Cliff program rockville correctional facility

Symposium on Crime: Correctional Institutions in Indiana

CRIM 4/516

Alternative Assignment #7

Rockville Correctional Facility

1.

The Rockville Institution website describes the security level maximum; however, it also has a moderate level tag as well. This information is given on the official website of Indiana Department of Corrections. The Rockville Correction Institute is the largest women’s prison in Indiana. All types of inmates are kept in this correction facility. One third are in prison for substance abuse, the majority are serving sentences of two to ten years very few are in the prison on murder charges.

Rockville offers many programs for the inmates. Parenting classes for mothers are offered by The Hope Center, the ICAAN Assistance Dog program gives inmates are chance to train pups and teach them to carry on commands and do basic things, like opening doors, turning off lights and carrying phones. (IDOC:Home). Apart from this PLUS, vocations programs, such as culinary arts, CLIFF, GED educational programs, anger management and thinking for a change program are also available. (IDOC:Home)

2.

Gresham Sykes in his classic book The Society of Captives, published in 1958, says there are five kinds of deprivation that the prisoners incarcerated by society in prisons suffer. These are deprivation of liberty, goods and services, heterosexual relationships and In his book, Gresham Sykes describes the five forms of deprivation, deprivation of liberty, goods and services, heterosexual relationships, autonomy and security. The deprivation may lead to feeling inadequacy that mentally affects the inmates of the prison. Putnamville Correctional Facility in Indiana is a medium security prison, where inmates are deprived of liberty, heterosexual relationships, autonomy and security. (IN.gov-2018). Shammas in his article, Sykes, The Society of Captives, in his article says all these deprivations may lead to several types of behavioral disorders, that are likely to affect bonds with family and inability by the inmates to take decision. This may have an adverse affect and make it difficult for the inmates to adjust to the outside society once they serve their prison sentences and return to the society. (Shammas-2017)

3.

Inmates often talked of a prison subculture where the prisoners form their own language, develop attitudes and beliefs that are not found in the outside society. The article titled Prisons: Prisoners – Inmate Subcultures and Informal Organizations describe the sub-culture, which makes prisoners feel different to normal men and women, where individuals have a status system that is not based on title or job. (FE-2018) Experts tried to study the sub-cultures found in most prisons and there is a extensive research that is carried on the base of the sub-culture. Coretta Philips, says that the sub-culture to a large extent is based on the ethnicity, religion and race. In her article Ethnicity, identity and community cohesion in prison she gives several examples of sub-cultures developed on the basis of race and ethnicity, for example African American have their own sub-culture, while Hispanic Americans develop their own sub-cultural group. (Phillips- 2007)

4.

The Indiana Department of Correction provides education programs in the Rockville. Presently, there is a serious debate between legal authorities and government that the education program in jails does not or does not reduce recidivism. The author Esperian conducted a research and offered several proofs in his article titled The Effect of Prison Education Programs on Recidivism that education does have a serious effect on recidivism as the educated individual is capable of thinking critically and deciding that it is not to his advantage to commit crime and return to the prison again and again. (Esperian-2010). Kemp and Johnson in their article, The Effect of Educating Prisoners, also support the view that education helps in reducing recidivism, as most of the prisoners are in for minor crimes and if they are provided education that will improve their level of understanding and also, help them to get better jobs, will not think of committing crime, and thus recidivism will be reduced substantially. (Kemp/Johnson-2003)