The impact of determinate sentencing on prisoner misconduct

Research on drug abuse and addiction treatment in prisons

“…Od sociodemografskih karakteristika pokazalo se da godine imaju važnu ulogu u predikciji problematičnog ponašanja unutar penitensijernih ustanova. Godine zatvorenika stoje u obrnutoj korelaciji sa problematičnim ponaša-njem, odnosno što su osuđeni stariji, manje je verovatno da će činiti disciplinske prestupe (Bales & Miller, 2012;Sorensen & Cunningham, 2010). Međutim, kada se izolovano posmatraju disciplinski prekršaji direktno vezani za drogu, rezultati istraživanja nisu konzistentni, tj.…”

“…Na osnovu toga mogu se ekstrapolirati zaključci i na disciplinske prekršaje povezane sa zloupotrebom droga (Connor & Tewksbury, 2016). Kada se posmatra istorija kriminalnog ponašanja zatvorenika, studije su pokazale da vrsta krivičnih dela pre dolaska u zatvor, ne mora biti nužno slična sa disciplinskim prekršajima koji se ispoljavaju u zatvoru (Bales & Miller, 2012). Međutim, možda najsnažniji prediktor zloupotrebe droga tokom izvršenja kazne zatvora odnosi se na aktivnosti povezane sa drogom u mesecima pre dolaska u zatvor (Connor & Tewksbury, 2016;Steiner & Wooldredge, 2009).…”

Sex Offender Policy and Prevention

“…The birth of the "Tough on Crime" movement in the 1980s brought further changes to sanctioning policy, including longer sentence lengths and a shift toward determinate sentencing for all offender typologies (Ackerman, Sacks, & Greenburg, 2012 ;Edwards & Hensley, 2001 ). Both of these trends were the result of public outcry, particularly the introduction of determinate sentencing, which requires offenders to serve at least 85 % of their prison sentence before being eligible for release (Bales & Miller, 2012 ). This legislative decision was spurred on by several publicized cases of offenders out on early parole who committed further offenses; the natural solution during the "Tough on Crime" era was to do away with parole procedures entirely.…”

“…This pattern not only contributed to the skyrocketing prison population, but it disincentivized good behavior and treatment participation in prison (Bales & Miller, 2012 ;Edwards & Hensley, 2001 ). To further complicate matters, when offenders eventually "max out" of prison by serving the entirety of their sentence under determinate sentencing standards, they are no longer subject to typical parole procedures.…”

“…To keep offenders in prison longer, various sentencing schemes have been devised, including determinate sentencing and mandatory minimums. These reforms, which reduce or eliminate offenders' ability to achieve early release via good behavior and treatment participation, have, unsurprisingly, led to an increase in treatment refusal (Bales & Miller, 2012 ;Edwards & Hensley, 2001 ). Despite the escalation of sentencing severity, however, the majority of sex offenders will still be released to the community eventually (Latessa & Smith, 2011 ), which makes the trend of disincentivizing treatment all the more troubling.…”