ON THE MEASUREMENT OF SOCIAL ROLE ADAPTATION IN THE PRISON COMMUNITY - A RESEARCH NOTE

• NCJ Number: 14980
• Author(s): C W THOMAS; S C FOSTER
• Date Published: 1974
• Length: 23 pages
• Grant Number(s): 73-NI-03-0002
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

STATISTICAL DATA INDICATES SOCIAL ROLES IN THE INMATE SUBCULTURE CHARACTERIZED BY DISTINCTIVE SETS OF ATTITUDES AND VALUES.

Abstract

USING DATA OBTAINED FROM QUESTIONNAIRES ADMINISTERED TO A SAMPLE OF INMATES IN A SINGLE PRISON MATCHED WITH THE PERMANENT PRISON RECORD OF EACH INMATE, FIVE DISTINCTIVE ROLES WERE IDENTIFIED IN THE INMATE POPULATION. ROLES WERE CHARACTERIZED BY VARYING DEGREES OF OPPOSITION TO THE PRISON ORGANIZATION AND ALIENATION FROM SOCIALIZED VOCATIONAL AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP SKILLS. THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND GENERALIZED CONCLUSIONS ARE ACKNOWLEDGED TO LACK MATURE DEVELOPMENT, AND FURTHER RESEARCH IS URGED IN THE AREA OF THE INMATE SOCIAL SYSTEM.