Race, Rights, and Order in Prison: A National Survey of Wardens on the Racial Integration of Prison Cells

Abstract

Recently in the state of Ohio, there has been a controversy over whether inmates who share cells in state correctional institutions should be of the same race or should be assigned to cells regardless of their race. Some observers have attributed the 1993 riot at Lucasville to attempts to racially integrate prison cells; others reject this claim. There is little understanding, however, of what policies are followed in major correctional institutions in other states. We conducted a national survey of prison wardens at maximum security institutions to learn more about this important policy issue. The findings from this research have yielded some similarities across states. However, the results also indicate that few wardens are aware of the policies in place at other facilities and of policies held by their state departments of corrections.

Racial Desegregation in Prisons

“…Following desegregation, a riot broke out that led to its temporary resegregation (Chilton, 1991). Similar findings were found in Ohio's Lucasville Prison following court intervention that mandated desegregation in White v. Morris (1992; see Henderson et al, 2000).…”

“…Even then, only narrowly tailored policies and practices, based on rational objective criteria and specific to individual inmates, are likely to pass the strictest of judicial scrutiny. This decision, in effect, means that a number of prison systems around the country will have to modify their celling practices and policies to exclude the use of race unless it is warranted by compelling security concerns (Henderson et al, 2000). Desegregating a prison system marked by years of partial or complete segregation is not as simple as taking race out of the equation and randomly "mixing" inmates in cells after accounting for height, weight, age, or other rational objective criteria.…”

“…The reality, as opposed to the legality, of racial segregation policies and practices, is that the racially segregated celling of prison inmates continues in U.S. prison systems to varying degrees (Henderson, Cullen, Carroll, & Feinberg, 2000). 6 Although the Johnson v. California (2005) case dealt with California's practice of automatic racial segregation in reception centers, evidence suggests that California is not alone in the practice of racially segregating inmates.…”

Ethnicity, Identity and Community Cohesion in Prison

“…Such racial and ethnic divisions have persisted in US prisons, sometimes represented through gang or religious affiliations, with high levels of self-segregation, mistrust and hostility (Diaz-Cotto, 1996;Henderson et al, 2000). It has even been argued that the new 'master status trait' (Hughes, 1971) for prisoners is racial affiliation, with no space for inmate loyalty as a generic class.…”

Analyzing Contemporary Introductory Textbooks on Correctional Administration/Management/Organization: A Content Analysis

“…Cullen et al 1993a, b;Fleisher, 1996Fleisher, , 1997Fabelo, 1997;Heater, 2000;Henderson et al, 2000;Ohimark et al, 2000;Reisig & Lovrich, 1998;Riveland, 1997;Stinchcomb, 1998Stinchcomb, , 1999Slate & Vogel, 1997;Wright et al, 1997). There are at least four reasons for this increase: the availability of an avenue for the publication of such literature-the journal Corrections Management Quarterly, the exponential growth in the number of people being sentenced to jails and prisons over the last 15 years, the building of new correctional facilities across the country and the consequent increase in the amount of resources budgeted for correctional systems in the United States over the same time period (Ross, 2008, chapter 1).…”