Prison Law and Penology - Essay Example

Prison Law and Penology Rehabilitation in Prisons Prisoners are distributed among a variety of types of In the United s most prisoners serving longer sentences are held in state prisons, which are usually large maximum-security buildings holding more than 1,000 offenders in conditions of strict security. Young offenders usually are detained in separate institutions, often designated under names that imply that their purpose is treatment or correction rather than punishment. Women are normally held in separate institutions. Prisoners who are not considered a danger to the community may be confined in low-security or open prisons. In England, as in the United States, most prisoners are held in prisons constructed more than a century ago. Prisons are classified administratively as local or central prisons. Local prisons serve a variety of purposes-holding prisoners awaiting trial or sentencing and prisoners serving shorter sentences (up to about 18 months). There the worst overcrowding occurs. Prisoners serving longer sentences are detained in central prisons, dealing exclusively with similar cases. For security, prisoners are classified into four categories, from A (prisoners likely to attempt escape, and constituting, if successful, a significant danger to the public) to D (prisoners who can be trusted to work in conditions of minimal security). Central prisons cover a range from maximum-security institutions to medium-security prisons, where the degree of security is less intense; and to open prisons, where physical security is minimal and there is normally no obstacle to a prisoner's absconding. In some European countries a further category of institution is available to accommodate prisoners who are allowed to serve their sentences intermittently, usually over a series of weekends. Younger offenders in England (in the age group 15-21) were until recently held in Borstal institutions, named after the village in Kent where the first one was operated. For many years these institutions were admired as an example of practical rehabilitation through training, but declining enthusiasm for this concept, and disillusionment with its effectiveness, led to its replacement with that of "youth custody." Another feature of the English prison system is the detention centre. These institutions for young males serving sentences that must not exceed four months are based on the principle of vigorous discipline and physical activity, popularly known as the "short sharp shock"; research has failed to show, however, that it is an effective deterrent to further crime. Prisons have been described as total institutions, in which every aspect of life is subject to control. In addition to daily routines such as mealtimes, times of rising and retiring, and bathing, many other aspects of the prisoner's life are subject to control. In part this control forms the deprivation of freedom that is the essence of imprisonment, and in part it is a necessary adjunct as a means of maintaining security, controlling the introduction of weapons or contraband substances, and preventing escapes. Most prisons limit the number of visits that a prisoner may receive from his family or friends. In England the Prison Rules allow a convicted prisoner one visit every four weeks, although the prison governor may increase or limit visits at his discretion. Only relatives and friends of the prisoner may visit him, although adequate facilities must be available for visits by legal advisers if the prisoner is engaged in any litigation (for instance, divorce proceedings). Visits normally take place within the sight of an officer, and in some cases within his hearing. In many prisons, visits are conducted with the prisoner sitting on one side of a table and his visitor on the other, with a wire mesh partition between them; the visitor may be searched for contraband. In other prisons the conditions for visiting may be less restrictive-the visitor and the prisoner may be allowed to meet in a room without any physical barrier but still in the sight of officers. Conjugal visits (in which the prisoner's spouse comes to stay with the prisoner for a period of several days) are not permitted in England, but some U.S. states do permit them. Correspondence of prisoners in England is subject to censorship by the prison authorities, and prisoners may not write more than one letter each week. Control of the prison is maintained by a number of disciplinary sanctions, which may include forfeiture of privileges, confinement within a punishment block or cell, or the loss of remission or good time (time deducted from the sentence as a reward for good behaviour). The procedures for the imposition of sanctions on prisoners have been improved in both England and the United States, in part as a result of actions taken through the courts. Generally, prisons are governed by rules setting out a code of conduct and listing prohibited behaviour; the code must be given to the prisoner on his arrival in the prison. Typically, the prohibited offences include mutiny and violence to officers; escaping, or being absent from a place where the prisoner is required to be; and possessing unauthorized articles. The rules may also include one or more generally defined offences (such as the English "offence against good order and discipline") that leave much scope for interpretation. Disciplinary sanction may be imposed by the prison administrator or governor in minor cases, but the imposition of a more serious sanction-e.g., loss of remission or good time-requires a more formal disciplinary hearing before a committee or board, which will follow the basic rules of procedure in a court of law. Individuals have used and abused drugs for centuries. The new situation that we are confronted with today involves an expansion in the types and varieties of drugs that have become available to us and complexities of our environment. Nationally, the scope of the drug abuse problem is enormous. Substance abuse is not confined to any particular population or economic level. It affects the entire nation. Elementary, middle schools, high schools and colleges are experiencing serious problems with drug use. The pressure to use drugs begins at approximately the fourth grade (especially with tobacco). Between the fourth and sixth grade experimentation with alcohol, (especially beer and wine coolers), increases significantly. By high school graduation approximately one quarter of American students are frequent users of alcohol and tobacco. Marijuana use, which occurs in about two percent of the students between the fourth and sixth grades, increases in high school to over 50 percent. Over 90% of the high school students have used alcoholic beverages by the time they graduate. One in six high school seniors heave tried cocaine and one in 18 seniors have tried crack. Most of the students who use illicit drugs such as alcohol and marijuana will get them from other students. Thirty percent of adolescent suicides will be directly related to depression aggravated by drug or alcohol abuse. Clearly, the United States presently suffers the highest rates of teenage and young adult drug use in the industrialized world. Recent statistics suggest that substance abuse levels may have peaked, but we have only traversed part of the way down a high mountain in terms of coping with this problem. Drug use among post college adults include caffeine and nicotine, alcohol, barbiturates, and tranquilizers. No society as far as we know has succeeded in eliminating addicting drugs or addicts. It is also evident that in the vast majority of cases this condition cannot be cured nor alleviated. We need a change in our attitude toward the place drugs play in our lives. All drugs are potentially dangerous. Do we wish to eliminate all mind-altering substances and create a drug free society' This would mean that along with narcotics, cocaine and marijuana we would abolish alcohol and tobacco. The latter are just as addicting and even more damaging from a physiological point of view than the illegal drugs. As far as we know drugs cannot be eliminated from society. Whenever and wherever this has been attempted the result has been disastrous. It should be very evident that the drug dilemma is very complex issue. Many of the definitions we use to describe use and abuse are broad and are of limited use because there are different opinions as to what is socially and medically acceptable behavior. On one side of the issue lies the supply of drugs. Law enforcement can help reduce the drug supply but should not be seen as the sole solution to the problem. On the demand side of the issue, lies the importance of providing treatment to addicts and reducing the underlying reasons why drugs are in such high demand. Drug treatment is an investment which will eventually replace the continued costs of arresting and incarcerating compulsive drug users if it is widely implemented. In order to prevent addiction it will be necessary to improve social conditions, job opportunities, and education in our society. If drugs cannot be eliminated from society then their presence could be made to cause as little disruption as possible. History shows us that this is possible within a society. The American Indians used a variety of powerful drugs without developing a drug problem. We only have to go back to 1912 in the United States when anyone could walk into a pharmacy and purchase, at a reasonable cost, all the morphine, heroin, cocaine and hashish they wanted. The per capita rate of crime as about one tenth of what it is today. The per capita rate of addiction was higher than it is today but this rate did not disrupt society. It is vitally important that any new approach receive the support of mainstream America. The following items are worthy of public debate as possible trends to deal with drugs in our society. First, it is important to tell the truth about the effects of drugs. Mass misinformation does not act as a deterrent and can do real damage. Second, Education and legislation do work. Prohibition showed that even an imperfect law did discourage alcohol consumption. The levels of alcohol consumption prior to Prohibition have never been regained since prohibition was repealed. The present decline in smoking is directly related to the effectiveness of education. Over the decades proponents of minor vices tried advertising and propaganda to counter education because they knew it was effective. Third, stop talking about winning drug wars. There is no way to win if we expect to make the drugs or their abusers go away. A related approach would be to fashion a way to live with drugs through education and legislation that allows us to coexist with drugs and creates the least harm for users and nonusers. Holland is an example of a society that has not solved its drug problem but may be the best example we have to date of rational drug control to create the least harm for users and nonusers. The Dutch established a distinction between marijuana and harder drugs. The penalties were reduced for the simple possession of marijuana and increased for its large scale dealing. The Dutch emphasize moderation and control rather than prohibition and repression by allowing marijuana and hashish to be sold from the menus in coffee shops. The result of the Dutch approach has resulted in marijuana use among its youth that is substantially less than in Norway, Germany and the United States. The Dutch created a model that took away marijuana as a symbol of defiance, and reduced the attention of marijuana as a hot subject among its youth. Fourth, protect the sick, the victims of drug wars. Individuals who are sick and are suffering from diseases such as cancer, glaucoma or drug addiction should have drug including heroin and marijuana available to them through prescription. Chronic pain-sufferers in England who are suffering from a recognized organic illness receive a dosage of narcotics either free or at a minimal cost that is determined by their physician. And is not the business of medical societies or the police. The program is in the hands of a specialized individual thus reducing the corruption that once plagued the system. The English drug culture remains basically stable, and little crime is attributed to opiate dependent people. The user who is treated in this program does not spend their lives seeking heroin or the means to pay for it. Fifth, rethink our laws so we direct our efforts at criminal traffickers, drug addicts, police and prosecutors. Sixth, provide affordable treatment as needed to all people who are suffering from drug addiction. It will be necessary to build a system of experts and facilities to meet the individual needs of each drug dependent person. Seventh, the police can be in a leadership role by focusing and directing their efforts to areas where they can be effective such as traffickers and corrupt police, organized crime and prosecutors. Eighth, give the states, not the federal government direct control of the drug problem. This same approach was devised to breakout from the calamity of alcohol prohibition. Ninth, place greater controls on the sale of alcohol and tobacco. These might include health warnings on each product, restricting all alcohol and tobacco advertising to listings in newspapers or prohibit all smoking in public locations. Suicide Problem and Prevention Methods: The most common method of suicide in prison is asphyxiation, usually at night. High-risk factors for suicide among prisoners are similar to those among other citizens, i.e. youth, male gender, depression, alcoholism and loss of a relative, friend or partner. There is some evidence that more supportive prison regimes may experience less suicidal behaviour than less supportive regimes. There is growing belief that self-help among prisoners is particularly important. The Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has drawn out a number of important points from its visits to a wide range of European countries. The Committee noted that: careful statistics are important; seclusion is a poor means of managing suicidal prisoners; the identification of prisoners at risk requires special training; special emphasis should be placed on the early phases of imprisonment; the best means of managing a prisoner at risk of suicide is a constructive relationship with members of staff; prisoners with mental disturbance should not be placed in solitary confinement; and all prison systems should have a suicide-prevention programme clearly identifiable. (Gunn, 1996). Previous systematic reports on suicide prevention in British prisons have been reviewed very briefly. These collectively recommend that the enhancement of a prisoner's life would be useful in the reduction of suicide risk, e.g. regimes including plenty of time out of the cell and good access to telephones and family and friends. There is also a need for adequate NHS provision. Seclusion should not be used as a method of managing suicidal prisoners. The young and the vulnerable should not be exposed to prison, if at all possible. All prisons need an enhanced psychiatric and substance misuse service. Training of all prison staff, not just health care staff, in matters concerning suicide and self-harm should be an NHS responsibility. The current English prison strategy includes four key elements of policy: (a) Creating a safe environment; (b) Special care for prisoners in crisis; (c) After-care for those affected by suicide attempts and self-harm; (d) The whole prison community being aware of the care of prisoners at risk of suicide. There is a glossy, complex pack of information available to prison staff about suicide prevention containing 10 different leaflets. These include a comment on the Green Card, which can be given to individuals and which indicates how they can get immediate help at any time of the day or night. There is also significant new investment due to go into prisons to create 'in-reach teams'. Suicide prevention in prison Suicide samples One of us (E.D.), while at the Institute of Psychiatry in London (Dooley, 1990), examined the case notes of 295 suicides (98.3% of the total) in prison in England and Wales between 1972 and 1987. The most common method of suicide was asphyxiation, usually at night. The dead prisoners frequently had a past history of psychiatric treatment and self-injury. People charged with, or convicted of, violent or sexual offences were overrepresented among the suicides, as well as those serving life sentences. Some suicides occurred many years after reception into prison. Prison size Correlates of suicidal behaviour should be considered as indicators, rather than foolproof predictors. He said that there is some suggestion in the literature that smaller, more supportive prison regimes may experience less suicidal behaviour. He noted that the report into HM Detention Centre and HM Young Offenders' Institution, Glenochill (Chiswick et al, 1985) proposed dividing young offender institutions into smaller units of 30-40 inmates, each providing a different distinctive regime (see below). Self-help Some commentators have stressed the importance of contact with family and friends. However, the finding that many suicidal prisoners may be single and without such relationships underlines the importance of other sources of contact from outside prison, such as the Samaritans. Lloyd emphasized that the majority of commentators reject the use of any form of isolation for potentially suicidal inmates. Most advise location in a ward or dormitory accommodation, under intense supervision for severe cases. Otherwise, for less serious risk, cell-sharing with selected inmates is advocated. An extension of this self-help notion has been reported from the USA. In a New York City scheme, inmates are selected and paid by the Board of Corrections to monitor other prisoners for possible suicidal intentions. The aides are required to patrol the housing area and report unusual behaviour and inmate depression to correctional officers. They are therefore trained how to identify such behaviour and how to talk to prisoners who are depressed and suicidal. Advantages of these schemes are that they are comparatively cheap and inmates may feel more able to confide in prisoners than in officers. Furthermore, the effect of helping other inmates may be beneficial for the aides themselves. However, the problem with such schemes is their potential for threatening the existing power relations between staff and inmates. Electronic monitoring has been introduced in the USA in the form of television and audio equipment, but some observers believe that this results in decreasing contact between staff and inmates and dehumanisation. Suicide prevention programmes White & Schimmel (1995) claimed that the Federal Bureau of Prisons suicide prevention programme has been extremely successful in that during the period of its implementation there was a 43% decline in suicide rates. However, the authors are careful not to claim cause and effect and it is clear from the data provided by Hayes (1995) that there was a general reduction in suicide rates during this period in both the state and federal systems. Nevertheless, it might be worth noting the policy that the American federal system has adopted. This is a five-point programme that involves: (a) Initial screening of all inmates; (b) Treatment and housing criteria for suicidal inmates; (c) Development of standardised record-keeping, follow-up procedures and Systematic data collection; (d) Staff training; (e) Periodic reviews and audits. Psychologists do the initial screening, by interview within the first 14 days of admission. Any inmate who is considered suicidal is removed from the general population and placed on suicide watch. Suicide watch is virtually continuous monitoring by trained inmate companions or staff; the inmate is never left alone. The psychology services are required to use a series of standardised forms for these watches, which are later used for analysis. The cornerstone of the programme is considered to be the training of the staff. Training is provided 'semi-annually' to physician assistants and correctional counsellors. Training for inmate companions focuses on ensuring that inmates understand the procedures necessary to summon staff assistance should there be any attempt at suicide. They are also given training in understanding suicidal behaviour, empathic listening and other techniques for building communications. It is thus hoped that the companion can provide the suicidal inmate with a ready source of peer support. A fruitful source of information for Europe is the regular reporting by the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), which visits all countries that belong to the Council of Europe to examine the institutions where people are held against their will. These are prisons (civil and military), police cells, psychiatric hospitals and immigration detention centres. It is recognised that such institutions have high levels of suicidal behaviour and varying degrees of success in coping with this. Our review of the reports concerning Denmark, Finland, the Federal Republic of Germany, Iceland, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland and the UK draws out the following points: _ Careful statistics on suicide are important _ seclusion is a poor means of managing suicidal prisoners _ identification of prisoners at risk is of critical importance and requires special training _ special emphasis should be placed on the early phases of imprisonment in this respect _ the best means of managing a prisoner at risk of suicide is the establishment of constructive relationships between staff and inmates, which again requires special training _ prisoners with obvious mental disturbance should not be placed in solitary confinement and should be managed by closer supervision and support instead, combined, if necessary, with medical care and sedation _ physical restraints should never be used in security or seclusion cells _ closed-circuit television may have a role to play in monitoring suicidal behaviour _ all prison systems should have a suicide prevention programme clearly identified and widely available. For the UK, specific points were made by the CPT in 1991 (Council of Europe, 1991) as follows: 'The central plank of the suicide prevention programme must be to address the problems of overcrowding, lack of integral sanitation and inadequate regimes. It may be true that conditions found in many local prisons will rarely be the sole and unique cause of a suicide; however for someone who is already predisposed to taking his life, they might often prove the last straw. Another key element of suicide prevention is the establishment of constructive relationships between staff and inmates, as well as between inmates. As far as the delegation could see, contacts between prison staff and inmates tended to be impersonal. Staff will have to possess good interpersonal communication skills for there to be a significant improvement. Steps to improve the general level of prison conditions and staff inmate relations must be accompanied by more specific measures aimed at identifying those most likely to commit suicide. In this connection it should be noted that adolescents as a group constitute a population at risk. Further, all prison staff, whatever their precise job, should be on the lookout for (which implies being trained in recognising) signs of suicidal behaviour. Of course persons identified as a suicide risk should be subject to special precautions. In particular they should not be placed alone in a cell with easy access to means of killing themselves (cell window bars, broken glass, belts or ties), should benefit from counselling, support and Bibliography Prison in England by James Miller 2000. Oxford University Press. Read More