THE WAREHOUSE PRISON Disposal of the New Dangerous Class First Edition

John Irwin, Professor Emeritus, San Francisco State University with afterword by Barbara Owen, California State University at Fresno

ISBN: 1-931719-35-7

softbound, 318 pages, ©2005

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While prison populations in the U.S. increased almost tenfold from 1980 to 2000, studies of men's prisons have dwindled. For this reason, eminent criminologist John Irwin was impelled to examine imprisonment during this punitive period. He chose Solano State Prison as the site for his study. Solano represents a typical prison where new, popular forms of technology and prison regimens have been instituted. The facility houses up to 6,000 prisoners at middle-security levels--II and III in California's range of custodies. (The highly punitive supermax prisons are level IV.) Irwin found that prison planners and administrators have developed a system that keeps its 6,000 prisoners almost completely controlled--crowded together in limited space and with limited access to rehabilitative and recreational programs. This control is accomplished through the physical design of the prison, the rigid enforcement of an extensive set of rules, and a simplified protocol for transferring troublesome prisoners to supermax prisons. Irwin also discovered that while the prisoners--most of whom are serving sentences of more than five years--are not brutalized, they are profoundly harmed by this new form of imprisonment and experience tremendous difficulties adjusting to outside society upon their release. Criminologist Barbara Owen wrote the Afterword for this book, in which she presents the differences in women's correctional facilities. There, Owen maintains, conditions are far worse. This book examines the forces that have made the United States the most punitive nation in the world--perhaps in all of history. Irwin's analysis forms the second theme of the book, conveyed by its subtitle: The Disposal of the New Dangerous Class. THE WAREHOUSE PRISON covers all major topics in corrections. Irwin's student-friendly, accessible style brings a real-world, "insider's" perspective to his depiction of prison life. Abundant quotations from individuals within the correctional system add drama, flavor, and interest. THE WAREHOUSE PRISON is a unique study of the modern prison, essential reading for students of corrections and criminal justice. TABLE OF CONTENTS   Chapter 1: The Imprisonment Binge The Punitive Swing Punishment in Society     Making Law     Imprisonment as Punishment     Origins of the Prison Chapter 2: American Prisons England's Fatal Experiment The Penitentiary Auburn     Discipline     Social Life Pennsylvania Hard Labor     The Prisons     Tasks     Control     Social Organization Big Houses     The Convict Code Correctional Institutions     Formal Routine     Informal Prisoner Social Organization     Tips and Cliques     Rehabilitation and Social Order Dismantling the Rehabilitative Ideal Community Corrections Prisons in Turmoil     Lowriders The Punitive Swing Chapter 3: The Warehouse Prison The Structure of the New Prison     Architectural Plan     Administrative Regimens     Conflict and Divisions     Guard Culture     Prisoners' Views of Guards     Guarding Styles Solano Programs at Solano     Education     Vocational Training     Voluntary Programs     Substance Abuse Programs (SAP)     Prison Industry Authority (PIA) Conclusions Chapter 4: Doing Time in Solano The Prisoners     Criminal Identity     Sentence Length Prison Social Organization     Detent     Prisoner Groups Prison Adaptive Modes     The Mix     Doing Time     Withdrawal     Self-Improvement Chapter 5: The Supermax The Supermax     Solitary and Segregation     Turmoil in Lockup New Supermax Prisons Doing Time in a Supermax     Social Organization Life in Secure Housing Units (SHU)     SHU Prisoners     SHU Routine The Consequences of Lockup     The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy     Psychological Impairment     Social Impairment Chapter 6: Harm     Health and Disease     Psychological Damage     Anger, Frustration, and the Sense of Injustice     Prisonization Chapter 7: Reentry The Initial Impact of Reentry Getting By     Finding a Place to Live     Finding Work     Job Placement Program     Parolee Unemployment Dealing With Parole     Styles of Parole Supervision Patterns of Adjustment After Prison     Doing Good     Dependency     Drifting on the Edge     Dereliction ‘Laying Low' Chapter 8: Disposal of the New ‘Dangerous Class' The War on Crime The Change in Employment Opportunities The Failed War on Poverty The New Poor     The Profit Squeeze     The De-industrialization of America     Zapping Labor     Demise of the Radical ‘Movements' The New Ghetto Ghetto Youth     The Crime Wave and Race Conservatives Respond to the New Poor Rediscovery of the ‘Criminal Type' Reagan and the Crime Issue Controlling the New Ghetto     The New Ghetto as Crime Cauldron     Social Dynamite Chapter 9: Aftermath Collateral Damage     Diversion of Tax Money to Prisons     Social Costs     Vindictiveness     Broad Sweep of the Wars on Crime and Drugs     Loss of Civil Rights     The Prison Industrial Complex     New Interest Groups Reforming Criminal Justice Afterword: Final Harm   by Barbara Owen Bibliography Index