The significance of ‘the visit’ in an English category-B prison: views from prisoners,prisoners’ families and prison staff

A number of claims have been made regarding the importance of prisoners staying in touch with their family through prison visits, firstly from a humanitarian perspective of enabling family members to see each other, but also regarding the impact of maintaining family ties for successful rehabilitation, reintegration into society and reduced re-offending. This growing evidence base has resulted in increased support by the Prison Service for encouraging the family unit to remain intact during a prisoner’s incarceration. Despite its importance however, there has been a distinct lack of research examining the dynamics of families visiting relatives in prison. This paper explores perceptions of the same event – the visit – from the families’, prisoners’ and prison staffs' viewpoints in a category-B local prison in England. Qualitative data was collected with 30 prisoners’ families, 16 prisoners and 14 prison staff, as part of a broader evaluation of the visitors’ centre. The findings suggest that the three parties frame their perspective of visiting very differently. Prisoners’ families often see visits as an emotional minefield fraught with practical difficulties. Prisoners can view the visit as the highlight of their time in prison and often have many complaints about how visits are handled. Finally, prison staff see visits as potential security breaches and a major organisational operation. The paper addresses the current gap in our understanding of the prison visit and has implications for the Prison Service and wider social policy.     

Religion in the Lives of Older Women Serving Life in Prison

This exploratory qualitative study examined the roles of religiousness in the lives of 21 older women (mean age = 63) serving life sentences in one southern state. Based on survey and focus group methodology, several themes emerged as important focal points, including early religious experiences prior to incarceration, imprisonment and religious doubt, participation in formal and informal religious activities, and use of religion in coping with stressors such as interpersonal relationships, trauma, and health statuses. Irrespective of their religious upbringing, all participants agreed that religiosity/spirituality played a key role in their ability to cope with their prison experience as well as for maintaining hope and the opportunity for release.     

EVALUATING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRISON RAPE ELIMINATION ACT (PREA): A “LESSONS LEARNED” APPROACH

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was designed to address sexual violence in prison. While previous has focused on sexual violence occurring in correctional facilities, there has been a dearth of studies that document the expertise, experience, or reflections of program following the cimplementation of PREA- within a correctional system. The current study utilizes a “lessons learned” approach to discuss the impact of the PREA Demonstration Project on a state prison system that includes 19 correctional institutions. Results indicate the benefits of merging the philosophical orientation of key stakeholders, establishing benchmarks, and the need for partnerships with prosecutors. A comparison of the perceptions of correctional administrators, inmates, and front-line correctional officers regarding PREA is included. Also featured are the “lessons learned” from the implementation of PREA into four prison sites, along with the concept of building trust and the impact of lockdowns due to staff shortages.     

How moral disengagement facilitates the detention of refugee children and families

Refugee children and families are a vulnerable demographic with the propensity to disrupt entrenched disparaging perceptions about immigrants. This project investigates how institutionalised moral disengagement practices [Bandura, Albert. 2002. “Selective Moral Disengagement in the Exercise of Moral Agency.” Journal of Moral Education 31: 101–119] at family detention centres facilitate the apprehension and confinement of children and families seeking asylum. Interviews with former volunteers and an analysis of news reports describing conditions at these centres reveal that moral disengagement plays a pivotal role in rationalising detention, while also enabling restrictive immigration policies and mass deportations. This occurs through the criminalisation of immigrants, suppressing details about residential conditions, and a quota capacity model. Findings are contextualised with regard to recent immigration legislations.     

融城与逆城：新生代农民工两难选择——基于GGF监狱调查

中国农民工已经悄然更新换代,“第一代”（或称“老一代”）农民工随着年龄老化逐渐回到农村,“第二代”、“第三代”或称“新生代”农民工登上了城镇化进程的舞台,并成为新产业工人阶层的主体部分。新生代农民工往往把自己看成“准城里人”,希望在公民权利、择业就业、工资待遇、生活方式、社会保障等方面,能够与城里人享有同等待遇。然而,他们却与农村渐行渐远,叉与城市若亲若疏,且处于城镇生活的“显歧视”和“潜歧视”之中,如果他们融入不了城市,又退不回农村,必将成为严重的社会问题。     

Freedom within bars: maximum security prisoners’ negotiations of identity through rap

This paper examines the construction of prisoners’ identity through rap in England’s high security prisons. While hip hop studies has often addressed rap’s connection to the social practices of criminalized youths, prison rap cultures have received scant attention. This paper draws on a series of rap workshops and interviews with prisoners to investigate the experiences of black prisoners in high security prisons and how identities are produced and negotiated through rap. Rap is associated with the production of a range of identities and identifications, enabling prisoners to accommodate themselves to the conditions of their incarceration and to challenge aspects of the criminal justice system that they experience as unfair or illegitimate.     

Mental Health Care for American Indians in Prison

Abstract

Based on an earlier finding that as many Native Americans in upstate New York received mental health care in prison as outside of prison during a 10-month period, this study was designed to investigate if prisons had become an alternative treatment option for Native Americans with a mental illness in New York State. The study was not able to answer this question due to the limited number of cases and to outside constraints. However, it is possible from the results to provide a picture of mental health needs and attitudes among Native American inmates which is surprising and instructive for those who provide psychiatric care to American Indians, either within or outside of prison walls. A noteworthy finding was the importance placed by these inmates on the use of culturally appropriate ceremonies to assist in their rehabilitation. Low rates of serious mental illness among the American Indian sample highlight the need for further study in this area.     

Sources of occupational stress: An examination of British prison officers

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify the major sources of occupational stress experienced by British prison officers and to examine their effects on overall job stress and job satisfaction. Eighty-one officers from HM Prison, Maidstone, took part in a questionnaire study, and three main findings emerged. First, lack of stiff and resources were ranked as the most likely sources of stress, and areas of the prison where confrontations with inmates were most likely to occur were ranked as the most stressful locations. Second, officers who reported the highest levels of job stress overall had the lowest job satisfaction and the greatest wish for more emphasis on control and security of inmates. Third, when the sources of stress were factor-analysed and used to predict overall job stress and job satisfaction, using multiple regression, the sìngle most important predictor of job stress was found to be the factor labelled 'confrontations with inmates' and, for dissatisfaction with the job, it was 'poor morale and resentments'. The paper discusses the theoretical implications of the findings.     

监狱行刑目的之层次剖析

监狱行刑目的应是刑罚目的的具体体现，具体的内容包括报应目的、特殊预防目的和罪犯回归社会目的。报应目的是人类历史上刑罚产生根本原因和刑罚属性在监狱行刑中的体现；特殊预防包含着现代刑罚理念的合理元素，是对人权的尊重和人本主义的提倡；罪犯回归社会是社会和谐的根本，是整个社会的切实愿望，也是监狱行刑的终极目的。三目的相互衔接，前一目的为后一目的的手段，后一目的为前一目的之实现提供方向，形成了平衡与和谐的监狱行刑目的的统一整体。     

Electronic monitoring,an alternative way of preventing aggression and helping social rehabilitation

Abstract

It has been said that Criminal Law is violence not only because of what it punishes, but also because of the way it does it. Violence is present in all human relationships, and as such, it is consubstantial to every system of social control. Despite this, the failure of imprisonment has not been its severity, but its inefficiency regarding social rehabilitation. This lack of efficiency can be palliated through the use of alternative systems of electronic monitoring in the penitentiary context. These alternative systems will not only enable an effective solution to the problem of overcrowded prisons, but will also mitigate the harmful effects of prison. Moreover, these alternative systems represent a good method to prevent future aggressions as well as to facilitate the offender's social rehabilitation. From this point of view, we will first explain the programs of electronic monitoring in Spain and second we will evaluate them in terms of social rehabilitation, cost-benefit analysis, human rights restrictions, privatization and overcrowding in prisons.