Chapter 12: Prison Life and Life After Prison

total institution

isolated, closed social system designed to control people

deprivation model

where prisons require inmates to adapt to being deprived of basic rights and needs

importation model

experiences and socialization from outside world brought contribute to behavior

situational model

emphasizes place, time, and person to understand behavior

female subcultures

• pseudofamily and homosexual relationships

• women may experience pains in a harsher way

white-collar criminals in prison

• cope better in the transition to prison

• incarcerated with other types of criminals

prison gangs

• originated in 1950s

• security risk

• affiliations often drawn along racial or ethnic lines

• Notable Gangs

  • Aryan Brotherhood

  • The Bloods

  • The Crips

  • La Nuestra Familia

rioting

violence among inmates beyond control of prison staff

prison challenges

• medical care and death

  • prisons need to take care for a range of mental and physical health issues

  • older inmates

community reentry

• prisonization may hinder reentry

• prison → collateral consequence → unemployment → spinning

• 596,389 inmates released annually

• sex offenders face additional

• hurdles to reentry → extra tracking for public safety

• have few friends or family members to rely on upon release → maintaining family ties

prisonization

socialization within prison

argot

language within prison

• exposed through terms as a language

• brings them into a culture

total institution

isolated, closed social system designed to control people

degradation ceremony

a person’s identity is stripped away, and a new one is formed as a result

prejudice

pre-judgments of others on the basis of their group memberships

• divides the world into “us” vs “them”

• creates an out-group

prison culture

• a shared understanding of how to behave in prison

  • security level

  • inmate demographics

  • length of sentence

  • nature of offenses

  • gang affiliation

  • overcrowding

Norway Prison System

• loss of liberty is not a significant punishment

• must equip incarcerated individuals with skills to reintegrate into society upon release

• prisons should serve as places for rehabilitation, fostering the goals for individuals to get better and improve

Oregon State Penitentiary

• reducing the use of solitary confinement

• change of names: residents or patients rather than inmate or convicts

• created a healing garden on its grounds to provide some respite from the concrete and resemble the outside world

• increasing the time residents spent outside their cells and reduced disciplinary actions and violence

Attica prison

• in September 1971, prisoners at Attica prison in upstate New York revolted in protest of inhumane living conditions

  • wanting better prison living conditions

  • negotiating their living standards

spinning

state of mind the prisoners were in upon arrival at the work release center