Hostname: page-component-669899f699-cf6xr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-25T00:21:15.166Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

“It Depends on the Outcome”: Prisoners, Grievances, and Perceptions of Justice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Valerie Jenness  and
Kitty Calavita
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Social scientists have long investigated the social, cultural, and psychological forces that shape perceptions of fairness. A vast literature on procedural justice advances a central finding: the process by which a dispute is played out is central to people's perceptions of fairness and their satisfaction with dispute outcomes. There is, however, one glaring gap in the literature. In this era of mass incarceration, studies of how the incarcerated weigh procedural justice versus substantive justice are rare. This article addresses this gap by drawing on unique quantitative and qualitative data, including face-to-face interviews with a random sample of men incarcerated in three California prisons and official data provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Our mixed-methods analysis reveals that these prisoners privilege the actual outcomes of disputes as their barometer of justice. We argue that the dominance of substantive outcomes in these men's perceptions of fairness and in their dispute satisfaction is grounded in, among other things, the high stakes of the prison context, an argument that is confirmed by our data. These findings do not refute the importance of procedural justice, but show the power of institutional context to structure perceptions of and responses to fairness, one of the most fundamental principles of social life.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 52 , Issue 1 , March 2018 , pp. 41 - 72
Copyright
© 2018 Law and Society Association.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

This research was funded by the Law and Social Science Program and the Sociology Program, National Science Foundation (SES-0849731). The authors want to thank the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) for granting permission to conduct this research and for providing access to prisoners, CDCR staff, and official documents. We are especially grateful to the California prisoners who agreed to share with us their experiences and perceptions. Finally, this article has benefitted from the capable research assistance and helpful comments provided by Sarah Bach, Ken Cruz, Julie Gerlinger, Lori Sexton, Sarah Smith, Jennifer Sumner, and Anjuli Verma. Lori Sexton and Sarah Smith in particular played a central role in this research as project managers during data collection and Sarah Bach, Ken Cruz, and especially Julie Gerlinger contributed in meaningful ways to the data analyses presented in this article. We also thank our colleague, John Hipp, who provided valuable counsel on the statistical modeling.

This article was published online on 15 January 2018. Typographical errors were subsequently identified that do not change the interpretation or conclusion of the article. This notice is included in the online and print versions to indicate that both have been corrected on 10 February 2018.

References

References

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) 2006 Brief for the ACLU in Jones. Bock et al.Google Scholar
Anderson, Jill K. & Hayden, Robert M. (1980–81) “Questions of Validity and Drawing Conclusions from Simulation Studies in Procedural Justice,” 15 Law & Society Rev. 293–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, Thomas, et al. (2015) “Shared Race/Ethnicity, Court Procedural Justice, and Self-Regulation Beliefs: A Study of Female Offenders,” 49 Law & Society Rev. 433–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barton, Robert A. (2011) “CDCR's Revised Inmate Appeal Process Leaves Key Problems Unaddressed.” Special Report of the Office of the Inspector General. Sacramento: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.Google Scholar
Beijersbergen, Karin A., et al. (2014) “Procedural Justice and Prisoners’ Mental Health Problems: A Longitudinal Study,” 24 Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health 100–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beijersbergen, Karin A., Dirkzwager, Anja J. E., & Nieuwbeerta, Paul (2015a) “Reoffending after Release: Does Procedural Justice during Imprisonment Matter?,” 43 Criminal Justice and Behavior 63–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beijersbergen, Karin A., et al. (2015b) “Procedural Justice in Prison: The Importance of Prison Staff Characteristics,” 59 International J. of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 337–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berke, Robert & Dillard, Michael (1973) “Department of Corrections Inmate Grievance and Appeal Procedures: A Report of the Senate Select Committee on Penal Institutions.” Sacramento: Senate Select Committee on Penal Institutions.Google Scholar
Berrey, Ellen, Hoffman, Steve G., & Nielsen, Laura Beth (2012) “Situated Justice: A Contextual Analysis of Fairness and Inequality in Employment Discrimination Litigation,” 46 Law & Society Rev. 1–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bierie, David M. (2013) “Procedural Justice and Prison Violence: Examining Complaints among Federal Inmates (2000–2007),” 19 Psychology, Public Policy, and Law 15–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blader, Steven & Tyler, Tom R. (2003) “The Four Component Model of Procedural Justice,” 13 Human Resource Management Rev. 107–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonta, James & Gendreau, Paul (1990) “Reexamining the Cruel and Unusual Punishment of Prison Life,” 14 Law and Human Behavior 347–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bottoms, Anthony & Tankebe, Justice (2012) “Beyond Procedural Justice: A Dialogic Approach to Legitimacy in Criminal Justice,” 102 J. of Criminal Law & Criminology 119–70.Google Scholar
Brockner, Joel & Wiesenfeld, Batia M. (1996) “An Integrative Framework for Explaining Reactions to Decisions: Interactive Effects of Outcomes and Procedures,” 120 Psychological Bulletin 189–208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brunton-Smith, Ian & McCarthy, Daniel J. (2016) “Prison Legitimacy and Procedural Fairness: A Multilevel Examination of Prisoners in England and Wales,” 33 Justice Q. 1029–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calavita, Kitty & Jenness, Valerie (2015) Appealing to Justice. Oakland: Univ. of California Press.Google Scholar
Calavita, Kitty & Jenness, Valerie (2018) “Race, Grievance Systems, and Prisoners' Perceptions of Justice in Three California Prisons,” Du Bois Review (In Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carman, Christopher (2010) “The Process Is the Reality: Perceptions of Procedural Fairness and Participatory Democracy,” 58 Political Studies 731–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carrabine, Eamonn (2005) “Prison Riots, Social Order and the Problem of Legitimacy,” 45 British J. of Criminology 896–913.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casper, Jonathan D., Tyler, Tom, & Fisher, Bonnie (1988) “Procedural Justice in Felony Cases,” 22 Law & Society Rev. 483–507.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charmaz, Kathy (2006) Constructing Grounded Theory. Newbury Park: Pine Forge Press.Google Scholar
Dostoevsky, Fyodor (1861–2/1965) Memoirs from the House of the Dead. Oxford: Oxford World's Classics.Google Scholar
Epp, Charles R., Maynard-Moody, Steven, & Haider-Markel, Donald (2014) Pulled Over. Chicago: The Univ. of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geller, Amanda, et al. (2014) “Aggressive Policing and the Mental Health of Young Urban Men,” 104 American J. of Public Health 2321–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibbons, John J. & deBelleville Katzenbach, Nicholas (2006) “Confronting Confinement: A Report of the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons,” 22 Washington Univ. J. of Law and Policy 385–560.Google Scholar
Glaser, Barney G. & Strauss, Anselm L. (1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Piscataway: Aldine Transaction.Google Scholar
Goffman, Erving (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Anchor Books.Google Scholar
Goffman, Erving (1961) Asylums. Garden City: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Goodman, Philip (2008) “It's Just Black, White, or Hispanic’: An Observational Study of Racializing Moves in California's Segregated Prison Reception Centers,” 42 Law & Society Rev. 735–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hasisi, Badi & Weisburd, David (2011) “Going beyond Ascribed Identities: The Importance of Procedural Justice in Airport Security Screening in Israel,” 45 Law & Society Rev. 867–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinz, Anne M. (1985) “Procedure v. Consequences,” in Talarico, S., ed., Courts and Criminal Justice. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications. 13–34.Google Scholar
Hickman, Laura J. & Simpson, Sally S. (2003) “Fair Treatment or Preferred Outcome? The Impact of Police Behavior on Victim Reports of Domestic Violence Incidents,” 37 Law & Society Rev. 607–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollander-Blumoff, Rebecca & Tyler, Tom R. (2008) “Procedural Justice in Negotiation: Procedural Fairness, Outcome Acceptance, and Integrative Potential,” 33 Law & Social Inquiry 473–500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollander-Blumoff, Rebecca & Tyler, Tom R. (2011) “Procedural Justice and the Rule of Law: Fostering Legitimacy in Alternative Dispute Resolution,” 2011 J. of Dispute Resolution 1–19.Google Scholar
Jackson, Jonathan, et al. (2010) “Legitimacy and Procedural Justice in Prisons,” 191 Prison Service J. 1–10.Google Scholar
Jackson, Jonathan, et al. (2012) “Why Do People Comply with the Law? Legitimacy and the Influence of Legal Institutions,” 52 British J. of Criminology 1051–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenness, Valerie & Calavita, Kitty (2017) “Prisoners Grievances, Rights, and the Culture of Control.” 15 The Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law 211–228.Google Scholar
Johnson, Devon, Maguire, Edward R., & Kuhns, Joseph B. (2014) “Public Perceptions of the Legitimacy of the Law and Legal Authorities: Evidence from the Caribbean,” 48 Law & Society Rev. 947–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirk, David S. (2016) “Prisoner Reentry and the Reproduction of Legal Cynicism,” 63 Social Problems 222–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kruttschnitt, Candace & Gartner, Rosemary (2004) Marking Time in the Golden State. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landis, Jean M. & Goodstein, Lynne (1986) “When Is Justice Fair? An Integrated Approach to the Outcome Versus Procedure Debate,” 11 American Bar Foundation Research J. 675–707.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liebling, Alison, et al. (2005) “Revisiting Prison Suicide: The Role of Fairness and Distress,” in Liebling, A., & Maruna, S., eds., The Effects of Imprisonment. New York: Routledge. 209–16.Google Scholar
Lind, E. Allan & Tyler, Tom R. (1988) The Social Psychology of Procedural Justice. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lind, E. Allan, et al. (1990) “In the Eye of the Beholder: Tort Litigants’ Evaluations of their Experiences in the Civil Justice System,” 24 Law & Society Rev. 953–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazerolle, Lorriane, et al. (2012) “Shaping Citizen Perceptions of Police Legitimacy,” 51 Criminology 33–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCorkel, Jill A. (2013) Breaking Women: Gender, Race, and the New Politics of Imprisonment. New York: New York Univ.Google Scholar
Napier, Jaime L. & Tyler, Tom R. (2008) “Does Moral Conviction Really Override Concerns About Procedural Justice? A Reexamination of the Value Protection Model,” 21 Social Justice Research 509–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
New York State Special Commission on Attica (1972) Attica: The Official Report of the Special Commission on Attica. New York: Bantam.Google Scholar
Owen, Barbara (1998) In the Mix. New York: State Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Reisig, Michael D. & Mesko, Gorazd (2009) “Procedural Justice, Legitimacy, and Prisoner Misconduct,” 15 Psychology, Crime & Law 41–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhodes, P. J. (1994) “Race-of-Interviewer Effects: A Brief Comment,” 28 Sociology 547–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlanger, Margo (2003) “Inmate Litigation,” 116 Harvard Law Rev. 1555–706.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlanger, Margo & Shay, Giovanna E. (2008) “Preserving the Rule of Law in America's Jails and Prisons: The Case for Amending the Prison Litigation Reform Act,” 11 J. of Constitutional Law 139–54.Google Scholar
Simon, Jonathan (2000) “The ‘Society of Captives’ in the Era of Hyper-Incarceration,” 4 Theoretical Criminology 285–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sparks, Richard & Bottoms, Anthony E. (1995) “Legitimacy and Order in Prisons,” 46 British J. of Criminology 45–62.Google Scholar
Sparks, Richard, Anthony, E. Bottoms, & Will Hay (1996) Prisons and the Problem of Order. Oxford: Clarendon Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tankebe, Justice (2009) “Public Cooperation with the Police in Ghana: Does Procedural Fairness Matter?,” 47 Criminology 701–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tankebe, Justice (2013) “Viewing Things Differently: The Dimensions of Public Perceptions of Legitimacy,” 51 Criminology 103–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thibaut, John & Walker, Laurens (1975) Procedural Justice: A Psychological Analysis. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Timmermans, Stefan & Tavory, Iddo (2012) “Theory Construction in Qualitative Research: From Grounded Theory to Abductive Analysis,” 30 Sociological Theory 167–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jeremey, Travis, Bruce, Western, & Steve, Redburn, eds, (2014) The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Exploring Causes and Consequences. Report of the National Research Council of the National Academies. Washington: The National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Tyler, Tom R. (1984) “The Role of Perceived Injustice in Defendants’ Evaluations of Their Courtroom Experience,” 18 Law & Society Rev. 51–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyler, Tom R. (1988) “What Is Procedural Justice? Criteria Used by Citizens to Assess the Fairness of Legal Procedures,” 22 Law & Society Rev. 103–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyler, Tom R. (1990) Why People Obey the Law. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Tyler, Tom R. (1994) “Governing Amid Diversity: The Effect of Fair Decisionmaking Procedures on the Legitimacy of Government,” 28 Law & Society Rev. 809–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyler, Tom R. (2003) “Procedural Justice, Legitimacy, and the Effective Rule of Law,” 30 Crime & Justice 283–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyler, Tom R. & Blader, Steven (2000) Cooperation in Groups: Procedural Justice, Social Identity and Behavioral Engagement. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Tyler, Tom R., Callahan, Patrick E., & Frost, Jeffrey (2007) “Armed, and Dangerous?: Motivating Rule Adherence among Agents of Social Control,” 41 Law & Society Rev. 457–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyler, Tom R., Fagan, Jeffrey, & Geller, Amanda (2014) “Street Stops and Police Legitimacy: Teachable Moments in Young Urban Men's Legal Socialization,” 11 J. of Empirical Legal Studies 751–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Useem, Bert & Kimball, Peter (1989) States of Siege: U.S. Prison Riots, 1971–1986. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Vidmar, Neil (1990) “The Origins and Consequences of Procedural Fairness,” 15 Law and Social Inquiry 877–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wacquant, Loic (2002) “The Curious Eclipse of Prison Ethnography in the Age of Mass Incarceration,” 3 Ethnography 371–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, Laurens, Lind, E. Allan, & Thibaut, John (1979) “The Relation between Procedural and Distributive Justice,” 65 Virginia Law Rev. 1401–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Cases Cited

Brown v. Plata, 563 U.S. 493 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell v. Chaves, 402 F. Supp. 2d. 1101, 1106 n. 3 D. Ariz. (2005).Google Scholar
Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475 (1973).Google Scholar