Incarceration

Forms of Criminal Punishment: Incarceration

Introduction to Incarceration

The most serious or repeat offenders are incarcerated. In the United States about one-fourth of all persons who are convicted of a crime are incarcerated. Canada incarcerates about one-third of all convicted offenders. However, inmates in Canada are eligible for parole at earlier points in their sentence. Criminals may be incarcerated in jails or in prisons. Jails are locally operated facilities that house criminals sentenced to less than one year of incarceration. Jails typically house persons convicted of misdemeanors (less serious crimes), as well as individuals awaiting trial. Prisons are state or federally operated facilities that house individuals convicted of more serious crimes, known as felonies. Offenders sentenced to a year or more of incarceration are housed in prisons rather than jails. Canada uses a similar bifurcated system of local correctional centers and provincial and federal prisons.

Restrictions on incarcerated offenders vary. Some offenders are kept in solitary confinement or maximum security with no opportunity to interact with other inmates. In minimum-security facilities, the most common form of incarceration, inmates are housed together in large cells or in dormitory-like facilities.

Prisons deprive inmates of virtually all liberty and control over their lives. Each aspect of an inmate’s daily life is regulated by others and highly structured. Many prisons offer self-help educational and counseling programs. In some prisons, inmates may be able to work at different trades to acquire vocational and technical skills. However, a majority of inmates do not utilize these rehabilitation-oriented programs because the programs typically are not compulsory. Instead, prisons often function as long-term warehouses where offenders are merely housed and forgotten. Rates of recidivism (repeated criminal behavior) are fairly high for former inmates in the United States, averaging about 60 percent. Rates in Canada are substantially lower, at 40 percent.

In a variation of incarceration known as shock probation, first-time offenders are placed on probation after having served only a short amount of the incarceration that they had expected to serve. Some offenders receive a split sentence, serving some time in jail before being released on probation. The theory behind these practices is that the jail time, albeit brief, will shock the criminal into acceptable behavior. In another variation, called intermittent sentencing, offenders spend weekends in jail but return to the community during the week. This practice enables offenders to maintain jobs and remain in contact with their families while also being punished.

In the United States and Canada, younger offenders may be sentenced to highly regimented, military-style correctional programs known as boot camps. Generally, offenders volunteer to participate in boot camp programs to avoid other types of incarceration. At boot camps, officials subject offenders to strict discipline and physical training. They also provide educational or vocational programs. Boot camps serve as an alternative to traditional, long-term incarceration and attempt to train offenders to be law-abiding. Typically, boot camp sentences range from two to six months.” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

• Information about Incarceration in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia

Further Reading

Blumstein, A., & Beck, A. J. (1999). Population growth in U.S. prisons, 1980-1996. In M. Tonry & J. Petersilia (Eds.), Crime and justice: A review of research-Prisons (Vol. 26, pp. 17-62). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Chen, M. K.; Shapiro, J. M. Do harsher prison conditions reduce recidivism? A discontinuity-based approach. American Law and Economic Review 9 : 1-29., 2003.
Clemmer, D. (1940). The prison community. New York: Christopher.
Gendreau, P.; Goggin, C.; Cullen, F. T.; Andrews, D. A. The effects of community sanctions and incarceration on recidivism. Forum on Corrections Research 12 : 10-13., 2000, May.
Hughes, T., & Wilson, D. J. (2003). Reentry trends in the United States: Inmates returning to the community after serving time in prison. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice.
Irwin, J. (1980). Prisons in turmoil. Boston: Little, Brown.
Irwin, J. (2005). The warehouse prison: Disposal of the new dangerous class. Los Angeles: Roxbury Press.
Irwin, J.; Cressey, D. R. Thieves, convicts and the inmate subculture. Social Problems 10 ((2)) : 142-155., 1962.
Langan, P. A., & Levin, D. J. (2002). Recidivism of prisoners released in 1994. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice.
Lemert, E. M. (1951). Social pathology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Maurer, M. (1999). Race to incarcerate. New York: New Press.
Minton, T. D., & Sabol, W. J. (2009). Jail inmates at midyear 2008: Statistical tables. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice.
Nagin, D. S. (1998). Criminal deterrence research at the outset of the twenty-first century. In M. Tonry (Ed.), Crime and justice: A review of research (Vol. 23, pp. 1-42). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Nagin, D. S., Cullen, F. T., & Jonson, C. L. (2009). Imprisonment and reoffending. In M. Tonry (Ed.), Crime and justice: A review of research (Vol. 38, pp. 115-200). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Nellis, A., & King, R. S. (2009). No exit: The expanding use of life sentences in America. Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project.
Pager, D. (2007). Marked: Race, crime, and finding work in an era of mass incarceration. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Pyle, D. J. (1995). Cutting the costs of crime: The economics of crime and criminal justice. London: Institute of Economic Affairs.
Sabol, W. J., Adams, W. P., Parthasarathy, B., & Yuan, Y. (2000). Offenders returning to federal prison, 1986-97. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice.
Smith, P., Goggin, C., & Gendreau, P. (2002). The effects of prison sentences and intermediate sanctions on recidivism: General effects and individual differences (User report 2002-01). Ottawa: Solicitor General Canada.
Sykes, G. M. (1958). Society of captives: A study of a maximum security prison. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Warren, J. (2008). One in 100: Behind bars in America. Washington, DC: The Pew Charitable Trusts.
West, H. C., & Sabol, W. J. (2009). Prison inmates at midyear 2008: Statistical tables. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice.
World prison brief. (2008). London: King’s College London, International Centre for Prison Studies.
Villettaz, P., Killias, M., & Zoder, I. (2006). The effects of custodial vs. noncustodial sentences on re-offending: A systematic review of the state of knowledge. Philadelphia: Campbell Collaboration Crime and Justice Group.