NCJ Number
167292
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 43 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1997) Pages: 24-41
Date Published
1997
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article reports on correctional administrators' assessments of the importance and impact of prison programs and services, drawing on the results from the 1995 National Corrections Executive Survey.
Abstract
A total of 641 wardens (78 percent) returned usable questionnaires, and of those who returned completed surveys, 86 percent were male and 14 percent were female. Wardens were asked to provide their opinions on prison amenities, inmate services, and prison goals. Prison amenities and inmate services were grouped into five categories: education services, legal services, health care services, recreation programs/equipment, and other amenities. The respondents provided information on which prison amenities had been reduced or eliminated in the past year and which amenities they thought should be reduced or eliminated. To establish a composite measure of warden support for the reduction of prison amenities, a Support for Reduction in Prison Amenities Index was created that tallied responses to 28 different services, programs, and amenities. Findings show that among experienced correctional professionals who responded to the survey (average of more than 21 years of experiences and an aggregate of more than 13,300 years of experience in corrections), there is little evidence that wardens are "soft on crime" or excessively sympathetic to the plight of prisoners. Incapacitation is still the foremost concern of prison administrators; they indicated slightly less support for rehabilitation and slightly more support for retribution than did the 1993 survey. Compared to the 1968 Harris poll of correctional administrators and the Cullen et al (1993) survey in 1989, the findings suggest that prison wardens have become more punitive in their orientations. Professional correctional administrators assess programs, services, and amenities primarily in functional terms. If a given amenity helps to run a safer, more secure, and more orderly institution, it will be supported. Political leaders, on the other hand, view prisons through an ideological prism. The political gain to be derived from "getting tough" on criminals is considerable. If the experience and expertise of prison wardens concerning "what works" for the safe, efficient, and effective operation of these institutions is to inform the debate about prisons, these prison leaders must speak out and join the debate. 5 tables, 2 notes, and 38 references