Inmate Responses to Lengthy Death Row Confinement

Gallemore, Johnnie L.; Panton, James H.

doi:10.1176/ajp.129.2.167

Cited by 25 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…More importantly, the clinical studies demonstrate that educational achievement or functional literacy levels are well below what would be expected from reported years of schooling. For example Gallemore and Panton (1972) reported mean school attendance at the 9.5 grade level, but mean educational achievement capabilities of only the 5.6 grade. Similarly, Cunningham and Vigen (1999) reported mean schooling to 9.5 grade, while mean WIAT reading comprehension scores were at a 5.1 grade level.…”

Section: Educational Achievementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Death row inmate characteristics, adjustment, and confinement: a critical review of the literature

Cunningham

Vigen

2002

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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This article reviews and summarizes research on death row inmates. The contributions and weaknesses of death row demographic data, clinical studies, and research based on institutional records are critiqued. Our analysis shows that death row inmates are overwhelmingly male and disproportionately Southern. Racial representation remains controversial. Frequently death row inmates are intellectually limited and academically deficient. Histories of significant neurological insult are common, as are developmental histories of trauma, family disruption, and substance abuse. Rates of psychological disorder among death row inmates are high, with conditions of confinement appearing to precipitate or aggravate these disorders. Contrary to expectation, the extant research indicates that the majority of death row inmates do not exhibit violence in prison even in more open institutional settings. These findings have implications for forensic mental health sentencing evaluations, competent attorney representation, provision of mental health services, racial disparity in death sentences, death row security and confinement policies, and moral culpability considerations. Future research directions on death row populations are suggested.

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Section: Educational Achievementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Death row inmate characteristics, adjustment, and confinement: a critical review of the literature

Cunningham

Vigen

2002

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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“…(Attorney 6 ) Reports another, "I have had clients actually become insane while waiting for their executions" (attorney ~11). Scholars support the argument that prison conditions and the stress of life on death row can exacerbate pre-existing mental health problems or create new ones (Gallemore and Panton 1972;R. Johnson 1981;Salguero 1986;Strafer 1983).…”

Section: #Is)mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Community Divided: Defense Attorneys and the Ethics of Death Row Volunteering

Harrington¹

2000

Law soc. inq.

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When death row inmates elect to waive appeals and proceed directly to execution a series of problematic legal and ethical questions are raised. This article examines the ethics of volunteering from the perspective of death row inmates’defense attorneys. Studying attorneys is important for two reasons: since they are charged with protecting their clients’interests they must resolve the difficult question of whether death is ever in someone's best interest; and perhaps more important, most death row defense attorneys are themselves against the death penalty and must thus negotiate between their clients’desire for execution and their own personal value systems. Interviews were conducted with 20 attorneys who have participated in representing would‐be volunteers. Qualitative analysis suggests that most are faced with profound ethical dilemmas, both professional and personal, when a client elects to waive appeals. This article explores how attorneys interpret, experience, and resolve those dilemmas.

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“…2) The anticipation of death at a specific time is an extremely stressful factor that has been studied in a survey of inmate response to death row confinement (11). A number of psychological symptoms can be observed in death row inmates: both clinical evaluations and psychological testings demonstrate a 'hardening' of psychological defences over time.…”

Section: Psychiatric Problems Of Death Rowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychiatry and the death penalty.

Kastrup

1988

J Med Ethics

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Mentally ill people are not to be judged by the same rules as the mentally fit. Prisoners evaluated medically unfit for execution must undergo psychiatric treatment until their mental health is restored. Psychiatrists are placed in an ethical dilemma when asked to judge the mental health of prisoners on death row. A high prevalence of psychiatric and neurological disorders are reported on death row. Health professionals have an important role in implementing codes of ethics prohibiting any involvement in the execution process. Resolutions have already been passed by several associations including the World Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association and Nordic medical associations.

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Inmate Responses to Lengthy Death Row Confinement

Cited by 25 publications

References 1 publication

Death row inmate characteristics, adjustment, and confinement: a critical review of the literature

Death row inmate characteristics, adjustment, and confinement: a critical review of the literature

A Community Divided: Defense Attorneys and the Ethics of Death Row Volunteering

Psychiatry and the death penalty.

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