Benjamin Steiner

INMATE VERSUS ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ON PRISON RULE VIOLATIONS

Identifying both individual and environmental effects on inmate misconduct is important for the protection of staff and inmates as well as for the effectiveness of facility programming. Self-report data collected from 9,828 male inmates housed in 204 state facilities in 1991 and 10,022 male inmates within 203 facilities in 1997 were examined to assess both inmate and environmental effects on assaults, drug/alcohol offenses, and other nonviolent offenses. Findings included consistent inmate-level effects of age, prior incarceration, prearrest drug use, and program participation. Offense-specific results included the positive effects of an inmates race and ethnicity on the odds of assaults versus negative effects on drug/alcohol offenses and the greater relevance of environmental effects on assaults versus drug/alcohol offenses.

Examining the Predictors of Recidivism Among Men and Women Released From Prison in Ohio

Deficits in education, employment, and housing as well as the lack of treatment programs pose significant barriers to the successful reentry of inmates released from prison. This research uses a representative sample of inmates released from Ohio prisons to examine the extent to which these factors are associated with recidivism. Furthermore, building on prior research, it examines potential differences in these predictors by gender. The findings provide support for Petersilia’s suggestions and indicate that employment, housing, and the completion of some forms of treatment are negatively associated with multiple measures of recidivism. Also, no gender differences in the predictors examined here are detected, suggesting that the factors likely behave in a gender-neutral manner.

Individual and Environmental Effects on Assaults and Nonviolent Rule Breaking by Women in Prison

Drawing from micro- and macro-level theories of social control, the authors examined inmate and facility effects on the prevalence of assaults and nonviolent rule infractions committed by female inmates housed in state correctional facilities during 1991 and 1997. Analyses of national samples of more than 2,200 women confined in roughly 40 facilities produced results favoring a control perspective. Characteristics of both inmates (e.g., family status, history of physical or sexual abuse, drug use immediately prior to incarceration, and mental ill health) and facilities (e.g., crowding and security level) were relevant for understanding differences among female inmates in the odds of both assault and nonviolent misconduct.

Assessing Static and Dynamic Influences on Inmate Violence Levels

Inmate misconduct creates problems for other inmates as well as correctional staff. Most empirical assessments of the correlates of inmate misconduct have been conducted at the individual level; however, a facilitys level of misconduct may be of equal importance to prison management and state officials because these numbers can reflect order, or lack thereof, within an institution. Prior prison research also has typically been cross-sectional and conducted at one time point. In this study, the relative contributions of facility-and state-level predictors of misconduct, considered elements of the social organization of a prison, are examined across two time points for 512 state-operated prisons housing adult men. Cross-sectional and longitudinal findings reveal that predictors such as the racial composition of the inmates and staff, measures of administrative control, and state-level factors have both static and dynamic effects on levels of violent misconduct.

The relevance of inmate race/ethnicity versus population composition for understanding prison rule violations

The importance of order maintenance in prisons has generated numerous studies of the correlates to inmate misconduct. Very few of these studies, however, have focused specifically on the correlations between inmates’ race/ethnicity and prison rule breaking. Race and ethnicity could be relevant to an understanding of prison rule breaking if inmates bring their ecologically structured beliefs regarding legal authority, crime and deviance into the institutional environment. Using data from two nationally representative samples of males incarcerated in state facilities, we examined the individual-level effects of an inmate’s race and ethnicity on his likelihood of engaging in various forms of misconduct during incarceration, as well as the contextual effects of the racial/ethnic composition of inmate and correctional staff populations on levels of rule breaking. Findings reveal that the effects of an inmate’s race and ethnicity differ by offense type, and the racial/ethnic composition of inmates and correctional staff have both main and conditioning effects on levels of misconduct. Implications of these results are discussed within a social control framework.

Implications of Different Outcome Measures for an Understanding of Inmate Misconduct

Quantitative studies geared toward understanding differences among prison inmates in their odds of committing rule infractions have grown over the last decade but with little consistency in the models examined, especially regarding the types of rule violations examined. These differences have, in turn, contributed to an increasingly complex picture of inmate misconduct that appears counterproductive for both theory and practice. The study described here was designed to assess the ramifications of examining different outcome measures for quantitative analyses of the subject. Findings revealed that three of the nine models examined produced unique information regarding the effects of various inmate predictors, including the models of physical assaults (on inmates and/or staff), drug/alcohol use, and other nonviolent misconduct. Analyses also uncovered several new substantive findings on the topic. Findings are discussed in light of their relevance for practice as well as theories of inmate behavior.

Rethinking the Link Between Institutional Crowding and Inmate Misconduct

Studies of prison crowding effects on inmate misconduct have produced anomalous findings, perhaps because of the cross-study differences in research methods. Different methods are important for several goals of scientific inquiry, but there are advantages to adopting similar approaches when studying a policy-relevant question. A cross-section of studies is reviewed toward the end of providing a strategy for more uniform research on the topic. Of primary interest are (a) operationalization of concepts; (b) underlying explanations for possible effects of crowding on misconduct; (c) the direct, indirect, and conditioning effects of crowding on misconduct; and (d) the bi-level nature of the crowding—misconduct relationship.

Comparing Methods for Examining Relationships Between Prison Crowding and Inmate Violence

Studies of empirical relationships between indicators of prison crowding and inmate violence have uncovered null, negative, and positive relationships. These mixed findings may be due, in part, to cross‐study differences in definitions of crowding, levels of analysis, and sample designs. We compared findings across some of the more popular approaches to study the relationship between facility crowding and the prevalence of inmate assaults in order to determine the implications of different methods for variation in estimates. Multi‐level data from a national sample of 10,022 men confined in 203 state correctional facilities during 1997 were examined. Findings revealed differences across methods in the direction and significance of the crowding/assault relationship. These differences were then considered in order to derive a strategy for more uniform research on the topic. This strategy consists of including both total inmate population and design capacity as separate predictors in the same model, examination of tri‐level data (inmates, facilities, and states) in order to control compositional differences in inmate populations across facilities and to remove confounding state‐level differences in crowding levels and assault rates, and more careful consideration of secondary analyses of complex samples with sample weights.

Comparing Self-Report to Official Measures of Inmate Misconduct

Studies have revealed systematic measurement errors in self-report data on crime and deviance resulting from poor recall and/or underreporting by certain groups of respondents. Official crime data have also been criticized, but for different reasons (e.g. gross underestimations of less serious offenses). Very similar observations have been made in studies of inmate crime (misconduct committed by prison inmates). Despite these criticisms, official data on inmate misconduct continue to be the most frequently used data in related studies. This study compared self-report and official data on inmate assaults, property thefts, and drug offenses for samples of inmates from 46 correctional institutions for adults in Ohio and Kentucky. Findings revealed that officially recorded misconduct underestimates the total volume of inmate crime. Analyses designed to uncover sources of the divergence between self-reported misconduct and officially recorded misconduct revealed far more consistencies than differences in the magnitude of inmate and facility effects on the different types of offenses. A few important differences did emerge in the magnitude of effects such as amount of time served (at the individual level) and facility population size (at the aggregate level).

Examining the Effects of Residential Situations and Residential Mobility on Offender Recidivism

Drawing from theories of social control, this study involved an examination of the time-varying effects of six different residential situations and residential mobility on offenders’ odds of recidivism during the year immediately following their release from prison. Analyses of data collected on a statewide sample of offenders released under supervision in Ohio generated results favoring a control perspective. Both residential mobility and residential situations such as living with a spouse or parent were relevant for understanding differences among offenders in their odds of recidivism. Stable characteristics of offenders such as gender and prior criminal history were also linked to recidivism.