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The Iranian prison is the subject of intense scrutiny for both opponents and supporters of the contemporary Islamic Republic. Despite these concerns, the 19th-20th history of Iranian crime and punishment has been given short shrift by scholars and political analysts alike. The historiographical silence on the history of confinement in modern Iran runs counter to an earlier Iranian intellectual trend, which took it as axiomatic that to live an ethical life meant eventual incarceration and probable torture. This dissertation argues that the prison has been a preeminent site from which modern discourses on rights, citizenship, justice, and the law have been staged, contested, and enacted. Through a study of previously unremarked on archives I argue that the history of the prison in Iran is no less than the fitful history of Iranian political modernity.

In western countries such as Australia, the U.S. and the U.K., the women’s prison population has increased exponentially over the past decade, far outstripping the rate of growth in male imprisonment. The majority of women in prison are the mothers of dependent children. Subsequently, increasing numbers of children are being separated from their mothers; many displaced from home and effectively left parentless. Despite a growing body of knowledge since the 1960s, and growing numbers of children affected, little is known about these children, particularly older children and adolescents. This study examines the impact of maternal imprisonment on 20 young people, aged between 10 and 18 years, whose mothers were incarcerated in the two women’s prisons in Victoria (Australia). Data was gathered directly from young people themselves, as well as from their mothers and a small cohort of professionals, after the mother’s release from prison. To answer the research question, the study sought retrospective and predominantly qualitative data on children’s lives before, during and after their mother’s imprisonment. The data was analysed in a variety of ways, initially through the development of case studies and then across cases using thematic content analysis, drawing on themes emerging from the data and a priori categories gleaned from earlier research. The study shows that maternal incarceration has a significant impact on the lives of adolescents, and that it is uncommon for children to have secure care arrangements in place at the time of their mother’s imprisonment. For children to be displaced from home is also common, although most maintain some contact with their mother over the course of her imprisonment. While the majority of children return home to live with their mother, this is largely influenced by the child’s pre-prison placement and their visiting patterns during the imprisonment. Interestingly, although many young people are not satisfied with their care arrangements, particularly those who are cared for by their fathers, and cope with difficulties by internalising them, most do not report persistent adverse effects. The study provides new and challenging ideas. It describes the important role played by care planning in children’s reaction to maternal incarceration; this has not previously been examined. The findings also illustrate the poor coping mechanisms employed by children and discuss the range of social factors which affect this coping. Finally, factors influential in actual family reunifications are described and examined; very few studies, and none in Australia, have previously sought this data. The study provides a description of family reunification pathways, and highlights the importance of pre-prison placement and children’s visiting. The study findings stress that the impact of a mother’s imprisonment begins before sentencing and continues beyond her release. Yet research to date has focused predominantly on the period of a mother’s imprisonment. Overall, the study finds that limited formal or informal attention is given by adults involved to children’s needs. They are little seen or acknowledged at any point during their mother’s contact with the adult criminal justice process. From her arrest, through sentencing, imprisonment and planning for release, they are not considered to be participants in the proceedings.

This literature review highlights a number of factors considered important to the social climate of a prison. These factors are categorised as environmental (those external to the individual), interpersonal (relating to interactions with others), and individual (those internal and particular to the individual). These categories correspond broadly to existing theoretical approaches to understanding prison environments. The deprivation model is concerned largely with physical, structural, and contextual factors (features pertaining to the prison). In contrast, the importation model focuses on dispositional characteristics or static factors (features the individual brings to prison). While the deprivation model implies the environment shapes the individual, the importation model implies that the individual shapes its environment. Neither of these models, however, addresses the interactional and ongoing nature of adaptation to a social climate. While not exhaustive, the factors presented in this review are considered important for understanding the social climate of a prison. There are likely to be numerous other factors which also influence an individual's adjustment to the social climate (and the influence of adjustment on the climate). The model presented in this review attempts to draw these factors together, while recognising the inherent difficulties in attempting research from an interactional approach. That is, change is ongoing and individuals are continually evolving - as the person changes, the social climate changes and as the climate changes, the individual must change again. Research must continue to look at each of the individual components and their relationship with each other in order to understand the particular climate of an institution, while recognising the dynamic nature of adaptation. / Anger is an important emotion in correctional environments. Two individual difference variables that may significantly impact on anger arousal are gender and gender role identity. This study aimed to investigate the influence of gender role identity (over and above gender) on anger arousal and expression, in potentially anger-provoking conditions, in a sample of 585 Australian students. Results supported the prediction that gender role identity rather than gender is related to anger experience and arousal, with this finding being consistent across two different types of anger-triggering events. The results suggest that anger arousal is greater for masculine individuals when the intention of the provocation is ambiguous. The implications of these findings for those working with anger in prison setting are discussed. / Thesis (MPsy(Forensic))--University of South Australia, 2005.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Evan Carton. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available from UMI.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--City University of New York, 1973. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [309]-325).

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the deterrent effect of imprisonment. Using data on offenders convicted of felonies in 1993 in Jackson County (Kansas City), Missouri, we compare recidivism rates for offenders sentenced to prison with those for offenders placed on probation. We find no evidence that imprisonment reduces the likelihood of recidivism. Instead, we find compelling evidence that offenders who are sentenced to prison have higher rates of recidivism and recidivate more quickly than do offenders placed on probation. We also find persuasive evidence that imprisonment has a more pronounced criminogenic effect on drug offenders than on other types of offenders.

In the aftennath of the policy crisis which followed the chaining of pregnant prisoners in labour and childbirth, this study constitutes the first to provide qualitative data (supported by basic quantitative analysis) derived from in-depth interviews with pregnant prisoners about their experiences, conducted in England and Wales. From this data, the thesis describes: ( a) the characteristics of pregnant prisoners, (b) the effect of pregnancy on the experience of imprisonment, and (c) the effect of imprisonment on the experience of pregnancy. In addition to this, the thesis presents an account of Prison Service policy and practice relating to pregnancy in prison using data obtained from questionnaires completed by prison staff. Infonned by the medicalisation critique and perspectives from Foucault, it is argued that due to the construction of pregnancy and childbirth as medical events, pregnant women's bodies are subject to medical control and intervention. The reproduction and enforcement of this medical model in Prison Service policy and practice duplicates the control endured by pregnant prisoners producing docile bodies, subject to controlled knowledge and restricted autonomy. The overall effect of this is the deconstruction of women's competency to deal with pregnancy and childbirth. The thesis argues that the motivation behind this control is the creation of productivity, namely, healthy bodies and the control of sexuality, and the perpetuation of docility, through the social control of women's multiple-deviance. The thesis attributes the success of this control to the selfpolicing operated by pregnant women, which is evident from their expectations and demands for pregnancy, even in prison. Finally, the thesis argues that the conditions experienced by pregnant prisoners are punishing, in view of the dual control endured and the physical effects of imprisonment on pregnancy. IV

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Between the 1970s and 2000, the U.S. imprisonment rate increased by 700% (e.g., Beck and Harrison 2001). During the same time period, technological advancements and the decline of manufacturing production in urban areas eliminated many of the higher-paying blue collar job opportunities previously available to workers without college educations (e.g., Morris and Western 1999). The simultaneous large changes in imprisonment and labor markets are striking and the co-occurrence of these events suggests a possible connection between increasingly insecure employment conditions and rising imprisonment rates. Further, policies targeting the poor population (including criminal justice) became more punitive since the 1970s. This co-occurred with a resurgence of Republican Party popularity and overall imprisonment rates subsequently increased (e.g., Beckett and Sasson 2004). Understanding the association between labor market conditions and imprisonment may be especially important for historically disadvantaged minority groups. Research has yet to consider how specific labor market shifts (e.g., restricted blue collar opportunities) may influence imprisonment rates. It is unknown whether such labor market dynamics may better explain the exposure of historically disadvantaged racial minorities to criminal justice system control. This project examines the issues raised in the foregoing discussion using a unique dataset created for this purpose. Data at the local-level are combined from two primary sources: the National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) (U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics1989 and 1999), and Integrated Public Use Micro Sample (IPUMS) data (1990 and 2000) (Ruggles, Alexander, Genadek, Goeken, Schroeder, and Sobek 2010). This project also draws from two general election studies, "General Election Data for the United States" (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research 1995) and American University Federal Elections Project data (Lublin and Voss 2001), and controls for criminal justice system characteristics using the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) (U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation 1988, 1989, 1998, 1999) and The Book of the States (1990 and 2000). Findings suggest that the percentage of men without college education and restricted blue collar employment rates for unskilled workers are positively associated with prison admission rates within the corresponding local areas. In addition, the local percentage voting for Republican presidential candidates is positively associated with prison admission rates. Further, concentrated disadvantage among local African American populations is significantly and positively associated with prison admission rates for this group. Conversely, concentrated socioeconomic disadvantage among Whites is significantly and negatively associated with prison admission rates for African Americans. In addition, the local percentage of unskilled African Americans is significantly and positively associated with prison admission rates for African Americans and Whites. Finally, the percentage of unskilled workers employed in blue collar industries is significantly and negatively associated with African American and not significantly associated with White prison admission rates.