NCJ Number
211256
Date Published
2005
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This chapter suggests strategies for countering the current excessive disciplinary trend in British prisons and resettlement services.
Abstract
Prisons in England and Wales have failed to reduce recidivism for those they have housed. This is largely because of the disciplinary constraints imposed upon the structure and operations of prisons, reducing the flexibility required to tailor treatment programs to the criminogenic needs that underlie criminal behavior. The ideologies and strategies of governance promoted by Conservative British administrations of the 1980s and 1990s have been enforced among corrections managers through audits and reports in an effort to bring uniformity to prison operations and goals. Prison managers complain that this world of the disciplinary audit has stripped them of any professional, discretionary, innovative leadership in the management of their prisons. The same rigidity has permeated the corrections research field, as academic researchers have been disciplined into doing primarily research for which government grant funding is available. This means that the government essentially defines the parameters for corrections research. To realize the outcomes conducive to prisoners' rehabilitation, a corporate and more democratized structure of decisionmaking is required that fosters input from those on the frontline of prison management. This should produce greater diversity in prison organization to allow for innovative practices that address the complex and diverse needs of prison populations. Such a focus should also influence the resettlement of offenders, which requires innovative action at the local level to ensure that services are provided in each community to increase the chances that an ex-inmate will not reoffend. 18 notes and 61 references