NCJ Number
106834
Date Published
1985
Length
37 pages
Annotation
The conditions at the Bayview Correctional Facility, a medium-security institution for women in New York City, were examined to gain a sense of how women are treated in the State correctional system.
Abstract
Onsite inspections took place on 4 days in 1983 and 1984. Study information came from meetings with inmates, administrators, civilian staff, State corrections officials, members of the Bayview Advisory Board, and criminal justice experts. The analysis focused on overcrowding, medical care, academic and vocational programs, counseling, communication with the outside world, and the food service. The physical structure and design are inadequate. Essential services cannot be delivered properly when the program is at 100-percent capacity. Male guards predominate, but the history of sexual abuse at Bayview indicates the need for the use of only female correctional officers in the housing areas and medical unit. Medical care, programs, and counseling all need to be improved. Inmates need more contact with the outside world and more sanitary food preparation conditions. State policymakers and administrators are responsible for the lack of energy and resources provided to Bayview and for the disturbing array of continuing problems at the facility. Footnotes and appended tables.