Social support and inmate rule violations: A multilevel analysis

Violent criminals locked up: Examining the effect of incarceration on behavioral continuity

“…The examination of the prison stock population herein found a positive relationship between custody levels and dangerous prison misconduct. While seemingly counterintuitive, the finding is consistent with a recent study of inmate custody levels and rule violations in the Texas prison system (Worrall & Morris, in press) and a slew of multi-level studies employing a national sample (Huebner, 2003;Jiang et al, 2005;Jiang & Winfree, 2006;Steiner & Wooldredge, 2008, 2009a, 2009b. Alternately, the finding is inconsistent with studies utilizing experimental and regression discontinuity designs which found either a negative or null relationship between custody levels and inmate misconduct (Berk & de Leeuw, 1999;Berk, Ladd, Graziano, & Baek, 2003;Camp & Gaes, 2005;Gobeil et al, 2009).…”

“…Recent analyses relying on data from a southwestern state prison system found higher rates of serious rule violations and assaults among Native Americans and Hispanics, but not among Blacks (Berg & DeLisi, 2006;Griffin & Hepburn, 2006). Studies relying on self-report data from the nationally representative Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, however, consistently found a relationship between race-Black and the commission of violent acts in prison (Huebner, 2003;Jiang et al, 2005;Steiner & Wooldredge, 2008).…”

“…While institutional-level variables have been shown to affect rates of prison misconduct in these studies, the upshot of multi-level studies is that: much of the variance in prison misconduct is accounted for at the individual level; the most consistent, influential predictors of prison misconduct are pre-prison, individual-level variables such as age at entry to prison; and, the relationship among individual-level predictors and prison misconduct are not attenuated by institutional-level variables (Camp, Gaes, Langan, & Saylor, 2003;Huebner, 2003;Lahm, 2008;Steiner & Wooldredge, 2008;Steiner & Wooldredge, 2009a;Wooldredge, Griffin, & Pratt, 2001). Another key finding from recent studies is that while inmates exhibit a degree of versatility in disciplinary offending, important distinctions surface when predicting specific types of disciplinary outcomes (Jiang, Fisher-Giorlando, & Mo, 2005;Steiner & Wooldredge, 2008;Steiner & Wooldredge, 2009;Worrall & Morris, in press). For instance, race has been found to be differentially related to various disciplinary outcomes, with Blacks committing more violent rule violations and Whites committing more drug violations Steiner & Wooldredge, 2009b).…”

Social Support and Feelings of Hostility Among Released Inmates

“…Recent research indicates that social support was linked to inmate misconduct at both the individual level and facility level. Jiang, Fisher-Giorlando, and Mo (2005) used data from the 1997 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, which encompassed more than 9,000 inmates and 275 correctional institutions. Jiang and his colleagues (2005) found that inmates who received telephone calls from their children were significantly less likely to accumulate rule violations than those without contacts from their children.…”

The Effects of Prison Visits From Family Members on Prisoners’ Well-Being, Prison Rule Breaking, and Recidivism

“…Five studies explored the effects of visits on rule-breaking in prison.. Jiang et al (2005) considered the impact of visits by prisoners' children on rule breaking behavior. In a follow up study, Jiang and Winfree (2006) considered the differential impact on male and female prisoners.…”