Kaschelle Nichol
CJS/230
August 22, 2012
Lester Julian
Prison Environment Checkpoint
The prison environment is defined as the atmosphere of aspects within a prison, including: inmates, guards, facilities, privileges, morale, etc. A prison environment is strict and isn’t happy. The main goal being punishment, the overall atmosphere will be low, and considering the criminals contained there, not pleasant. The environment affects institutional management and custody because the prisons needs are ever changing, so management and custody procedures must be. Institutional management is there to ensure the facility is run as well as possible. To do this, they must address the needs of the environment of the prison. Custody is also related because if gaps are seen in procedures, management must correct those to protect the integrity and safety of the institution and inmates. To improve the environment, it’s important to improve the morale of inmates. Accomplish this by giving inmates something to work towards, that they are passionate about. This could be education or a hobby. If they have something to take pride in morale will rise and prison environment will follow. Overcrowding also dampens prison environment and can be fixed by addressing which inmates deserve to be incarcerated at any point. Secure custody methods are in place so the safety of those involved in the prison environment isn’t in jeopardy. These would be things like having locks on all cells and backup locks throughout the facility to limit access to other parts of the institution. A double gate at the prison entrance can also reduce the likelihood of escapees. The environment affects secure custody due to overcrowding. The more people confined in one place, the harder it is to do it safely. The best way to improve custody methods is either increase the space, or