Date of Award
1-1-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in Criminal Justice
First Advisor
Kimberly A. Kaiser
Second Advisor
Wesley G. Jennings
Third Advisor
Abigail Novak
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation is to apply a developmental and life-course perspective to the understanding of correctional misconduct for those serving long-term sentences by conducting three separate analyses that examine the development of misconduct over time, and the influence of personal and prison characteristics on misconduct. Data were provided by the Department of Corrections in a Northwestern state in the United States and included all adults in custody who were currently incarcerated and had been incarcerated for a minimum of 15 years consecutively at the point of data collection in March 2023. The first analysis used group-based trajectory modeling to examine patterns of misconduct over the first 16 years of incarceration, and the influence of pre-prison characteristics on group membership as well as the within-group effects of time-varying factors unique to the prison environment. The second analysis examined patterns of correctional misconduct among older adults in custody from the age of 40 to 70, using the same analytic strategy of study one. Study three examined the effects of pre-prison and time-varying environmental characteristics on within- and between- individual change in misconduct over the first 16 years of incarceration, as well as differences among general, major, and technical misconduct. Findings have both theoretical and policy implication that contribute to criminological theory and provide practitioners with evidence-based knowledge to help reduce correctional misconduct and more effectively manage correctional facilities.
Recommended Citation
Buckner, Zachary Nathanial, "The Prison Life-Course and Correctional Misconduct" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3253.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/3253