Stan Stojkovic

Elderly prisoners: a growing and forgotten group within correctional systems vulnerable to elder abuse

ABSTRACT There are over 2.1 million people incarcerated in the nations jails and prisons. Additionally, close to 600,000 prisoners are released annually into communities across the country. Many prisoners and those released from prisons are elderly. The purpose of this article is to examine the systemic abuse and neglect experienced by elderly prisoners while they are incarcerated and when they are released from prison. Most correctional systems have inadequate resources, processes, and personnel to manage the elderly population inside and outside of prisons. In addition to providing a definition of “elderly prisoner,” two specific problems–prison health care and prisoner re-entry–are examined in the article. The article concludes with recommendations for both policy and research on how best we can further understand and address the multiple needs and concerns faced by elderly prisoners.

Social bases of power and control mechanisms among prisoners in a prison organization

This research examines the social bases of power and control mechanisms among prisoners in a maximum security correctional facility for males. A qualitative research design was employed to assess the forms of power among inmates. The data suggests that the prisoner social world revolves around the interaction of many types of power. The kinds of power exhibited among prisoners were: coercive, referent, providing of resources, legitimate, and expert. Additionally, we offer some discussion on how an understanding of these social bases of power have implications for the prison environment and future research.

Contraband The Basis for Legitimate Power in a Prison Social System

Much of the past literature on inmate socialization and social control in prison organizations has focused on the reciprocal relationships between key inmate leaders and members of the custodial st...Much of the past literature on inmate socialization and social control in prison organizations has focused on the reciprocal relationships between key inmate leaders and members of the custodial staff. In addition, the literature is replete with examples of how prisoners adapt to their incarceration, in part, through the sub-rosa market system. However, what has not been systematically examined is the relationship between contraband activity and stability in the prison environment. This article explores the role of the contraband market in developing control and legitimate power in a prison social system, with suggested implications on how proper and improper manipulations of the illegal market perpetuate stability or instability in the prison setting. Finally, how other strategies may be employed by correctional administrators to control their environments are discussed.

The Meaning of Correctional Crowding: Steps Toward an Index of Severity

Correctional crowding remains an ill-defined and poorly measured concept, particularly at the institutional level. Its usefulness for research and management is limited because measures do not facilitate comparisons over time or across facilities. To address this problem, a focus group was used to identify variables for an index of the severity of jail crowding. Group members described a comprehensive model of jail crowding in which severity is a function of population factors, facilities, and management practices. The participants also drew on a theoretical approach to understanding institutions that has received little attention in the study of prison or jail crowding.

Social bases of power and control mechanisms among correctional administrators in a prison organization

Abstract This research explored the social bases of power among correctional administrators in a maximum security correctional facility for men in a large midwestern state in the United States. A qualitative research design was employed to assess the forms of power among prison administrators. The data suggested that prison officials had specific types of power available to control their prison population. The forms of power exhibited by the prisons administration were: coercive, reward, and access to information. Finally, suggestions are provided for future research to understand control and stability in prison settings.

THE MEDIA, THE POLICE AND THE MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY: OBSERVATIONS ON A CITY IN CRISIS

ABSTRACT This paper examines media treatment of events related to the Jeffrey Dahmer serial murder case and its aftermath in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A content analysis of newspaper articles, participant observation in aftermath events, interviews with newsworkers, discussions with police officers, and examination of alternative newspapers provide the data for this investigation of the role of the media in police-community relations. The news media played an important role in mediating police-community relations during this volatile period in Milwaukees history.

Toward a political-community theory of prison organization

Abstract This article discusses integrating political-community theory into the study of prison organizations. Relying on a model of community developed by Spiro (1958), the article examines prisons as functioning communities seeking to solve their problems. It is argued that much of the theory building done concerning prison systems has been within two dominant perspectives—importation and functional. This article, however, views prisons as more complex social systems that, unlike normal communities, face inherent impediments to identifying and solving their basic problems. Finally, implications from this model for prison research are discussed.

Confinement patterns in the Milwaukee County House of Correction: 1907–1965

Abstract This study examined the patterns of confinement within the Milwaukee County House of Correction for a sixty year period. The data represent summary statistics from annual reports for the years 1907 to 1965. The variables explored were: age, race, term of commitment, ethnicity, previous commitment, offense, and admissions to the House of Correction. The results indicated changes in the inmate population over time, with increases in the number of inmates, a trend toward older inmates, trends in both shorter and longer sentences, increases in the percentage of inmates committed for drunkenness, and increases in the percentage of nonwhites. Finally, the data revealed a sharp decrease in the number of foreign born commitments with a corresponding increase in the number of black inmates.

So You Want to Find a Transitional House for Sexually Violent Persons: An Account of Political Failure

Many states passed legislation in the 1990s to address the problem of violent sex offenders. While academic inquiries into the nature and extent of sexual offending have revealed some interesting findings, very little is known regarding how communities address the issue of managing violent sex offenders. This account documents how the state of Wisconsin attempted to manage violent sex offenders once released from prison and civilly committed under a sexually violent person statute. It chronicles the experience of a committee charged with locating possible sites for a facility for sexual predators under supervised release to the community. In addition, this account shows the problematic nature of implementing a state statute in a large county and identifies barriers inherent to this process. The concept of political failure is introduced to describe why sex offender legislation is difficult to implement.

A rejoinder to Vaughn and Smith's “Practicing penal harm medicine in the United States: Prisoners' voices from jail”

Correctional health care has improved tremendously over the past 25 years. This rejoinder is a response to an article published in Justice Quarterly by Michael Vaughn and Linda Smith, in which they assert that the quality of correctional health care is suspect in correctional settings, and that an examination of one jails problems with health care delivery revealed a “penal harm medicine” movement. We call into question such an assertion, claim that the penal harm medicine hypothesis cannot be proven by the data presented by Vaughn and Smith, and state that many of their conclusions are tenuous and harmful to correctional health professionals. We offer an analysis of their claims and suggest a more balanced view of correctional health care.