Chapter 12

1. Chapter 12 Contemporary Prison Life

2. Prison life The prison is a total institution, in which everything is tightly controlled and structured.

3. Prison life

4. Prison life Sykes' five pains of imprisonment … • Deprivation of liberty • Deprivation of goods and services • Deprivation of heterosexual relationships • Deprivation of autonomy • Deprivation of security

5. Prison life • Inmate subculture • Prison gangs • Supermax prisons • Prison riots and violence

6. Prison life argot roles–Specific patterns of behavior that inmates develop in prison to adjust to the environment.

7. Prison lifeInmate subculture • Rats and center men • Gorillas and merchants • Wolves, punks, and fags • Ball-busters and real men • Toughs and hipsters

8. Prison lifePrison gangs • Mexican Mafia • La Nuestra Familia • Black Guerrilla Family • Aryan Brotherhood

9. Prison lifeSupermax prisons • The modern supermax prison is based on the federal penitentiary at Marion, Illinois which the Bureau of Prisons opened in 1969. • Marion became the first standalone supermax prison in the United States in 1983.

10. Prison lifeSupermax prisons Pelican Bay recalls the separate-and-silent systems in the first prisons in Pennsylvania and Auburn, NY.

11. CrossCurrents Prison life What’s wrong with supermax prisons? • The effects of incarceration are severe. • Supermax prisons are expensive and labor-intensive.

12. Prison lifePrison riots and violence On rare occasions, the inmate's frustrations are shared by others, and the institution’s authority is seriously challenged.

13. Prison lifePrison riots and violence • Attica prison riot • New Mexico State Penitentiary riot

14. CrossCurrents Prison lifeStanford prison experiment • Landmark experiment • Was the experiment ethical? • Shed light on human behavior

15. Working in the prison • The most prevalent job in the prison is the correctional officer or guard. • Lombardo's seven variations of correctional officer job assignments are…

16. Working in the prison • Block officers • Work-detail supervisors • Industrial shop and school officers • Yard officers • Administrative building assignments • Wall posts • Relief officers

17. Working in the prison Correctional guard functions … • Human services • Order maintenance • Security • Supervision

18. Courts and the prison Some opinions... • Inmates are protected by the Constitution. • Inmate legal rights are not totally restricted. • The rights lost by inmates should be only those consistent with confinement and maintaining institutional safety.

19. Courts and the prison • Before the 1960s, the courts cultivated a hands-off doctrine toward inmates' rights. • Cooper v. Pate (1964) began a new era in prison litigation.

20. Courts and the prison • Eighth Amendment • Fourteenth Amendment: due process • Fourteenth Amendment: equal protection

21. CrossCurrentsCourts and the prisonIncarceration and the Mentally Ill • As of 2005, more than half of all prison and jail inmates reported a mental health problem. • Many communities lack the resources or the organization to treat the mentally ill.

22. Courts and the prisonEighth Amendment "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

23. Courts and the prisonFourteenth Amendment "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

24. Courts and the prisonFourteenth Amendment: Due Process The courts determined in Wolff v. McDonnell (1974) that inmates are allowed some due process.

25. Courts and the prisonFourteenth Amendment: Equal Protection • The Fourteenth Amendment addresses racial and gender-based discrimination in the prison. • Discrimination prohibited in society is also prohibited in correctional institutions.

26. Courts and the prisonFourteenth Amendment: Equal Protection • Constitutional expectations of privacy are only partially available to inmates. • The inmate's body is a point of contention.

27. Private prisons • Interest in privatizing prisons began around the mid-1970s, and the first modern private prisons opened in the early 1980s. • With growing inmate populations, many believe that private firms can handle inmates more inexpensively and efficiently.

28. Private prisons The Increasing Imprisonment Rate

29. Private prisonsArguments for private prisons • Money: Private organizations can run prisons more cheaply. • Better employee control: More control over hiring and firing • Flexibility and accountability

30. Private prisonsArguments against private prisons • Money: Profit is more important than inmates. • Better employee control: Staff have less incentive to do a good job. • Control: Private prisons may refuse difficult offenders.

31. Private prisons State and local facilities still take in most inmates. As of 2006, 2.26 million inmates were in state and federal prisons and local jails, an incarceration rate of 751 inmates per 100,000 US residents.

32. Questions • What difficulties do prison staff and officials face in dealing with prison gangs? • How are supermax prisons successful? In what areas do they fall short? • To which constitutional amendments did inmates turn to draw the courts’ attention?