Abstract
Correctional officers maintain control of the institutional environment by utilizing both formal and informal methods. Although research focusing on informal methods of control is sparse, studies have indicated these methods are essential for facilities to operate efficiently. This exploratory descriptive study examined differences in former jail and prison inmate perceptions of nine methods of informal control. A limited number of the participants indicated that officers use these methods to punish or control inmates, and from their perspectives, all methods examined were viewed as being effective means of control, to some extent. Differences found between the two groups, as well as recommendations for future research are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Good time refers to incentive polices which allow inmates to reduce their sentence for good behavior, although they are required to serve their full minimum term (Hoene, 2000). Good time is referred to as “gain-time” credit in Florida. In Florida, individuals who received sentences for offenses committed on or after October 1, 1995, may receive up to 10 days of gaintime per month. However, these inmates can only earn gaintime credit that would allow for their sentence to end after serving a minimum of 85% of their sentence (Florida Legislature, 2011).
Recreation yard will be termed rec yard for the rest of the report, since this is the terminology typically used within prisons.
The total number of former inmates is actually 71, but one of the participant’s survey was destroyed prior to the data being entered.
Since we did not have prior expectations about how individual items regarding personal experience with informal social control methods in prison would load, we first ran an exploratory factor analysis using Varimax rotation and entered all nine variables together that pertained to personal experiences. These variables loaded above 0.5 on two factors with Eigenvalues above one, and were transformed into two index variables. Items that did not load at 0.5 or above were not included in the indexes. This process was repeated for variables pertaining to witnessing and perceived effectiveness and lead to two indexes represent participants’ witnessing of the same methods of control on fellow inmates and one index which measured participants’ perceived effectiveness of the nine informal social methods. All indexes were created by dividing the sum of the index score by the total number of items in the index. See Tables 3 and 4 for list by index and Cronbach’s alpha.
Florida Department of Corrections’ inmates were allowed to possess tobacco products during the time data were collected.
Relax count refers to the time period when the dorm officer has counted all inmates, but is waiting for the count to clear, meaning all inmates are accounted for. During relax count inmates are usually allowed to lay down and do other activities such as read, as long as they remain on their bunk.
References
Adams, K. (1992). Adjusting to prison life. Crime and Justice, 16, 275–359.
Bleich, J. (1989). The politics of prison crowding. California Law Review, 77, 1125–1180.
Blumstein, A., & Beck, A. J. (1999). Population growth in U.S. prisons, 1980–1996. Crime and Justice, 26, 17–81.
Bolduc, A. (1985). Jail crowding. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 478, 47–57.
Craddock, A. (1992). Formal social control in prisons: An exploratory examination of the custody classification process. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 17, 63–88.
Fisher-Giorlando, M., & Jiang, S. (2000). Race and disciplinary reports: An empirical study of correctional officers. Sociological Spectrum, 20, 169–194.
Florida Legislature (2011). The 2007 Florida Statutes: 994.275 gain-time. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/. Accessed December 20, 2011.
Glaze, L. E. (2010). Correctional populations in the United States, 2009. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice.
Harrington, M. (2008). Revisiting the total incarceration variable: Should researchers separate jail from prison sentences in sentencing research? Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 24, 462–478.
Hemmens, C., & Marquart, J. W. (2000). Friend or foe? Race, age, and inmate perceptions of inmate-staff relations. Journal of Criminal Justice, 28, 297–312.
Hepburn, J. R. (1985). The exercise of power in coercive organizations: A study of prison guards. Criminology, 23, 145–164.
Hewitt, J. D., Poole, E. D., & Regoli, R. M. (1984). Self-reported and observed rule-breaking in prison: A look at disciplinary response. Justice Quarterly, 1, 437–447.
Hochstetler, A., Murphy, D. S., & Simons, R. L. (2004). Damaged goods: Exploring predictors of distress in prison inmates. Crime and Delinquency, 50, 436–457.
Hoene, P. M. (2000). Keeping the streets safe: Truth in sentencing and public opinion in Idaho. The Justice Professional, 12, 291–304.
Hughes, T., & Wilson, D. J. (2002). Reentry trends in the United States. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice.
Irwin, J. (2005). The warehouse prison: Disposal of the new dangerous class. Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing Company.
Keeton, K. B., & Swanson, C. (1998). HIV/AIDS education needs assessment: A comparative study of jail and prison inmates in Northwest Florida. The Prison Journal, 78, 119–132.
Langan, P. A. (1991). America’s soaring prison population. Science, 251, 1568–1573.
Listwan, S. J., Cullen, F. T., & Latessa, E. (2006). How to prevent prisoner re-entry programs from failing: Insights from evidence-based corrections. Federal Probation, 70, 19–25.
Marquart, J. W. (1986). Prison guards and the use of physical coercion as a mechanism of prisoner control. Criminology, 24, 347–366.
O’Toole, M. (1997). Jails and prisons: The numbers say they are more different than generally assumed. American Jails, May/June, 27–31.
Petersilia, J. (2003). When prisoners come home: Parole and prisoner reentry. New York: Oxford University Press.
Pollock, J. (1986). Sex and supervision: Guarding male and female inmates. New York, NY: Greenwood Press.
Poole, E. D., & Regoli, R. M. (1980). Role stress, custody orientation, and disciplinary actions: A study of prison guards. Criminology, 18, 215–226.
Rasche, C. E. (2000). The dislike of female offenders among correctional officers: Need for special training. In R. Muraskin (Ed.), It’s a crime: Women and justice (pp. 237–252). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Roman, C. G., & Travis, J. (2006). Where will I sleep tomorrow? Housing, homelessness, and the returning prisoner. Housing Policy Debate, 17, 389–418.
Ross, J. I., & Richards, S. C. (2002). Behind bars: Surviving prison. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha Books.
Streets, D. (1965). The inmate group in custodial and treatment settings. American Sociological Review, 30, 40–55.
Sykes, G. (1956). The corruption of authority and rehabilitation. Social Forces, 34, 257–262.
Sykes, G. (1958). The society of captives. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Tannen, D. (1990). You just don’t understand: Men and women in conversation. New York, NY: William Morrow.
Toch, H. (1992). Living in prison: The ecology of survival. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Travis, J., & Petersilia, J. (2001). Reentry reconsidered: A new look at an old question. Crime and Delinquency, 47, 291–313.
Useem, B., & Reisig, M. D. (1999). Collective action in prisons: Protests, disturbances, and riots. Criminology, 37, 735–759.
Walters, G. D. (2003). Predicting institutional adjustment and recidivism with the psychopathy checklist factor scores: A meta-analysis. Law and Human Behavior, 27, 541–558.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the half-way house and transitional programming administrators and study respondents for their participation in this research. Additionally, the authors would like to thank Jessica Chiarizio for her assistance in this project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Santos, S.D., Lane, J. & Gover, A.R. Former Prison and Jail Inmates’ Perceptions of Informal Methods of Control Utilized by Correctional Officers. Am J Crim Just 37, 485–504 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-011-9152-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-011-9152-0