NCJ Number
66871
Date Published
1979
Length
359 pages
Annotation
THIS TEXT PRESENTS A JUSTICE MODEL OF PRISON ADMINISTRATION BASED ON THE IDEA THAT JUSTICE--AS FAIRNESS--IS THE PURSUIT WE SHOULD BE INVOLVED WITH IN PRISON RATHER THAN WITH TREATMENT MODELS.
Abstract
IMPETUS FOR THE TEXT CAME FROM A SERIES OF 1973 MIDWESTERN PRISON DISTURBANCES WHICH WERE FOLLOWED BY AN LEAA-SPONSORED CHICAGO MEETING OF STATE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PLANNING DIRECTORS AND CORRECTION DEPARTMENT HEADS. AN OPENING CHAPTER TRACES THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PRISON HERITAGE, A HERITAGE WITH FEW BRIGHT SPOTS. AMONG LANDMARKS DISCUSSED ARE THE DEVELOPMENT OF CELLS OR CUBICLES FOR INDIVIDUAL PRISONERS, THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PRISONER CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS, INTRODUCTION OF PRISON LABOR, THE NEW PENOLOGY OF 1870-1930 THAT SPURNED VINDICTIVE AND CORPORAL PUNISHMENTS AND LAUNCHED REFORMS FOR REHABILITATION OF PRISONERS, AND THE LATER TREATMENT MOVEMENT. CORRECTIONAL HISTORY, IT IS PROPOSED, MAY BE ANALYZED AS A SERIES OF CONFLICTS CENTERING ON SUCCESSFUL AND UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORTS ON THE PART OF THE INMATE TO CHANGE HIS CORRECTIONALLY ASCRIBED STATUS. INMATES' LEGAL STRUGGLE, HOWEVER, MUST BE STUDIED ALONGSIDE THE WORK AND ROLE OF CORRECTIONAL GUARDS. THE PLIGHT OF THE 'KEEPER' IS EXAMINED FOLLOWING THIS HISTORICAL TREATMENT WITH EMPHASIS ON THE INHERENT CONTRADICTIONS, NEGLECT, AND FOSSILIZATION OF THE CUSTODIAN'S ROLE AND ON POSSIBLITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT. TWO RELATED PHENOMENA ARE ALSO EXAMINED: THE REHABILITATION (TREATMENT) PROGRAMS ATTEMPTED IN THE LAST QUARTER OF A CENTURY AND THE GROWING CORRECTIONAL CASE LAW OF THE LAST DECADE. BOTH ARE EXPLORED AS A STRUGGLE BY TREATERS AND PRISONERS TO GAIN POWER IN CORRECTIONAL SETTINGS. THE TEXT ALSO PROPOSES AN OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF CRIMINALITY AND SUGGESTS THAT THE QUEST FOR A SCIENTIFIC UNIFIED THEORY IS FUTILE. IT RECOMMENDS VIEWING THE CRIMINAL AS LARGELY VOLITIONAL AND PROPOSES AN ELABORATE JUSTICE MODEL FOR PRISON ADMINISTRATION. THIS MODEL REQUIRES A HARNESSING OF DISCRETION IN SENTENCING, PAROLE, AND ADMINISTRATION. IT INCLUDES INMATE-STAFF COUNCILS TO RESOLVE INMATE-STAFF CONFLICTS AND TO ADVISE ON CORRECTIONAL PROGRAMS, LEGAL AID IN PRISONS, ADMINISTRATIVE DUE PROCESS, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF AN OMBUDSMAN PROGRAM IN PRISONS. NEW SENTENCING PROCEDURE AND THE ABOLITION OF PAROLE IS PROPOSED. A FINAL CHAPTER FOCUSES ON THE RESIDUAL OFFENDER WHO MUST BE INCAPACITATED, BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES, AND THE NEED FOR PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT AND FOR LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT. APPENDIXES INCLUDE RESULTS OF A PRISONER'S SURVEY AND LETTERS FROM PRISONERS ON SENTENCING, MEMOIRS OF A JAILHOUSE LAWYER, A LETTER FROM A SAN QUENTIN CONVICT, EXCERPTS FROM THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE NEW YORK STATE SPECIAL COMMISSION ON ATTICA, 1972, AND A PAPER ON THE EFFECT OF FLAT-TIME SENTENCES ON TIME SERVED. A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS PROVIDED.