Corcoran State Prison: Culture, Gangs, and Inmate Psychology

Introduction and Objectives

Prisons in the United States have a long history of offering correction services and rehabilitation for people convicted of various crimes. Incarceration rates have risen sharply over the last few decades, and prisons have become more populated than ever before, prompting the introduction of privately run correctional facilities to help manage the growing inmate population. However, the inclusion of private prisons has neither significantly improved the rehabilitation process nor raised the living standards of inmates compared to state-owned correctional facilities. Prison cultures have continued to thrive and, in turn, have influenced the way prisoners relate to one another and to correctional officers. This prison culture is the focus of the present paper, and the case study selected is Corcoran State Prison.

This paper examines the predominant practices — also referred to as prison culture — that thrive within Corcoran State Prison (CSP), the means by which these cultures are propagated, and the effects they have on inmates, primarily psychologically but also socially and financially.

The main objective of this analysis is to show how deeply rooted prison culture is within CSP, to explore its effects on the inmates held there, and to examine what inmates do — or attempt to do — in order to cope with it.

The stakeholders in this study include the members of staff at Corcoran State Prison, the inmates who volunteered information, and the prison administration. Staff and administration were motivated to participate because the findings could help them better understand inmates and improve living conditions. Inmates shared information with the expectation that it would reach the administration and the outside world, ultimately contributing to improvements within the prison. The setting — within the perimeter of CSP — allowed for direct observation of prison cultures and permitted researchers to hear accounts from those who participate in creating those cultures and who bear the consequences of them.

Significance and Statistical Context

The primary motivation behind studying prison culture and its effects is the high fatality rate recorded within American prisons. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (2011, pp. 1–2), there was a general increase in the number of deaths within American prisons during the first decade of the 2000s. Between 2001 and 2008, the number of deaths within prisons rose by 20%, from 2,877 in 2001 to 3,452 in 2008. There was a slight dip of 1% in 2009, which is considered negligible given the magnitude of the preceding increase.

Interest in this study was further heightened by the predominant causes of death. Suicide accounted for 29% of all prison deaths, and drug intoxication accounted for 7% — both factors directly related to prison culture and the psychological condition of prisoners. It is also worth noting that the rate of suicide among male inmates is generally higher than among female inmates. This disparity may reflect differences in the prison cultures of male and female facilities, underscoring the importance of understanding the specific culture of CSP and how it affects inmates.

History of Corcoran State Prison

Corcoran State Prison (CSP) is an adult correctional facility commissioned in 1988 to house criminals of all severity levels. Designed as a maximum-security prison, it is intended to hold some of California's most hardened offenders. The institution comprises seven facilities, including a 75-bed medical facility that operates 24 hours a day.

CSP was the first prison in California to establish a dedicated section with enhanced security features designed to isolate inmates deemed dangerous to the institution's smooth operation or to other inmates. This unit is known as the Security Housing Unit (SHU). Inmates are transferred to the SHU when they have participated in murder within the institution, engaged in gang activities, or assaulted other inmates or security officers. The population held in the SHU at Corcoran is considerable, currently estimated at approximately 21% of the total inmate population (Shaw, 2009, p. 5).

Prison Culture: Solitary Confinement and Gang Formation

The main actors in the formation and perpetuation of prison culture are the inmates and the administration or correctional officers. Prisons as institutions have long been known to develop their own cultures that define and shape their daily operation. A world unto itself exists behind prison walls, governing the activities of inmates and, to some extent, involving security personnel. Corcoran has specific cultures and practices that distinguish it from other prisons, and these largely affect the psychology of many inmates in a negative manner. As noted above, suicide is the leading single cause of death, followed by drug-related cases such as overdose — a clear indication that the social psychology of inmates is severely affected and must be understood in relation to prison culture.

Although Corcoran State Prison claims a commitment to "providing its employees with the proper training, tools, and safe working environment, but also by encouraging ideas and collaboration between all departments" (California State Prison, Corcoran, 2013), there are cultures that negatively affect not only the inmates but employees as well.

One of the most psychologically damaging practices within this prison is solitary confinement, also referred to as the SHU. Inmates subjected to long-term solitary confinement lose their sense of belonging to society and, in a meaningful sense, lose aspects of their humanity. They are locked in small cubicles for up to 22 hours a day, with no interaction with fellow inmates or the outside world, including visitors. Between 2006 and 2010, CSP recorded an average of 34 suicides per year, and a striking 42% of those suicides involved inmates held in solitary confinement (Rodriguez, 2012). Beyond the trauma of social isolation, solitary-confinement inmates are often pressured to provide information about other gang members and gang activities through a process known as debriefing. This process is extremely stressful: if an inmate's cooperation is discovered, their life may be in danger. Records indicate that some inmates have committed suicide while undergoing debriefing.

The study also found that many inmates joined gangs within the prison as a way of coping with the harsh conditions, the threat of violence and vulnerability from other inmates, and for financial gain — since gangs control the drug trade within the prison walls. Gang formation is also driven by ethnic identity. Prisoners find that they must navigate relationships with inmates from many different backgrounds, and in doing so, many gravitate toward groupings based on ethnicity — Latinos, African Americans, and other groups forming their own affiliations. This pattern of ethnicity-based gang formation was a predominant feature of the culture observed at CSP.

References

Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2011). Prison and jail deaths in custody, 2000–2009: Statistical tables. Retrieved August 21, 2014, from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/pjdc0009st.pdf

California State Prison, Corcoran. (2013). California State Prison, Corcoran — Mission statement. Retrieved August 21, 2014, from

Shaw. (2009). California State Prison, Corcoran Warden Derral Adams one-year audit. Retrieved August 21, 2014, from

Paige. (2013). Court experts cite 'serious' healthcare risks at Corcoran prison. Retrieved August 21, 2014, from http://prisons.einnews.com/article/161057067/jrpGKHrWmZXOXTKc

Rodriguez. (2012). Prisoner at Corcoran State Prison commits suicide in solitary. Retrieved August 21, 2014, from http://solitarywatch.com/2012/10/19/corcoran-state-prison-inmate-commits-suicide-in-solitary/