Correctional Officers & Prisoners The Inmate Code PDF

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SOCPSY 3C03 Correctional Officers and Social Control Gresham Sykes      

The Society of Captives: A Study of a Maximum-Security Prison o New Jersey State Prison Set foundation for prison sociology Work still relevant today o Prison hasn’t changed much in 60 years Contemporary prison research generally focuses on impact of imprisonment on free society Sykes draws us into the prison Identifies two-part problem to social order o It is tenuous in captive societies like prison – although inmates recognize authority of guards they don’t feel any moral obligation to follow their rules o Repressive power of authorities is not sufficient for maintaining order in prison – everyday tasks of prison include cooking, cleaning, rehabilitation this gives some form of independence for inmates which is crucial for them

Defects of Total Power  

Guards officially have power to extract compliance from prisoners This power is limited

Assumptions about Prison 

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1. Prisons run in authoritative manner o Rules are negotiated on an ongoing basis o Guards and inmates must come to some balance/compromise for social order to stay in tact o i.e. guards often ignore violence of inmates 2. Prisoners recognize the legitimacy of guards so they co operate o Violence not effective for maintaining order and control o Guards use other mechanisms to establish social control – e.g. systems of punishments and rewards

Main Features of Prisons   

Hierarchal form of control Strict subordination Codified rules and procedures

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Separation of tasks/responsibilities Subject to legal controls Require legitimation

The Problem of Legitimacy   

Prisons hinge on legitimacy External legitimacy – legitimacy from outside world o Are inmates being rehabilitated? Why is recidivism so high? Internal – legitimacy within the prison o Do inmates perceive their authority as legitimate

Bauman on Bureaucracies 

Zygmunt Bauman o Holocaust as bureaucratic enterprise o People who are part of bureaucracies don’t feel responsible for end result – everyone is doing a minuscule part that gets whole thing to the end o This poses huge problem of legitimacy for any bureaucracy, including the prison

Legitimacy and The Prison Social Order  

Events deemed unfair/unjust by inmates reduce legitimacy of prison eyes of inmates When legitimacy is lost so too is the social order of the prison

Deprivation and Inmate Identity 

Prisons o Deprive inmates of personal possessions o Corrode inmates’ identity and sense of moral worth o Inmates forfeit markers of their identity and biography o Lose individual agency (limited choices) in everyday life

How order is maintained in prison   

1. Guards must moderate their use of coercion and force 2. Inmates must actively cooperate in their own incarceration 3. Guards/prison officials must strike a difficult balance between maintaining social control and providing inmates with autonomy

Prisoners and the Inmate Code Pains of Imprisonment 

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Five main deprivations linked to imprisonment o Loss of liberty o Loss of desireable goods and services o Loss of heterosexual relationships o Loss of autonomy

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o Loss of security Collectively: “Pains of Imprisonment”

Michele Foucault  

Prisons replaced other forms of punishment, which were aimed at inflicting physical harm or death With rise of modern societies, punishment of the soul/mental life of inmates took precedent over punishing body

Norbert Elias    

Imprisonment emerged because of civilizing process Civilizing process caused decline in all forms of violence, including capital punishment and torture Prison introduced as more ‘humane’ form of punishment Prisons in their own way impose suffering upon inmates

1.Deprivation of Liberty   

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Primary function of imprisonment o To remove or restrict liberty Primary effect of loss of liberty o Protects society from potential acts of harm from inmate Secondary effect o Disintegration of bonds between inmates and friends/family o Due to restrictions associated with receiving visitors, mail, making phone calls This weakens bonds to outside world and increases chances of recidivism o Difficult to reintegrate into society and likely to commit crime again

2.The Deprivation of Goods and Services: 

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Two major factors o Standard of living of inmates before incarceration – material possessions = how we define ourselves, deprivation strips us of our self-identity o Extent of penal austerity  Justifications:  1. Financial resources are scarce and state lacks resources for goods and services  2. Stigma makes prisoners unworthy of state-level care in eyes of lawabiding public  3. State not responsible to care for prisoners – that is role of the individual inmate, friends and family  4. Offenders are rational actors so penal austerity and the harsher punishments that follow increases the costs associated with engaging in crime

3.The Deprivation of Heterosexual Relationships  

In today’s context this deprivation is better defined as o The absence of voluntary sexual relations, hetero or otherwise Some prison admins have recognized negative impact of this deprivation on daily functioning in prison o As a result, some prisons allow marriages and conjugal visits

4.Deprivation of Autonomy  

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Inmates lose ability to make most basic of decisions Sykes argued loss of autonomy is harmful o Reduces inmates to “child-like” state through public humiliation and forced deference Stripping them of sense of self worth

5.Deprivation of Security   

Prison rape – when prisoners rape others, they are doing so to assert dominance Prison violence Substance use/abuse

Explanations of Inmate behavior 

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1. The deprivation model o inmate’s behavior viewed as direct response to stressors in the prison environment o inmates act violently and express dissatisfaction bc they are facing deprivation o prison itself breeds violent subculture 2. The importation model o Inmate behavior viewed as outcome of pre prison socialization 3. The administrative control model o The way correctional facility is organized has impact on how inmates behave on daily basis o i.e TV’s in cells, programs set up, allowed to work in kitchen – shapes what prison subculture will look like...