Jess Maghan

In the following viewpoint, Jess Maghan claims the view that prisons coddle inmates is a popular misperception created by politicians who seek to make penal institutions more punitive. He argues that correctional managers need amenities in prisons because they work as effective behavioral tools, making prison environments less hostile. Maghan also contends prison managers, not politicians, know best what programs belong in today’s prisons. Maghan is professor of criminal justice and director of the forum for comparative correction at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. In Maghan’s opinion, what are the modern prison’s surrogate roles"
2. How does the author support his argument that more restrictions in prison cause more prison violence"
3. According to Maghan, what factors make prison life dangerous"

As other forms of...