lecture 7 - experiencing imprisonment (adaptation) Flashcards
what is the sociology of imprisonment
importance and difficulty of ethnographic and qualitative research with people living and working in prisons
what are we adapting to (sykes 1958 ; crewe 2011)
- traditional pains of imprisonment
- new burdens and frustrations for long term prisoners
the 5 pains of imprisonment
- liberty
- material goods, services
- hetero sex
- autonomy
- personal security
what is pains of imprisonment (liberty)
- social isolation
- social rejection
what are pains of imprisonment (material goods, services)?
-lack of choice and access to preferred service providers
what are pains of imprisonment (heterosex)?quote
‘figuratively castrated by his involuntary celibacy’
what are pains of imprisonment (autonomy)? quote
reduced to
- reduced to the ‘weak, helpless, dependent status of childhood’
what are pains of imprisonment (personal security)?
-enforced proximity with others
-lack of privacy
what is deep end custody?
oppressive PHYSICAL security
PSYCHOLOGICAL weight ‘bearing down’
4 examples of deep end custody
- isolation from outside world
- distance from release
- subversive geraniums
- unchecked staff power
prison example of deep end custody
HMP whitemoor
3 new pains of imprisonment
DWT
- depth
-weight - tightness
what are 3 attributes of new pains of imprisonment (tightness)?
sui
-soft power
-uncertainty
- indeterminacy
what does cohen and taylor say about time in prison?
time as an open landscape rather than a set of pigeonholes
we moved from omnipresent observation to…
self governance
examples of uncertainty, indeterminacy, soft power?
what type of assessments
decisions at a distance are…
how is prison setting up to fail
greater what for friendly staff
-actuarial risk assessments
- decisions at a distance: impersonal, inflexible
- prison as hurdles, being set up to fail
- greater ambiguity of friendly staff
4 models of adaptation
IIIU
- indigenous (deprivation)
- importation (sub-cultural)
- integration model
- u-curve of adaptation
what is the indigenous (deprivation) model of adaptation?
- culture determined by and responds to, inherent pains and deprivations
- role stripping
- civil death
- prisonization and criminalistic ideology
what is the importation (subcultural) models of adaptation?
- culture maintains external behaviour and individual characterisitcs
- multiple fluid subcultures
- criminal ethnic gangs
- homecoming ceremonies
3 multiple fluid subcultures
thief - professional, loyal
convict - individualistic
legitimate - conformist
what is the integration model of adaptation?
- culture reflects inter-dependent (indigenous) and interactive (imported) effects
examples of integration model of adaptation
what versions of prison social life+ outside culture?.
what happens to pre prison behaviour?
why are there groups of shared interests?
- distorted and adapted versions of prison social life and outside culture
- continuation of negative or positive pre-prison behaviour
- groups of shared interests for self-protection or criminal gangs and business alliances
what is the u-curve of adaptation? tide quote
- from kick off to prisonisation to thoughts of release
- swimming WITH rather than against the tide
what is the inmate code
governs…
hierarchy..
prisoner…
- governs social relations as an ideal rather than a description
- hierarchy of offending or characteristics
- prisoner solidarity ‘them and us’
-no grassing, theft, or exploitation of fellow cons - self sufficency
criticisms of inmate code (governs social relations as an ideal rather than description)
- influence of gender, race, religion, age, locality
- divide and rule through the IEP
who is at the top of the prison hierarchy
gangsters
businessmen
who is in the middle of the prison hierarchy?
-lads
- foot soldiers
- firm hoppers
- users
- fraggles
who is at the bottom of the prison hierarchy
-nonces
- transgender people
3 criticisms of prisoner solidairty
- interdependency of staff and prisoners for safety
-influence of cross-posting - distinctions between officers
criticism of no theft from or exploitation of fellow cons
- drugs
- double bubble
hypermasculinity is situated as
secondary proof of manhood
