Review the article, "Thinking Critically About Corrections: Prison Rape," located in Chapter 9 of the
textbook, Corrections in the 21st Century. Do you believe there is merit to Dr. Gilligan's claims? If so,
how would you propose addressing this issue? If not, why not?
APA; "in text" citings;
Your initial post should be at least 220 words in length. Remember to support your posting by citing your
sources and including a working link to them if available. Sources other than your textbook or course-
provided articles or resources will earn the highest scores.
All posts should be thorough, well written, and relevant to the discussion topic. Minimal use of direct
quotations expected; the majority of each post should be in your own words. You are expected to do
outside research to inform and support your posts. Citing two outside source is required (other than the
textbook or resources within the course).
Textbook:
Schmalleger, F. (2020). Corrections in the 21st Century (9th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education
(US). https://ccis.vitalsource.com/books/9781260805321
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Article "Thinking Critically About Corrections: Prison Rape" excerpt:
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT CORRECTIONS/n(05). mips.//ccis.vitalsource.COM/BOOKS/370120000JJ21
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Article "Thinking Critically About Corrections: Prison Rape" excerpt:
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT CORRECTIONS
Prison Rape
James Gilligan, M.D., contends that rape in prisons is "an intrinsic and universal part of the punishments
that our government metes out to those whom it labels as 'criminal.""84 In essence, Gilligan suggests,
prison administrators passively employ inmate-on-inmate rape as a management tool to control the
prisoner population.
Dr. Gilligan bases his charge on three contentions:
First, the relevant legal authorities, from judges to prosecutors who send people to prison, to the prison
officials who administer them, are all aware of the existence, the reality, and the near-universality of
rape in the prisons. Indeed, this is one reason that many conscientious judges are extremely reluctant to
send anyone to prison except when they feel compelled to, either by the violence of the crime or, as is
increasingly true, by laws mandating prison sentences even for nonviolent crimes, such as drug offenses.
Second, the conditions that stimulate such rapes (the enforced deprivation of other sources of self-
esteem, respect, power, and sexual gratification) are consciously and deliberately imposed upon the
prison population by the legal authorities.
Third, all these authorities tacitly and knowingly tolerate this form of sexual violence, passively
delegating to the dominant and most violent inmates the power and authority to deliver this form of
punishment to the more submissive and nonviolent ones, so that the rapists in this situation are acting/nas the vicarious enforcers of a form of punishment that the legal system does not itself enforce formally
or directly.
Given that rape is universally acknowledged as a crime, Dr. Gilligan's charge is tantamount to an
accusation of criminal conspiracy of monumental proportions.
Do you believe there is merit to Gilligan's claims?
If so, how would you propose addressing this issue?
The Staff Subculture
The staff culture is generally instilled in correctional officer trainees by more experienced officers and by
work experiences. Socialization into the staff subculture begins on the first day of academy training or
the first day of work (whichever comes first). One of the most important beliefs of the staff subculture is
that officers should support one another.
Some people argue that the staff subculture is dangerous because it can sustain improper and even
illegal behavior while forcing correctional officers to keep to themselves what they know about such
behavior. Others, however, suggest that the staff subculture is a positive element in the correctional
world. It is important to correctional officer morale, they claim. They also suggest that it "fills the gaps"
in formal training by establishing informal rules to guide staff behavior and decision making in difficult
situations. The staff subculture can provide informal "workarounds" when the formal requirements of a
correctional officer's position seem unrealistic.
Do you think the staff subculture contributes to or detracts from meeting the goals of institutional
corrections? Why?
Do you think the staff subculture benefits or harms the lives and working environment of correctional
officers? Explain.
What functions of the staff subculture can you identify? Rate each of those functions as positive or
