NCJ Number
171592
Journal
Crime and Justice International Volume: 13 Issue: 9 Dated: October 1997 Pages: 18-20
Date Published
October 1997
Length
3 pages
Annotation
After a review of the problem of prison violence in the United States, this article suggests policies for addressing this situation.
Abstract
Dangerous and disruptive prisoners pose enormous management difficulties for American prison systems and their managers. A new generation of inmates is more alienated, more violent, and more difficult to manage. The presence of gangs in prisons has become institutionalized. Gang activities are now a daily occurrence in many juvenile facilities and an emerging reality in adult women's prisons as well. Gangs in prisons are inter-racial networks that are organized around violence and criminal activity. It is now commonplace in some prisons to find 20 percent or more of the inmates serving time in administrative or punitive segregation. This "solution" to dangerousness and violence, however, has a stultifying effect on prison programs, operation, and inmate and staff morale. The segregated prisoners are more difficult to service, and their attitude toward staff can become extremely hostile. An example of an approach that holds promise is Illinois' Taylorville Correctional Center, which was converted to a gang-free facility in December 1996. Disciplinary reports are down significantly, and a random inmate drug-testing policy has produced no positive test results and no refusals to take the test. Currently, the facility is expanding new inmate program services that involve positive-peer interaction programs. Inmate-staff relations is an area that can help reduce tension and frustration among inmates. Inmate rights and the correctional officer's working environment are inseparably linked. Improvements in one affect the other. By getting both inmates and staff to see their common interests and the value of cooperation and procedural fairness, the prison environment can improve for both inmates and staff.