NCJ Number
214020
Journal
American Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 30 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2006 Pages: 209-226
Date Published
2006
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Utilizing a nationally recognized jail system in the State of Arizona, this study examined inmate perceptions of their conditions of confinement, their belief in the appropriateness of the policies, and the extent to which they were able to make sense of the intended goal of their confinement.
Abstract
When taken as a whole, detention in the Maricopa County Jail System was viewed by those interviewed as a fairly negative experience. Inmates tended not to point to one specific policy, but to the overall conditions of confinement. Shaming techniques were not interpreted as shaming by all inmates, as well as not all deprivations were difficult to endure. The study was limited in that it could not be generalized to other correctional contexts. Many of the jail policies examined represent a public illustration of Maricopa County’s punitive correctional philosophy. Utilizing interview data from 232 jail inmates under correctional supervision at the Maricopa County Jail in Arizona, the fourth largest jail system in the United States, this exploratory study examined inmates’ perceptions of punishment, specifically their conditions of confinement and their sense of their punishment in relation to the extended goals of these unusual conditions of confinement. The study provides a unique opportunity to explore the punitive and unusual conditions of confinement that characterize the penal harm movement. References