Prison Life For Inmates

Prison Culture and the Inmate Code

Central to the whole new world of prison/life for inmates (especially male inmates)

Donald Clemmer, much life Goffman, suggested this whole new world seriously changes and manipulates

  • through Prisonization - Inmates take on a role and adopt values based on the prison experience

Some Examples of the Inmate Code?

  • No Friends, no weaknesses, No snitching,

  • Don’t trust the guards

Zimbardo’s inmates illustrate similar transformation (Stanford Prison Experiment)

  • Understanding power dynamics

  • Understanding of how “normal people” can do horrible things

    • People in power are corrupted by power

  • Lasted for 6 days (one prisoner had a mental health crisis)

Anyone who deviates from the norm (young adult healthy men) is considered a special population

Think of this as an Institutionalization

  • Inmates are totally manipulated by the inside world

    • and then have to transition to the outside world

How do the values/morals/codes get into prison?

  • Clemmer through the inmate code was Indigenous

    • how the system changes people because of the loss of autonomy

    • The inmates have to adapt to the system in order to survive

  • John Irwin and Donald Cressey said no… inmate code is imported

    • how anti-social people bring baggage in

    • The prison environment exaggerates the culture

The inmate code is changing

  • More square johns coming in (changes in sentencing models)

  • Prisons no longer as isolated (less solidarity)

  • More young and impulsive

Violence in Prison

53% of adult offenders in state prisons sentenced for violent offenses

  • bad people in a bad place where they don’t want to be

    • Perfect storm for violence

  • Conditions of prisons that might lead to violence

    • Discipline (mentally ill people have a hard time following the rules)

    • Overcrowding

    • Boredom

    • Don’t want to be there

    • Loss of freedoms

    • Loss of the ability to make decisions

Types of violence

  • Interpersonal - Between 2 - 3 inmates due to personal reasons (specific beefs)

  • Collective Violence - Between groups (gang vs gang; inmates vs guards)

    • Results in widespread disturbances, riots

    • Attica riot (due to conditions in prison, guards committing violence against the guards)

    • New Mexico State Prison Riot (inmate on inmate)

      • Due to use of snitch jackets (turning inmates on each other)

Who commits violence in prison?

  • anti-social offenders (engage in violence to get their way)

  • Special Need Offenders (Inability to communicate effectively leads to violence)

  • Psychopathic offenders (The way they are) Richard Kuklinski

  • Gangs (every prison system has some form of gangs)

Humor in Prison

Inmates deprivation of person relationships possible effect of incarceration

How do we build meaningful relationships… through trust and vulnerability

  • Self deprivation humor, making fun of the system,

Goffman identified inmates’ use of humorous sad tales

  • make fun of themselves to account for troubled past

Unger noted the use of self-mockery… Terry suggested humor to tear down system

The reason to use humor in prison?

  • Similar to outside society

  • Show vulnerability… build relationships… But not showing weakness

    • Not showing weakness to key differences→ danger in prison

Women in Prison

Only represent 8% of prison population

About 60% are mothers, and 25% recent mothers

When mom goes to prison the nuclear family is broken up

  • visitation is hard because there are fewer women prisons

“serving your time by yourself'“ is harder for women

  • They create pseudo families

  • older inmates show the younger inmates how this works

  • Creates a support system