Rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviours are heightened amongst prisoners, and present a significant challenge to correctional facilities globally. Despite this, there is a paucity of theoretically driven research examining the factors that underlie suicidality in prisoners. Two theoretical models of suicide, the Cry of Pain model (CoP; Williams, 1997) and the Schematic Appraisals Model of Suicide (SAMS; Johnson, Gooding & Tarrier, 2008) have highlighted the roles of negative appraisals and perceptions of defeat, entrapment, and hopelessness, as key psychological drivers for suicidal thoughts and behaviours. The overarching aim of this thesis was to investigate the psychological mechanisms that underlie suicidal thoughts and behaviours amongst prisoners. A corollary aim was to examine the psychological factors that may confer resilience to suicidal thoughts and behaviours amongst incarcerated individuals. Firstly, a comprehensive narrative review examined evidence of the applicability of current theoretical approaches to suicide, as applied to prisoner samples. The findings of this review highlighted gaps in the literature, from which a number of research questions were developed for investigation in the current thesis. Next, three empirical studies were designed to investigate the roles of perceptions of defeat, entrapment, hopelessness, and negative appraisals in suicidal ideation. In the first of these studies, cross-sectional evidence was obtained that perceptions of internal entrapment and hopelessness were predictive of suicidal ideation amongst prisoners (Chapter 4). In a second study, the predictive effects of defeat, hopelessness, and entrapment were examined in a longitudinal investigation, finding no significant longitudinal relationship (Chapter 7). In a further empirical study, support was provided for the role of momentary negative appraisals of the present and future as proximal predictors of the severity of suicidal thoughts (Chapter 5). Two further studies examined the role of impulsiveness in suicidality, and provided evidence for the deleterious effect of impulsiveness upon both suicidal ideation (Chapter 8) and self-harm ideation (Chapter 9) in prisoners. Two further studies provided the first theoretically driven investigations of potential resilience factors, conceptualized as positive self-appraisals, within a prisoner sample. Based on the Schematic Appraisals Model of Suicide (SAMS), it was proposed that positive self-appraisals would confer resilience against suicidal thoughts and behaviours. Two studies investigated this hypothesis. The first of these studies found that, contrary to predictions, positive self-appraisals of social support and social reciprocity did not buffer the impact of negative situational appraisals upon suicidal thoughts (Chapter 5). In the second study, evidence was obtained for a buffering effect of positive self-appraisals upon suicidal thoughts. In particular, positive appraisals of interpersonal problem-solving were found to buffer the effects of internal entrapment on suicidal thoughts (Chapter 6).Overall, the findings of this thesis serve to further our understanding of the psychological processes underlying the development of, and resilience to, suicidality amongst prisoners. These results underscore the need to empirically examine the applicability and transferability of psychological models of suicide within prisoner populations. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are outlined throughout the thesis.

The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) was conducted to determine the psychological and behavioural effects of adopting the roles of prisoners or prison guards. In various published research articles Zimbardo reported that he instructed the prison guards to maintain law and order (Haney, Banks, & Zimbardo, 1973). However, in the Quiet Rage video (Zimbardo, 1989), Zimbardo gave the prison guards additional detailed instructions. To examine the effects of these different instructions on expected prison guard role behaviour, first year Psychology students were requested to predict expected prison guard role behaviour under two different conditions. In the order condition, participants received the instructions used in published research articles. While in the fear condition, participants received the instructions from the Quiet Rage video (Zimbardo, 1989). Participants estimated the likelihood of 50 guard behaviours. Participants in the order condition predicted more pleasant behaviour, while participants in the fear condition predicted more unpleasant behaviours. This indicates that the different instructions influenced their intent to perform the different behaviours. There was no significant difference between the fear and order conditions, and the control behaviours. Participants in both the fear and order conditions rated the control items as expected prison guard role behaviour. Participants in both conditions indicated that they would behave in this manner. Gender had no significant influence on expected prison guard role behavior.

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This study concerns an evaluation of anxiety levels in jailees awaiting trial in a county jail. Detecting anxiety which had been overtly controlled, and apparently hidden called for the use of a projective technique. Such an instrument would have the additional advantage of minimizing the effect of the observer upon the observed.

On sait bien peu de choses sur la prison parisienne du XVIIIe siècle. Si les historiens ont été fascinés par le pénitencier du XIXe, ils ont largement négligé la geôle d’Ancien Régime. La période n’a pas été entièrement ignorée, bien sûr : elle voit naître les écrits de Beccaria qui remettent en cause le régime des supplices et qui mettent en branle la réforme pénale. C’est aussi le temps du Grand Renfermement des pauvres et des asociaux dont l’Hôpital général et le dépôt de mendicité sont les plus nettes matérialisations. Mais, là encore, la prison, qui faisait pourtant partie intégrante de la procédure judiciaire de l’époque, a été écartée. Le présent travail vise à combler une partie de cette béance en explorant le monde de la prison prépénale dans le Paris du XVIIIe siècle. Bien loin de constituer un objet isolé, cette geôle ordinaire doit être intégrée à part entière dans l’histoire carcérale, celle-là même qui mène jusqu’au pénitencier.La démonstration s’articule en trois grandes parties entre lesquelles les liens sont nombreux. La première prend pour assise la structure de la prison : sa charpente, ses bâtiments, sa constitution matérielle. Elle aborde les établissements d’enfermement d’abord et avant tout comme des objets tangibles et concrets. La seconde partie quitte la structure de la prison parisienne pour plonger dans ses circuits financiers. Il s’agit d’explorer deux grandes questions : d’où vient l’argent et où va-t-il? Finalement, la troisième partie pénètre plus en profondeur le monde carcéral en ciblant les hommes qui la composent: la prison est aussi faite de relations. / We know very little about the Parisian prison of the XVIIIth century. Historians have been fascinated by the XIXth century penitentiary but they have largely neglected the Ancien Régime prison. The period was not entirely ignored, of course: it sees the birth of Beccaria's writings which question the relevance of physical punishment and set in motion the penal reform. It's also the time of the Grand Renfermement of paupers and asocials, of which the Hôpital général and the dépôt de mendicité are the clearest incarnations. However, the prison, which was an integral part of the judicial procedure, was discarded. The present research aims to fill a part of this gap by exploring the world of prepenal prison in XVIIIth century Paris. Far from forming an isolated object, this Ancien Régime jail must be fully integrated in the history of prisons which leads all the way to the penitentiary.The demonstration is articulated in three parts between which the links are numerous. The first takes as its basis the structure of the prison, its framework, its buildings, its material constitution. It addresses the detention facilities first and foremost as tangible and concrete objects. The second part leaves the structure of the Parisian prison to dive into its financial circuits. It explores two large questions: where does the money come from and where does it go? Finally, the third part penetrates even deeper in the prison world by targeting the men who compose it. The prison, after all, is made up of human relations.

Architecture of Power: The Power of Architecture and its effective Use in Law Abstract This thesis is concerned with the relationship between law and architecture and their mutual effects. It is focused on the subject of the prison system where these two fields intertwine, and concludes that the prison system should react to the changing conception of punishment and adapt the appearance of prison buildings. The thesis is divided into six parts which are further subdivided into chapters and subchapters. The first part introduces generally architecture and its mission. First, it deals with the concept itself then with the circumstances under which architecture arises, and also the functions that architecture has in society. It also deals with the impact of a space on humans, with the interconnection of architecture and power or with the representative role of some buildings. This part is a general introduction and it illustrates the nature of the chosen topic of this thesis. The second part deals with the relationship between law and architecture, i.e. how architecture projects into law. The first chapter focuses on architectural works representing law and its symbolism, the second chapter on the criminological approach CPTED which is directly based on architecture and urbanism. The main part of this thesis...

Although the U.S. houses five percent of the world's population, we have the highest incarceration numbers on earth, with more than two million people behind bars. The penal institution has neither deterred crime nor effectively rehabilitated the criminal. Prisons are overcrowded, understaffed, and have funding issues, yet the system prevails. If a business was spending billions of dollars, yet failing at its stated mission, investors would pull their funds and the business would fold. For a massive failing system to persist uninterrupted it must be fulfilling some need. What prison does is punish millions of bodies. Since this is what the system succeeds at, this is the need it must be fulfilling. I argue that this need is exacerbated by institutions that promote body aversion and activate in us a latent tendency for the flawed sinful body to be chastised. Reformists have made efforts at changing the system, and former political prisoner, Angela Davis, has called for the system to be abolished. I argue that before reform or abolition can be successful, there must be a change in perception of the human body. This study delves into how our collective need to punish bodies is illustrated in ancient rituals of sacrifice, which evolved into torture in the public square, before the penal institution took root. Myriad institutions take their toll on our perceptions of the body, and corporations exploit prisoners for free labor in a land where slavery is supposedly outlawed.

Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology in the Department of Sociology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1996. / This research is based on Gang Conflict in the South African Prisons, with special reference to Waterval prison, 1980-1992. This research primarily attempts to describe the prison subculture in terms of its characteristics and influence as they relate to conflict situations. Furthermore, it outlines this phenomenon as it affects the behaviour and attitudes of prisoners in general and prison officials in particular. In assessing the major impact of Gang Conflict as a form of deviance towards prison officials efforts to rehabilitation, the theories of Robert Merton as well as that of Karl Marx (i.e. Anomie and Alienation) have a tremendous influence in this study. Other sociological theories are considered as contributory to the study. For purposes of collecting data, a survey questionnaire was administered to 50 prison warders, with more than 3 years experience, drawn from the total population of Waterval prison warders. To put the study of Gang Conflict in context, chapter 2 contains the background and development of Waterval Prison, which does not justify the conditions and treatment of priosners. Regarding some gangs found in the South African prisons, chapter 3 gives an exposition to the origin, structure and function of most important prison gangs. Chapter 4, further outlines the character of prison subculture and its influence on deviance to both prisoners and and prison warders. The existence and survival of prison gangs are due to factors both inside and outside the prison. In the light of the findings of this study, the following was recommended: * The need for further research in a number of aspects, related to this problem and the service structure facilities needed. * The image of warders should be actively enhanced. Their sense of responsibility, loyalty, educational level, in-service training and ability to cope professionally with their task should receive top priority to combat gangs. This enhancement is further recommended to other prison departments, to ascertain a cross-cultural picture. * Prison officials should always be on the look-out for gangs and strict control measures by all personnel against gangs may be simple solution to the problem. Therefore, they should be able to identify gang members. * Health and welfare services as well as psychiatric and psychological services should be common functions of the prison without class interests. This might consolidate in the total eradication of Prison Gangs.

Recidivism is a vital concern to the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC), Alabama Board of Pardons and Parole (ABPP), taxpayers, and family members affected by the revolving door of inmates in and out of the Alabama prison system. Little, however, is understood about the relationship between the effectiveness of prison programs and rates of recidivism. Using social learning theory as a theoretical framework, the purpose of this study for the ADOC was to explore the nature of the relationship between prison program efficacy and improvements on recidivism. Data were collected through a convenience sample of 17 ADOC and 1 ABPP staff members who were tasked with input to inmate programs including evidence based programs or risk assessments. Interview data were inductively coded then subjected to Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis procedure. In total, 43 inmate programs were analyzed from the 5 selected prisons in Alabama. Findings associated with this study indicated 3 key terms. First, despite resources dedicated to inmate programs, participants perceive that the programs do not meet the intended goal of recidivism reduction. Second, the ADOC does not effectively track recidivism, and there are opportunities to expand evidence based decision making related to recidivism programming. The positive social change implications stemming from this study of this study include recommendations to establish a validated risk assessment that will assist the correctional facility in tailoring evidence based programs to fit the needs of the inmate and create a mechanism for tracking recidivism. An effective risk assessment and prison programs will assist convicts in assimilating back into the community and reduce taxpayer costs of incarcerating inmates.

Prison inmates are more prone to commit suicide than are individuals in the general population. Current scientific research has identified risk factors of suicide in the general population, such as mood disorders, but only a few research studies have examined risk factors that are particularly relevant to the incarcerated population. This study used a quantitative archival research design to examine the effect of primary and secondary psychopathic personality traits on the development of suicidal behavior in the mentally ill male prison inmate population at a U.S. federal prison located in the Southeast. Data on psychopathic traits as measured by the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, and on depression as measured by the Personality Assessment Inventory, together with information on the number of suicide attempts coming from prison medical files, were gained from an archival database. The sample size was 203 participants where data were previously collected during their pretrial evaluation. The study was guided by Mann's diathesis-stress model of suicide, according to which impulsive-aggressive personality traits, both of which are characteristics of psychopathy, elevate the risk for suicide. Furthermore, depression may serve as the stress component of the model, and thus its effect was also added to the standard multiple regression model in the analysis. During the analysis, a pattern emerged in which the effect of secondary psychopathic traits was moderated by the percent of time spent in solitary confinement. The results of this research contribute to positive social change by helping professionals working with this population to address the issue of suicide prevention in prison settings via more effective treatment programs.