NCJ Number
76950
Date Published
1977
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This preliminary report on the impacts of Virginia's Mecklenburg Correctional Center documents some of the opinions and concerns expressed by members of the center's task force before the institution was opened.
Abstract
The center, first occupied in March 1977, is a maximum security institution designed to control and treat the problem inmate who has demonstrated an inability or an unwillingness to function in other institutions. Interviews in January 1977 revealed that most task force members felt that the center should provide maximum security and attempt maximum rehabilitation. The center was also expected to have a deterrent effect on inmates throughout Virginia's system. The members agreed that security at the center was different from that in other institutions and cited the physical design, the phase concept, and the restrictions on peer association as examples. Similarly, the task force emphasized the individualized treatment concept and the attention on changing behavior (as opposed to teaching vocational skills) as the two ways in which the center's treatment program should differ from those at other institutions. Various measures for assessing the program's effectiveness were suggested. These fell into categories dealing with either followup information about individual inmates or aggregate types of measures (such as number of assaults). The members also agreed that once an inmate was unsuccessful at the center, little else could be done except to keep the inmate under maximum security and provide opportunities for rehabilitative efforts. While many questions remained, some answers are expected to result from planned evaluation projects which will assess the personality and behavior of center inmates, the center's effects on inmates, and its impacts on other institutions. Appendixes identify the members interviewed and list the survey questions. Data tables are not included. (Author abstract modified)