NCJ Number
80224
Journal
Indian Journal of Criminology Volume: 9 Issue: 2 Dated: (July 1981) Pages: 136-146
Date Published
1981
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This Indian study examines the attitudes of prison officials toward inmates, their rehabilitation, and their work programs and compares them to inmate attitudes in the same areas.
Abstract
Information was obtained through questionnaires given to staff and inmates at the Lucknow prison. Findings show that although staff members do spend most of their time with inmates and are aware that part of their role is to keep inmates satisfied, they do not enjoy this aspect of their work. While about 86 percent of the staff feel they keep the inmates reasonably satisfied with prison life, only about 51 percent of the inmates feel that the staff succeeds in this area. A majority (62.5 percent) of the prison officials consider that most of the inmates complete their sentence without giving trouble to the staff, and almost all of the officials consider that they help the inmate to improve their conduct and ideas. Only a little over half of the inmates perceive that they have received such benefits. Security is viewed as a central concern of the staff and the prison programs. Most prison officials view inmate work programs as a way of keeping inmates busy while in prison rather than as a means for developing work skills that can be used after release. Inmates appear confused about the purposes of the work programs, particularly as they relate to rehabilitation goals. Appropriate training appears needed to help prison staff develop concepts of their role and prison programs which are in harmony with stated correctional policy. Tabular data and 13 references are provided.