Inmate Subcultures

Abstract

Inmate subcultures feature their own unifying systems of values, codes of behavior, social hierarchies, family structures, political systems, means of enculturation through initiation rituals, unique languages and worldviews, and underground economies. The issues explored in criminal justice literature concern the how, what, where, and why of their creation. Three theoretical models, i.e., deprivation, importation, and situational, dominate explanations of inmate subcultures. Although substantively different, the three models address the impact of prisonization in total institution s on inmate behaviors. Further, criminal justice researchers tend to concentrate on similarities in inmate subcultures rather than differences.

“I have to be a man for my son”: The narrative uses of fatherhood in prison

“…When examining how people "become" a prisoner, criminologists have focused on the "convict code" (also known as the "prison code" or "inmate code"), which regulates interpersonal and organizational dynamics among incarcerated persons (Clemmer, 1940;Irwin and Cressey, 1962;Mitchell et al, 2017;Sykes and Messinger, 1960). Researchers have identified five consistent themes in the prison code (Crewe, 2013;Higgs, 2014): a prisoner should 1. never "rat" (inform/snitch) on another inmate; 2. hold anti-authority views and avoid prison staff; 3. be loyal to one another (sometimes called being "solid"); 4. be tough and display manliness; and 5. do their own time (mind their own business). The prison code prospectively shapes behaviour, while also serving as a resource that allows for after-the-fact rationalizations and explanations of behaviour (Jimerson and Oware, 2006).…”