Gender and the Effect of Disciplinary Segregation on Prison Misconduct

Scholars and policymakers have advanced different arguments for why restrictive housing may improve or worsen inmate behavior, yet few studies exist that assess the impact of this housing on such outcomes. This study draws upon prior theory and research to hypothesize that inmate adjustment will worsen after placement in disciplinary segregation among a 3-year admission cohort of inmates from a large Midwestern state department of corrections ( N = 40,979), and further that this effect will be more harmful to men. The results of our propensity score matching analyses reveal the use of disciplinary segregation is associated with a greater probability of misconduct among men and has no appreciable effect on women. These findings challenge the view that disciplinary segregation is an effective strategy for improving inmate behavior in prison. This work further highlights the need for continued research on the utility of restrictive housing.

Moral Communities and Institutional Misconduct: A Reassessment of Religious Contextual Influences on Inmate Behavior

Most of the research into religious influences on inmate misconduct has been undertaken with respect to personal religious participation. However, the religious environment of prisons offers potential influences on inmate behavior by providing social control and support. Currently, the literature is mixed regarding the association between religious context and inmate behavior. This article reconciles the divergent findings regarding religious contexts, and integrates recently emergent directions in religious contextual research. Using nationally representative data of inmates in state and federal prisons, I estimate multilevel models of several different forms of misconduct. The results indicate a relationship between religious context and each form of misconduct, highlighting the role of cultural contexts on inmate behavior.

“A Very Important Yet Complicated Matter”

Informant networks were an integral feature of the Soviet Gulag. This article sheds light on their size, structure, recruitment methods, aims, and results using archival documentation primarily from the Estonian ssr. Focusing on the Khrushchev era, it demonstrates that although the regime placed high value on the networks as a way of fighting crime and managing inmate behavior, various factors mitigated against the realization of these goals. In the end, the networks were used by local administrators not to create institutions of strict disciplinary order as instructions from central authorities dictated, but rather to help cultivate the “customary order” that penal officials globally strive for: a modus vivendi between inmates and administrators that tolerates some infractions of penal regulations by the former and an acceptable level of corruption by the latter.

Who Gets Visited in Prison? Individual- and Community-Level Disparities in Inmate Visitation Experiences

Scholarship has shown that visitation helps individuals maintain social ties during imprisonment, which, in turn, can improve inmate behavior and reduce recidivism. Not being visited can result in collateral consequences and inequality in punishment. Few studies, however, have explored the factors associated with visitation. This study uses data on Florida inmates to identify individual- and community-level factors that may affect visitation. Consistent with expectations derived from prior theory and research, the study finds that inmates who are older, Black, and who have been incarcerated more frequently experience less visitation. In addition, inmates who come from areas with higher incarceration rates and higher levels of social altruism experience more visits. Unexpectedly, however, sentence length and economic disadvantage are not associated with visitation. Implications of these findings are discussed.