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This mixed methods exploratory study examined how adult male prisoners serving sentences of life without parole adapt to the probability that they will be incarcerated for the remainder of their lives. As a second element, state prison wardens were surveyed about their support for the provision of certain amenities to those serving life without parole and the extent to which they believed those prisoners presented a risk of future dangerousness. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 24 inmates serving sentences of life without parole at a high security prison in Ohio. Informants identified factors that made adjustment more difficult or which enhanced the ability to adapt. Some study participants expressed hope that a favorable court decision or a change in sentencing laws would lead to release from prison. A survey sent to 430 state prison wardens asked if they supported providing prisoners serving life without parole amenities involving access to academic and vocational education programs, special housing assignments, and special programs to enhance adaptation. Wardens were asked to rate the extent to which they believed those prisoners presented a risk of future dangerousness. Study hypotheses were tested to determine if factors related to wardens’ prior work experience as a correction officer or in a treatment position, opinions about the primary purpose of prison, experience as a warden of a facility that housed prisoners serving life without parole, level of educational attainment, and gender impacted support for amenities and perception of future dangerousness. Three different two-way ANOVA tests were conducted, each of which had a categorical predictor variable and moderating independent variables of educational attainment and gender. Several of the main effects did reach the level of statistical significance. A reported belief that rehabilitation was the primary purpose of prison and level of educational attainment were significant in predicting wardens’ support for amenities. Having served as the warden of a prison at which inmates serving life without parole were housed and being female were found to be related to a lower perception of future dangerousness.

Act 33 of 1995 is an amendment to Pennsylvania's Juvenile Act (2008). This amendment changed jurisdictional boundaries for juvenile offenders who committed violent crimes with weapons. As a result, youth who committed violent crimes with weapons were automatically transferred to the adult criminal justice system. Using punctuated equilibrium as the theoretical foundation, the purpose of this study was to determine if Act 33, as a punctuating event, resulted in an increase in the number of youth transferred to the adult criminal justice system and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in an urban county in Pennsylvania. Secondary data (N = 143) were acquired from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections on juveniles sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in Pennsylvania pre and post Act 33. Chi-square test with 2-way contingency table analysis was used to analyze the data. Results did not indicate a statistically significant association between the numbers of juveniles transferred to the adult criminal justice system and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole and the implementation of Pennsylvania of Act 33. The positive social change implications of this study include recommendations to the Pennsylvania legislators to increase state funds in order to implement service integration for juvenile lifers returning to the community.

My thesis critically examines the role that the U.S. Supreme Court's "death is different" jurisprudence has played in the development of life without parole (LWOP) sentencing.

The study analyzed a convenience sample of published accounts of death penalty cases and life without parole cases. The objective of the study was to explore factors that influence the selection of cases for coverage in books, think tank reports (e.g., Heritage Foundation), and periodicals and factors related to coverage of homicides resulting in a death penalty sentence or a life without parole sentence (often termed “America’s other death penalty”). Since this study was exploratory, hypotheses were not offered. However, prior research on the death penalty and on life without parole offered several clues. For example, since black offender/white victim homicides were more likely to result in a death penalty sentence, it was expected that such homicides would more likely to be covered. Since conservatives were more likely to favor the death penalty and liberals were likely to oppose it, it was expected that coverage would vary by how conservative or liberal the coverage source. For example, how the Heritage Foundation covered cases was expected to be different from coverage by Human Rights Watch. In summary, my study revealed opposite results of previous research studies. The results of my study are probably skewed because of the small sample size. A bigger sample size would more than likely resulted in more accurate and reliable results.

Following the landmark 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Montgomery v. Louisiana, approximately 2,500 men and women sentenced to mandatory life without the possibility of parole as children (sometimes referred to as “juvenile lifers”) became eligible to be released. As these juvenile lifers re-enter into society, it is important to study their life histories and the consequences of long-term incarceration. Although there have been studies that shed light on prison life and reentry, there is insufficient research using a developmental and life-course perspective to understand the prison life experiences of those confined over the course of their adult lives, and how these experiences shape reentry processes. Specific to adults serving life-sentences, the consequences of long-term incarceration can adversely affect health, education, employment history, and family ties, with consequences for the reentry process. However, given that juvenile lifers begin their incarceration at a key developmental stage, it is unclear how the effects of long-term confinement impacts their maturation process, development, and ultimately, their reentry successes or failures following their release from prison. This concurrent mixed-method study employs both semi-structured life history interviews and life history calendars to examine the effects of the criminal justice system over one’s life course. The study captures the lived experiences of men and women in Pennsylvania before, during, and after serving a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. This study aims to better understand how long-term confinement, which commenced during the critical developmental period of adolescence, shapes human development and reentry processes as well as how children sentenced to life without parole make sense and order their lives and regain normalcy upon release. Findings reveal that long-term imprisonment disordered the normal stages of human development for juvenile lifers and had adverse consequences for other life domains such as health (both physical and mental), educational attainment, employment opportunities, and the ability to sustain meaningful familial and romantic relationships. Findings also suggest that although the prison environment was not conducive to the development of responsible and mature behavior, juvenile lifers still experienced a series of psychosocial transitions. These psychosocial transitions generally unfolded in various stages, which allowed juvenile lifers to maturely cope to the demands of prison life and achieve significant changes and growth over their life course even before the landmark Miller and Montgomery Supreme Court decisions. The discussion of the research findings highlights the importance of understanding the dynamic changes that occur for those who experience long periods of incarceration to provide insight into post-release outcomes. / Criminal Justice