programs, has limitations and cannot account for all the achievements that make a difference in the lives of individuals and communities. As an example, he described how two opposite possibilities for his own trajectory after prison — dying by suicide or going to law school — would look identical in recidivism measures.

Recidivism, when used as the sole measure of effectiveness, can mislead policymakers and the public and focuses policy on negative rather than positive outcomes. (Learn more about this concept in “ Recidivism Reconsidered: Preserving the Community Justice Mission of Community Corrections ” by Jeffrey A. Butts and Vincent Schiraldi, resulting from the NIJ and Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Session on Community Corrections.)

Tripodi, Duane, and O'Connell are all involved in reframing corrections research with human-focused outcomes related to well-being, rather than crime-focused outcomes related to reoffending.

Tripodi shared his team’s NIJ-funded research on a trauma-informed cognitive behavioral program called RISE, or Resilience in Stressful Experiences. Led by Carrie Pettus of Wellbeing & Equity Innovations and Tanya Renn from Florida State University, this randomized controlled trial looked at a group of 18- to 35-year-old men released from prison to Jacksonville and Tallahassee, Florida. [2]

The first phase of the study focused on RISE’s impact while the men were still incarcerated. After four in-prison sessions on psychoeducation and distress reduction, Tripodi and colleagues found that the men showed improvements in substance use disorder severity, impulsivity, and hostility, as well as better coping skills.

The next phase of the research looked at men who continued the RISE program after they reentered the community. Later parts of the program covered topics like emotional regulation, understanding triggers and how to respond to them, processing trauma, and maintaining a positive trajectory.

Tripodi found that eight months after leaving prison, men who had finished 15 RISE sessions had less severe substance use and were less likely to be homeless. They also had high rates of employment, with fewer than 20% unemployed at the eight-month follow-up.

Complementing Tripodi’s evaluation of a trauma-informed approach, Duane’s NIJ-funded research focused on giving people in jails access to mental health services. She, too, focused her evaluation on well-being rather than recidivism.

Duane looked specifically at using telehealth to increase the availability of individual counseling providers serving people in jails. “COVID was a blessing in disguise,” she said, because the pandemic increased the willingness of jail administrators to try telehealth services. Duane surveyed both currently and formerly incarcerated people with opiate addictions who had received remote counseling services in the jail at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in northwestern Massachusetts. [3] Interns who were working toward degrees in clinical social work provided the individual counseling.

Duane found that 90% of respondents reported a strong therapeutic bond (also known as a therapeutic alliance) with their counselor while they were in jail. In other words, they had established a healthy relationship with their counselor and shared beliefs regarding the goals and process of treatment. Distress brought on by the pandemic, combined with opiate addiction, posed a uniquely challenging array of stressors to overcome in therapy.

The high prevalence of strong therapeutic bonds in Duane’s study is notable because jails are not often associated with a therapeutic environment. Duane credited the “mindset from the leadership and from the staff” in the jails for the opportunity to provide mental health support virtually. She also noted that having a remote provider who was not physically connected to the jail environment was part of the program’s success. Individuals receiving therapy were more likely to forge a bond with their provider because they “didn’t see this therapist talking to the correctional workers all the time.”

Sanchez agreed, saying that both during and after incarceration, “I related counseling with jail. That was my connection. That was a ‘jail process,’ where you go to counseling as part of your jail time or prison time.” In contrast, Duane’s research showed that telehealth counseling in jails is not only technologically feasible, but it also increases the likelihood that people will continue seeking counseling services once they have reentered the community. This could be because those services do not have a negative association with the jail.

Changing Prison Culture

Reflecting on the corrections research presented at the 2023 NIJ Conference, O’Connell outlined a shift of focus that he sees happening in the field. “We spent the last 20 years on reentry, and organizations like NIJ have been looking at improving reentry services. Now I think we’re shifting more toward culture, specifically in-prison culture.”

O’Connell’s NIJ-funded research focused on ways to change behavior in prison, such as misconduct and acting out. [4] Explaining why he decided to look at how people behave while they are incarcerated rather than looking at their behavior during and after reentry, O’Connell made the point succinctly: “A lot of people are in prison for a long time.”

Although everyone’s reentry period is short, their time in prison may be much longer, giving the program more time to take root and make an impact. “The idea,” he said, is that “we could use the program to change some of the culture in the institution.”

As part of his study’s eligibility criteria, O’Connell looked at individuals with at least two years left on their sentence. Some people in the study had a decade or more remaining.

Sanchez endorsed O’Connell’s choice to look at ways of helping those who may be far from their release dates. According to Sanchez, “We cannot be neglecting the people who have long-term sentences and who establish the culture inside.” He advocated for broadening the educational opportunities available to all people in prison, regardless of their sentence length or release date. He linked some of the educational barriers he faced to his 30-year sentence length, noting that career-oriented opportunities like computer classes were reserved for those closer to their release date. [5]

O’Connell’s randomized controlled trial at the Delaware Department of Corrections tested the impact of a high-dosage cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention: 55 sessions of 90 minutes each. The sessions took place twice a week for six months and focused on changes in language, thinking, and behavior.

Despite research challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, O’Connell found that the CBT program significantly decreased participants’ aggression and sense of personal irresponsibility, both of which can be measures of criminal thinking.

In discussing these outcomes, O’Connell was also quick to explain that any intervention aimed at changing prison culture must confront a fundamental imbalance. Even an intensive program like the one he studied may occupy only three hours in a person’s week. That leaves 165 hours a week on the unit when the prevailing prison culture is likely to go unchallenged.

Both O’Connell and Tripodi pointed to inside-out programs as an effective way of tilting the balance in favor of improving prison cultures. In an inside-out program, students from an outside university and students who are incarcerated take classes together inside the prison. [6]

O’Connell emphasized the transformative effect that an inside-out class has on everyone involved. “Any activity that normalizes the prison environment changes the culture — even if for an hour. Because when I’m in a room on a Monday night with my outside students and my inside students, it’s a classroom, not a cell block, and we’re doing education, not prison.”

He continued, “I have my outside students constantly telling me how enlightening it was for them to be part of that experience. And I’ve had inside students who found out that they could sit in a college classroom, participate, be successful, and do the assignments — so a very empowering thing for them to be able to participate in this.”

O’Connell also pointed to the promise of treatment units within prisons, “where the treatment takes place on the unit and the staff is all trained on the model.” Living in a treatment unit increases each person’s “dosage” of the program, and it can also begin to change the predominant language and interactions inside the prison.

Looking Ahead

An overarching theme of NIJ’s 2023 National Research Conference was the importance of including people with lived experience in all aspects of research, from study design to data collection to dissemination. Tripodi, who has been doing research with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people for more than 15 years, affirmed that “people with lived experiences add meaning to the research.”

O’Connell took the point further, arguing that corrections research on institutional culture cannot move forward without the participation of people who are incarcerated. “You’ve got to empower the people that are there,” he said. “The long timers are respected voices in these institutions. In many ways, I think we could elicit their assistance — but to do that, you’ve got to be legit.”

He added, “We’re going to have to work with people who have, frankly, street cred.” Developing and implementing effective ways to improve cultures inside prisons will require the insights and authority of people who are already credible leaders within those institutions, he noted. 

During the conference, NIJ also announced a new pair of solicitations released jointly with the Bureau of Justice Assistance to fund “research examining how the culture and climate of a corrections agency can be transformed.” [7] These investments — up to $7 million — will support the search for ways to improve the well-being of people who are incarcerated as well as corrections staff.

In the coming years, NIJ is committed to bringing the knowledge gained from this research to the entire field of corrections, reaffirming that the mission of U.S. prisons and jails is not just punishment but also rehabilitation.

[1] A podcast of this discussion is available; access Meeting People Where They Are to Improve Institutional Culture .

[2] National Institute of Justice funding award description, “Multi-site Randomized Controlled Trial of Comprehensive Trauma Informed Reentry Services for Moderate to High Risk Youth Releasing From State Prisons,” at Florida State University, award number 2019-MU-CX-0065 .

[3] National Institute of Justice funding award description, “Evaluation of Using Telehealth for Opioid Use Disorders in a Correctional Setting,” at The Urban Institute, award number 2018-75-CX-0022 .

[4] National Institute of Justice funding award description, “Cognitive Behavioral Interventions and Misconduct Behind Bars: A Randomized Control Trial of CBI-CC,” at the University of Delaware, award number 2018-75-CX-0020 .

[5] Angel E. Sanchez, “In Spite of Prison,” Harvard Law Review 32 no. 6 (2019): 1650-1683, https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-132/in-spite-of-prison/ , 1671.

[6] The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program ®, https://www.insideoutcenter.org .

[7] National Institute of Justice funding opportunity, “ NIJ FY23 Research and Evaluation on Correctional Culture and Climate ,” grants.gov announcement number O-NIJ-2023-171774, posted May 23, 2023; and Bureau of Justice Assistance funding opportunity, “ FY 2023 Transforming Prison Cultures, Climates, and Spaces ,” grants.gov announcement number O-BJA-2023-171771, posted May 23, 2023.

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Appendix 1: Prisoner Autobiographies

There are many autobiographies and memoirs by prisoners and former prisoners. Several are available in second-hand bookshops. Consider reading at least one as a companion to this book. Most are not just about prison but are rich in detail about lives prior to incarceration. Some are classics of literature; others express the raw, unmediated experience of imprisonment. The following list is not exhaustive, but will introduce you to some autobiographical works on prison life.

Abbott, J. H. (1981). In the belly of the beast: Letters from prison . Random House.

Aitken, J. (2006). Porridge and passion . Bloomsbury Academic.

Archer, J. (2004, 2005 and 2006). Prison diaries: Three volumes . St. Martin’s Press.

Armstrong, P. (2017). Life after life . Gill books.

Atwood, S. (2009). Hard time: A Brit in America’s Jail. Mainstream Publishing.

Behan, B. (1961). Borstal boy . Corgi Books.

Betts, R. D. (2009). A question of freedom: A memoir of learning, survival, and coming of age in prison . Penguin.

Boyle, J. (1984). The pain of confinement: Prison diaries. Pan Books.

Callan, K. (1998). Kevin Callan’s story. Time Warner.

Campbell, B., McKeown, L., & O’Hagan, F. (Eds.). (1994). Nor meekly serve my time: The H-Block struggle 1976–1981. Beyond the Pale Publications.

Cannings, A. (2006). Against all odds . Time Warner Books.

Conlon, G. (1991). Proved innocent . Penguin Books.

Davis, A. (1988). An autobiography. International Publishers.

Hassine, V. (2011). Life without Parole: Living and dying in Prison Today . Oxford University Press.

Healy, J. (2008). The Grass Arena . Penguin Books.

Hill, P. (1995). Forever lost, forever gone . Bloomsbury.

Irwin, M. (2017). My life began at forty . L.R. Price Publications.

James, E. (2003). A life inside: A prisoner’s notebook . Guardian Books.

James, E. (2016). Redemption: A memoir of darkness and hope. Bloomsbury.

Kerman, P. (2010). Orange is the new black: My time in a women’s prison . Random House.

Kropotkin, P. (1872 [1991]). In Russian and French prisons. Black Rose Books.

Leech, M. (1993). A product of the system: My life in and out of prison . Victor Gollancz.

Lerner, J. (2010). You ain’t got nothing coming: Notes from a prison fish . Doubleday.

Maguire, P. (2008). My father’s watch: The story of a child prisoner in 70s Britain . Fourth Estate.

McVicar, J. (1974 [2002]). McVicar by himself . Artnick.

Pryce, V. (2013). Prisonomics: Behind bars in Britain’s failing prisons. Biteback.

Smith, N. (2005). A few kind words and a loaded gun: The autobiography of a career criminal. Penguin.

Wilde, O. (1898 [1999]). The ballad of reading gaol. In O. Wilde (Ed.), The soul of man and prison writings . Oxford University Press.

Wyner, R. (2004). From the inside: Dispatches from a Women’s Prison . Arum Press.

Appendix 2: Online Resources for Researching Prisons and Imprisonment

The following is a list of online resources for undertaking further research. It is not exhaustive, so you will likely come across others in your studies. However, as with hardcopy sources, read, study and use them critically. These web addresses were live at the time of publication (2022). They are listed alphabetically in each section. The inclusion of these resources (including websites) does not verify their accuracy, nor is it an endorsement of the content available on them.

Official Sources

His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/prisons-in-england-and-wales

Oversight and Monitoring Bodies

European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment

http://www.cpt.coe.int

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons

https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/about-hmi-prisons/

Independent Monitoring Boards

https://www.imb.org.uk/

National Preventative Mechanism

https://www.nationalpreventivemechanism.org.uk/

Prison and Probation Ombudsman

https://www.ppo.gov.uk/

Penal Reform and Campaigning Organisations

Amnesty International

https://www.amnesty.org/en/

Centre for Crime and Justice Studies

http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/

Community Action on Prison Expansion

https://cape-campaign.org/

Critical Resistance (USA)

http://criticalresistance.org/

Death Penalty Information Center (USA)

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/home

Howard League for Penal Reform

https://howardleague.org

https://www.inquest.org.uk/

International Conference on Penal Abolition (ICOPA)

http://www.actionicopa.org/

National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders

http://www.nacro.org.uk/

Penal Reform International

https://www.penalreform.org/

Positive Prison? Positive Futures (Scotland)

http://www.positiveprison.org/

Prison Legal News (USA)

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/

Prison Reform Trust

http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/

Sentencing Project (USA)

http://www.sentencingproject.org

Women in Prison

http://www.womeninprison.org.uk/

Representative Bodies

Incarcerated Workers Organising Committee

https://iwoc.iww.org.uk/

Prison Governors Association

https://modernising-justice.co.uk/sponsor/prison-governors-association/

Prison Officer Association (UK)

https://www.poauk.org.uk/

Prisoner Voice/s

British Convict Criminology

https://britishconvictcriminology.co.uk/

Convict Criminology

https://www.concrim.org/

Ewrin James Prison Diary

http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/erwinjames

http://erwinjames.co.uk/

Inside Time

https://insidetime.org/

Jail Guitar Doors

https://www.jailguitardoors.org.uk/

Journal of Prisoners on Prisons

http://www.jpp.org/

Koestler Arts

https://www.koestlerarts.org.uk/

National Prison Radio

https://prison.radio/national-prison-radio/

https://pen.org/publications/prison-writing-awards-anthology/

https://unlock.org.uk/

https://www.uservoice.org/

Write to Freedom

https://www.writetofreedom.org.uk/

Penal History

Clink Prison Museum

https://www.clink.co.uk/

Digital Panopticon

https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/

Eastern State Penitentiary

https://www.easternstate.org/

Kilmainham Gaol Museum

https://kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie/

London Metropolitan Archives (with records on prisons)

https://search.lma.gov.uk/

National Justice Museum

https://www.nationaljusticemuseum.org.uk/

Penal Press

www.penalpress.com

Prison History

https://www.prisonhistory.org/

Prison Memory Archive

https://www.prisonsmemoryarchive.com/

Other Sources

Abolitionist Futures

Ava DuVernay (2016) 13th—Netflix

Bent Bars Project

https://www.bentbarsproject.org/

Carceral Geography Working Group (CGWG)

https://carceralgeography.com/about-3/

Civic Dignity

https://civicdignity.com/

https://www.clinks.org/

Eugene Jarecki (2012) The House I Live in

European Prison Education Association

https://www.epea.org/

European Society of Criminology Working Group’s Prison Life and the Effects of Imprisonment

https://effectsofprisonlife.wordpress.com/

Inside Stories (film)

https://www.prisonsmemoryarchive.com/feature_films/inside-stories/

Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research World Prison Brief

http://www.prisonstudies.org

Marshall Project

https://www.themarshallproject.org/about

National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (USA)

https://nicic.gov/

Prisons: the Rule of Law, Accountability and Rights (PRILA)

https://www.tcd.ie/law/research/PRILA/

Solitary Watch

https://solitarywatch.org/

University of Cambridge Institute of Criminology (Comparative Penology)

https://www.compen.crim.cam.ac.uk/Blog/blog-pages-full-versions

World Prison Brief

https://www.prisonstudies.org/world-prison-brief-data

Podcasts/Webinars

After Strangeways webinar video

https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/tags/after-strangeways-webinar-video

Ashley T. Rubin, The Deviant Prison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlS7qMSJc_c

Dominque Moran, ‘Can Green Space improve the well-being of people who work in prisons?’ Locked up Living Podcast.

https://linktr.ee/LockedUpLivingPodcast

https://www.earhustlesq.com/

Lockdown: Prisons: Abolition or Reform?

https://soundcloud.com/novaramedia/the-lockdown-prisons-abolition-or-reform

Secret Life of Prison—Prison Radio Association and Prison Reform Trust

https://prison.radio/the-secret-life-of-prisons/

Strangeways Riot 1990 (1)

https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/news/2020-09-10/25-days-april-part-1-strangeways-podcast-out-now

Strangeways Riot 1990 (2)

https://secretlifeofprisons.libsyn.com/25-days-in-april-part-2

100 Years of the Howard Journal: Lessons for contemporary penal policy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhtYlX7Krqw

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Behan, C., Stark, A. (2023). Prison Research: Methods, Approaches and Sources. In: Prisons and Imprisonment. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09301-2_15

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This study examines how sex offenders who engage in prison sexual misconduct (PSM) compare to other sex offenders who do not offend in prison in terms of sexual, violent, and nonviolent rearrest rates upon their release. Differences in the connection between PSM and recidivism between two groups were also examined: offenders with a history of adult victims (ASO) and offenders with a history of child victims (CSO). The findings reveal that for the sample as a whole, PSM is associated with overall recidivism, but it is not associated specifically with sexual, violent, or nonviolent offending. For ASO, PSM was significantly associated with sexual rearrest but not violent rearrest, while for CSO, PSM was significantly associated with violent rearrest but not sexual rearrest. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright 2024 by the journal of Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society (CCJLS) and The Western Society of Criminology. Used by permission.

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Problems in the prison system of the united states, discussing of the problem of violence in prison, the american penal system, prisoners of conscience in nigeria, the role of stakeholders in prison violence, also us citizens: prisoners should be allowed to vote, mass incarceration and black nihilism in the united states, effects of correctional policies and practices in relation to sex offenders, a look at the key considerations in determinate vs. indeterminate ruling and overcrowded state and federal prisons in america, factors of the rise in mass incarceration in the united states, life inside the women's prison system, mass incarceration: locked up in america, alcatraz: the best prison for al capone and those of his kind, whether juveniles should be tried as adults and sent to adult prisons, security and control in custodial care, the controversial issues of the stanford prison experiment, dilemma of offenders in prison as victims, the problem of rape and sexual violence in prison, the negative effects of imprisonment on the individual outweigh, relevant topics.

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Health, Access to Care, and Financial Barriers to Care Among People Incarcerated in US Prisons

• 1 Department of Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• 2 Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
• 3 City University of New York at Hunter College, New York
• 4 Division of General Internal Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
• 5 Center for Advancing Population Science, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
• 6 Planned Parenthood of Montana, Kalispell
• 7 University of California–San Francisco School of Medicine
• 8 Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
• 9 Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, Worcester, Massachusetts
• Invited Commentary Harming Health by Imposing In-Prison Co-Payments Benjamin A. Howell, MD; Judith Resnik, JD; Emily A. Wang, MD JAMA Internal Medicine

Questions   What are the health status and health care access of people residing in US prisons, and are co-payments associated with reduced access to care?

Findings   In this repeated cross-sectional study representing 1 421 700 people in US prisons, there was high, and possibly increasing, prevalence of mental health and chronic physical conditions, as well as poor access to care. Co-payments were associated with worse access, especially when the prison’s standard co-payment for a medical visit exceeded 1 week’s prison wage.

Meaning   The results of this study suggest that incarcerated individuals, especially those in prisons that usually require co-payments for visits, often receive inadequate care despite their substantial health needs.

Importance   Decades-old data indicate that people imprisoned in the US have poor access to health care despite their constitutional right to care. Most prisons impose co-payments for at least some medical visits. No recent national studies have assessed access to care or whether co-pays are associated with worse access.

Objective   To determine the proportion of people who are incarcerated with health problems or pregnancy who used health services, changes in the prevalence of those conditions since 2004, and the association between their state’s standard prison co-payment and care receipt in 2016.

Design, Setting, and Participants   This cross-sectional analysis was conducted in October 2023 and used data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates, a nationally representative sample of adults in state or federal prisons, with some comparisons to the 2004 version of that survey.

Exposures   The state’s standard, per-visit co-payment amount in 2016 compared with weekly earnings at the prison’s minimum wage.

Main Outcomes and Measures   Self-reported prevalence of 13 chronic physical conditions, 6 mental health conditions, and current severe psychological distress assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale; proportion of respondents with such problems who did not receive any clinician visit or treatment; and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) comparing the likelihood of no clinician visit according to co-payment level.

Results   Of 1 421 700 (unweighted: n = 24 848; mean [SD] age, 35.3 [0.3] years; 93.2% male individuals) prison residents in 2016, 61.7% (up from 55.9% in 2004) reported 1 or more chronic physical conditions; among them, 13.8% had received no medical visit since incarceration. A total of 40.1% of respondents reported ever having a mental health condition (up from 24.5% in 2004), of whom 33.0% had received no mental health treatment. A total of 13.3% of respondents met criteria for severe psychological distress, of whom 41.7% had not received mental health treatment in prison. Of state prison residents, 90.4% were in facilities requiring co-payments, including 63.3% in facilities with co-payments exceeding 1 week’s prison wage. Co-payments, particularly when high, were associated with not receiving a needed health care visit (co-pay ≤1 week’s wage: aOR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.10-1.86; co-pay >1 week’s wage: aOR, 2.17; 95% CI, 1.61-2.93).

Conclusions and Relevance   This cross-sectional study found that many people who are incarcerated with health problems received no care, particularly in facilities charging co-payments for medical visits.

• Invited Commentary Harming Health by Imposing In-Prison Co-Payments JAMA Internal Medicine

Read More About

Lupez EL , Woolhandler S , Himmelstein DU, et al. Health, Access to Care, and Financial Barriers to Care Among People Incarcerated in US Prisons. JAMA Intern Med. Published online August 05, 2024. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.3567

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Problems in Prisons Research Paper

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Most problems in prisons originate outside their walls. The police and courts leave varied groups of offenders at the gate, and prisons must do the best they can to sequester these persons. Prisons function as does one’s stomach, digesting that which is often indigestible. If the police decide to arrest young gang members, the prison to which these young men are committed will experience a gang problem, consisting of drug trafficking, violent warfare, and the intimidation of nonaffiliated prisoners. If mental patients are jailed for disturbing the peace or annoying their neighbors, the prison must deal with serious mental health issues on an increasing scale. Mental health issues are subdivided into component challenges, such as having to arrange for psychiatric services, and having to enforce prison rules on persons whose symptoms include very sloppy housekeeping, sporadic suicide attempts or unprovoked assaults.

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In the 1990s, the salient problems posed for prison systems included: (1) the waging of the war on drugs, which created an influx of drugrelated offenders, (2) the advent of sentencing ‘‘reforms,’’ which produced a proliferation of prisoners with long determinate sentences, and (3) the increased use of adult courts for dealing with serious violent delinquents. All three of these developments contribute to the problems of prisons, but do so in different ways.

Prisons and The War on Drugs

The influx of drug-related offenders is a key source of prison overcrowding, and it makes life behind walls difficult for inmates and the staff. Incarceration rates for murderers, robbers, and burglars have remained steady over the years, but the number of drug offenders who have been imprisoned has steadily escalated. At present, six of ten federal prisoners stand convicted of drug possession or drug use, and the federal prison system is operating at 19 percent over its capacity. State prisons are also overcrowded, though the proportion of drug offenders is not quite as high.

Since the early 1980s, prisons have increasingly become repositories of nonviolent felons, many of whom are addicted substance abusers. Such offenders pose limited risk to the community, and arguably are not the type of hard-core criminals for which prisons were invented or designed. Most nonviolent prisoners could benefit from serious supervised treatment programs that address their substance abuse problems. Such treatment is available in many prisons, but it would be much less expensive to treat the addicts without locking them up. Arizona diverts all its addicted offenders from prisons to probation, in line with the results of a referendum provision called the Drug Medicalization, Prevention and Control Act, which Arizona voters approved by a 65 to 35 percent margin. An appeals court judge has pointed out that compared to the typical Arizona offender who now gets probation and treatment, ‘‘the same guy in the Federal system is going to get a mandatory five-year sentence’’ (Wren, 1999). The difference in deprivation is appreciable, as is the burden to the system.

While Arizona is the only state that has implemented a policy of wholesale diversion, other states have experimented with drug courts, which steer addicts into community treatment. Several prison systems are also accelerating the release of their nonviolent offenders. The most popular strategy for early release involves the use of shock incarceration, which provides a short, intensive experience of treatment, education, physical exercise, and military discipline.

The war on drugs has generally contributed to prison congestion across the board, but it has particularly increased the proportion of women and minority offenders who are sent to prison. At the onset of the war on drugs, in the early 1980s, 4 percent of the prison population was female, but the proportion by mid-1998 was 6.4 percent and increasing. Women constitute over 10 percent of the U.S. jail population, and drug addicts make up the majority of the women who are jailed or sentenced to prison.

The proportion of minority prisoners has also escalated sharply as a result of the war on drugs. The Bureau of Justice Statistics has calculated that 82 percent of the prisoner increase in the federal system between 1990 and 1996 involved black offenders sentenced for drug offenses (the same held for 65% of whites). In state prisons, 30 percent of the increase among black prisoners was due to drug sentences, compared to 16 percent among white prisoners. These differences derive from the fact that street enforcement of drug laws has centered on open trafficking in the ghetto, and the majority of those arrested for drug trading are addicts who are supporting their own drug habits.

Differential effects of the war on drugs create differential problems in prisons beyond those that are immediately obvious. In the case of women, one such problem is that of family separation, since 75 percent of female prisoners are mothers. Small children of prisoners who are not cared for by family members frequently end up in foster care; mothers also lose contact with children where distance or other considerations make visitations difficult. Prisons for women try to mitigate such problems, but cannot do much beyond encouraging family visits. A few prisons provide nurseries for pregnant inmates to facilitate bonding of mothers and infants; many prisons offer courses in childcare and parenting, or sponsor support groups for mothers.

The influx of drug offenders has increased the demand for illicit drugs in prison despite the fact that drug use by inmates invites extended periods of solitary confinement. Given the nature of addiction as a compulsive or obsessive psychological disorder, considerable ingenuity is exercised by addicts to smuggle drugs into the prisons. Drugs arrive in prison visiting rooms in the face of systematic searches (including skin and cavity searches), close and continuous surveillance, and mandatory random drug testing. Short of strip-searching all prison visitors and totally prohibiting all contact visitation, there is no way of making a dent in this problem. No strategy can prevent the importation of drugs into settings that are inhabited by addicts who have supportive subcultural peer groups outside the walls.

A different consequence of the proliferation of addicted prisoners is the rate of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the prisons. As of 1995, 2.4 percent of state prisoners were known to be HIV positive; the proportion reached 13.9 percent in New York state, where the war on drugs has been assiduously waged. The rate for women is higher than that for men, and African American inmates are disproportionately affected. But not all of the HIV infected prisoners are known to authorities, because HIV testing in most prisons is optional and the course of the disease is frequently asymptomatic. Many inmates do not know they are infected, and they can unwittingly infect other inmates—mostly by sharing needles, and sometimes through sexual contacts.

Active AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) cases among prisoners call for expensive medical treatment, the costs of which are transferred from the community to the correctional system while the offenders are in prison. To their credit, prison physicians routinely prescribe costly drug combinations (‘‘cocktails’’) that have sharply reduced fatalities among imprisoned AIDS patients. Between 1995 and 1996, AIDS–related deaths in state prisons decreased by 10 percent (from 1,010 to 907).

Female offenders incarcerated during the war on drugs have been disproportionate clients of medical services. Ross and Lawrence point out, for example, that ‘‘including the unique reproductive health problems of women, 28 percent of women admitted to state prison in New York in 1993 had medical problems requiring immediate and ongoing intervention’’ (p. 177). They noted that the illnesses of substance-abusing women ‘‘most often include asthma; diabetes; HIV/AIDS; tuberculosis; hypertension; unintended, interrupted, or lost pregnancy; dysmenorrhea; chlamydia infection; papillomavirus (HPV) infection; herpes simplex II infection; cystic and myomatic conditions; chronic pelvic inflammatory disease; anxiety neurosis; and depression’’ (p. 181).

Women prisoners need substantial care— including mental health services—but the dispensation of mood-modulating drugs is a controversial problem for women’s prisons. Some critics of the system contend that medication is insufficiently available, while others charge that the inmates are overmedicated to control or restrain their behavior. Among women who live in prison, medical care is a common source of complaints, even where facilities appear to be adequate. One reason for the emphasis on physical complaints may be the monotony and boredom of prison life; another may have to do with addiction to prescription drugs.

The Impact of Draconian Prison Sentences

The war on drugs has led to prison congestion, but escalating sentences for other offenders as well as drug offenders are a clear contributing cause. One clue to this fact is that the number of inmates in prison is increasing more rapidly than the number who are being imprisoned or being released. To understand this difference, one must consider the fact that a prisoner serving a four-year sentence takes the same amount of space as two prisoners serving two-year sentences, because he occupies his cell twice as long. A prisoner serving a very long sentence multiplies the effect: A man serving twenty years eventually comes to occupy the same prison space as do ten two-year prisoners arriving consecutively. One twenty-year prisoner who enters the system today can therefore crowd it as much as do ten two-year prisoners, and ten two-year prisoners will leave the prison before the twenty-year man is discharged.

In the last decade the number of long-term prisoners has been increasing, and the cumulative effects are experienced at an accelerating degree. There are more long-term prisoners in the prison because there are countless sentencing provisions designed to ensure that convicted offenders are incapacitated. Ensuring the incapacitation of offenders has made political sense to legislators whose constituents know that an incarcerated offender can commit no new crimes. A protracted prison stay assures citizens that they will not have to face a particular offender late at night in a dark alley. By definition any recidivist has served a sentence that the public can argue was too short. Since this means that every prison sentence has the makings of being too short, such reasoning concludes that the simplest solution is to confine all offenders for as long as possible.

The National Institute of Justice reported in 1997 that:

By 1994 all 50 States had enacted one or more mandatory sentencing laws, and Congress had enacted numerous mandatory sentencing laws for Federal offenders. Furthermore, many State officials have recently considered proposals to enhance sentencing for adults and juveniles convicted of violent crimes, usually by mandating longer prison terms for violent offenders who have a record of serious crimes. Threestrikes laws (and, in some jurisdictions, two-strikes laws) are the most prominent examples of such sentencing enhancements. . . . For example, California’s three-strikes law requires that offenders who are convicted of a violent crime, and who have had two prior convictions, serve a minimum of 25 years; the law also doubles prison terms for offenders convicted of a second violent felony. . . . A second frequently mentioned mandatory sentencing enhancement is ‘‘truth-insentencing,’’ provisions for which are in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. States that wish to qualify for Federal aid under the Act are required to amend their laws so that imprisoned offenders serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. (Parent et al., p. 1)

Other provisions that have been introduced to lengthen periods of confinement involve prison terms—importantly including life prison terms—without possibility of parole. The offenders who are the unhappy recipients of such provisions face natural life sentences or inflexibly long prison careers. Such offenders tend to be classified as high-risk, in part because of their sentences. All of these long-term higher-risk inmates are sent to the traditional walled prison fortresses, which are designed to prevent escapes and control behavior. Such prisons are obviously inordinately expensive to build, and the supply has consequently not kept pace with the accelerating demand. The result has been extensive double or triple celling, program space converted into sleeping accommodations, shrinking program opportunities, and a lower quality of life for both staff and inmates.

The paradox is that long-term prisoners, who face the most painful terms of confinement, are subject to the most inhospitable prison conditions. (The paradox reaches its extreme in death rows, where amenities for condemned prisoners are even more sharply restricted.) Long-term inmates may in many instances be reclassified over time, but many years must pass before their conditions of confinement can improve. And if a long-term prisoner manifests behavior problems in confinement, he can be sent to an even more austere segregation facility where living conditions are often atrocious.

Insofar as prisons have provisions for educational and vocational training, these are apt to be designed for short-term inmates. The programs are delivered in self-sufficient modules over modest periods of time, so that they can be completed before the average prisoner is released. An inmate who serves a two-year sentence can leave prison with a certificate in plumbing or automobile repair, or a high school equivalency degree. He can also leave having attained basic literacy, or graduated from a term in a residential substance-abuse program.

Offenders who arrive in prison with long sentences of the kind that are increasingly prevalent are ill served by modular programming. Such inmates must be engaged in meaningful activities over long periods of time. Serving a long sentence should ideally provide a sense of progression, advancement, and hope, or at least an absence of hopelessness. If short-term program segments are employed, they must build sequentially one on another. For example, a course in automobile repair followed by a remedial literacy course does not qualify as a sequence. Educational experiences that are followed by opportunities for inmates to apply what they have learned, with chances of promotion thereafter, make more sense.

Many inmates who come to prison with mandated long terms are apt to be young violent offenders embittered by their draconian sentences. Others are mid-level narcotics offenders who know that they have been sentenced under provisions that are designed for drug kingpins; others are repeat nonviolent offenders charged arbitrarily as violent recidivists. Since fairness, equity, and justice are salient concerns in prison even in the ordinary course of events, such prisoners are bound to be bitter and resentful when they have finally exhausted their avenues of appeal and come to confront the full magnitude of their impending fate. Prisons are sensitive to this risk and to the fact that the absence of hope can leave some prisoners with ‘‘nothing to lose’’ when they act in anger. There is also concern about a ‘‘new breed of violent inmate’’ who may be serving a long sentence and presumptively poses dangers to other prisoners and to staff.

Concerns about potential violence in prisons have increased the managerial emphasis on security and disciplinary sanctions. One tangible manifestation of this emphasis is the proliferation of segregation settings that are earmarked for the ‘‘worst of the worst’’ inmates. Typically, the most brutal of these settings provide for unremitting isolation and a lack of contact with staff. The conditions in some of these segregation settings (called ‘‘maxi-maxi’’ prisons) have been challenged successfully in the courts. Cases have centered on allegations of brutality and the charge that experiences of solitary confinement exacerbate mental health problems.

If the response to the bitterness of alienated prisoners is custodial overkill, escalations of resentment and suppression can occur in the prison in which cycles of protest and punishment reinforce each other, and culminate in reciprocal violence. A sense of injustice among the prisoners combined with preemptive reactions by staff increases tension in prisons, which enhances the potential for confrontations, including prison riots. While no major disturbances have resulted from sentencing reforms, there is urgent need for prison officials to undertake defusing and deescalating moves. This need—which includes the need for expanding program opportunities—is obvious to most prison managers. Unfortunately, this realization coincides with well-publicized public sentiment—especially in the least liberal jurisdictions—that calls for curtailment of activities that can be defined as ‘‘amenities’’ for prisoners.

A desirable strategy for prison management would be to multiply opportunities for the peaceful expression of grievances and expanded avenues of redress where injustices are alleged or perceived. At present, an increased inhospitability of the courts to litigation by prisoners, and a tendency of judges to refrain from interfering with prison management decisions (unless deliberate neglect or brutality can be documented), creates a need for prison systems to multiply internal avenues of appeals, and to strengthen functions such as those of ombudsmen, inspectorates, or commissions charged with reviewing prison operations.

The Old and The Young

Different problems can arise—and have begun to manifest themselves—as long-term prisoners grow older and less resilient. The trend in prisoner age distributions points to a problem with incapacitative strategies, which is that offenders tend to be retained in confinement long after their capacity for offending has dissipated. Prison cells become occupied by ‘‘old cons’’ who spend a great deal of time locked in because they find their younger peers disturbing and irritating. Beyond self-insulation, the prisoners’ contacts with significant others in the outside world becomes tenuous or nonexistent. Over time, the aging prisoners come to be less able to negotiate life if they are ever to be released.

Older prisoners develop multiple health problems, and they can eventually force the prison to set up gerontological units (or specialized institutions) for invalids and disabled senior citizens (Drummond, p. 60).

At the other end of the age spectrum, juveniles sentenced by adult courts have created a ‘‘kiddieland’’ problem. Institutions designed for younger offenders are at least partly equipped to provide for educational needs and to deal with lower-maturity clients, but prison crowding typically leads to ‘‘first come, come served’’ assignments, which has made age segregation (or age grading) less prevalent, leading to an admixture of adults and juveniles in the same settings. Despite the assumption that such admixtures can give rise to ‘‘schools of crime,’’ misbehavior is negatively correlated with age, which means that the younger the inmate, the more troublesome he is likely to be, both for his peers and his custodians.

Young prisoners act out in a variety of ways, from noisy, carefree rambunctiousness to merciless predation. Violent juvenile gang behavior occurs in the prison, as does the bullying typical of reform schools. Young prisoners tend to have histories of negative experiences and resentments relating to authority; they react to imagined slights or indications of perceived disrespect, and lapses of deference. The more immature the delinquent, the more vociferously he may insist on being ‘‘treated like a man,’’ and the more volubly he will resist guidance and instruction. Such behavior attenuates with age, but new generations are adjudicated by the courts as each cohort matures. The problem increases as age limits for transfer are lowered, because early onset of delinquency is related to the obduracy of violent offending. As more precocious offenders are sent to prison, the trouble they cause will become more chronic and persistent.

The juxtaposition of young and old prisoners is especially problematic. The older the inmate, the more susceptible he becomes to feeling invaded; the younger the inmate, the more prone he is to create a turbulent and disruptive environment. Such problems were fewer when age disparities among prisoners were narrower. Less congested prisons also allowed for better classification and sorting of the inmates, so that would-be victims could be separated from potential aggressors, and incompatible groupings could be avoided. Prisons in the past typically included institutions for ‘‘old timers’’ that offered quiescent and structured environments. They also offered educationally rich settings for youthful offenders, with experienced paternalistic staff.

Enhanced heterogeneity of prison populations has gone hand-in-hand with a decreased capacity for accommodating diverging requirements. The more complex the mix of prisoners, the less able prisons have become to sort and separate different groups of inmates.

The Availability of Employment in The Prison

The most persistent management problem for prisons has been to find work for prisoners to do to occupy their time and prepare for release. A historical essay published in 1910 complained about outside opposition to prisoner industry and employment. The author Frederick Wines wrote:

The reasons assigned in support of the contention that an end should be put to the competition of convict labor with ‘‘free labor outside’’ are more specious than convincing. Prisoners cannot be allowed to rot in idleness. Apart from the demoralizing influence of idleness, its tendency is to mental deterioration, insanity and death. No form of labor can be devised, other than trade education, which does not result in competition. . . . Besides, the unconvicted man has a right, and it is his duty, to support himself; how does this change of status relieve him of that duty or deprive him of that right? (pp. 22–23)

Wines, a prominent turn-of-the-century prison reformer, asserts that ‘‘the opposition to constructive labor in prisons is irrational, cruel and wicked’’ (p. 22). He declared himself unsympathetic to the argument that cheap prison labor could cut into business and profits. ‘‘Even if it were proved,’’ he writes, ‘‘that the supplies from prison labor tend to lower prices, that can hardly be deemed a calamity’’ (p. 23). His concerns, however, proved to be a minority view. As early as 1866, a bill was introduced in New York restricting prisoner competition with free-world manufacture. The following year, a declaration was promulgated that ‘‘no trades must be taught to convicts in prison.’’

The controversy has continued unabated to the present, with correctional officials chafing under restrictions that confine prison products to ‘‘state use’’ commodities, such as license plates, office furnishings, and clothing for in-house prison consumption. A perennial complaint of prison managers has been that there are not enough jobs for prisoners, and that an indecently high proportion of prison populations live in enforced idleness or are underemployed. Idleness creates disciplinary problems, and riots are said to have been instigated by a lack of jobs for prisoners who want to work.

Vocational training in prison has been similarly limited, and offenders who leave prison are said to be unemployable because they lack requisite skills, work habits, and motivation to work. Enforced leisure is also said to contribute to a propensity for crime, leaving time for offenders to compare notes about their offending attainments and the technology and available opportunities for committing antisocial activities. Moreover, the public is affronted by the notion of inmates spending their time playing checkers or watching television while law-abiding citizens engage in back-breaking disciplined labor.

Much ingenuity has been exercised by prison staff over the years to find productive work for prisoners that does not compete with work in the free world. The options, however, are limited, and the number of inmates who can be deployed in off-beat activities such as taming mustangs, manning switchboards, or caring for retired horses is infinitesimally small.

Restorative Justice in Corrections

A notion that is tied up with the issue of prison work is the presumption of profitability. It stands to reason that no outsider could object to prisoner contributions of a charitable nature. If the products of prison labor were items lovingly donated to the needy and disabled, no claim of unfair competition could easily arise. More importantly, such labor could humanize the inmates in the public’s eyes, and raise prisons in the citizens’ esteem, since prisons would be sponsors of the beneficent contributions of inmates.

Moneymaking in prisons has a disreputable history. Before the prison was invented, jailors turned a profit by running extortion rackets, charging detainees for room, board, leg irons, and custody services. In many early American prisons, inmates were routinely rented out as cheap labor. The prisoners became convenient and timely substitutes for slaves working in Southern plantations when slavery was abolished (Christianson). Contract labor therefore survived for many decades in the Deep South and dovetailed with prison-operated plantation systems.

The industrial revolution gave birth to the notion of the industrial prison, the concept of a factory behind walls that could be run at no public expense. This idea has been repeatedly revived in more recent debates, with the proviso that prisoners should be paid a free-world wage. At this juncture in the evolution of the world economy, the last suggestion smacks of particular irony, given the export of jobs to third-world countries in which labor costs compare unfavorably to American prison wages.

Nonprofit work by inmates, however, has acquired new stature, because it can be subsumed under the principle of restorative justice . Though this concept is abstract and somewhat vague, it has attracted some prison administrators because it has sounded like a goal with potential public appeal. Definitions of restorative justice vary, but they include the notion of a ‘‘process of reparation and rehabilitation,’’ of ‘‘‘a search for solutions which promote repair, reconciliation, and reassurance’’’ (Van Ness and Strong, p. 24). In the pursuit of reconciliation and restoration, ‘‘the offender is held accountable and [is] required to make reparation’’ (p. 25).

According to a study by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, one of the key principles of restorative justice is that ‘‘accountability for the. . .offender means accepting responsibility and acting to repair the harm done. . .repairing the harm and rebuilding relationships in the community—is the primary goal of restorative justice. . . . Results are measured by how much repair is done rather than by how much punishment is inflicted’’ (p. 5). In other words, the offender has to substantially contribute to the public good to compensate for the public harm that he has caused.

The concept of restoration applies individually to encounters of contrite offenders and forgiving victims. It applies collectively to organized activities that benefit the community at large, paying the public back for harm that has been done, and generating goodwill and forgiveness. This objective is one that in practice applies to prisons because it can justify and undergird the voluntary contributions of prison inmates to communities and individuals within communities that adjoin prisons.

News releases by prison systems frequently detail extensive public service efforts of prisoners, especially those that benefit needy citizens and the disadvantaged. Descriptions in the news items also focus on assistance that has been rendered by inmate crews when emergencies and catastrophes occur in areas where prisons are located.

Corrections Today (the official journal of the American Correctional Association) has a section that describes community service activities by prison inmates. One issue in 1999 listed programs that focused on animals, senior citizens, and combinations of the two. Female offenders in a prison in Pennsylvania were described as having ‘‘contributed nearly 2,900 hours to the construction of a bird rehabilitation building, in which birds can learn to fly in a safe, controlled environment’’ (Tischler, 1999, p. 88). A more consequential construction project (in South Dakota) was described as supplying elderly citizens with ‘‘affordable, low-maintenance, energy efficient, homes in their hometowns where they have friends and family ties.’’ The homes in question were all constructed in the prison, and transported to small rural communities (Harry, 1999, p. 89). In Oklahoma inmates rescued dogs from animal shelters, trained them, and donated them as pets to the elderly. According to the program’s director, ‘‘most of the recipients are alone. The pets help put meaning back into their lives.’’ The official also testified that ‘‘I’ve been in corrections since 1976 and this is one of the only truly productive programs that I’ve seen’’ (Clayton, p. 87). From a camp infelicitously called the Deadwood Corrections Camp, prison crews debarked to fight California forest fires. The correctional lieutenant running this program explained that ‘‘the inmates get a feeling of self-worth and a feeling of accomplishment,’’ and ‘‘society is repaid.’’ Some members of local society (a county board of supervisors) presented the inmate firefighters with a formal certificate of appreciation (Tischler, 1999, p. 84).

The June 1998 issue of Corrections Today described a Wisconsin program in which prisoners refurbished donated wheelchairs, ‘‘to supply mobility with dignity to those individuals who have no insurance or no financial means to acquire medical equipment’’ (Harry, 1998, p. 92). In a second Wisconsin program, inmates constructed birdhouses for endangered birds and ‘‘rocking horses and toys for Head Start and other community agencies.’’ The warden of this institution explained:

We need to do what we can to give back to the community and offenders need to be a part of that, to provide some kind of restitution. The inmates feel good about doing this, and maybe for the first time in their lives they’ve gotten some positive feedback from. . .their communities. (Tischler, 1998, p. 84)

A prisoner-participant alluded to feedback as the ‘‘warmth in the smile of an elder and the spark of happiness in a child’s eye over receiving something we’ve learned to take pride in’’ (p. 84). Similar sentiments were expressed in a program in Arizona in which prisoners transcribed children’s books into Braille. According to the officer running this program, ‘‘the inmates receive satisfaction from their roles in shedding some light into the dark world of blind kids’’ (Harry, 1998, p. 93). A program in Iowa produced innumerable book-to-tape transcriptions for the disabled and educational institutions. In one instance, ‘‘a tutorial manual of Microsoft systems for Iowa’s Commission for the Blind that was so well-received, the tape was posted on the Internet and has received inquiries from as far away as Japan and Ireland’’ (Harry, 1998, p. 86).

In some accounts, the accomplishments of the inmates and of prisons are meticulously quantified. The New York State prison system, for example, has reported that during a twoweek ice storm ‘‘952 (prison) employees and 8,893 inmates worked for more than 68,000 hours clearing trees and other debris from roads. [One New York State prison] filled more than 21,100 sandbags. . .. By the end of the storm, [the prisons] had served 392,000 meals to shelters in neighboring towns’’ (Tischler, 1998, p. 87).

Projects such as these reflect correctional policies that may easily be in tune with public sentiments. The Vermont State Department of Corrections conducted consumers’ surveys and reported the results of the study under the subheading ‘‘Market Research Finds Support for Restorative Justice’’ (Gorczyk and Perry). According to the authors—the Commissioner of the Department and the Director of Planning—‘‘the public wants the process [of corrections] to be positive—one that adds value, not simply one that adds cost’’ (p. 79). The authors concluded that ‘‘the people want justice that is restorative rather than retributive. . .. They want us to provide offenders with the opportunities to improve the quality of life, not spend a small fortune to inflict pain on the offender’’ (p. 83).

Officials in Vermont claimed that ‘‘these findings have driven our policy and planning’’ (p. 83). If other states follow Vermont’s lead, this development could significantly affect the prospects of constructive change in corrections.

The Prospects for Ameliorating Prison Problems

There are a number of reasons why the resolution (or nonresolution) of prison problems is hard to predict. The most important reason is that we cannot know whether prisons will become more or less crowded over time. In the past, the task of predicting prison populations appeared easy. The assumption was that as crime increases, more offenders would get arrested. As more offenders were arrested, more of them would be convicted and imprisoned. The extent of prison congestion could therefore be extrapolated from increases in the crime rate. The competing assumption was equally easy to advance. It was that as imprisonment rates go up, the definition of crime would get less stringent, and if prison cells were emptied, offense definitions would be relaxed. One would therefore predict that imprisonment rates would remain constant over time.

Prison populations in fact had been steady over a period of several decades. Then crime rates and prison populations escalated substantially. The standard prediction (crime drives prisons) therefore looked plausible, until crime rates began to decrease while prison populations continued to increase. One could, of course, then assume that crime rates had decreased because more offenders had been incapacitated, but the relationship (increasing imprisonment, decreasing crime) had not been in evidence on other historical occasions.

When prisons are very crowded some observers conclude that there are too many people in prisons, and others infer that the number of prisons is inadequate. The latter argument, however, becomes difficult to apply in practice because the cost of prisons begins to compete with the price of schooling and other valued services. We now know that sentencing policies do matter. But the question then becomes, What is it that drives sentencing policies? It has been fashionable to blame public opinion (according to polls, the public wants offenders imprisoned) but retributive public sentiments have been voiced in earlier periods of time. Zimring and Hawkins note that ‘‘if negative public views caused increases in prison population, the population would be ceaselessly spiraling upward’’ (p. 129).

Moreover, public opinion does not endorse specific restrictive sentencing provisions. Zimring and Hawkins wrote:

The most significant element of public attitudes toward crime and criminals may operate principally at the symbolic level, so that what the public wants from participants in political debate is symbolic denunciations of criminals rather than concrete plans for action in the criminal justice system. If disapproval is the principal currency in the politics of crime and punishment, it need not have any fixed rate of exchange with factors like prison population. (p. 126)

Public opinion favors revised sentencing policies when ‘‘reform’’ advocates entice public opinion to support their cause. This has been the case most dramatically in gubernatorial campaigns, which have uniformly exploited the fear of crime (Davey). In 1994, the New York Times pointed out that ‘‘the governors were so united in seizing on crime that some tossed off the same applause lines.’’ The governor of Mississippi, for example, said that ‘‘I will fight with every breath in my body to see that the criminals we take off the streets serve their time. And if that means that we have to build a bigger jail house, then hand me a shovel, stand back, and we’ll get it built’’ (1994). Some governors advocated the return of chain gangs, which for a time made the United States a laughing stock abroad, and caused howls of outrage in the corrections profession.

Politicians have consistently undersold the fact—which has been repeatedly documented by studies of opinion in depth—that citizens approve of rehabilitation and have faith in its effectiveness (Toch). This public opinion is primarily targeted at the nonviolent offenders whose influx has been responsible for prison congestion. The diversion of such offenders from prison and the expansion of substance abuse programs and of educational offerings have thus been congruent with public opinion.

The moderate stance of the public has contributed to the proliferation of proposals for attenuating ‘‘get tough’’ provisions that are now on the books. But since there is also a fear among politicians of being cast as ‘‘soft on crime,’’ it is impossible to predict how many ameliorative counterreforms will end up being enacted. And if one cannot predict the reform of sentencing reforms, one cannot extrapolate the effects of legislation on the prison population, and on programming in prisons.

The sentence-expanding trend may not have run its course, and ‘‘get tough’’ provisions can conflict with rehabilitative goals. In New York, for example, parole officers are now charged with case-managing substance abusers, while legislation is simultaneously pending to abolish parole for felons. The outcome of political battles that are still in progress will determine the probable future of prison systems.

Society has not resolved the question of the proper use of the criminal justice system, including prisons, in dealing with drug offenders. While decriminalization is not a likely option in the United States, a de-escalation of the war on drugs could occur, with greater emphasis on prevention programs. General Barry McCaffrey, who directed President Clinton’s drug control policy, made this very point in a speech about sentencing policies—policies that he said ‘‘have caused thousands of low-level and first-time offenders to be incarcerated at high cost for long sentences that are disproportionate to their crimes.’’ The general concluded:

It is clear that we cannot arrest our way out of the problem of chronic drug abuse and drug-driven crime. We cannot continue to apply policies and programs that do not deal with the root causes of substance abuse and attendant crime. What is needed is smart drug policy linked to a flexible and rational criminal justice system. What matters is whether our system works to end the cycle of drug abuse and crime. (Wren, 29 June 1999)

General McCaffrey’s conclusion could head a roster of viable prospects for the amelioration of prison problems, which might include the following propositions:

• Imprisonment could be reserved for drug offenders who require treatment in structured, institutional environments. Other substance abusers could be assigned to therapeutic settings in the community, under criminal justice auspices.
• Special programming strategies could be developed for inmates who are long-term residents in the prison. Such strategies could involve sentence planning, sequences of progressive experiences or career steps, discriminable stages or phases of prison adjustment, and periodic reevaluations.
• Provision could be made for the early release of long-term prisoners who no longer pose a danger to the community. Such provisions have to include combinations of risk assessment and inventories of coping capabilities, with bridging experiences to the challenges of community life preceding release.
• Special settings in prison could be multiplied for prisoners with special needs. Such settings would have to include age-graded institutions and units for those prisoners who have limited coping competence. New settings would have to be established for inmates who are disruptive and emotionally disturbed and do not belong in conventional segregation settings.
• It is essential for all prisoners to be meaningfully occupied. Meaningfulness of activities can be enhanced by multiplying opportunities for offenders to contribute to the community at large, such as by rendering services to the disabled and disadvantaged.

Finally, correctional facilities would have to live up to their name: prisons can be managed to be effective without being inhumane or gratuitously punitive. It has been an elementary assumption in corrections that offenders are sent to prison as punishment and not for punishment. Imprisonment must of necessity be uncomfortable, but this does not mean that it needs to be stultifying or destructive. The challenge for prisons is to find ways to ensure that inmates use the time they must spend in confinement to improve their chances of becoming law-abiding, well adjusted, and contributing members of society after serving their sentences.

Bibliography:

• BERKE, RICHARD ‘‘Governors’ 1994 Message: Crime, Crime and Crime.’’ New York Times 24 January 1994.
• Bureau of Justice Statistics. HIV in Prisons and Jails, 1995. Washington, D.C.: Office of Justice Programs, 1997 Bulletin.
• Bureau of Justice Statistics. Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear, 1998. Washington, D.C.: Office of Justice Programs, 1999 Bulletin.
• CHRISTIANSON, SCOTT. With Liberty for Some: 500 Years of Imprisonment in America. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1998.
• CLAYTON, SUSAN ‘‘Friends for Folks.’’ Corrections Today 61, no. 3 (1999): 87.
• DAVEY, JOSEPH DILLON. The Politics of Prison Expansion: Winning Elections by Waging War on Crime. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1998.
• DRUMMOND, TAMMERLIN. ‘‘Cellblock Seniors.’’ Time, 21 June 1999, p. 60.
• GORCZYK, JOHN, and PERRY, JOHN G. ‘‘What the Public Wants: Market Research Finds Support for Restorative Justice.’’ Corrections Today 59, no. 4 (1997): 78–83.
• HARRY, JENNIFER ‘‘Bringing Iowans Together.’’ Corrections Today 60, no. 3 (1998): 86.
• HARRY, JENNIFER ‘‘A ‘Touching’ Inmate Program.’’ Corrections Today 60, no. 3 (1998): 93.
• HARRY, JENNIFER ‘‘Wisconsin on Wheels.’’ Corrections Today 60, no. 3 (1998): 92.
• HARRY, JENNIFER ‘‘Affordable Senior Housing: Benefits Many.’’ Corrections Today 61, no. 3 (1999): 89.
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Guide for Implementing the Balanced and Restorative Justice Model. Washington, D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1998.
• PARENT, DALE; DUNWORTH, TERENCE; MCDONALD, DOUGLAS; and RHODES, WILLIAM. Key Legislative Issues in Criminal Justice: Mandatory Sentencing. Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Justice, Research in Action, 1997.
• ROSS, PHYLLIS HARRISON, and LAWRENCE, JAMES. ‘‘Health Care for Women Offenders.’’ In Turnstile Justice: Issues in American Corrections. Edited by Ted Alleman and Rosemary Gido. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1998. Pages 176–191.
• TISCHLER, ERIC. ‘‘Breaking the Ice.’’ Corrections Today 60, no. 3 (1998): 87.
• TISCHLER, ERIC. ‘‘Making Amends, Building Futures.’’ Corrections Today 60, no. 3 (1998): 84.
• TISCHLER, ERIC. ‘‘Learning to Fly.’’ Corrections Today 61, no. 3 (1999): 88.
• TISCHLER, ERIC. ‘‘Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire.’’ Corrections Today 61, no. 3 (1999): 84.
• TOCH, HANS. Corrections: A Humanistic Approach. Guilderland, N.Y.: Harrow and Heston, 1997.
• VAN NESS, DANIEL, and STRONG, KAREN HEETDERKS. Restoring Justice. Cincinnati, Ohio: Anderson Publishing Company, 1997.
• WINES, FREDERICK HOWARD. ‘‘Historical Introduction.’’ In Prison Reform. Edited by Charles Richmond Henderson. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1910.
• WREN, CHRISTOPHER ‘‘Arizona Finds Cost Savings in Treating Drug Offenders: Probation Program, not Prisons, for Addicts.’’ New York Times, 21 April 1999.
• WREN, CHRISTOPHER ‘‘White House Drug Official Fights Mandatory Sentences.’’ New York Times, 29 June 1999.
• ZIMRING, FRANKLIN, and HAWKINS, GORDON. The Scale of Punishment. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.

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The Importance of Health Care for Prisons Research Paper

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Introduction

Review of literature.

Over the past few years, prisoners have shared their experiences in prison facilities, and most have contributed worrying testimonies. Factors needed to ensure the safety and comfort of inmates include proper holding conditions, rational decision-making, adequate supplies for food and other necessities, adequate staffing and training of prison attendees, and provision of necessary support to prisoners. Prisons are considered correctional facilities where inmates are brought to change their behavior and learn how to live well with others rather than a place of extreme punishments. However, factors such as poor habitable spaces, poor sanitation, inadequate staffing, inadequate medical services, and poor rehabilitative services have been reported to cause the failure of correctional facilities.

Being a passionate medical health practitioner, I love to ensure that the health of society is always put first. Therefore, my choice for this topic developed due to the healthcare concerns in prison facilities. Additionally, I am concerned about the people of black culture who receive considerably longer prison terms and under bad conditions. I also have friends and family members who serve prison terms, and some are experiencing medical conditions that need attention that they fail to receive. Therefore, this paper explores the healthcare conditions within prison facilities, how prisons deal with them, racial disparity in healthcare provision, and solutions to the problems.

Racial Disparity in Health Conditions among Prisoners

To determine whether there is equity in healthcare provision in prisons, this paper reviewed a study by Nowotny et al. (2017), which describes the similarity between healthcare disparity in prisons and the general population. Nowotny and colleagues paint a comprehensive picture of the country’s health by comparing health inequalities between the black and white races among prisoners to gaps in the noninstitutionalized community (Nowotny et al., 2017). The results show that although there is multiple health selection in prison for blacks and whites, population health estimations underestimate the true health burden in the United States prisons.

Additionally, inmates experience poorer health outcomes than the general population, but black inmates are worse off, indicating a different health selection when entering jail. Health problems, especially for black inmates, become more common when prisoners’ health is included in public health estimation, meaning that prisoners receive little medical attention (Nowotny et al., 2017). Therefore, the United States government should spend more on prisoners’ health and ensure equity in healthcare access.

Mental and Physical Health in Prison

Most prisoners undergo some episodes of mental health challenges that inhibit their ability to control their emotions. According to Semenza and Groshloz (2019), prisoners’ misbehavior can be associated with inmates’ demography and experience with the criminal justice system. Semenza and Groshloz argued that the poor health condition in cells contributes significantly to stress, depression, or anxiety that might result in drug use and, consequently, misconduct. For instance, prisoners dealing with physical and mental health conditions have a 48% chance of engaging in non-serious misbehavior (Semenza & Grosholz, 2019). Improving incarcerated individuals’ physical and mental health services will improve health outcomes and reduce deviant behavior (Semenza & Grosholz, 2019). Correctional facilities management should be aware that most inmates require medical care. To give inmates access to healthcare consistent with what is offered in the community, adequate funding should be channeled to prison healthcare programs (Semenza & Grosholz, 2019). Additionally, convicts must seize the chance that comes with their incarceration. Many are in bad health and come from poor, underprivileged neighborhoods. Effective jail treatment ultimately lowers the health concerns of residents of the community since prison health is essential to healthy public health (Semenza & Grosholz, 2019). Therefore, providing them with quality health will improve their conditions and enable them to have better prison terms.

Healthcare in Prisons During COVID-19

Healthcare services in developing countries and poor regions are alarming. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the longstanding challenges that prisoners face. For instance, during the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, most prisoners were denied the chance to interact with their families and friends (Mutingh, 2020). Although it was a positive measure to curb the spread of the pandemic, it increased the suffering of prisoners. Prisoners need family and friends for material and emotional support, which enables them to stress and depression (Nowotny et al., 2017). Nonetheless, it was difficult for prisons to curb the spread of diseases due to congestion in the prisons and cells.

There is a great need to add new prison facilities fitted with basic resources to reduce congestion in facilities and make jail terms more bearable. Courts should avoid overcrowding using non-custodial strategies, such as sending criminals to community service for petty crimes (Mutingh, 2020). Such methods are good since they help reduce health risks, a recommended concept in nursing practice.

Race and Punishment in American Prisons

Most American prisons, just like many parts of the world, are overcrowded with prisoners. This leads to a problem of staff maintaining order within correctional facilities. For instance, one correctional officer oversees 70-100 inmates. The staff must make harsh decisions to deal with problematic prisoners and may subject the prisoner to unfavorable living conditions, such as solitary confinement (Olson, 2016). For instance, 2.3% of black Americans were imprisoned in 2007 compared to less than 1% of white Americans (Olson, 2016). Black inmates have higher chances of solitary punishment than their white counterparts (Olson, 2016). In the United States, blacks are often stereotyped as being more violent and aggressive. Solitary confinement has long-term health challenges since the inmates develop survival mechanisms to cope with their environment. This may include the development of antisocial behavior and drug use to reduce the loneliness of solitary confinement (Olson, 2016). Unfortunately, these behaviors do not stop upon release, and the prisoners might face difficulty stopping them. Failure to overcome their anxiety makes the prisoners more depressed and develop mental health problems (Olson, 2016). As passionate healthcare practitioners, institutions should avoid race-based treatment of inmates and provide mental health services for all inmates.

Prison Healthcare Governance

Clinical independence is crucial for effective healthcare and healthcare professionals in prison facilities. International standards define the independent delivery of clinical services as a crucial component of quality health care in prison settings (Pont et al., 2018). Based on the World Medical Association, healthcare practitioners should perform their activities in an independent environment where their roles are not affected by third parties (Pont et al., 2018). This principle is critical in a prison setting where prisoners’ relationship with the prison healthcare staff is not based on free will.

Correctional healthcare providers are often required to conduct specific tests on their patients to prove that they are fit for punishment when no symptoms require such tests. The process may include retrieval of body fluid to test for drugs, body cavity searches, and solitary confinements (Pont et al., 2018). In detention institutions, it is frequently difficult for prisoners to express their right to self-determination (dissent or informed consent).

For instance, while a patient’s appointment with a doctor in the free world implies basic consent for the doctor to diagnose the patient and offer treatment, such implied consent is not available in prison. This is because prisoners are not allowed to select their doctor or treatment plans, and the prison’s healthcare professionals are commanded to conduct the examinations by the administration rather than the patient (Pont et al., 2018). Although there are limited training opportunities in medical ethics accessible to prison healthcare workers, jail environments typically have a shortage of awareness of healthcare ethics, particularly a grasp of the significance of clinical independence (Pont et al., 2018). Human rights should be considered in healthcare services, and correctional facilities should avoid forcing prisoners into unfavorable medical practices.

Due to inadequate resources and time, the study was limited to a literature review on healthcare practices in prisons. Concepts of racial disparity and poor healthcare service were found to be dominant in correctional facilities. Furthermore, the study revealed that prisoner healthcare service providers do not adhere to medical ethics since patients lack consent in some medical practices conducted in prisons. The study also found that congestion in prison facilities leads to tension between prison staff and inmates and may result in unhealthy punishments. Therefore, governments should develop more prisons and ensure prisoners receive optimal healthcare services. Additionally, Prisons should ensure the independence of healthcare services to allow prisoners to receive the medical services they deserve and allow healthcare practitioners to adhere to their professional ethics.

Mutingh. (2020). Africa, prisons and COVID-19 , Journal of Human Rights Practice , 12 (2), 284–292. Web.

Nowotny, K. M., Rogers, R. G., & Boardman, J. D. (2017). Racial disparities in health conditions among prisoners compared with the general population . SSM-Population Health , 3 , 487-496. Web.

Olson, J. (2016). Race and Punishment in American Prisons , Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory , 26 (4) 758–768. Web.

Pont, J., Enggist, S., Stöver, H., Williams, B., Greifinger, R., & Wolff, H. (2018). Prison health care governance: guaranteeing clinical independence . American journal of public health , 108 (4), 472-476. Web.

Semenza, D.C., Grosholz, J.M. (2019). Mental and physical health in prison: how co-occurring conditions influence inmate misconduct . Health Justice 7, 1. Web.

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NIC technical assistance provides a range of services designed to help corrections agencies succeed. From training and mentoring to on-site assistance and program implementation, NIC's technical assistance experts have the experience and expertise to help agencies address their unique challenges and achieve their goals. Technical assistance can help agencies improve staff training and development, enhance offender programming, and implement evidence-based practices. NIC technical assistance also offers support for emerging trends and issues in corrections, including staff wellness, diversity, equity, and inclusion. With NIC technical assistance, corrections agencies can access the resources and expertise they need to improve operations, enhance outcomes, and make a meaningful difference in the lives of staff and offenders.

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In 2020, NIC provided technical assistance to the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) to improve the agency's reentry programming. Through a comprehensive needs assessment and consultation with ADOC staff, NIC experts helped the agency identify areas for improvement and develop strategies to enhance reentry services for offenders. The technical assistance included staff training and development, program implementation, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation. As a result of this technical assistance, ADOC was able to improve the quality and effectiveness of its reentry programming and better support the successful reintegration of offenders into their communities.

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Corrections Stress refers to the emotional challenges faced by correctional personnel and the potentially cumulative negative side effects of what staff experience through daily interactions with justice-involved individuals and immersion in uniquely challenging workplace conditions.

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The Evidenced-Based Workforce Training Series - based on evidence-based practices - shows staff how to combine cognitive behavioral interventions with motivational interviewing techniques to address offenders’ gainful attachment to the workforce and/or job loss. This “hand in glove” approach supports the honest exploration of thoughts, feelings, and beliefs affecting offender

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Research Paper Topics On Prison: 10 Suggestions For College Students

One of the major assignments that you will have to write in school is a research paper. When you are writing a research paper, you will come up with a general topic to write about. Then you will read up on it until you can come up with a research question to write about. This will be a question that you will try to answer through your readings.

The topic that you choose to write about is important. You will spend a lot of time reading about the topic and if you enjoy it then it will be a lot easier. That is why you always want to make sure that you are interested in the topic before you get started.

Once you have your topic, you will then work to develop an outline. If you are struggling to develop a strong outline, go to your second choice. Develop an outline for that one. If it is strong, then you have found your topic. Here are a few suggestions that will help you decide on what topic you want to write your research paper on in regards to prison.

• Arson and fires

Conduct a study on the rate of fires and arson in the justice centers and jails across the country. Determine what factors can lead to these breakouts.

• Drug violence

Drugs are a huge problem on the streets and in the jail system.

• Alcohol problems in prison

Study ways that alcohol is getting into the prisons and what can be done about it.

• Prison gangs

Conduct a study on a certain prison gang.

Conduct a study on how extortion is handled inside the prison.

• Training correctional officers

Learn about the correctional officers and what they are trained to do.

• Child molesters in prison

Conduct a study on what happens to child molesters in prison.

• Study programs

What study programs are inmates offered in prison?

• Health care

Conduct a study on the health care system in prison and how it is helpful to inmates.

• Reform programs

Conduct research on the various reform programs that are offered in prisons throughout the country.

Check this site out. It will help you write an effective research paper. They can walk you through the process of developing a strong topic, deciding on a research question, locating some sources, developing an outline, and much more.

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A Plan to Promote Defense Research at Minority-Serving Institutions

Engaging the full breadth of talent in the United States is an important component of growing and sustaining dominance in research and development (R&D) and supporting national security into the future. By 2030, one-fifth of Americans will be above age 65 and at or nearing retirement from the workforce. Estimates of race and ethnic demographic changes between 2016 and 2030 show a decrease in the non-Hispanic white population and an increase in terms of both number and share of all other demographic groups, and this trend will continue to increase. These population shifts signal a citizenry and workforce that will be increasingly diverse. For the United States to maintain its global competitiveness and protect its security interests, targeted support is needed to cultivate talent from communities throughout the nation.

The nation's more than 800 Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) provide an impactful and cost-effective opportunity to focus on cultivating the current and future U.S. population for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), including in fields critical to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). At the request of DOD, this report identifies tangible frameworks for increasing the participation of MSIs in defense-related research and development and identifies the necessary mechanisms for elevating minority serving institutions to R1 status (doctoral universities with very high research activity) on the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education scale.

RESOURCES AT A GLANCE

• Building Research Capacity at Minority Institutions: Figures of Research Expenditure and Facility Space by Field
• Building Research Capacity at Minority Institutions: Tables of Research Expenditure and Facility Space by Field

COMMISSIONED PAPERS

• Building Up Research Capacity at Minority Institutions
• Education — Higher Education
• Education — Policy, Reviews and Evaluations

Suggested Citation

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. A Plan to Promote Defense Research at Minority-Serving Institutions . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/27838. Import this citation to: Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager

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Looks and Gaming: Who and Why?

We investigate the relationship between physical attractiveness and the time people devote to video/computer gaming. Average American teenagers spend 2.6% of their waking hours gaming, while for adults this figure is 2.7%. Using the American Add Health Study, we show that adults who are better-looking have more close friends. Arguably, gaming is costlier for them, and they thus engage in less of it. Physically attractive teens are less likely to engage in gaming at all, whereas unattractive teens who do game spend more time each week on it than other gamers. Attractive adults are also less likely than others to spend any time gaming; and if they do, they spend less time on it than less attractive adults. Using the longitudinal nature of the Add Health Study, we find supportive evidence that these relationships are causal for adults: good looks decrease gaming time, not vice-versa.

We are grateful for helpful comments from Sarah Jewell, Simonetta Longhi, Samantha Rawlings, Rachel Scarfe, Dominik Schreyer, and Paul Telemo. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

MARC RIS BibTeΧ

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