NCJ Number
184000
Date Published
1998
Length
157 pages
Annotation
This volume explains the operation of the Prison Service in England and Wales and discusses correctional personnel, inmates, corrections management, inmate programs, and the current problem of prison overcrowding.
Abstract
The text describes the history of the prison system in England and Wales, the various events that have influenced its development, and how the varied correctional facilities that exist today are the legacy of this history. It then examines prison conditions, including cells, food, health, hygiene, suicide prevention, and drugs and sex in correctional facilities. Further sections focus on inmate characteristics, including their offenses, sentence lengths, pretrial detention, life sentences, and inmate segregation, and on inmate-staff relationships, correctional personnel, and staff accountability. The discussion notes that prison conditions, management, and programs are the result of attempts of many individuals to reform the prison system and by political and social pressures. The attitudes and characteristics of the inmates themselves and the organization and staffing of the Prison Service are important to understanding how prisons function and have developed. Tables, lists of suggested further readings, and index