ABSTRACT

Prison officials often place gang affiliates in restrictive housing, yet little is known about what effect this experience has on their subsequent behavior. Two competing hypotheses on the impact of time spent in restrictive housing has on gang affiliates’ post-segregation behavior are conceptualized. The gang suppression hypothesis argues that isolating gang affiliates from their gang for a longer period leads to improvements in behavior when released. In contrast, the gang intensifying hypothesis argues that a longer period of separation leads to detriments in one’s behavior. This study tests these competing hypotheses by examining the average impact of disciplinary segregation and the number of weeks spent in this setting on the subsequent institutional behavior of gang- and non-gang-affiliated inmates in a large Midwestern State Department of Corrections. The results of this initial test do not support either hypothesis as time in disciplinary segregation was not associated with likelihood of subsequent rule violations in the sample. Research and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

摘要

监狱官员经常将帮派附属机构安置在限制性住房中，但对于这种经历对其随后行为的影响知之甚少。关于限制性住房所花时间对黑帮会员的隔离后行为的影响，存在两个相互竞争的假设。帮派抑制假说认为，将帮派成员与帮派隔离较长时间会导致释放时行为改善。相反，团伙强化假说认为，一段较长的分离会导致人的行为受到损害。这项研究通过检查学科隔离的平均影响以及在这种情况下对中西部大型惩教署中与黑帮和非黑帮有联系的犯人随后的机构行为所花费的周数来检验这些竞争假设。初始检验的结果不支持任何一种假设，因为学科隔离的时间与样本中随后违反规则的可能性无关。讨论了这些发现的研究和政策含义。