The Convict World
by Ted L Glines
In many ways, an American prison hosts a world and culture unto itself. Entering prison is stressful because one does not know the traditions, norms, slang, and leadership structure of the convict society. Some members may choose to associate with only a few close friends; others form cliques along racial or "professional" lines. Still others may be the politicians of the convict society: they attempt to represent convict interests and distribute valuable goods in return for support. Just as there is a social culture in the free world, there is an offender subculture on the "inside."
As in any society, the convict world has certain norms and values. Often described as the "inmate code," these norms and values develop within the prison social system and help define the inmate's image of the model prisoner. For example, inmates should never inform on each other, pry into each other's affairs, run off at the mouth, or put another inmate on the spot. They must be tough and not trust the officers or the principles that the guards stand for. Further, guards are "bulls" or "hacks" or "screws"; the officials are wrong and the offenders are right.
Some sociologists believe that the inmate code emerges within the institution as a way to lessen the pain of imprisonment; others believe that it is part of the criminal subculture that offenders bring with them. The inmates who follow the code can be expected to enjoy a certain amount of admiration from other inmates as a "right guy" or a "real man" or a "convict." Those who break the code are labeled "rat" or "punk" and will probably spend their prison lives at the bottom of the convict social structure, alienated from the rest of the prison population and targeted for abuse.
A single, overriding inmate code may not exist in the institutions of today. Instead, convict society has divided itself along racial lines. Apparently reflecting tensions in American society, many prisons now are marked by racially motivated violence, organizations based on race, and voluntary segregation by inmates by race whenever possible--for example, in recreation areas and dining halls.
ADAPTIVE ROLES
On entering prison, a newcomer ("fish") is confronted by the question "How am I going to do my time?" Some may decide to withdraw into their own world and isolate themselves from their fellow offenders. Others may decide to become full participants in the convict social system. That choice, will, in turn, help to determine the strategies for survival and success that they will use while in prison.
Four terms describe the basic role orientation that most male inmates use to adapt to prison: "doing time," "gleaning," "jailing," and functioning as a "disorganized criminal."
Those who are "doing time" view their prison term as a brief, inevitable break in their criminal careers, a cost of doing business. They tend to avoid trouble, serve their time quietly, and work for release as soon as possible.
Inmates who are "gleaning" try to take advantage of prison programs to better themselves and improve their prospects for success after release.
"Jailing" is the choice of those who cut themselves off from the outside and try to construct a life within the prison. These are often "State-raised" youths who have spent much of their lives in institutional settings and who identify little with the values of free society.
A fourth role orientation--the "disorganized criminal"--describes inmates who are unable to develop any of the other three orientations. They may be of low intelligence or afflicted with psychological or physical disabilities and therefore are targets of exploitation by other offenders.
As the number of roles suggests, offenders are not part of an undifferentiated mass. Individual convicts choose to play specific roles in prison society. The roles they choose reflect the physical and social environment they have experienced and also influence the relationships and interactions they will develop in prison.
WOMEN IN PRISON
Women constitute less than 10 percent of the entire U.S. prison population. This figure is up from 4 percent in 1980, in part because of an increase in drug convictions. Since 1980 the rate of growth in the number of incarcerated women has been greater than that of men. In fact, between 1986 and 1994 the male population in state and federal prisons increased 209 percent, while that of women increased 289 percent.
Men's and women's prisons differ in a number of ways. Women's prisons are smaller and less security-conscious, and the relationships between inmates and staff are less structured. Women inmates are less committed to the inmate code, and physical aggression and violence seem to be less common. And because women serve shorter sentences, there is perhaps more fluidity in the prison society as new members join and others leave.
Women inmates are generally far removed from their families, friends, and attorneys. In addition, because the number of inmates is small, there is less pressure to design programs to meet an individual offender's security and treatment needs. Rehabilitation programs are few, and dangerous inmates are not segregated from those who have committed minor offenses.
Incarcerated women are young (their average age is 29) and poorly educated (fewer than half have finished high school). They were employed before conviction at unskilled jobs, and about 60 percent are African Americans or Hispanic Americans. Nearly half were caring for dependents when they were convicted, most without a male companion. Few had alcohol problems, but about half were drug abusers.
JUVENILE CORRECTIONS
Incarceration of juveniles has traditionally meant commitment to a state institution, often called a "training school," "reform school," or "industrial school." Large custodial training schools located in outlying areas remain the typical institutions to which juveniles are committed. Experiments with boot camps for juveniles have been tried in a number of states.
Results from a national survey of public custodial institutions showed that 40.7 percent of juveniles were incarcerated for violent offenses, 60 percent used drugs regularly, and 50 percent said that a family member had been in prison at some time in the past. Also, 88 percent of the residents were male, only 30 percent had grown up in a household with both parents, and the percentages of African Americans (42.8 percent) and Hispanic Americans (15.5 percent) were greater than the percentage of those groups in the general population.
Because of the emphasis on rehabilitation that has dominated juvenile justice for much of the past 50 years, a wide variety of treatment programs has been used. Counseling, education, vocational training, and an assortment of psychotherapy methods have been incorporated into the juvenile correctional programs of most states. Unfortunately, incarceration in a juvenile training institution primarily seems to prepare many offenders for entry into adult corrections. The concept of the "state-raised" youth is a useful way of looking at children who came in contact with institutional life at an early age. The lack of family relationships and structure, and having become accustomed to living in a correctional facility, make them less able to function in other environments.
ADJUSTMENT TO LIFE OUTSIDE PRISON
As I am typing this, I am looking at a photograph of a man leaving prison. He is holding up a check from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for $50.
Most inmates leave prison with their clothes, a limited amount of money, and the address of their parole officer. Often there is no family member or friend at the gate, and the prospects for housing and a job are limited. Suddenly, the "revolving door" concept takes on deeper meaning.
With little preparation, the offender moves from the highly structured, authoritarian life of the institution into a world filled with temptations and complicated problems. Suddenly, ex-convicts who are unaccustomed to undertaking even simple tasks like going to the store for groceries are expected to assume pressing, complex responsibilities. Finding a job and a place to live aren't the only problems the newly released person faces. The parolee must also make significant social and psychological role adjustments. A male ex-convict, for example, is suddenly required to become not only a parolee but also an employee, a neighbor, a father, a husband, and a son. The expectations, norms, and social relations in the free world are quite different from those learned in prison. The relatively predictable inmate code is replaced by society's often unclear rules of behavior--rules that the offender had failed to cope with during his or her previous life in free society.
The re-entry problems of parolees are reflected in their re-arrest rates. About 25 percent are arrested during the first six months, almost 40 percent within the first year, and 70 percent within three years. About 40 percent of those re-arrested will be incarcerated within three years.
It is not surprising that the recidivism rate is so high when we consider that today's average ex-convict has been convicted of serious crimes (83 percent for violent or property offenses), has a criminal record of multiple arrests (8.4 prior arrests), and has been incarcerated before (67 percent). By itself, the experience of incarceration is unlikely to teach anyone how to succeed in the community. In fact, the artificial environment of prisons moves people father away from the atmosphere, attitudes, habits, and responsibilities that make for success in American society. ~Contains excerpts from Criminal Justice in America by George F. Cole and Christopher E. Smith.