The Past Is Prologue: Prior Adjustment to Prison and Institutional Misconduct

Abstract

In the United States, inmates maintain high rates of recidivism when released from correctional institutions. Although a large body of research addresses indicators of risk for recidivism after release, less is known about the stability of institutional misconduct across periods of incarceration. A limited amount of research has explored the relationship between inmate disciplinary reports incurred during prior terms of incarceration and subsequent institutional misconduct. Based on official infraction data from 1,005 inmates selected from the Arizona Department of Corrections, the current study found that both male and female inmates who have incurred disciplinary reports during prior terms of incarceration participated in violent and nonviolent institutional misconduct during subsequent terms of incarceration. Implications for theory and research are explored.

Violent criminals locked up: Examining the effect of incarceration on behavioral continuity

“…Studies have shown that while females committed disciplinary offenses at rates similar to males (Camp et al, 2003;Craddock, 1996;McClellan, 1994), their violent acts were much less likely to involve weapons or serious injuries (Harer & Langan, 2001;Wolff, Blitz, Shi, Siegel, & Bachman, 2007). Some authors have argued that differences between the correlates of male and female misconduct supports a gendered-pathways approach to predicting prison misconduct (Gover et al, 2008;Jiang & Winfree, 2006;Steiner & Wooldredge, 2009a), while others have supported the universal applicability of risk factors (Craddock, 1996;Drury & DeLisi, 2010;Harer & Langan, 2001).…”

Are All Gangs Equal Security Risks? An Investigation of Gang Types and Prison Misconduct

“…Long-term exposure to material and institutional deprivations, such as overcrowding, an unappealing physical environment and food services, a lack of amenities, and no legitimate heterosexual contact is posited to increase levels of stress, opposition to the prison regime, and anti-authoritarian values, which in turn, leads to an increased likelihood of engaging in misconduct. Most studies that have focused on the deprivation model have examined offenserelated factors, such as sentence length, and the success of this approach to explain an inmate's involvement in misconduct have been mixed (Casey-Acevedo & Bakken, 2001;Drury & DeLisi, 2010;Thompson & Loper, 2005).…”

“…Most studies examining this proposition have found a positive relationship between these imported characteristics and prison misconduct. Drury and DeLisi (2010) summarized the literature: "inmates who are younger, male, less educated, lack a social support network, have more extensive criminal histories, and/or have a history of violent behavior engage in significantly higher levels of misconduct in prison than inmates not possessing these characteristics" (p. 333). STG members import an additional set of criminogenic values into correctional facilities and studies that have examined their contributions to institutional misconduct have generally found a significant association (Cunningham & Sorensen, 2007;DeLisi et al, 2004;Drury & DeLisi, 2011;Gaes et al, 2002).…”

“…that gang members represent a significant threat to the safety and security of correctional systems due to their involvement in misconduct (Cunningham & Sorensen, 2007;DeLisi, Berg, & Hochstetler, 2004;Drury & DeLisi, 2010;Fischer, 2001;Gaes, Wallace, Gilman, Klein-Saffran, & Suppa, 2002;Griffin & Hepburn, 2006) and violence (Berg & DeLisi, 2006;Cunningham & Sorensen, 2007;Drury & DeLisi, 2010, 2011Fischer, 2001;Gabor, 2007;Gaes et al, 2002;Griffin & Hepburn, 2006). In addition, as these groups often form along racial or ethnic lines they may also exacerbate racial tensions (Hassine, 2009;Ralph & Marquart, 1991;Trulson & Marquart 2002).…”

Serious assaults on prison staff: A descriptive analysis

“…If the relationship between individual-level factors and serious assaults on staff were consistent with those characteristics identified from studies relying on inmate violence as more broadly defined, it is anticipated that these attacks would be disproportionately perpetrated by inmates who are younger (Berk, Kriegler, & Baek, 2006;Cooper & Werner, 1990;Harer & Steffensmeier, 1996;Wooldredge, 1991), male (Baskin, Sommers, & Steadman, 1991;Harer & Langan, 2001), Black (DeLisi, Berg, & Hochstetler, 2004Harer & Steffensmeier, 1996; but see Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2002;Cunningham, Sorensen, Vigen, & Woods, 2010), lacking a high school diploma or GED (Cunningham, Sorensen, & Reidy, 2005;Cunningham & Sorensen, 2006;Harer & Langan, 2001), members of prison gangs (DeLisi et al, 2004;Drury & DeLisi, 2011;Gaes et al, 2002), serving longer sentences for violent crimes (Berk et al, 2006;Griffin & Hepburn, 2006;Huebner, 2003; but see Cunningham & Sorensen, 2006;, housed in higher custody levels (Cunningham & Sorensen, 2006;Worrall & Morris, in press), with prior prison terms Cunningham et al, 2005;Sorensen & Pilgrim, 2000; but see Cao, Zhoa, & Van Dine, 1997), and particularly those with prior histories of prison violence (Drury & DeLisi, 2010;Harer & Langan, 2001).…”