Cumulative Default

Abstract

The careers of chronically disruptive prisoners are unquestionably problematic for prison staff members but are equivalently inauspicious for the prisoners themselves, who acquire off-putting reputations and must spend increasing portions of time in punitive or administrative segregation. When we review long-term disruptive careers, we are apt to encounter recurrent ineffective interventions and deteriorating sequences of behavior. This is the case even in relatively humane prison systems, though in such settings we also come across junctures at which positive impact has been achieved with ameliorative moves. Over time, a trend involving personal maturation and amelioration of misbehavior will be observed in many disruptive careers. It is important, as this occurs for prison staff not to react based on extrapolations from past behavior trends. It is also important for members of the prison staff who are assigned to work directly with the inmate to counter or modulate custodial risk-based assessments that the inmate otherwise invites.