NCJ Number
60226
Journal
Deviance et societe Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: (MAY 1977) Pages: 29-59
Date Published
1977
Length
31 pages
Annotation
THE VARIATIONS IN THE LIVING CONDITIONS OF BELGIAN LONG-TERM PRISONERS ARE ANALYZED IN THIS EMPIRICAL STUDY.
Abstract
BASED ON AN ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE ON PRISON SOCIOLOGY AND AN HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE REGIMEN (DAILY LIVING PROCESS) IN THE BELGIAN CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM, THE HYPOTHESIS IS ADVANCED THAT THE QUALITY OF LIVING CONDITIONS A PRISONER RECEIVES DEPENDS ON A SOCIAL AND JUDICIAL TYPIFICATION OF INMATES. DURING A PERIOD OF 24 MONTHS, THE CONNECTION BETWEEN A PRISONER'S SOCIAL AND JUDICIAL DATA (WHICH WERE READILY AVAILABLE IN THE CORRECTIONAL RECORDS) AND HIS REGIMEN WAS STUDIED FOR A SAMPLE POPULATION OF 75 INMATES IN THE CENTRAL PRISON OF LEUVEN. A NUMBER OF VARIABLES OBTAINED AND ANALYZED FROM THE RECORDS AND THROUGH INMATE INTERVIEWS PRODUCED THE FOLLOWING FINDINGS. FIRST, THE LIVING CONDITIONS VARY SO CONSIDERABLY FROM PRISONER TO PRISONER THAT IT IS MEANINGLESS TO SPEAK OF 'A REGIMEN OF LEUVEN PRISON.' SECOND, A SMALL GROUP OF PRISONERS MANAGES TO OBTAIN CONSISTENTLY BETTER TREATMENT THAN THE MAJORITY OF THE PRISONERS (SALARY, FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT, PRIVACY, ETC.) THIRD, CONTRARY TO OUR EXPECTATIONS, THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL AND JUDICIAL FACTORS WHICH PRECEDED THE INCARCERATION WAS LIMITED. ALTHOUGH THE MOST RECENT SENTENCE AND THE MOST RECENT OFFENSE HAD AN IMPACT ON THE FIRST PHASE OF THE IMPRISONMENT E.G., (ISOLATION, DUTIES) AND THE MORAL APPRAISAL OF THE CONVICT, THE CORE OF A PRISONER'S LIFESTYLE SHOWED NO CONNECTION TO PREVIOUS LIFE. FOURTH, THE MORE TIME A PRISONER HAD SPENT AT LEUVEN, THE LESS HIS REGIMEN--FAVORABLE OR UNFAVORABLE--TENDED TO BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. NOTES ARE PROVIDED. --IN FRENCH. (SAJ)