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The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Incarceration is associated with significant negative mental health implications for both the corrections staff who work in prisons and the individuals incarcerated in them. Despite their scale and impacts, prisons are one of the country's least transparent and most understudied public institutions. Where research on prisons does exist, it is often focused on either the corrections staff population or the incarcerated population. Moreover, the perspectives of those most directly affected, incarcerated populations and correctional staff are rarely included in the process. In this study, we sought to focus on understanding the entire prison ecosystem, measuring the mental health status of corrections staff and incarcerated individuals, and describing potential interrelated factors in the prison environment that may affect these outcomes. We used a community-engaged process to develop a prison survey to measure the prison environment in a pilot facility in rural Vermont, incorporating the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Global Mental Health 2a instrument to measure the mental health status of the corrections staff and incarcerated individuals. Focus groups and interviews were conducted to inform survey development and understand factors affecting the mental health of these populations. Surveys were administered at three time points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carceral conditions in the United States may serve as a proxy for crises within justice and health systems. This study seeks to consider and measure prison climate from the perspective of incarcerated people. By examining within-facility differences in carceral experiences, results shed light on the complex nexus between the carceral context, health, and justice. We administered the Prison Climate Questionnaire (PCQ) to the complete population of incarcerated men in a correctional facility located in the Eastern United States. In this facility, housing units hold distinct populations, fulfill different functions, and can offer unique programming. We regress select items from the PCQ on a set of dummies corresponding to different residential units within the facility. Responses indicate low but relatively uniform perceptions of overall personal health, as well as access to, and satisfaction with, medical care. Between-unit differences emerge regarding staff relationships, experiences of discrimination, and levels of isolation. The perspectives of incarcerated people can, and should, play a role in understanding and conceptualizing the nature of the prison environment. Policy responses, especially those that impact the health and well-being of currently and formerly incarcerated people, can be informed by these perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the memoirs of two Bengali revolutionary women, Bina Das' Srinkhal Jhankar published in 1948, translated as Bina Das: A Memoir, and Kamala Dasgupta's Rakter Akshare (Written in Blood) in 1954 to argue how their subjective desire and experience dismantle the gendered rhetoric of nationalism in colonial Bengal. The accounts of Bina and Kamala present their involvement in militant activism and subsequent imprisonment. Notably, there is an inherent urge in their writings to sacrifice life for the nation and a determination not to retreat from the torturous conditions of the colonial prison. The paper contends that the rhetoric of nationalism in colonial Bengal is embedded in hegemonic masculinity that initially confined women to the spiritual and domestic realm and later allowed them to be educated and modern without acknowledging their subjectivity. Activities of these political women thus destabilise the gender discourse prevalent in the private and public sphere of colonial society, which calls for a revision of the nationalist historiography. So, this essay will examine how tropes of the body, self-sacrifice, and penal experience, as produced in these memoirs, negotiate the nationalist ideology, subvert the binary of masculine and feminine, and establish their political subjectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research evidence in the 21st century strongly indicates that prisons are inherently harmful environments in which to try to support rehabilitation, because of their destructive impact on identity, self-actualisation, mental health and social relationships. Yet HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) continues to propose that prisons can be legitimate sites of rehabilitation as well as centres of punishment. This article begins by interrogating this proposition by looking at research conducted in an adult male prison. By specifically focusing on the interpersonal conflicts and tensions that the men experience in their daily lives, the research highlights the 'relational' and 'self-actualising' harms that undermine the development of a successful rehabilitative culture within a prison. The article then moves on to consider a utopian vision of a 'desistance-supporting' rehabilitative 'good society' by drawing on a second piece of research that captures the voices and experiences of participants in a very successful community-based resettlement project. Lessons learned from this are then collated to consider how to build a rehabilitative 'good society' in prisons. The article concludes with a cautionary note about the possible difficulty of creating such a society in neoliberal times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During their time in prison, inmates experience various types of provocation, abuse and degradation. The prison environment often causes them to become more aggressive, lazy, and lonely and some even develop mental illness. These feelings are so strong that it is very difficult for prisoners to escape from the traumas of imprisonment once their sentence is over. This is where choral activity comes in, an activity designed not only to relieve prisoners' feelings during their incarceration, but also to prepare them for social reintegration by helping them develop a wide range of practical and social skills. The present research studies the changes that occurred following a choral activity in Jilava Prison (Bucharest, Romania) over a two-month period in terms of aggression, antisocial behaviour and self-injury, using a self-report questionnaire. The experiences of the prisoners were also studied using an interview guide at the end of the choral activity. The concluding part of the article lists the benefits revealed by the research, followed by a series of recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of women in prison have experienced prior traumatic events. Imprisonment can also be considered a traumatic experience. Research exploring how imprisonment affects women with trauma histories is scarce. To examine this, qualitative interviews were conducted with 50 participants imprisoned in three women's prisons in England. Four overarching themes were identified using thematic analysis: the traumatizing prison system; triggering power dynamics; trust in relationships; and surviving and thriving. Aspects of the prison environment and staff behavior were experienced as triggering and traumatizing, while peer relationships provided some mitigation of these difficulties. These findings have implications for the design of women's prisons, improvements in staff recruitment and training, and the implementation of trauma-informed care for individuals in women's prisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People in prison bear a higher burden of psychiatric morbidity compared with the general population. This study examined the extent to which individual and environmental factors contribute to poor mental health during imprisonment. Participants comprised 1296 randomly selected adults in 15 Belgian prisons. Psychological distress was more common in women than men and peaked during the early stages of imprisonment. In addition to having a history of mental disorder, low levels of perceived autonomy, safety, and social support were independently associated with experiencing distress. These findings underscore the importance of considering the prison environment in policies to improve the mental health of incarcerated individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with disability represent a significant proportion of Australia's prison population; however, little is known about their experiences or the institutional barriers they may face. Drawing from 24 in-depth interviews with 28 participants and one written submission, this article explores the impacts, challenges and consequences of imprisonment for people with disability in Australia. By bringing together disability and criminological research, we highlight the impacts of subjecting people with disability to a 'thoughtless' and ableist prison environment, regime, and culture that simultaneously overlooks, compounds and further punishes their disability. Identifying three key areas of 'institutional thoughtlessness', we offer substantive insight into a group of people in prison often forgotten by researchers and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender-diverse individuals are over-incarcerated and experience uniquely harsh conditions in prisons in comparison to cisgender individuals. This paper proposes using sentencing law as a tool to minimize these disparities, specifically through the use of individualized proportionality, to arrive at a fit and just sentence for the criminalized person. Specific ways in which gender-diverse individuals experience suffering in prisons include: placement in prisons that do not accord with gender identity; increased risk of physical, emotional, and sexual violence; the use of strip searches; increased use of solitary confinement under the guise of safety; and insufficient culturally competent, gender-affirming healthcare. These conditions of confinement of gender-diverse individuals should be considered in sentencing to conclude whether a custodial sentence is appropriate, and if so, for what period of time. This paper looks at case law in which gender identity is acknowledged as a circumstance of the criminalized person, and more recent case law that considers how the conditions of confinement will uniquely affect the gender-diverse individual before the court. A more consistent, proactive assessment of these conditions is appropriate and may reduce the suffering experienced by gender-diverse individuals at the hands of the carceral state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peruvian literature, strongly marked by the country's social and political problems, has rightly dealt with the prison reality. One of the most interesting testimonies of the indignant and painful conditions in prisons in the country has been The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta, by Mario Vargas Llosa. The following lines will address this work within the framework of prison literature in Peru, especially on the treatment of the imprisonment that the text insinuates and its relationship with prison reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prisons are environments that are more likely to contain socially ostracized people. The fundamental premise of prisons is to take away or limit freedom. The act of being sent to prison is hazardous or traumatic in the first place; then there is the suffering, loss of family, separation, identity confusion, etc. The psychological repercussions of imprisonment are the primary subject of this paper and it focuses on loss of identity and diminished sense of self, deprivation of liberty, privacy, independence, social withdrawal, isolation, and idleness. It gives a brief description of how conviction impacts children and their families and how, in a single night, their entire life falls apart. Next, it demonstrates how self-reconstruction occurs via adaptability and the reformation process. They cope/adapt to the environment by themselves, with the support of others as co-inmates, staff, family, and friends. Both the intrapersonal and interpersonal factors promote transformation which is a significant factor in a prisoner's capacity to adapt to his circumstances and reintegration into society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of identity construction has been a central theme in empirical analyses of desistance from crime. Despite the novelty of these studies, their findings are predominantly situated in the post‐imprisonment context. There has been limited attention on the drivers of identity change for prisoners who are incarcerated. Based on 16 interviews conducted in an open prison for men, this article demonstrates how experiences of self‐reflection shape identity reconstruction for prisoners nearing release and serve as important modes of adaptation to prison life. The article ends with a discussion on the key implications of the study's findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Praxis der Rechtspsychologie is the property of Hogrefe Verlag GmbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the last two decades, a body of critical scholarship has emerged accentuating the social and cultural importance of food in prison. This article employs a tripartite conceptual framework for contemplating and demarcating food's different valuations in prison. We draw from our interviews with over 500 incarcerated individuals to demonstrate how acquiring, trading, and preparing food is inscribed with use, exchange, and sign values. In doing so, we provide illustrative examples of how food informs processes of stratification, distinction, and violence in prison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principle of normalisation has gained more prominence in international prison law, with both the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules (UN SMR) and the European Prison Rules (EPR) promoting normalisation to the guiding principles. In general terms, normalisation refers to shaping life in prison in resemblance to life outside prison. However, it largely remains unclear what this principle entails for prison policy. The general formulation in the UN SMR and EPR leave much discretionary room to national prison authorities. By conducting a (comparative) policy analysis, this article aims to uncover the normative standards derived from the UN SMR and EPR and how the principle translates into national laws and policies of Norway and the Netherlands. The analysis shows that although the main provision is generally formulated, some detailed norms are provided in other provisions on how elements of life in prison should be shaped, including limits and restrictions. In Norway and the Netherlands, normalisation is not explicitly mentioned in law, but is (to a varied extent) incorporated in policy. It is shown that, in practice, normalisation is closely tied to reintegration, which has important implications for the principle itself and the norms that are taken as point of reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Brazil, the Custody Hearing is a legal device established in 2015 to safeguard the rights of people arrested in flagrante delicto by the police. In an attempt to prevent the indiscriminate use of preventive detentions in the country, the custody hearings were created for the potential effects that an in-person meeting may have on the flow of the Criminal Justice System. While the recent literature on criminology has produced significant empirical data testing the effects of peoples' evaluations of procedural justice during court hearings for institutional legitimacy, little is known about what happens during these situations of contact between citizens and judicial actors. Using data from the observation of 138 custody hearings at the largest Criminal Forum in Brazil, we analyzed in this work how interaction procedures and ceremonial resources are employed by judicial actors to exercise authority. By focusing on the quality of decision-making and the interpersonal treatment expressed in procedures, we sought to analyze the effects of the punitive framework for the construction of legitimacy. Our analysis of interactions in custody hearings indicates the existence of a claim to legitimacy which, counter to procedural justice principles, develops through the exclusion of the person subjected to that authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of Criminology / Archiwum Kryminologii is the property of Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Legal Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Justice‐involved families in India are underserved despite concurrent challenges including inadequate penal systems and widespread poverty. Families provide emotional and financial support to incarcerated individuals—burdens that fall upon female kin who are underresourced. Women experiencing spousal incarceration in India are likely to be from marginalized sections of society, vulnerable to co‐occurring forms of oppression, making intersectional feminism a suitable theoretical framework to contextualize their lives. Through consistent interactions with the carceral institution, these women become integrated in the prison culture, experiencing secondary prisonization. Intersectional feminism helps understand variations in secondary prisonization for women inhabiting different social locations. However, this population remains understudied. We bridge the gap by building a contextualized understanding of this population using intersectional feminism, by attending to scholarship that illustrates sources of marginalization including exploitive informal work, a minoritized caste identity, and a minoritized religious identity. We offer recommendations for theory and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article delves into the concept of "hauntology" within the context of prison life writings, examining how the experiences of those enmeshed in the carceral system embody both historical ghosts and their own identities within the prison space. The analysis explores the interconnectedness of identities through intersubjectivity, subverting linear narratives and challenging personal responsibility narratives.

The article provides insights into the analysis of power relations within the context of prison narratives, particularly focusing on Michel Foucault's framework from "Discipline and Punish." The discussion encompasses the categorization of prisoners and citizens, the implications of power and knowledge, and the impact of imprisonment on subjects' identity and alterity.

The article discusses Banksy's mural depicting Oscar Wilde on the walls of Reading prison, highlighting the intersection of art and prison, and then focuses on how Wilde's prison narrative, "De Profundis," challenges the conventional view that his incarceration marked a departure from his aestheticism. It examines how Wilde's narrative, written during his imprisonment, is a form of artistic self-release.

The article explores the phenomenon of prison narratives as a literary sub-genre that documents and reflects upon life in prison. It raises questions about why prison experiences have emerged as a distinct genre despite their autobiographical nature, and discusses the relationship between power, knowledge, and the concept of imprisonment.

Theatre has long been performed for or by prison inmates. Such theatre in Turkey, despite the country's overcrowded prisons, falls short as against other countries, such as England and the United States, where many professional theatre groups, practitioners, and academics engage with prison theatre. Yet, state theatre and film actor Turgay Tanülkü, who has long been engaged in prison-based theatrical work, is the best representative of prison theatre in Turkey. In this interview, conducted on 18 July 2021, Tanülkü explains his relationship with prison theatre and his activities in prisons. Based on his own experiences, he also reflects on the transformative power of theatre on prison inmates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the purposes of sentencing and imprisonment can be variously conceptualized. The paper theorizes and contrasts two models of sentencing and prison relations—continuity and separation. The continuity model assumes continuity between sentencing and prison regime. Under this model, all sentencing purposes may impact prison regime. The separation model distinguishes between the purposes of sentencing and of imprisonment. Under the separation model, the retributive element of imprisonment is completely fulfilled by depriving the prisoner of liberty. Retributive considerations can affect only the duration of the sentence, while prison regime is determined solely according to rehabilitation/risk and prison security considerations. The paper problematizes the separation model as it suffers from two difficulties: (a) the idea that the retributive element of imprisonment is fully fulfilled by depriving the prisoner's liberty undermines the "hard treatment" element of the retributive punishment. Relatedly, since no prison regime can deprive a person solely of liberty no custodial sentence can be justified; (b) given the inability to isolate the denial of liberty as the only deprivation of imprisonment, the separation model also encourages judges to underestimate and feel less responsible for the full meaning of their decision to imprison. Finally, the paper will argue that liberal prison conditions may (and should) be achieved even when seeing retribution as relevant for prison life and will offer possible ways to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In her teatro-cabaret piece Los caballeros las prefieren presas, Minerva Valenzuela offers a searing critique of the inconceivably cruel abuses women suffer in Mexico's prison system. She does so by way of the charming protagonist Marilynares. Taking center stage with platinum blonde hair, red lipstick, a white body suit, and black heels, she channels the glamour of Marilyn Monroe. However, Marilynares is not an actress, but an inmate at the fictional Santa Martha Lamitas prison, hence the blue smock she wears over her form-fitting outfit. She is also contestant No. 10, competing for her freedom on the metatheatrical reality show "Hoy se decide mi vida." Coached and directed by an invisible voz en off belonging to Mr. Destino, the show's producer and host, Marilynares is instructed to share the most intimate details related to prison life by way of confessional addresses and musical numbers. However, when our protagonist realizes she is being exploited, she decidedly rejects and subverts central tenets of the neoliberal gameshow model: stark individualism and the sought-after "money shot." In refusing to play by someone else's rules, Marilynares hopes her audience will find compassion not just for her, but also for the thousands of women locked away across Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recidivism rates after release from prison are high worldwide. While research has not shown much promise in the ability of incarceration to reduce the risk of reoffending, little attention has been paid to the variation in prison experiences. This article examines if a relationship exists between prison conditions (unit characteristics and prison climate) and recidivism, and if any such relationship can be attributed to contextual or selection effects. A combination of survey and administrative data were used from 2,366 individuals incarcerated in the Netherlands. Findings showed significant bivariate relationships between prison conditions at the unit level and reconviction within two years after release. Multivariate analyses indicated that these relationships could be explained by differences in unit composition in terms of criminal history variables. These results demonstrate the importance of considering the prison unit in analyses of prison effects, and controlling for non-random assignment of individuals to units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the phenomenon of historical gendered institutional harm, examining the widespread incarceration of women and girls in Ireland through the decades following independence in 1922. In this period, thousands of women and girls were confined in a network of sites including Magdalene Laundries and Mother and Baby Homes. The article considers the responses to this history, focusing on those fields which concern themselves with matters of "wrongdoing" and "harm," responses grounded in law and legalism. We explore both the utility and the limits of these approaches before proposing a criminological research agenda which draws on the centrality of the state in the perpetration of gendered violence. Although Ireland has become a by-word as a case of historical institutional abuse internationally, it remains remarkably understudied by criminologists. The article explores how the Irish example can speak to the discipline of criminology by forcing us to reimagine how we conceive of gendered harms and state-perpetrated harms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prison writing in India has not been adequately engaged with, either in its literary bounds or its implications on prison conditions and administration. With the majority of incarcerations consisting of those yet to be found guilty of a crime, the absence of uniform policies or legal provisions concerning these 'undertrials' affects in a consequential way the prisoner's ability to exercise certain rights, even if limited, especially with regard to personal expression. This article explores this aspect through the decade-long incarceration reflected upon by Kobad Ghandy's Fractured Freedom: A Prison Memoir (2021). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the scholarship on the 'punitive turn' has claimed that there have been two main trends in punishment since the 1970s: the rise of incarceration rates (quantitative dimension) and the worsening of prison conditions (qualitative dimension). Scholars argue that, in parallel with the rise of mass incarceration, there has been a fall of the rehabilitative ideal. In this view, prisons in core countries have basically operated as a warehouse, working towards neutralisation and incapacitation. Both trends are also viewed as reflecting a global convergence of penal policies. The analysis of the Brazilian case challenges this supposed universality. Drawing on official prison data, reports from non‐governmental organisations, and secondary data, I argue that mass incarceration has not been accompanied by the same qualitative changes to prisons in 'Western countries' and Brazil. First, features of the so‐called warehouse prison, such as low levels of prison activities, have always been present in Brazilian prisons, and are not an effect of mass incarceration. Furthermore, the consequences of mass incarceration in Brazilian prisons have, in fact, been ambivalent and, in some cases, may have alleviated inmates' suffering, rather than intensifying experiences of confinement. Finally, instead of neutralising and controlling criminals, Brazilian prisons under mass incarceration have contributed to the emergence, empowerment, recruitment and organisation of gangs, whose powers now transcend the physical barriers of prison walls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on interview data with over 50 male former prisoners in Ontario, Canada, we examine male ex-prisoners' narratives of change within prison settings. Specifically, we focus on how ex-prisoners talk about change to self and their persona, as they reflect back on both their pre-prison selves and the ways they believe prison changed them. We find that these ex-prisoners described prison as a time where they developed a more general sense of positive change. Ex-prisoners described how prison living made them "calmer," "stronger," and more "patient" overall. These descriptions stand in tension with the overall hostility of prison environments where prisoners are forced to focus on survival and basic well-being as they navigate the risks and threats of prison living. Overall, in this article, we seek to contribute to emerging discussions on positivity within prison settings, acknowledging that studying the more positive impacts of prison is a delicate yet important endeavor necessary to help better understand the experiential complexities of punishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At first glance, contemporary prisons are environments defined by an 'enforced collective' (Goffman, [1961] 1991) and prisoners are, if anything, plagued by 'life en masse' (Sykes, 1958), yet the depth and weight of loneliness in prison can be intense. Prisons are often associated with metaphors of loneliness, disruption and empty time, and, as Armstrong (2018) highlights, imprisonment is an exemplary symbol for being stuck in space and time. Based on empirical data from a study of imprisonment in England & Wales and Norway, in this article we analyse several forms of loneliness found in prisons and beyond, from the visceral, immediate sense of being physically alone and separated from loved ones to the ethical or existential experience of abandonment and hopelessness. We conclude by pointing to the fact that the two otherwise very different penal contexts yield similar findings when it comes to the experiences of loneliness. This implies that the sense of not fitting in, of being 'ethically alone' (Stauffer, 2015) and essentially misrecognized (Lister in Fraser and Bourdieu, 2007), goes beyond specific prisons and jurisdictions. We also note that, as well as evoking feelings of loneliness, in some circumstances imprisonment can provide some respite from it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sykes (1958) famously outlined five deprivations constituting the 'pains of imprisonment', later developed in a range of research, including research considering the gendered pains of imprisonment. Despite an increase in the visibility of transgender people in society and within prison settings, the specific pains of imprisonment experienced by transgender people have been largely overlooked. Within this context, this article analyses interviews with 13 transgender people in custody, facilitating an analysis of life within prison for transgender people. The article makes a unique contribution to the study of transgender people in custody within the devolved Scottish penal context, being the first to use the analytical lens of the 'pains of imprisonment' to consider the particular deprivations or frustrations that transgender people experience within prison settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of prisons can greatly impact the lived experience of imprisonment, yet research on the relationship between the physical prison environment and wellbeing remains underexplored. Following a systematic literature review, 16 environmental domains were identified as part of "ethical architecture" in prison environments. In this context, ethical prison architecture reflects the link between prison design features and the wellbeing of building users. The concept presented here can be used to inform future research on the intersection of prison architecture, prison climate, and experienced wellbeing. Humane treatment, autonomy, and stimuli are identified as latent theoretical constructs that underpin the "ethical prison architecture" concept. The findings include literature originating from 35 countries that spans five continents to offer a thorough framework that can be used to identify potential building adjustments to improve the wellbeing of building users and increase evidence on the influence of prison design features on wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Lifelong Learning / Celoživotní Vzdělávání is the property of Institute of Lifelong Learning and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Despite international guidelines, it is common practice in many European countries for prisoners to share a cell. In many cases this may be a measure to cope with overcrowding, but in the Netherlands it is a policy measure to reduce costs and flexibly adjust capacity. While the harms of overcrowding are widely recognised, less is known about the effects of cell sharing in non-overcrowded conditions. This study considers the association between cell sharing, wellbeing, misconduct, and prison climate, using data from a national survey study among Dutch prisoners (N = 3408). Findings show that cell sharing is associated with poorer ratings of wellbeing and prison climate, especially for people who prefer a single cell. Prisoners in double cells who do not get along with their cellmate report more misconduct. These findings reinforce recommendations to house people in single cells, unless they prefer otherwise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Taiwanese Journal of Sociology is the property of Taiwanese Sociological Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examines the London compters in the early modern period. It reconstructs the layout, personnel and conditions of these prisons, as well as analysing the various reasons why people were imprisoned therein. It argues that the introduction of 'Compter Ordinances' in 1547 and the foundation of a new compter in Wood St. in 1555 were part of a raft of measures introduced by the city elites to tighten their control over municipal institutions in the mid-Tudor period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on interviews conducted with former federal and provincial prisoners in Ontario, Canada, we consider how the unique social conditions in these two institutional contexts shape interpersonal dynamics and the prisoner experience. Despite notable differences in federal versus provincial prisoner culture, we suggest that prisoners in both contexts lived in environments marked by uncertainties and risk; in response, they tended to adapt to a highly individualistic orientation toward doing time. Based on our analysis, we complicate the conceptualization of prisoner culture as primarily serving an adaptive function, suggesting the prison social climate may actually drive the most salient pains of imprisonment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although research has established the disproportionate health burdens among incarcerated persons, the literature has yet to identify a theoretical framework for outlining the harms of incarceration associated with pandemics. We advance the literature theoretically by arguing two points. First, we assert that incarceration is a potent structural driver of health inequalities that must be considered as a fundamental social cause of disease. To underscore this point, we review how incarceration meets each of the four fundamental social cause criteria originally proposed by Link and Phelan. Second, given that incarceration is a fundamental social cause of disease, both currently and formerly incarcerated populations are likely to face heightened vulnerabilities to pandemics, including COVID-19, further exacerbating health disparities among incarceration-exposed groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incarceration should allow inmates an opportunity for rehabilitation and correcting their criminal thinking and inappropriate behavior that contributed to their imprisonment. The current study gathered data from a Prison Culture Questionnaire administered to inmates from a state correctional system. The analysis examined inmates' perceptions of treatment staff who were employed in the prison. This was an exploratory analysis. Overall, responses to Likert-scale items revealed that inmates believed treatment staff were fair, polite, respectful, helpful, good communicators, interested in listening to their concerns, understood living in prison was stressful, and had a good working relationship with them; however, they were undecided about whether treatment staff showed compassion, could reduce conflict, enforced rules consistently, were good role models, explained their decision making, cared about the impact of their behavior, or valued inmates as human beings. Also, findings from a content analysis revealed five broad themes about inmates' experiences and interactions with treatment staff (competent professionals, critical and inappropriate, respectful, minimal contact, and hybrid/mixed responses). Responses provided by male and female inmates about their experiences and interactions with treatment staff were similar; however, several gender-specific findings were uncovered. A narrative compiling the most comprehensive inmate responses is shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on American prisons were doomed to be tales from the start of the pandemic due to three interwoven strands of indifference faced by incarcerated people in country. It mentions muddled Eighth Amendment doctrine applied to claims challenging prison conditions is the result of overwhelming judicial indifference to the lives of the incarcerated. It also mentions call for reform of the American carceral system to overcome the institutional, judicial, and societal indifference.

Evidence emerging from our novel in-prison survey shows that non-criminal legal problems of prison inmates mainly relate to family law matters, contract liability, and administrative procedures. The rate of subjects who face legal issues increases after imprisonment. Employing logit estimation techniques, we test the hypothesis according to which isolation due to imprisonment obstructs legal problem resolution. Results suggest that the open-cell regime has increased the rate of resolution of some family-related problems (divorce and child custody) while not affecting others (legacy issues). Similarly, while common problems with the public administration seem easier to solve under the open-cell regime, those related to contract liability do not. We infer that the open-cell regime may support the resolution of legal problems that usually require standardised approaches. Policy implications supporting the open-cell regime follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that U.S. Corrections System has the highest incarceration rate in the world with the overcrowding U.S. prisons and jails makes an ideal environment for virus outbreaks, health officials have been warning the dangers of disease outbreaks. Topics include limited access to protective equipment make inmates highly susceptible to contagious viruses such as population in prison is rising; and expensive care risk to society as the number of state and federal prisoners.

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) is a supranational prison oversight body tasked with carrying out visits to places of detention across Europe. Prisons fall within the remit of the CPT, and much like prisons themselves, CPT prison visits tend to focus on the male experience of imprisonment. However, the experience of imprisonment is inherently gendered and, as such, the experiences, treatment and needs of cisgender men do not necessarily represent those of cisgender women and transgender people in prison. Therefore, it follows that a different approach is also required when it comes to prison monitoring activities carried out by the CPT. This paper introduces CPT standards and the international legal framework on gender and imprisonment. It reflects on analysis of three years of CPT reporting to explore how the CPT considers the gendered experience of imprisonment. To this end, the paper considers the potential impact of the gender composition of CPT delegations, as well as provides a descriptive content analysis of CPT reports to determine how the CPT accounts for gender-specific treatment and conditions in prison. This paper poses questions and provides suggestions around how gender can be made more central across all human rights monitoring bodies operating in the penal field, both internationally and domestically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the main criteria and standards developed in the field of international human rights law that delimitate the scope of the right to a special treatment in the execution of the penalty of deprivation of liberty for juveniles in contrast with adults. The work identifies the concrete consequences of the need for a specialized execution of sentences for juveniles in the regulation of institutions and guarantees established in favour of minors within the execution of the sanction of juvenile imprisonment, and then it determines how they have been recognized and developed by the corpus juris of international human rights law (international legislation, doctrine and case law). First, the paper analyzes how the reinforced protection of juvenile prisoners is recognized in the international human rights system, concluding that it is widely recognized. Then, it argues that this reinforced protection requires differences with respect to the treatment of adults, which can be systematized in five areas that are subject to a detailed review: orientation of the execution of the sentence of juvenile imprisonment, prison conditions, prison regime, good order and control mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contribution focuses on how dreams can be investigated as social phenomena in a manner which illuminates the role of the individual in a particular group and elucidates unconscious group processes in an organization. The article presents an experience of adopting Lawrence's social dreaming (SD) matrices in a new a specific field: an Italian prison which has shifted in the last two decades from a punitive to a rehabilitative mission. The aim of the experience was twofold: i) to help jail workers, through a formative experience, gaining a deeper understanding of how the new prison environment influences their emotional experience and work functioning; ii) to collect the emotional climate, the feelings, and the critical issues among the prison staff, in order to gain insights for the authorities responsible for the regulation of correctional facility. The experience of SD included 4 matrices, involving a total of 12 participants: 7 prison officers and 5 educators. The main thematic areas emerged from the matrices are related to: trust, competence, professional identity, separateness and privacy, safety, and to the gender differences. All the themes are presented and discussed, along with dreams and free associations. The present work is, to our knowledge, the first attempt to apply the tool of social dreaming to the context of correctional facility all over the world. The described experience might serve as an example of the applicability of this mode of analytic exploration to institutions or organizations, and the contribution opens to reflection and some implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]