Inmate Attitudes and Views of Two Experimental Programs
| Date | 01 March 1971 |
| Published date | 01 March 1971 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486587100400103 |
| Author | D. E. Miller |
AUST. &N.Z. JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY(March, 1971): 4, 1
Inmate Attitudes and
Views
oj
Two Experimental Programs
The
Two-Day Visiting Program and
the Temporary Release Program
D. E. MILLER*
21
I.
Introduction
THE California
Department
of Corrections
in
1968
instituted
two
pilotpro-
grams
at
the
California Correctional
Institution
at
Tehachapi. These
pro-
grams
are
aimed
at
maintaining
the
inmate's
family ties
and
providing
some
preparation
for his eventual release back into
the
community. One,
the
"Family Visiting Program", allows selected
inmates
to
spend
up to two
days in relatively unsupervised private visits on
the
prison grounds
with
members of
their
immediate
family, I.e.,
Wife,
children
and/or
parents.
This
represents
the
first
such
program
in
any
major
American prison;'
although
other
countries
have
long used programs of
this
general
sort.2
The
second
program,
the
"Temporary
Release
Program",
allows inmates.
about
to be
paroled to
make
three
72-hour visits to
their
home community
in
order to
arrange
jobs
and
housing
and
otherwise
prepare
for
thetrrelease.e
Home
Furloughs or leaves
are
also
not
uncommon in
other
countrtes.s
The
importance
of
the
family in
the
rehabilitation
of
the
ex-offender
has
been noted''
and
studies have shown some association of success on
parole
with
being
married
and
with
the
higher
frequency of
mail
and
visits
from
family members," This concern
with
family relations is also
strengthen-
ed by
the
observation
that
extended institutionalization
tends
to weaken
these
ties
and
make
more difficult
the
job
of
re-entry
into
soctety.?
Just
*Research Analyst, Human Relations Agency, Department of Corrections, Sacramento,
California, U.S.A.
1. Parchman
State
Penitentiary
in Mississippi
has
had a somewhat similar program operating
informally in a farm or camp-like setting for some time. See C. Hopper: "Conjugal Visiting:
AControversial Practice in Mississippi," Criminal Law Bulletin, 288-289, 1967.
2. In Mexico the practice of conjugal visiting is firmly established. See N. S. Hayner, "New
Patterns
in Old Mexico: A
Study
of Town and Metropolis," New Haven, Conn., College
and University Press, 1966. Sweden has also established family visiting programs.
3.
For
some idea of this program and its use in
another
institution see N. Holt, "California
Pre-release Furlough Program for
State
Prisons: An Empirical Evaluation,' California
Department of Corrections, Research Division, Working Paper,
Sert.
1969.
4. Puerto Rico and Argentina have home leave programs. See R. S. Cavan
and
E. Zemans,
"Marital Relationships of Prisoners in Twenty-Eight Countries."
Journal
of Criminal Law,
Criminology and Police Science. 49, 133-139, July-August, 1958.
5. E. Zemans and R. S. Cavan, "Marital Relationships of Prisoners,"
Journal
of Criminal
Law, Criminology and Police Science, 49 50-57. May-June, 1958.
6. D. Glaser,
"The
Effectiveness of a Prison
and
aParole System," Bobbs-Merrill Co. Inc.,
New York, N.Y. 360-378, 1964.
7. See S. Goffman, "Asylums," Doubleday &Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1961,
for a discussion of possible modes of adaption to total institutions.
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