4. Prison Systems
Prisons throughout the world have many similarities. The prison site consists of buildings of various sizes surrounded by high walls topped with razor wire. The buildings are staffed by armed guards or correctional officers who maintain inmates under close supervision and control.
In the United States, prisons are funded and operated through state and federal taxes. Prisons are divided into tiers or units that house different types of offenders. Prison administrators differentiate offenders according to the degree of risk they pose to other inmates and to prison personnel. Conventional custody levels include minimum-security, medium-security, and maximum-security, with each higher custody level involving closer supervision, more elaborate security, and more intensive inmate control. Some prisons are designed exclusively for women. Special facilities also exist to house juvenile wrongdoers. Other institutions are specifically equipped to provide medical services or psychological counseling and therapy to offenders with physical or mental ailments.
Since the mid-1980s many jurisdictions have implemented highly regimented, short-term correctional programs resembling some aspects of military basic training. These programs, known as boot camps or shock incarceration, serve as an alternative to long-term traditional incarceration. Typically, boot camps target younger offenders who resist authority and refuse to listen or learn in traditional classroom or treatment environments. At boot camps, offenders are subjected to strict discipline, physical training, and hard labor. Most boot camps exclude offenders with violent crime convictions or who have previously been incarcerated. Offenders typically volunteer to participate in boot camps to avoid other types of incarceration. The usual length of incarceration in boot camps ranges from three to six months.
5. Prison Life
For inmates, one of the fundamental consequences of their imprisonment is the lack of control over decisions about their activities. This lack of autonomy is evident in nearly all aspects of prison life. Prisoners have virtually no privacy and are observable at all times by different forms of surveillance. In medium-security and maximum-security prisons, correctional officers constantly regulate and monitor inmates with state-of-the-art equipment, including video cameras and sound-detection mechanisms.
A set of rigid rules and regulations governs all inmate activity, including recreation and meals. Many of these rules attempt to prevent or reduce violence. Because of the diversity of races, ethnicities, and ages of prison inmates, as well as chronic overcrowding, officials expect inmate violence. Nevertheless, prison violence in the United States rose dramatically in the 1990s. Inmates who violate prison rules receive write-ups or misconduct slips that become a part of their permanent institutional record. Accumulating write-ups can adversely affect a prisoner’s parole chances. On the other hand, inmates who obey the prison rules earn good-time credits. Thus, with good behavior, inmates may facilitate their early release.
Inmate compliance or noncompliance with prison rules and regulations also depends on the development of an inmate code of conduct. These codes are typically established and enforced by dominant inmates. In 1970 American sociologists Gresham Sykes and Sheldon Messinger described the basic tenets of an inmate code of conduct based on their observations of prison life: 1) do not rat or squeal on other inmates; 2) do not interfere with the interests of other inmates; 3) do not steal from, exploit, or cheat other inmates; 4) do not be a “sucker” or make a fool of yourself by supporting prison policies; 5) do not lose your cool; and 6) be a man, be tough, and don't weaken. Inmates who violate these codes will be scorned or harmed by other inmates.
Meals are served at specific times and food is not available between meals.
Almost every inmate is permitted visits from family members at different intervals.
Most prisons include some form of outdoor exercise area for inmates. Almost every prison has a library and exercise yard. Other amenities vary, and may include basketball and handball courts, baseball fields, tracks, and weightlifting rooms. Some prisons offer stores where inmates may purchase toiletries and other items.
Some people criticize the policy of permitting prisoners access to recreational activities. They fear that inmates will return to society stronger and more dangerous than when originally incarcerated. In response, some prisons have eliminated inmate access to such recreational activities as weight training, boxing, and other sports that can enhance physical strength.