NCJ Number
159868
Date Published
1991
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article argues that it is not the prison system that corrupts the criminals, but rather the criminals who corrupt the prison system by continuing a life of crime within the institution and the in community upon release.
Abstract
Prison encourages criminal activity insofar as inmates develop new associations and find support for antisocial thoughts and behaviors. Criminals exhibit the same behavior patterns in prison as they did on the street, in terms of their self-concept, their attitude toward observing society norms, their struggle for status, and their use of manipulative and threatening tactics. In prison, as one the street, criminals face the dilemma of whom to trust and how to deal in information exchanges.