Touch of Discipline: Accountability and Discipline in Prison Systems in Western Europe (From Crime in Europe, P 133-150, 1991, Frances Heidensohn and Martin Farrell, eds. -- See NCJ-133051)

• NCJ Number: 133060
• Author(s): J Vagg
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Routledge
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This examination of systems of inmate discipline in England, Wales, France, and West Germany considers how far prison governors are accountable to others for inmate disciplinary procedures and punishments and also addresses the relationship between disciplinary proceedings, administrative "punishments in effect," and grievance procedures.

Abstract

Regarding the accountability of prison governors for disciplinary procedures and punishments, this study found that in principle governors have less discretion when inmate offenses are serious. The extent to which practice complies with policy, however, varies with the predilections of the governor and the preoccupations of the regional and central administration. The types of punishments vary between England and Wales and the other countries studied with England and Wales giving substantial powers of loss of remission to governors and the other two countries relying on the use of confinement to cell and the punishment cells. The English 3-tier system should mean that fewer cases are sent to the courts than in the other countries, but data indicate this is not so. Internal controls on disciplinary decisions are in most cases weak or nonexistent. The major means of accountability lies in the courts and the complaints system. There is a correlation between the severity of punishment that can be given and a lack of means of redress. This study concludes with an examination of how prison conditions and inmate rights impinge on prison discipline and its future development in the four countries. 2 tables