Getting Tough on Prisoners: Results from the National Corrections Executive Survey, 1995

Prison reform has shifted from focusing on length of confinement to emphasis on conditions in prisons. “No-frills” prisons are being championed as more effective deterrents, more economical, and more powerful symbols of retribution. However, this argument has generally been void of substantive information from wardens, those most directly responsible for managing inmates. This article reports on correctional administrators' assessments of the importance and impact of prison programs and services, drawing on the results from the 1995 National Corrections Executive Survey. A Support for Reduction of Prison Amenities Index (SRPAI) was used in bivariate and multivariate analyses. Implications for correctional policy and administration are discussed.