NCJ Number
177904
Journal
Crime & Delinquency Volume: 45 Issue: 2 Dated: April 1999 Pages: 242-255
Date Published
1999
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article compares common forms of discipline used in shock incarceration programs (boot camps) with legal findings regarding what is cruel and unusual punishment.
Abstract
Advocates of boot camps suggest that military discipline and decorum are appropriate means to guide and control the behavior of young offenders, so that they will not be distracted from or decline full participation in treatment programs that support prosocial change. Two methods of maintaining discipline that are used in many boot camps are verbal confrontation and summary discipline, usually in the form of exercise. Although advocates of correctional boot camps believe that offenders need to be sanctioned immediately for institutional infractions, it is the use of verbal confrontation and summary punishments that have led to criticism of boot camps and charges of cruel and unusual punishments. Further, research on effective rehabilitation techniques suggests that whereas offender treatment is complex, the methods of "treatment" common in many boot camps are contrary to the strategies determined to be effective in producing prosocial change. Legal claims of cruel and unusual punishment may be made for mental suffering under both the "deliberate indifference" and the "malicious and sadistic" tests that have been established by the courts to define cruel and unusual punishment. Because of the potential for an Eighth Amendment claim arising in the boot camp setting, administrations should consider closely regulating the climate of the camps and the behavior of correctional staff. This is particularly important given the belief among legislators that the general public will accept shorter sentences for offenders only if these shorter sentences are harsher. 2 notes and 47 references