RAPID: The Development of Correctional Policy.

Pennsylvania State Univ University Park, University Park PA

Investigators

Abstract

How prisons are organized and managed reflects historical, contemporary, and emerging understandings of correctional goals. Major changes in penal policies, then, represent opportunities to investigate the translation of changes in the mix of goals into on-the-ground policies that govern day-to-day penal operations. The Italian prison system is in the process of implementing an innovative new policy with regard to housing prisoners that offers just such an opportunity. Drawing upon theoretical frameworks that examine policy development within both structural and organizational constraints, this project is guided by two research questions: 1) What is the cultural, political, and criminal justice context (and resulting discourse) surrounding the development of the new housing policy in Italy? (2) How does this compare to the American context and discourse surrounding the incarceration of inmates? To answer these questions, three forms of data will be collected. Media reports and online discussions will reveal the public engagement with this issue. Ethnographic observation and interviews with actors within the Italian policy community will be used to examine the sociopolitical context. Finally, policy documents will be used to determine the formal trajectory of policy development. This comparative examination of correctional policy will inform international understandings of criminal justice policy decision-making and correctional practices regarding the management and protection of inmate populations. This work is timely in an era when corrections departments espouse evidence-based practices and criminologists strive to have an active voice in policy discussion. The development of research partnerships with international colleagues in policy and scholarly settings will expand American reference points used to improve criminal justice practices.