Adaptations to Prison Life: Inmate Culture and Reform

Introduction: Entering the Prison World

The moment an inmate enters a prison, he enters another world. The norms of prison life differ dramatically from those outside the prison walls. No matter how dangerous or dysfunctional the prisoner's previous environment, the one he now encounters is that much more threatening and unpredictable. Previous rank within the larger society — whether among law-abiding citizens or criminals — counts for nothing within the inmate's new world. He or she is at the bottom of the heap. From the first moment, inmates must fight to find their places in a frequently brutal hierarchy.

Prison knows no laws but the violent and coercive acts of other prisoners and the often soul-numbing regulations of corrections discipline. The new prisoner exchanges his personal, human identity for that of a number. He exchanges his street clothes for a prison uniform. On the one hand, there is complete anonymity and neglect of humanity; on the other, there is a continuing struggle to preserve and reestablish that very individuality and sense of human dignity.

The prison world is a violent world, filled with forced sexual encounters, brutal fights, and dangerous drugs. Different groups compete for power and influence. Special rules — a kind of prison etiquette — apply to mundane situations such as dining, exercise, and work. Additionally, each of these once-normal activities is entirely transformed. The prisoner who once ate on his own schedule, among confidantes, friends, and loved ones, now dines among hundreds or thousands of fellow prisoners. He eats what they tell him to eat, and where. He works at jobs that are often demeaning, robbing him of fundamental notions of honor and respect. Even private bodily functions must be performed in public.

In general, the purpose of the American corrections system is perceived as one of rehabilitation. Punishment, too, has its place, but by and large, the aim of the prison system has been to reform criminals — to correct antisocial tendencies, build talents, and stimulate productive potential. However, prisons, on the whole, fall far short of these perceived goals. Many inmates serve hard time, as they are meant to, but typically learn little of value during their stint behind bars. They adapt to prison in immature and often destructive ways. As a result, they leave prison no better — and sometimes considerably worse — than when they went in. Similarly, Reiman (1995) argued that the correctional system was designed to "maintain and encourage the existence of a stable and visible 'class' of criminals" (Richards & Ross, 2001, p. 177).

The Failure of Rehabilitation Goals

Prison is a trying environment, one that encourages an almost adolescent standard of behavior. Such attitudes are encouraged not only by the competition for status among the inmates themselves, but also by the various rehabilitation programs imposed by the corrections system. Prisoners are compelled, much like high school students, to sit through tedious courses of instruction, to train at vocational skills, and to attend mandatory counseling sessions with prison psychologists and psychiatrists. Length of sentence is often affected by the successful completion of these programs. A common response among prisoners, therefore, is simply to play along — mouthing the expected responses and mimicking the required behaviors (Frase, 2004, p. 87).

The prison environment is almost entirely artificial, subject to constant intrusive discipline and regimentation. Prisoners are assessed for progress based on how well they adhere to this regimen. As pointed out by Morris (2002), adherence to the rules of the prison environment is in no way indicative of a prisoner's actual attitudes, motivations, or future conduct outside of prison (Frase, 2004, p. 208). Reacting to this system, prisoners create their own by specifically rejecting the code of conduct imposed by the corrections regime.

Inmate Hierarchies and the Rejection of Authority

Inmates create their own hierarchy, earning respect by assuming positions of prestige and authority within the inmate population. In particular, prisoners actually gain respect and status by refusing to follow the dictates of corrections personnel — declining to cooperate with corrections officers and prison staff, regardless of the nature of that cooperation (Gillespie, 2003, p. 40). This attitude reveals both the existence of an "us and them" mentality and the deep-seated human need to attain some measure of personal dignity and respect.

A status system exists even in the criminal world outside the prison walls, though it is often different from the usual hierarchy of the larger society. These different forms of acquiring status are most similar to those found within prison, and apply most directly to criminals who may have belonged to gangs or other criminal organizations prior to their incarceration. By contrast, white-collar criminals may have enjoyed high status within the larger society before imprisonment. The prison pecking order is an attempt to recreate general notions of status and to cultivate respect for the individual. It gives hope to those who participate in the artificial prison system: condemned to spend years as mere numbers, they now possess the opportunity to advance and gain power.

Prisoners frequently undergo initiation ceremonies in which their loss of physical safety is graphically demonstrated, and in which they are humiliated and degraded, suffering near-complete "disculturation" (Gillespie, 2003, pp. 45–46). The only choice is to submit to the new hierarchy and the new rules.

Counteracting these influences is a major challenge for corrections officers and officials. Prison staff and administrators must remember the essential humanity of prisoners. Many prisoners have indeed committed terrible crimes, while others have become involved in enterprises and lifestyles that conditioned or encouraged them to break various laws and regulations. The less dehumanizing the prison environment, the more likely it is that prisoners will not become so completely "discultured."

Conclusion: Maladaptation and the Path Forward

Adaptation to prison life commonly involves a process of maladaptation to the rules and norms of general, normal society. Upon crossing through the prison doors, inmates enter a world that is utterly unlike anything they have ever known. They are subjected to rigid restrictions from corrections staff. They are stripped of their privacy and of their social standing. Furthermore, they are exposed to humiliations and outright abuse from fellow prisoners — all in a battle to reestablish a semblance of the normal world outside.