Assessing the therapeutic climate of prisons

This study examined perceptions of the prison social climate in two Australian prisons from the perspective of both prison staff and prisoners. Ratings of social climate were compared between a specialist treatment prison that provides intensive rehabilitation programs to violent, sexual, and substa...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Day, Andrew J. (Author)
Contributors: Casey, Sharon ; Vess, Jim ; Huisy, Gina
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2012
In: Criminal justice and behavior
Year: 2012, Volume: 39, Issue: 2, Pages: 156-168
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
prison social climate
Rehabilitation
therapeutic climate
therapeutic community
therapeutic milieu
Description
Summary:This study examined perceptions of the prison social climate in two Australian prisons from the perspective of both prison staff and prisoners. Ratings of social climate were compared between a specialist treatment prison that provides intensive rehabilitation programs to violent, sexual, and substance-using offenders and a mainstream prison that does not specialize in offender rehabilitation. The results suggested that staff and prisoners at the specialist treatment prison rated the social climate as more conducive to rehabilitation, although the differences were less pronounced for prisoners. These findings are discussed in relation to the development of specialist therapeutic prisons and how assessments of social climate might inform assessments of their success.
ISSN:1552-3594
DOI:10.1177/0093854811430476