NCJ Number
150436
Date Published
1991
Length
19 pages
Annotation
After describing the historical development of and trends in the use of America's jails and prisons, this chapter profiles inmate populations and discusses the origins and nature of the social worlds inmates construct and inhabit while confined, followed by an analysis of the contextual sources of variation in official use of penal confinement in the United States.
Abstract
Correctional reform movements eventually produced the individualized treatment model for corrections. Within this approach, inmates were viewed as persons in need of therapy and counseling to achieve their rehabilitation and reintegration into society. In recent years, this model has been replaced by a custody model, whereby inmates are viewed as in need of punishment and incapacitation. This shift has produced a serious crowding problem in jails and prisons. What once was a semicontrolled environment now is often chaotic, with staff having less control over inmates and with inmate gangs having less control over one another, issuing in violent conflict. Policymakers must begin to place what goes on in the prisons and on the streets in the context of larger social issues, especially governmental attempts to control problems that stem from societal economic policies. Until continuing and increasing criminogenic conditions are addressed by governmental entities, there is little reason to believe that much will change in correctional institutions in the near future. 2 tables