Long-term offenders are most concerned about inmate-staff relations, institutional services, the physical environment of the institution and family relationships, according to a recent American study. This research was conducted as part of a project to develop and implement programs for handling offenders in Missouri's correctional system. The study also found that correctional staff and long-termers may not agree on what are the most serious problems associated with long-term incarceration.

This latter finding is important, the researchers argue, because for a program for long-term offenders to be successful, it must have the support of those who will be affected by it - staff and inmates. If staff and inmates have different perceptions of problem areas, strategies developed to address those areas may receive little support from one group. Differences in orientation and values may lead to disagreements about the severity and causes of problems, as well as the strategies for resolving those problems.

This study used a multiple perspectives approach: the researchers looked at the perspectives of different groups of individuals concerning problems associated with long-term imprisonment. In the first phase of the project, discussions were held with correctional administrators, correctional officers and long-term inmates. These discussions generated a list of 32 problems, which fall into the following categories:

• inmate-staff communications and relationships;
• the physical environment;
• programs and activities;
• family and community relationships;
• institutional careers; and
• institutional services.

In the second phase of the project, a survey constructed from the list of 32 problem areas was given to five groups of staff and inmates. Groups of long-term offenders, short-term offenders, female offenders, correctional officers and treatment professionals (e.g., case workers, teachers, psychologists) completed the survey. Long-term offenders were defined as those who had served, or would be serving, a minimum of six years before release. With the exception of the female inmates, all subjects were selected randomly.

Respondents were asked to rate the problem areas as being severe, moderate, minor or no problem at all. An "unsure" response option was also provided. In total, 1,013 surveys were completed.

The third phase of the study was intended to get a more in-depth view of the problem areas. This was to be done through interactive sessions and interviews. Unfortunately, project resources did not allow this portion of the study to be completed.

This article focuses on the findings of the surveys completed by long-termers and staff. Generally, long-termers' views of the problems associated with long-term incarceration tended to be only slightly different from the views of other inmate groups, with the exception of perceptions of staff-inmate relations and the availability and quality of medical care. In these areas, higher percentages of long-termers than short-termers or female inmates rated problems as moderate or severe.

The following table provides lists of the top ten problem areas for long-termers, correctional officers and treatment staff. It should be noted that some problem areas received the same rating. For example, 77% of the long-termers rated the first four problem areas listed in the table as being a severe or moderate problem. Technically, then, they should each be at the top of the list, but to simplify the table, all problem areas have been numbered from one to ten.

The ten problems that were most widely perceived as severe by the long-termers fell into the areas of inmate-staff relations, institutional services, physical environment and family relationships. More than three quarters of these offenders rated staff ignoring inmate suggestions and complaints, the quality and availability of medical care available in prison and travel barriers to family visitation among the most serious problems associated with long-term incarceration.

The table does not show the problem areas that were perceived as minor or non-existent by most long-termers. These included the availability of treatment programs, assaults by staff, assaults by other inmates and concerns about reading and writing skills. Here we see differences in the perceptions of long-termers and staff. While long-termers ranked reading and writing skills last on their list of problems, correctional officers and treatment staff ranked them third. Further, while less than one quarter of long-termers (23%) thought assaults by other inmates were a severe or moderate problem, more than half of correctional officers (59%) and two thirds of treatment staff (67%) had this perception. Finally, while one third of long-termers (34%) saw the availability of treatment programs as a moderate or severe problem, only one quarter of correctional officers (25%) but about half of treatment staff (52%) agreed with this rating.

It is also interesting to note that while about half of long-term offenders (53%) saw unproductive time as a moderate or severe problem associated with long-term incarceration, the vast majority of both correctional officers and treatment staff (85% and 92% respectively) perceived it in this way. In fact, unproductive time topped the list of problem areas by correctional officers and treatment staff.

Another difference between the perceptions of staff and long-termers is evident in the area of staff ignoring inmate complaints and suggestions. This was perceived as a moderate or severe problem by more than three quarters of long-term offenders (77%), but only about one quarter of correctional officers (27%) and about one third of treatment staff (35%) agreed.

On the other hand, as shown in the table, long-term offenders and staff share similar views of problems in the institutional environment, such as noise, crowding and lack of privacy in inmate housing units and the distance required for inmates' visitors to travel.

In developing strategies or programs to respond to the problems associated with long-term incarceration, it is important to focus on areas where there is at least some agreement among staff and inmates as to the seriousness of the problem. This is necessary to gain the support of both staff and inmates, support that is essential to the success of any new initiative. Although this position means that some issues of concern to some groups may get left out, it at least ensures that there is support from both staff and inmates for the issues around which strategies and programs are developed.

In deciding which issues to focus on in the development of strategies and programs as part of the Missouri project, researchers chose issues that were perceived as moderate or severe problems by at least 40% of long-termers and staff. The following is a list of those problems:

• travel distance for family visitation;
• noise, crowding and privacy in housing units;
• quality and availability of medical care;
• crowding in institution;
• counsellor availability;
• vocational programming providing useful skills;
• unproductive time;
• safety of personal property;
• frequency of visits;
• privacy during visitation;
• caseworker availability;
• planning education to fit needs; and
• academic programs providing useful knowledge or skills.

Many of the problems widely perceived as severe by long-term inmates were linked to conditions in prison environments such as noise levels, privacy and crowding. The availability and quality of medical care, staff-inmate relations and visitation barriers were also perceived as severe problems by a large number of longtermers. Although corrections staff had similar views in some of these areas, they held much different perceptions of the severity of problems in the areas of staff-inmate relations and treatment services provided by staff.

A research approach that looks at the perceptions of a number of key actors in corrections (e.g., inmates and staff) can help correctional managers to gauge which programs are likely to be supported in their prison setting and which ones are not.