Imprisonment

Do you think prison works?

Planned Behaviours

According to Icek Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour (1985) many prisoners when leaving prison lack skills and qualifications and many go on to reoffend because their behaviour isn’t actually due to rational choice. It is due to their attitude, how they consider others perceive them and whether they think they can actually not reoffend.

Here are some examples of Ajzen’s theory. 

Attitude

Charlie has been in prison for 7 years for burglary and ABH. He doesn’t have any money and isn’t sure where he will be leaving and this makes him feel very anxious about the future. He is considering theft as an option though he doesn’t much like the idea as he is afraid of getting caught as he doesn’t want to end up inside again. However, he needs to survive

Subjective Norm

He knows that his mother would be very disappointed if she knew what he was considering. She hardly visited him in prison. Charlie knows his girlfriend doesn’t want him to commit anymore crimes and just wants him to get a job. But there aren’t any jobs for people like him...

Behavioural Control

Charlie realises that with his skills of deception, he probably wouldn’t get caught. He has done it before and got away with it. The stuff he pinches he could sell and he was certain that then he would have enough money to put a deposit on a flat.

It looks like Charlie may not be going straight after all.

It is very important to reduce recidivism rates as there are dangers in prison such as drug abuse and suicide and prisons are extremely expensive.

Gillis and Nafekh (2005) investigated the effect on rates of recidivism of a community based employment scheme.

1. How big was the sample of federal offenders?

• A - 23525 federal offenders

2. What percentage were men?

• A - 95% were men

3. What experimental design was used?

• A - A matched pairs design

4. What were they matched for?

• A - They were matched for gender, release year, risk level, sentence length, emotional orientation, etc

5. What was the average time for the sample to get employment for men and for women?

• A - The average time for the sample to get employment was 6 months for men and 10 months for women

6. Were those on employment programmes prior to finishing their sentence less likely or more likely to return to custody with a new offence?

• A - Those on employment programmes prior to finishing their sentence were less likely to return to custody with a new offence

7. Why do you think, therefore, that employment based programmes are important?

• A - Employment based programmes are important as they give prisoners skills and helps them to integrate into the community

Finally, this study makes it apparent that planning for a prisoner to integrate smoothly into society and to build their confidence is something to be very much encouraged.

Depression and suicide risk

Can you imagine for a moment what it would be like to be in prison?

For an inmate on remand, prison life can be an extremely bleak experience. He could be confined to one room for up to 23 hours a day and he may be afraid of what the future holds for him.

The main personal problems that prisoners experience are;

• Mental health difficulties
• Addiction to alcohol and drugs

Dooley (1990) researched unnatural deaths in prison in England and Wales between 1972 and 1987.

A content analysis was used of Prison Department records. A checklist was employed that concentrated on social, psychiatric and forensic history and this was used to analyse the data. Dooley looked at inmates’ background information as well as their previous offences as well as statements from other prisoners and staff about the death.

There were 442 unnatural deaths in this time scale. 300 were classified as suicide; these were compared to the other deaths.

Deaths that were consciously self-inflicted were more likely to happen to women.  These deaths mostly occurred at night.

Remand

• Suicides were more likely to happen to prisoners on remand
• Almost a third had a history of mental health problems
• Hanging was the most common method of death

Dooley additionally found that crowding, family concerns, mental illness and feeling immense remorse and guilt for the offence influenced the deaths.

The 3-I's Theory refers to how the inmate perceives their situation to be and this can affect whether they may attempt to kill themselves such as;

• Intolerable; unable to put up with the experience any longer
• Inescapable; no way out of the situation
• Interminable; never going to end

The Prison Situation and Roles

Zimbardo was arguing that the way the prisoner behaves is due to the environment of the prison

• Zimbardo recruited students to perform the roles of prisoners and guards in a simulated prison using military uniforms and mirrored sunglasses
• The prisoners were to remain in prison for 2 weeks
• The prisoners were realistically arrested by the local police, finger-printed and taken blindfolded to the prison
• The prisoners had different numbers, ankle chains, smocks and hair nets
• Zimbardo himself played the role of Governor
• There was a prison rebellion and as a result the guards removed mattresses and made the prisoners go around naked
• Everyone involved in this experiment performed a role but guards were sadistic and visitors treated the prisoners as if they were guilty
• The conclusions drawn from the study were that the environment and roles have an extreme effect on people’s behaviour

This experiment only continued for 6 days; Zimbardo cancelled it, shocked at what had happened to the prisoners, the guards and even himself. Obviously this study has severe ethical implications but Zimbardo hoped for a change in the way prisons in the US were run as a result and he got his wish for a short while when the Supreme Court made sure the prison system was run more compassionately.

Haney and Zimbardo (1998) got together again and emphasised how then there were more black men in prison than in college. There had been an immense public pressure to put criminals into prison and there had also been a war on drugs causing the prison population to rise. Zimbardo’s hopes for a better prison system had been dashed.

Suggestions for improvement are;

1. Not to use prisons as much due to the detrimental effect they have

2. More emphasis on the situation the prisoner finds himself in

3. More emphasis on the actions from people outside the prison system who are unbiased

4. More rehabilitation programmes to be implemented to teach prisoners skills to survive on the outside

5. To use psychological understanding and knowledge to improve the prison system

6. More emphasis on the individual differences of inmates and to make allowances for that