NCJ Number
103696
Date Published
1986
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This paper examines why jails and jail conditions seldom have priority in the political arena and suggests how this might be changed.
Abstract
Average citizens are attentive only to those political issues that actually or potentially affect the quality of their lives. Jails and jail conditions do not impact most citizens, so they are irrelevant and 'invisible' as a political issue. When citizens do think of jails, they are envisioned as functional facilities that constrain unsavory characters they do not know or wish to know. Citizens view jails as the responsibility of professional criminal justice this attitude because it gives them freedom to perform their jobs as they see fit, without conflict or challenge from the community. Jail reform requires that unjust and inhumane jail conditions become an important issue for political action by the general public. This happens as more and more citizens become informed about jail conditions and their consequences not only for the inmates but the community. Jail reform is most likely to be spearheaded from outside the traditional political network in a 'grassroots' movement, since the existing political network is not likely to challenge the status quo. Mobilized citizens can pressure public officials to make jail conditions a visible political issue that requires debate and reform action. 12 references.