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13 J. Contemp. Crim. Just. 3 (1997)

handle is hein.journals/jccj13 and id is 1 raw text is: 







EDITORIAL COMMENT


   During the 1960s and  early 1970s a plethora of research focusing on the
pains associated with confinement was published. A conservative shift in the
political winds during the 1980s appears to have also shifted the focus of
prison research. Whereas the 1960s highlighted the problems facing prison
inmates, research in the 1980s  drew  attention to the problems faced by
institutions, including managing overcrowded prisons, the elderly, and men-
tally ill offenders, as well as inmates with deadly, communicable diseases.
   The articles in this issue shift the focus back to the conditions of confine-
ment. The  article by Welch examines the conditions of confinement at U.S.
Immigration  and Naturalization Services (INS) facilities. The focus of this
article is on aspects of INS policy and procedures as they contribute to poor
conditions of confinement and lengthy periods of detention.
   The  article by Richards and Jones examines  how  prisoners experience
release from prison to work release centers and halfway houses. In general,
the prison system  is presented as a  perpetual incarceration machine by
examining  the many  structural barriers that contribute to parole failure and
recidivism.
   The  article by Terry examines  an  important, yet overlooked, coping
mechanism   used by prison inmates. The article looks at the function of humor
in the prison  environment. In  general, prisons are settings that tend to
discourage  inmates from expressing feelings and emotions. Humor   is pre-
sented as a coping mechanism  in response to this prohibition.
   The final article is by Bell and examines prison conditions that lead to the
closing of two prisons in West Virginia. The primary focus of this article is
on judicial intervention to reform conditions in state prisons.




                                                         Richard S. Jones







Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Vol. 13 No. 1, February 1997 3
@ 1997 Sage Publications, Inc.
                                    3


from the SAGE Social Science Collections. All Rights Reserved.

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