Lecture Questions 1

"Early Punishments"

August 21, 2003

1. What common punishments were used in early societies?

2. Explain the concept of lex talionis.

3. What kinds of offenders would be found locked up in jails or prisons several hundred years ago?

4. Why is the eighteenth century called the "Age of Enlightenment?"

5. What legal reforms is Cesare Beccaria remembered for?

6. What early English correctional institutions pre-dated the penitentiary?

7. Explain the practice of transportation.

8. Why was Pennsylvania considered the leader in penal reform among the American colonies?

9. At the end of the 1700s, what was wrong with jails?

Lecture Questions 2

"The Penitentiary"

August 26, 2003

1. What ideals was the penitentiary intended to accomplish?

2. Compare the design and operation of the Pennsylvania and Auburn style penitentiaries.

3. How were prisoners treated in the penitentiary of the late 1800s? What practices were important to prison discipline?

4. How did the practice of parole develop?

5. How was the reformatory different from the penitentiary?

6. Explain the concept of the "industrial prison."

7. What eventually happened to the industrial prison?

Lecture Questions 3

"Louisiana Corrections"

September 2, 2003

1. Describe the operation of Louisiana's first penitentiary.

2. How did the main penitentiary come to be located at Angola?

3. Compare the black and white female inmates imprisoned prior to the Civil War.

4. Why did the state take over the convict lease in 1901?

5. Describe the operation of Angola in the first half of the 1900s.

6. What incident in 1951 led Angola to be labeled "America's Worst Prison" and started an important period of prison reform?

7. Why did this era of prison reform fail to last?

8. What happened in 1975 to dramatically change the course of corrections in Louisiana?

9. Why is Major Samuel James such an important figure in the history of Louisiana corrections?

10. What factors did Professor Mark T. Carleton identify as having promoted a poor prison system in Louisiana?

11. What is Louisiana's policy on "life sentences," and how has this policy affected our prison system?

Lecture Questions 4

"Ideologies and Sentencing"

September 4, 2003

1. Briefly discuss what these concepts mean in relation to corrections:

a. retribution

b. deterrence

c. incapacitation and selective incapacitation

d. the treatment model

e. the medical model

f. the reintegration model

2. How does the prevention ideology contrast with punishment and treatment?

3. Define "sentencing disparity."

4. Contrast indeterminate and determinate sentencing.

5. How does the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Grid work?

6. What has been the general direction of criminal sentencing in the United States over the past decade or two, and what specific examples of important changes would you cite?

Lecture Questions 5

"Jails"

September 11, 2003

1. American jails today are very different from one another. What are some of these important differences?

2. What is the population of the typical jail like?

3. Distinguish between first-generation, second-generation, and third-generation jails, in terms of their designs.

4. What are the main problems of urban jails?

5. Who operates most American jails? What staff problems exist because of this arrangement?

6. What do these terms mean:

a. lockup

b. enforced idleness

c. pod

d. bullpen

e. drunk tank

f. fee system

Lecture Questions 6

"State and Federal Prisons"

September 18, 2003

1. How does the rate of imprisonment vary from one part of the country to another?

2. Describe these levels of security--maximum, medium, minimum, and open.

3. What institutions would a state department of corrections consist of?

4. How did the Federal Bureau of Prisons originate?

5. Why are federal prisons sometimes called "country club prisons?"

6. How are federal prisons different from state prisons?

7. What is UNICOR?

8. What important changes have taken place with the federal prison population recently?

9. What security levels does the federal system use in classifying inmates?

Lecture Questions 7

"Private Corrections"

September 25, 2003

1. What has been the traditional involvement of the private sector in corrections?

2. Why might people criticize the private sector's past involvement?

3. Why has privatization spread so rapidly the past 15 years?

4. What criticisms are most commonly made about private prison operations?

5. What does the future of private prisons look like?

Lecture Questions 8

"Custody and Treatment"

September 30, 2003

1. Contrast the autocratic and bureaucratic management styles.

2. Who are some of the best known correctional administrators in recent history?

3. What are the main problems and concerns of the contemporary prison warden?

4. Compare the roles of custody and treatment in prison.

5. How does prison classification work, as it affects both the inmate and the administration?

6. Describe the classification process in Louisiana. What are the different parts of the classification unit?

7. What kind of background did prison guards have in the past? How are they different today? What breakthrough is Shirley Coody remembered for at Angola?

8. How is security affected by the inmate social system?

9. What custodial measures does the security staff use to maintain control over inmates?

10. What justifications do correctional managers give for the services they provide inmates?

11. Who are some of the specialized non-security staff typically found in larger prisons?

12. What behavioral science professionals are often found working in prisons?

13. Is treatment possible in prison?

14. What problems have persisted with trying to provide good medical care at Angola?

Lecture Questions 9

"Male Inmates"

October 9, 2003

1. Describe the variety of inmates held in local jails.

2. How prevalent are inmates with substance abuse and mental health problems?

3. How would the nature of the jail population affect its subculture?

4. What do the authors mean by "the Iron Law of Prison Commitments?"

5. Why have prison populations increased in recent years?

6. Describe the background of people confined in prison.

7. What is "prisonization?"

8. Describe the elements of the old "inmate code."

Lecture Questions 10

"Inmate Subcultures"

October 14, 2003

1. What kind of image does the public have of sex in prison? Is this image real? Why or why not?

2. How was sex in prison different in the past?

3. What does the story of inmate James Dunn say about sex in prison?

4. How are openly gay male inmates handled at Angola?

5. How extensively are conjugal visits used in prison?

6. Is the prisoner population getting older? Why or why not? What problems do older inmates present?

7. How is protective custody used in prison? For the inmate, what are its advantages and disadvantages?

8. Is suicide a serious problem in prison? How do inmates usually attempt to kill themselves?

Lecture Questions 11

"Female Inmates"

October 16, 2003

1. How significant are women in the prison population?

2. What were women offenders like in the past?

3. Were women treated leniently by the system in the past? Why might this be so?

4. What is the background of women in prison today like? How important are drugs and abuse in their lives?

5. How big an issue is motherhood in the lives of women prisoners?

6. How extensive is homosexuality in women's prisons?

7. What is a co-correctional prison?

8. Why do Allen and Simonsen suggest that few women belong in prison?

Lecture Questions 12

"The Subculture"

October 21, 2003

1. Is HIV a serious problem in American prisons? How do inmates respond to AIDS education programs? How do inmates feel about HIV-positive inmates?

2. How would you imagine young inmates and old inmates get along in prison?

3. Why would an inmate spend years in a lockdown cell? What would such a life be like? Do you think you could stand it? Why or why not?

4. How important is agricultural labor to the environment of Angola?

Lecture Questions 13

"Juveniles and Special Needs Inmates"

October 23, 2003

1. What is the basic premise of the juvenile justice system? How long has it been this way?

2. What kinds of juveniles end up in secure confinement?

3. What was the importance of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (1974)?

4. What is the difference between detention facilities and training schools?

5. How prevalent are the mentally ill in jails and prisons?

6. What is "insanity?"

7. What problems do developmentally challenged inmates present in prison?

8. Describe the variety of sex offenders found in prison? What kinds of problems do you see in "treating" sex offenders?

9. How prevalent is HIV infection in prison? How did the HIV inmates get that way?

10. How are prisons contending with the increasing numbers of elderly inmates?

Lecture Questions 14

"Probation and Parole"

October 30 and November 4, 2003

1. What were the origins of probation?

2. Why is John Augustus important to probation history?

3. How is probation provided today?

4. What is a "caseload?" What else does a probation officer do with his time?

5. What are the common general and special conditions imposed on probationers?

6. Distinguish between parole and pardon (or executive clemency).

7. Why are Alexander Maconochie and Walter Crofton important to parole history?

8. How does the parole selection process work?

9. What is "mandatory release?"

10. What are shock parole and shock incarceration?

11. What are recent trends affecting parole in the states?

12. What are "technical violations" of parole or probation?

13. What sort of recidivism rate do we expect for ex-offenders in Louisiana?

Lecture Questions 15

"Community Corrections"

November 11, 2003

1. What are "intermediate sanctions?"

2. What is the scale of options on James Byrne's chart?

3. What is supposed to be good about day fines?

4. What does the term "tourniquet sentencing?"

5. How does Intensive Probation Supervision work as a practice?

6. What are the advantages of home detention and electronic monitoring?

7. What is a community residential center?

8. What do boot camp prisons have to offer?

9. What is a furlough? How would it be used?

10. What are the different types of diversion programs?

11. What is Richard Seiter's integrated contract model?

12. Louisiana tried to establish more community corrections alternatives in the 1980s. What happened?

Lecture Questions 16

"Prisoners' Rights"

November 13, 2003

1. What did civil death mean? What term did the Ruffin case use to define the convict's legal status?

2. Do prisoners have more legal rights today? What are some areas where important court decisions have established basic rights?

3. What is a Section 1983 lawsuit about?

4. What alternatives to litigation does the text discuss?

5. What does the text mean by stigma attached to a criminal conviction? What are "collateral consequences?"

6. What civil rights are commonly lost by convicted felons? How do they get them back?

7. Can criminals be required to register? What type of offender is most often targeted by registration laws today?

8. Assess the impact on the prison system of Angola inmates Hayes Williams and John Fulford. What differences do you see in these two men?