effects of imprisonment

• people are sent to prison to punish them 
• in the UK 40% of prisoners are severing sentences less then 4 years meaning their crimes are not that severe, however prisoners range in the severity of their crimes 
• they have limited space - having to share a cell 
• locked up in cells 
• have very few personal possessions 
• have a strick routine 
• limited contact with familiy and friends 

• stops criminals from committing further crime 
• lack of freedom gives justice to society and the victim 
• restrictive and unpleasant experience for inmates 
• unintentional issues such as over corowding, boredom and the threat of violent from other inmates is apparent 
• this can have a negetive effect on the prisoner - they are 4x more likely to commit suicide then the rest of the population, significantly in the early parts of their senteces 

• argued that it deters through behavioursit principles such as operant conditioning 
• being released from prison negetivly reinforces the idea that crim does not pay 
• reoffending rates are high in the UK 
• 1 in 4 reoffend within a year of being released 
• therefore it might not work on a individual level 
• may work on a social level - seeing someone go to prison negetivly reinforces people not to committ unlawful behaviour 

• most prisoners do not want to re-offend upon being released 
• they can return to situations which make them offend 
• they could have lost their homes, jobs or families which means they are more likely to commit crime 
• they could return to a situation in which they are still in contact with people who encourage them to commit crime 
• they could have mental health issues or use drugs 

• they are 13x more likely to have been in care 
• 10x more likely to have had absenses from school without permission 
• most lack basic literacy and numeracy skills, many below that of an 11 year old 
• they are more likely to be poorly educated 

• has been found that educational and skills programmes that are used to help the prisoner find employment after release are effective 
• jobs are key to avoiding reoffending as they provide an income, accomodation and have been found to increase self confidence and their perception of control 
• Gillis and Nafekh looked at 2,700 canadian prisoners, some of which were given employment training before they were released. 70% on the programme remained free during their conditional release period compared to the 55% in the non programme gorup. it also took them longer to offend (37 months) compared to 11 in the other group 

aim 

• effects of being asigned a role and whether these effects were situational of dispositional 

method 

• 11 gurads and 10 prisoners were sperated from the 24 volunteers (3 were kept as reserves). prisoners were told that some of their rights would be taken away(privacy) but they would have their basic rights.  guards were told they were stimulating a prison and the prisoners were arrested without being told the experiment had started. guards were allowed to go home after an 8 hour shift - prisoners only allowed to the toilet 3 times + could read for 2 hours. they wore a smock with their number on it, no underwear, a hat made of stockings and a ball and chain around their ankles . guards wore military style clothing with reflective sunglasses, a night stick and a whistle. prisoners were not allowed an personal possessions and were counted 3 times a day 

results 

• ended after 6 days with 5 prisoners leaving early 
• strongly affected by their roles 
• 90% of conversations were about their situations 
• guards tended to act aggressivly while prisoners were passive 
• basic needs like food and sleep quickly tuned into privlidges 
• pathology of power = guards enjoying their power and control 
• patholological prisoner syndrome = prisoners feeling disbelief, rebellion then self interest. some sucked up to the guards other felt emotional distress
• this was caused by a loss of identity through the uniforms 
• abirutary control was used by the guards as their punishments were unpredictable and cruel 
• there was dependency and emasculation 

conlusion 

• behaviour changes was situational 
• should be used to infrom training programmes on the proper protcals for guards 

• operates alonside the criminal justice system 
• both criminal and victim agree to meet to discuss the crime 
• victims usually want to know why they were targeted and tell the criminal of the effect its had on them 
• both sides are able to bring people to support them 
• both have to agree to take part 
• it needs to be managed carefully due to emotional distress on both sides 
• the offender usually starts by apologising 
• the supporters talk about the impact the crime has had on them 
• normally an agreement in made for instance, doing drups and promising to joing a rehabilitation programme 
• at the end of the discussion a contract is signed by the 2 parties 
• Sherman and Strang found this is most effective during violent crims however, it works best on burglary as its found to reduce the PTSD symptoms of the victim and to reduce reoffending in the criminal