By Hans Toch
“Few oxymorons sound to most people as silly and naive as that of prison democracy—and with reason. In fact, with two opposite reasons. For one, one wants offenders punished, and democracy sounds like a reward. For another, few citizens are enchanted with what passes for democ- racy elsewhere, and one can conceive of the liabilities of representative governance enhanced, corrupted, and caricatured in prison settings.”
Federal Probation. June 1995. 6p.
By Hans Toch
Politicians are responding to perceptions ofa primitive, bloodthirsty electorate by advancing proposals for harsher and more austere prisons. However, studies show the public to be decidedly optimistic abour the prospectsforchange during incarceration, particularly as a result ofhardwork andself-discipline. In this context, long-term inmates pose the biggest challenge for correctional administrators. A "career-planning" model, centered around notions of advancement, progression, continuity, choice, and achievement, is advocated. Six essential elements of "career planning" for inmatesare proposed.
The Prisonjournal, Vol. 76 No. 4, December 1996495-501 © 1996 Sage Publications, lac.
By Hans Toch
Experiments i nprison reformhave often includedefforts todemocratizeprisons.Such experimentswere especially popular during t h eprogressive era. Today, democrati- zation efforts are congruent with management literature that describes employee participation and total quality ofmanagement initiatives through which organizations try to improve the quality oftheirproducts andservices. Prison democratizationcan combineopportunities for staff involvement with enhanced prisoner participation. Inmates can be afforded agreater role in classification and programming decisions, and in determining policies that affect the quality ofprison life. Such participatory approaches help to normalize prison life and contribute to the resocialization of offenders.
The Prison Journal, Vol. 73 No. 1, March 1994 62-72 ©1994 Sage Publications, Inc.
NIMH. Crime and Delinquency Issues. By Hans Toch. (1977) 147 Pages.
“This stance was not lost on informants, who invented accounts for his edification…” Contemporary Psychology. Vo. 35. No. 6 (1990) 1 page.
“Beyond grafting capriciousness unto bureaucracy, DiIulio is unconcerned about bureaucracy’s standard liabilities such as dehumanization…” Society. March/April (1989) 6 pages.
“Her for once is that rare book that lives up to its ambitious title.” Punishment and Society. 12:85 (2010) 4 pages.
“…routines of prison life structure existence…lived day by day with passive acquiescence.” Contemporary Psychology. Vol. 34. No. 10. (1989) 2 pages.
“A close review of prison violence makes it obvious that a disproportionate amount of such violence is related too the mental health problems of prisoners…” Journal of Offender rehabilitation, Vol. 45 (34). (2007) 28 pages.
“In this article I shall explore the role of education as a regenerative (as opposed to rehabilitative) tool for chronically maladaptive prisoners.” Federal Probation. September (1987) 6 pages.
“No prison administrator today could be thinking in terms of ‘criminal classes’. But the difference may be partly a matter of nomenclature.” Prison Service Journal. Issue 185. (2009) 8 pages.
“ I made a point of mentioning [to the parole board] that the prisoner under consideration had written in an essay for publication that he would have denied his own parole at earlier stages of his sentence…” The Prison Journal. XX(X) 1-8 (2009) 8 pages.
“ I made a point of mentioning [to the parole board] that the prisoner under consideration had written in an essay for publication that he would have denied his own parole at earlier stages of his sentence…” The Prison Journal. XX(X) 1-8 (2009) 8 pages.
“In the development of any theoretic concept or group of related concepts, an occasional stocktaking is useful…” Psychiatry: Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes. Volume 18, Number 1, February, (1955) 11 pages.
“The earliest experiments in supermax confinement were conducted 200 years ago and abandoned in horrified disgust.” The Prison Journal. Vol. 81 No. 3, 376-388, September (2001) 15 pages.
“The fact that prison officers are called ‘officers’ and that they wear uniforms has helped to obfuscate the question of what they do and what they are…” European Journal of Criminology. 8 (6) 437-439. (2011) 4 pages.
“…antecedents of today’s control units, or supermax settings, were introduced in the early 1800s and they were abandoned because they significantly impaired the mental health of prisoners.” The Prison Journal. Vol. 83 No.2 June (2003) 8 pages.
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. 46(2), 2002. 119-122. “Left to their own devices, offenders present decreasing risk of offending over time..” (2002) 4 pages.
Reprinted from Federal Probation Quarterly, March 1982. “It has been the misfortune of corrections officers that they fit neatly into all sorts of theoretical schemes…” (1982) 10 pages.
