RUI: The Birth Of The Post-Rehabilitative Prison: A Case Study of Arizona's Penal System

San Jose State University Foundation, San Jose CA

Investigators

Abstract

Through a case study of the recent, rapid development of Arizona's correctional system, this study explores the contours, impacts, and practical operations of a state penal system that has largely developed in the post--rehabilitative age of prison policy. This research address two distinct but related questions: 1) Whether the nature of the state's penal policies is influenced by the state's developmental history, including economic activity, political responses to crime, and attitudes toward punishment and crime; and 2) What impact penal policies have on contemporary prisons and prisoners, including an assessment of various qualities of imprisonment in the state. To explore the first question, the principal investigator will use both quantitative and qualitative analyses of secondary data and primary archival materials related to the development and rapid expansion of Arizona's prison system over the past 50 years. The second component of the project utilizes ethnographic field observation methods and in-depth interviews to explore the contemporary state of imprisonment in Arizona.