Comparing Views of Prison Climate Across Incarcerated People and Corrections Staff: Similarities and Differences in Perspectives

• In Event: National Findings from the Prison Research and Innovation Initiative

Abstract

Prisons often operate as their own ecosystem, affecting all people in that ecosystem: incarcerated people, custody staff, medical and non-security staff, and administrative leaders. These different populations may perceive the same prison climate dramatically different given their relationship to the environment and power dynamics inherent in the prison environment. For instance, prison corrections staff may perceive that a prison provides sufficient programming, while incarcerated people in that same prison may perceive that programming is insufficient. This paper presents findings on cross-site climate survey questions asked to both incarcerated people and correctional staff by local research partners in five states and across three survey waves, including questions about prison conditions, environment, and the purpose of prison, to compare similarities and differences in opinions in these two populations.

Authors

• Alice Galley, Urban Institute

• Evelyn F. McCoy, Urban Institute