Identify and discuss the four types of prisons

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

o Supermax prisons

• house inmates who are considered to be at high risk to commit murder behind bars. The inmates are tightly controlled, spending 22 1/2 hours a day in solitary confinement.

o Maximum-security prisons

• house those who compile extensive misconduct records and violent and repeat offenders.
• A maximum-security prison is defined as a correctional institution designed and organized to control and discipline dangerous felons, as well as prevent escape, with

intense supervision, cement walls, and electronic, barbed wire fences.
• Maximum-security prisons were designed with full attention to security and surveillance.
• Within these prisons, inmates' lives are programmed in a militaristic fashion to keep them from escaping or from harming themselves or the prison staff.
• About a quarter of the U.S. prisons are classified as maximum-security prisons, and they house 16% of the country's prisoners.
• These prisons tend to be large in size, housing more than 1,000 prisoners.
• The entire operation is usually surrounded by concrete walls that stand 20 to 30 feet high and have also been sunk deep into the ground to deter tunnel escapes.
• Fences with razor-ribbon barbed wire that can be electrically charged may supplement the barriers.
• The prison walls are studded with watchtowers with armed guards to survey the movement of the prisoners below.

o Medium-security prisons

• hold about 35% of the prison population.
• Inmates for the most part have committed less serious crimes than those housed in maximum-security prisons and are not considered high risks for escaping or causing harm.
• These institutions are not designed for control to the same extent as maximum- security prisons and have a more relaxed atmosphere.
• Medium-security prisons offer more educational and treatment programs and allow for more contact between inmates.
• In these institutions, rarely are there walled surroundings; instead, these prisons rely on high fences.
• Prisoners have more freedom of movement within the structure, and levels of surveillance are lower.
• The prisoners' living quarters are less restrictive.

o Minimum-security prisons

• hold about 49% of the prison population.
• The appearance of the institution is similar to that of a college campus.
• Most of the inmates are first-time offenders, nonviolent, and well-behaved and include a high percentage of white-collar criminals.
• Inmates are often transferred to minimum-security prisons as a reward for good behavior in other facilities.
• Minimum-security prisons do not have armed guards.
• Prisoners are allowed amenities such as television sets and computers in their rooms.
• Inmates enjoy freedom of movement and are allowed off prison grounds for educational or employment purposes to a greater extent than any other prison program.