final Flashcards
Corporal Punishment
punishments involving direct harm to the human body
William Penn
Developed the first American prison system
William Penn and the Quakers
very concerned with finding a better way to deal with torture; ordered houses of corrections to be built; imprisonment at hard labor and moderate flogging with restitution
Auburn System
sometimes called tier system; based on fear of punishment and silent confinement; congregate work conditions; separate and silent conditions at night
Reformatory Movement
late 1800s; rehab was best purpose; Zebulon Brockway was the warden of Elmira Reformatory in New York (first to employ this approach); advocate indeterminate sentences
Rehabilitation Model
1950s-1960s; based on medical model; emphasized need to restore an offender to a constructive place in society through some form of vocational or educational training or therapy
Federal Prison System
Federal Bureau of Prisons operates this system; maintain institutions at 6 security levels; population contains more inmates convicted of white collar crime than state institution; drug offenders make up about 60% of the incarcerated population; less than 7% have committed violent crimes
Jail characteristics
- a branch of local government-county
- pre trial detention
- detain offenders awaiting sentencing
- confine misdemeanants
- hold probation and parole violators
- Relieve prison overcrowding through contracts with the state
Overcrowding in prisons and jails
- 37 states operating under court orders
- state prisons are over 100% capacity
- some responses: double/triple bunking, tents and military bases, river barges, use of local jails
Characteristics of prison inmates
95% male; 17% hispanic, 46% black, 35% white; age 18-24 21%, 25-34 46%,35-44 23%, 45-54 7% 55 and older 3%; 8th grade or less 19%, some high school 46%, high school graduate 22%, some college or more 12%; drug offenses 21.3%, public order offenses 6.9%, violent offenses 46.6%, property offenses 24.8%
minimum security
white collar criminals; no armed guards, wall or even perimeter fences, low risk inmates
Medium security
less escape prone, series of fences and enclosures with fewer guard towers, movements less controlled and surveillance less vigilant
Maximum security
walled fortresses of concrete and steel that house the most serious, aggressive offenders
Supermax security
highly restrictive, high-custody housing unit within a secure institution that isolates inmates from the general prison population and from each other
Exchange Relationships
purported to help correctional officers obtain inmate cooperation where officers will tolerate minor rule infractions in exchange for compliance for major aspects of the custodial regime
Classification
process through which the educational, vocational, treatment and custodial needs of the offender are determined
Women in Prison
much less violent than men; vocational focus more on women’s duties: cooking, cleaning, etc.; allowed to visit their children
Limits of total power
Hierarchy that limits powers: commissioner, warden, deputy warden
Vocational Programs
provide inmates with skills and employment for employment after release; often outdated and irrelevant to acquiring meaningful work outside of prison
Rehabilitative Programs
attempt to remove alleged defects in social and psychological development
Total institution
An environment that regulates every aspect of the individuals it encompasses and erects barriers to social interchange from the outside world. Large groups of people live together day and night, in a fixed area and under a tightly scheduled sequence of activities imposed by a central authority
Prisonization
internalization of the prisons norms and values
Contraband
an item that is not issued or authorized in a prison
“chivalry” factor
men feel bad about putting women in jail so not many women are in jail
Social Structure of women’s prisons
Cottage system: more freedom with more security checks; squares: first time prisoners; professionals: view prison as getting in the way of their career shoplifters; repeat offenders: prostitutes, working since their teen years; custodial staff: values similar to those in mens prisons
Causes and characteristics of violence in prison
- inmates are violence prone
- Prisons convert people to violence (survival mentality)
- Prison mismanagement
- Overcrowding
- Breaking inmate code
- violence
- death
Balancing Test
a test in which opposing rights, interests, or policies are assigned a degree or level of importance and the ruling of the court is determined by which is considered greater
Writ of Habeas Corpus
latin for “you should have the body”; A writ issued by a court commanding the person who holds another in captivity to produce the prisoner in court so that the legality of the prisoners confinement can be adjudicated.
Jailhouse Lawyers
inmates who assist other inmates in the preparation of legal documents
Procunier v. Martinez
prison-mail censorship is constitutional only when the practice must promote substantial government interests such as security, order, or rehab; and the restrictions must not be greater than necessary to satisfy the particular government interest involved
Ruffin v. Commonwealth
inmates are ‘slaves of the state’ therefore have no legal rights (can’t vote, sit on jury, sign contracts, marriage, run for house, etc.)
Johnson v. Avery
inmates must be given access to legal access, authorized “jailhouse lawyers” if prisons weren’t providing legal assistance
Sandin v. Conner
determined that in order to challenge the conditions of confinement, an inmate must show due deference on the part of a prison official
Recidivism
rearrest, reconviction, technical violations; did the offender do “it” again
Extent of the use of probation
more therapeutic alternative, for people that are not dangerous or a menace to society. prevent from the ex con label
John Augustus
Boston shoemaker; “father of probation”; first probation officer; saved a man from corrections by aiding him in becoming a sober man
Conditions of Probation
probationer must live a law-abiding and productive life; special conditions can be added (drug treatment/testing, etc.); conditions try to balance the needs of treatment and rehab v. supervision and enforcement
Conditions of Parole
comply with the law, maintain employment or education and support dependents, refrain from use of drugs or alcohol, report to parole officer upon release or periodically after, cooperate with parole officer, notify/get permission to change employment or residence
Paper clients
in the triage, considered the least harmful and need the least attention; simple
Dangerous men
in the triage, considered the most harmful, high risk offenders
Educational Program
getting education, a GED
Net Widening
providing alternatives to incarceration or diversion programs to direct offenders away from court
Furloughs
an authorized, unescorted absence from a correctional institution for a specified period of time
Gagnon v. Scarpelli
before revocation can occur, a 2 stage hearing must take place and due process must be followed in the proceedings
Mempa v. Rhay
it was held that a probationer had a constitutional right to counsel at any revocation proceeding
Morrisey v. Brewer
the supreme court ruling that a parolee facing revocation is entitled to both a preliminary hearing to determine whether he or she actually violated parole and a final hearing to consider not only the facts in question but also if there was a violation, what to do about it
Alexander Maconochie
“father of parole”; Warden of Australian prison; believed prisoner were capable of reformation; prisoners could earn their way from 3 grades by good work and behavior; ticket of leave which provided conditional liberty
Sir Walter Crofton
Applied Maconochie’s “ticket of leave”, a conditional release for the remainder of the sentence, and the first use of parole as it is known today, to Irish Prison System; Attached conditions to the leave which could result in one being returned to prison
Discretionary Release
release of inmates in which the decision to release is made by a parole board
Mandatory Release
a type of release in which inmates serve a determinate sentence and are then released, but with a period of supervision to follow
Unconditional Release
a type of release in which inmates serve the full portion of their sentence and have no supervision after release from prison
Presumptive Parole Date
a date the inmate can expect to be released on parole, even if it is five or ten years later than the hearing
