NCJ Number
112693
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 34 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1988) Pages: 449-466
Date Published
1988
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The demolition of the bastille-type Rocky Butte County jail in Oregon and its replacement by an ultra-modern facility provided an opportunity to determine whether positive alterations in the physical environments of correctional facilities result in improvements in the attitudes and feelings of inmates and correctional officers.
Abstract
The Moos Correctional Institution Environment Scale (CIES) was administered to 498 staff and inmates in the old and the new jail and to 377 staff and inmates at 2 control jails in California and Utah. The CIES measures three principle dimensions in nine subscales: people-to-people relationship factors of involvement, support, and expressiveness; personal development factors of autonomy, practical orientation and personal problem orientation; and institutional functions of order and organization, clarity, and staff control. Results showed no changes in inmate responses to the CIES in any of the jails. Male staff at the new facility showed improvement in six CIES subscale scores, while female staff showed improvement in seven. Findings confirm suspicions that attractiveness or unattractiveness of buildings and physical features of correctional facilities often has relatively little to do with attitudes of inmates toward the facility. 2 figures, 3 tables, 5 notes, and 15 references. (Author abstract modified)