NCJ Number
65775
Date Published
1979
Length
212 pages
Annotation
POLITICAL ACTIVISM OF THE 1960'S PERVADED PRISON LIFE AS POLITICALLY AWARE INMATES ENTERED INSTITUTIONS. THIS STUDY OF TWO MAXIMUM-SECURITY PRISONS EXAMINES THIS POLITICISM IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PRISONERS' MOVEMENT.
Abstract
IT ATTEMPTS TO SHOW THE CONTINUITY BETWEEN THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF THE PARTICULAR INMATE PROTESTS AND THE ADMINISTRATION'S RESPONSE AND EXPLORES THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEMS THAT NOW EXIST IN THESE PRISONS. THREE GROUPS OF INMATES IN A CALIFORNIA PRISON WERE INTERVIEWED FOR THE STUDY, INCLUDING A GROUP OF THOSE WHO HELD LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN RECOGNIZED ABOVEGROUND POLITICAL GROUPS, A RANDOMLY SELECTED GROUP, AND A GROUP WHO HAD BEEN INCARCERATED AT ONE OF THREE OTHER CALIFORNIA PRISONS. ADDITIONALLY, SEVERAL ADMINISTRATORS WERE INTERVIEWED. TWO GROUPS OF INMATES FROM A NEW JERSEY PRISON WERE ALSO INTERVIEWED AS WERE SEVERAL KEY ADMINISTRATORS. RESPONSES INDICATED A MARKED AND LASTING EFFECT OF THE PRISONERS' MOVEMENT ON THE LIFE OF PRISONERS. MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS APPEARED TO BE INMATES CHANGED SELF-CONCEPT, AN ALTERED VIEW OF THE SOCIETY THAT INCARCERATED THEM, AND A NEW PERCEPTION OF THE PRISON ADMINISTRATION. PRISONERS GENERALLY REGARD THE ADMINISTRATION AS A LAWLESS BODY UNWILLING TO FOLLOW LEGAL RULES SET BY COURTS AND UNPREPARED TO YIELD ANY PORTION OF POWER. THE ADMINISTRATION, IN PRISONERS' EYES, FORCES COMPLIANCE THROUGH USE OF THREATS, INTIMIDATION, AND POLICIES OF SOCIAL CONTROL WHICH DIVIDE THE PRISONERS. THE PRISONERS HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE USE OF RACISM INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF PRISON, A GROWING CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS, AND A PERCEPTION OF INCARCERATION AS A TOOL FOR MAINTAINING THE INTERESTS OF THE STATUS QUO. AS A RESULT OF THE PRISONERS' MOVEMENT, SPECIFIC POLITICAL AND ORGANIZATION CHANGES HAVE COME ABOUT AT THE TWO PRISONS. THESE INCLUDE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLECTIVE PRISONER ORGANIZATIONS REVOLVING AROUND SOCIAL, RELIGIOUS, AND IDEOLOGICAL CONSTITUENCIES, INCENTIVE PROGRAMS TO REWARD PRISON LABOR FORCES AND BOLSTER PRODUCTIVITY, AND AVENUES OF PRISONER REDRESS. A SERIOUS PROBLEM FACING POLITICAL GROUPS IS LACK OF CREDIBILITY WITH FELLOW PRISONERS; FUTURE ISSUES APPEAR TO BE COLLECTIVE ORGANIZATION IN THE PRISON WORK FORCE AND PRISONERS' CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. DISCUSSION INCLUDES DELINEATION OF THE PRISON GOVERNANCE SYSTEMS AND A REVIEW OF PRISON HISTORY. APPENDIXES PRESENT RESEARCH METHODOLOGY, THE PARTICIPANT QUESTIONNAIRE, A DESCRIPTION OF A STRESS-ASSESSMENT UNIT, A REVIEW OF CURRENT STUDIES, A BIBLIOGRAPHY, AND THE FOLSOM MANIFESTO OF DEMANDS (1970). (AOP)