A lot of research has been put into the effects of imprisonment and the variables that influence how an offender adapts to confinement, what some of the consequences of confinement are. Some of the variables that contribute to how an offender will adapt and socialize in prison, would be how they were raised and socialized before prison, the environment that the prison creates for the offenders; and the influences that offenders face in prison and the Cliques that they associate with and the support they have from within the community. Prison conditions need to be modified as well as the practices of most prisons in the United States, integrating more programs that will prepare an offender for a successful reintegration into society, as well as to insure a successful long-term adjustment to parole. …show more content…
These studies have shown how probable it is for someone to become institutionalized and how they adapt to life in prison. The structure of prison life forces alienation on these offenders and the studies show how this forced alienation, the length of sentencing and the social structure of prison’s, affect the degree that an offender becomes institutionalized.
Beginning several decades ago several factors have modified the nature of imprisonment and the criminal justice system. Many of the challenges offenders face to survive in prison and how they reintegrate into society once released have changed as a result (Haney, 1998). Many negative trends affect the nature of imprisonment. The increase in the number of those that are incarcerated is one of the biggest trends that are having a negative impact on American corrections