Collaborative Research: Innovating and Experiencing Punishment

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

This research examines the causes and effects of changing punishment and incarceration practices, with a particular focus on the deepening divide between harsh, high-security prisons and more humane, low-security prisons. The research explores 1) when and how more punitive decisions in penal incarceration get made over less punitive ones, 2) how prisoners and staff experience the implementation of these decisions within different facilities, 3) whether and how penal consciousness differs across prison security levels, and 4) how punishment innovation develops through bottom-up, local-level decision-making. By developing a greater understanding of the factors that contribute to punishment innovation in models of incarceration and the effects of these innovations on prisoners and prison staff, this work will advance sociolegal and criminological understanding of penal exceptionalism, local-level prison innovation, and the experience of punishment. Findings will facilitate continued interchange of ideas that inform current U.S. policies and practices and contribute to a growing interest among policymakers in alternative incarceration models. Broader impacts include the training and education of undergraduate students and building an increasingly international community of punishment scholars. The research design extends U.S.-focused work to Denmark, a nation often touted as a model of humane and limited incarceration. Known in the U.S. primarily for its "open" prisons--facilities free of perimeter fences and at least partially integrated with non-prison communities--Denmark has a long but largely unacknowledged history of solitary confinement. This study takes the design and opening of Denmark's newest, high-tech, maximum-security prison with a dedicated isolation wing as a starting point for examining the causes and effects of the deepening divide between harsh and humane punishment. Providing a detailed, localized analysis of punishment innovation and experience, and employing methods that include examination of government documents, analysis of news coverage, and interviews with key prison managers, architects, policymakers, prisoners, and prison staff, the project traces the inception, implementation, and impact of a particular punishment innovation.