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The Meaning of Punishment: Inmates' Orientation to the Prison Experience

University of Cincinnati

SANDRA LEE BROWNING

University of Cincinnati

MARILYN SIMON

University of Cincinnati

JILL GORDON

Virginia Commonwealth University

This article examines inmates' perceptions of sentencing intents (e.g., deterrence, rehabilitation, incapacitation, and retribution). Two prison populations are sampled: 114 minimum security and 111 maximum security federal prisoners. Four months following admission, subjects were surveyed about their perceptions of their prison experience. The authors examine (a) inmates' identification with sentencing intents; (b) the interrelationships among these orientations; and (c) factors associated with the orientations. Results find inmates in both samples either adhered to several orientations, accepting notions of rehabilitation while also finding prison to be a deterrent, deserved, and a reparation, or they saw no purpose to the prison sanction. Multivariate analyses, for penitentiary inmates, found that inmates most likely to focus on rehabilitation were non-White, young, unemployed at the time of their arrest, and not entrenched in crime as a lifestyle. Older, White, inmates, and those employed at arrest, were more likely to observe that no purpose was served. Models were less conclusive for minimum security inmates.

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