| Chapter 13
Covering Prisons and Jails
By Jenifer Warren
Prison Programs
A majority of state inmates and almost half of federal inmates were abusing or were dependent on drugs in the year before their admission to prison, said a 2006 Bureau of Justice Statistics survey. One in six has a mental illness, and most lack a college degree, or even a high school diploma. Few have solid family support, a stable work history or significant vocational skills.
Despite those needs, only about one-fourth of inmates will participate in a substance abuse treatment program prior to release, while only one in three will receive vocational or educational training, according to 2001 data gathered by Congress’ General Accounting Office. Even a work assignment in prison can be hard to come by, with prison industry jobs particularly scarce.
Criminologist Joan Petersilia of UC Irvine says resources are one factor, but not the only one. “Public sentiment and political rhetoric have also forced the reduction of many programs,” Petersilia writes in her book When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry. “Treatment and work programs,” she continues, “have also been affected by society’s expectation that prison will be punishing and that prisoners should not receive free any services for which law-abiding citizens must pay.”
That argument is understandable. But does idleness really serve society’s best interests? Roughly 95 percent of American inmates are ultimately released from prison and return home, Petersilia says. They already face the stigma of their criminal record, as well as limitations on where they may live and significant employment restrictions because of their past. As Petersilia notes, “If these ex-prisoners are unable to lead law-abiding lives, we all pay in terms of new crimes committed … The human and financial costs of returning ill-prepared convicts to the communities are staggering.”
For reporters, this is rich turf. What do the numbers show about pre-release programs in prison, and has program availability decreased? Why? What are the waiting lists like? Are the programs based on evidence that they are effective in reducing recidivism, or are they a sham? Is parole consideration based on program completion? If so, how is the dearth of programs affecting the rate at which offenders are paroled? (See a 2008 survey from the Association of Paroling Authorities International on this topic: http://www.apaintl.org/pdfs/ExecSum-keyfindings.pdf
Talk to the warden about programming. For most prison administrators, idleness is a nightmare, creating a hotbed of disciplinary problems. Just what do inmates with no job, no classes to attend, and not much hope of a brighter future do all day?
Prison Gangs
Racial or ethnic gangs are commonplace in most prisons, and are a constant threat to administrative efforts to maintain safety and control. Aside from protecting their members, gangs run a wide variety of rackets inside prison, including drug trafficking, prostitution, extortion and loan-sharking.
- What are institutions doing about gang violence? Is the use of the “SHU,” or security housing unit, having an effect on violence levels by isolating gang shot-callers?
- What avenues are available for gang members who want an “exit ramp” out of gang life? How do “debriefing” and protective custody work?
Prison Medical Care
One of the biggest factors in rising prison costs is inmate health care. Despite stories that suggest prisoners receive “Cadillac care,” the reality is usually quite different.
- Spend a day in the prison infirmary and see what it’s like.
- Check the state medical board for disciplinary citations against prison doctors.
- Look at the costs of contract medical care—payments by states to private hospitals and specialists that treat more complex cases. Track campaign contributions by private health care networks to determine potential influence in winning lucrative corrections contracts.
- Dental care is particularly notorious inside prison. In some states, a severe shortage of dentists causes delays in treatment that give inmates no choice but extraction to fix problem teeth.
Labor Relations
In those states where correctional officers are represented by a union, power struggles with prison management, along with contract negotiations, can yield a stream of ongoing stories.
Invisible Punishments—Collateral Consequences
One emerging issue that has gone largely underreported in the media involves the collateral consequences of incarceration. In recent years, states and the federal government have imposed numerous restrictions on ex-offenders that affect their families and communities, often in unforeseen ways. These include laws limiting access to public housing, federal educational benefits, certain types of occupations and job training.
Another powerful consequence often overlooked is the effect of incarceration on offenders’ children. Research shows the children of the incarcerated are more likely than their peers to wind up in prison later in life. Stories about these kids and their struggles can be powerful, from the trauma of witnessing the arrest of a parent to attempting to maintain family bonds through prison visits.
Prison Rape
In 2001, Human Rights Watch issued a report on rape in male prisons that drew serious attention to a problem that had long been neglected. Based on three years of research, the report, No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons, pulled back the curtain on an issue that had become a common—and tacitly accepted—stereotype about prison life.
Two years later, Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act, which was signed into law by former President George W. Bush. Among other things, the act created a national commission to study prison rape, report to Congress and develop standards for the prevention of rape in correctional facilities.
In 2007, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics issued a startling report concluding that 4.5 percent of the state and federal prisoners surveyed reported being sexually abused in the previous 12 months. Based on the BJS prisoner count, that means more than 70,000 inmates were abused in one year alone.
Reporters should track the evolution of the standards for preventing rape, monitor annual hearings on prisons with the highest and lowest rate of prison rape, and keep tabs on what’s going on at the National Institute of Corrections, which has been designated a clearinghouse for data on prison rape and assigned the task of training administrators in rape prevention.
Individual incidents of rape—especially in the most notorious cases, such as accusations involving complicity of a correctional officer—can be a springboard to a broader story on the topic.
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