Inmate Social System (Subculture) Prisonization Inmate Code Argot Roles  Find a “niche” within the system Inmate Economy Limit: Most research is on “big house” prisons  Males, maximum security, north/midwestern…  Women’s culture? Minimum Security? Southern Prisons?

John Irwin—Prisons In Turmoil Prison culture from early 1900s to the early 1980s  Big House Era  Correctional Institution Era  Inmate code starts to crumble, as “thieves” not able to dominate  New subcultures emerge (splintering of social system)  “Modern” (dated now)  Black inmates become more numerous and more assertive (black power movement, black Muslims, etc.)  Influx of young “hoods” or “gangbangers”  Inmate culture further splintered Gangs, some “old cons,” violence dominates other aspects of the old code

Female Inmate Social System Researchers have examined the “female” code  Violence not glorified  CO/Inmate interaction tolerated more  Race mixing more common/tolerated  Less emphasis on doing own time

Explaining the Subculture Deprivation Model  Sykes “pains of imprisonment”  Physical safety, heterosexual relations, autonomy, material goods, freedom  Deprivations more severe = less variation in social systems Importation Model  Extension of culture on outside

Gangs/STG’s Emergence in 1950s, dominance since 1970s  Irwin = “state raised youth” or “gangbangers”  Do your own time  do gang time  OK to rip off independents  Organized around RACE and/or ETHNICITY Trends/Issues  Prison  streets (Mexican Mafia)  Streets  prison (bloods, crips, etc)  Prevalence?  Why are gangs a problem/threat?

OVERVIEW MANAGEMENT STYLES GOVERNING PRISONS UNIT MANAGEMENT Correctional Administration

Prisons as Unique Institutions They are a bureaucracy (see chart in book)  Rule bound (standards of conduct), hierarchical, standardized…  Assume rules are correct and follow them religiously However, they are unique  Don’t get to select clients  Have little control over release of clients  Clients are there against their will  Clients do most of their work in the institution  Chaotic, sometimes volatile environment

Given the constraints…how best to run a prison? The Old Penology (PN/Auburn debates) The Autocrat/Dictator model (1800s-1950s)  Joseph E. Ragen (Stateville prison in IL) Substituted “his way” for the typical politics of the time James B Jacobs, Stateville (1977) Complete control over every detail—enforced by brutal physical punishment –during Irwin’s “big house” era The Sociology Era (1950s-1980s)  No interest in “controlling” inmates  Interests = inmate subculture, guard attitudes and cultures…  ASSUME wardens can do little to control inmates without help from the inmate social system

John DiIulio Governing Prisons (1987) DiIulio = a rather conservative political scientist “…officials responsible for prison policy have been the slave of some defunct sociologist.” “Management” viewed as disruptive to inmate social system Book summarized a comparative study of 3 states Texas “control model” California “consensual model” Michigan “responsibility model”

Governing Prisons II How best to measure effective management, or a “good” prison?  Order  Amenity  Service The “Confinement Model”  now used in much of the prison literature

Governing Prisons III Concludes that TX control model is superior  Homicide rate in TX system is 1/8 of CA system  Violence/disturbances rare in TX system  Programming better (less volatility) Reasons to be skeptical  Context of his study (CA and MI in late 1970s, early 1980s)  The “Exceptional Manager” theory  The building tender system  CO Abuse/Violence

Management/Leadership Styles Authoritarian  Joseph Ragen  George Beto (idiosyncratic) Laissez-faire Democratic/Participatory

Unit Management Now the “rage” for running prisons Architecture x Direct Supervision model DECENTRALIZATION  Not one chain of command for the entire 1000 inmates  Manageable units (pods) UPSIDES  Almost everything self-contained  Custody/treatment division is lessened (team)  New career ladders  Free up warden to do “big picture” things

Summary Pre-1980s = little could be done  Prisons as corrupting, inmate culture will override 1990s and beyond  MANAGEMENT MATTERS  Debates  What sort of management works best?  How do we evaluate prison management?