NCJ Number
84116
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 46 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1982) Pages: 9-12
Date Published
1982
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The institutional unrest that is accompanying greater inmate freedom and power in Western correctional systems is an improvement over the ordered quiet of repressive correctional systems in other countries, but discipline and purposeful activity is required to balance the climate of new freedom.
Abstract
There are countries where the conditions for prisoners are atrocious but where riots are unknown and attacks on staff are unthinkable. Prisoners do not feel they are treated unjustly. Such resignation in the face of repressive conditions may be philosophical or traditional, an outgrowth of generations of pacifist Buddhism or Hindu fatalism or an ingrained habit of conforming to authority in a hierarchical society. Western correctional reform has taken the risk of undergoing reforms that give offenders more of a taste of democratic freedoms while under correctional supervision. Frequently, greater unrest and violence has accompanied this increase and expectation of freedom. To many, inmates and staff alike, the reforms which have aimed at improving the atmosphere of prisons have increased the climate of fear and disorder. Such a condition does not warrant a return to repressive corrections, but it does call for the development of clear policies that define the parameters of freedom and the consequences of abusing freedom. Further, inmate freedom must be guided into purposeful activity in accordance with the model of normative community living.