NCJ Number
164606
Date Published
1996
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This training videotape acknowledges that correctional officers should understand how inmates feel and think, particularly since the incarceration rate has risen by 143 percent during the past decade.
Abstract
Questions and discussion points on inmate attitudes are raised for correctional facility administrators and officers that focus on differences across facilities and populations, basic care, rules and contraband, staff-inmate relations, value of programs, and impact of confinement. In providing insights on their attitudes and opinions, inmates in different facilities note that treatment in correctional facilities differs, that rehabilitation is not always available, and that inmate age makes a difference in attitudes. The inmates also indicate that compassion is often lacking in correctional facilities and that rules are unevenly enforced. The inmates characterize correctional officers as "hard-nosed" or "walk along" and feel some correctional officers show favoritism by race. They also believe older correctional officers are generally more understanding than younger correctional officers and report educational and other programs give them a chance to do something with their lives. Comments of inmates on the impact of confinement reflect their loneliness, lack of freedom, and separation from families.