NCJ Number
102764
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 30 Issue: 2 Dated: (1986) Pages: 163-175
Date Published
1986
Length
13 pages
Annotation
As part of an evaluation for a rehabilitative/reintegrative program, the author spent 52 days incarcerated in a Massachusetts county jail.
Abstract
During this period, the role and importance of informal networks and power structures became readily apparent, not only in terms of institutional management, but also in terms of managing one's life while incarcerated. Although formal procedures and rules existed, guards, administrators, and inmates relied primarily upon informal relationships and alliances to fulfill their roles. The traditional distinctions between the keepers and the kept did not always hold within these alliances, and the change to a rehabilitation model appears to have blurred further the distinctions between these two traditional groups. The assumption that inmates present a united front in opposition to their jailers also was not borne out by observations. Most inmates desired to do their time as quickly and comfortably as possible. Inmate behavior is, thus, largely geared to this goal, and inmate solidarity is only prevalent in times of crisis. Otherwise, the dominant behavior exhibited by inmates is individualistic and self-serving. In this institution, the informal organizational network appeared to arise from and reflect the formal structure emphasizing a treatment orientation and participatory management, thereby legitimizing the role of informal inmate leaders. 32 references. (Author abstract modified)