Pelican Bay State Prison: Social Structure and Prison Reform

Social Disorganization Theory and Prison Life

One social structure theory both relates to and illuminates the events depicted in this documentary. Social disorganization theory appears to dominate the entire film. This concept identifies social change, lack of social consensus, and social conflict as the main causes of criminal activity and deviance, and it is closely associated with the environmental theory of criminology. Poverty is regarded as the lowest stage in our social hierarchy. At the poverty level, there are high rates of unemployment, drug use and addiction, criminal activity, and an inability to find stable, meaningful employment. This does not mean these problems are absent at higher social levels — they exist there too, though at significantly lower magnitudes. Lack of education is linked to students who fail to succeed within the school system. They drop out rather than continue to struggle to acquire the skills needed to graduate. The absence of marketable skills stems from students who leave school before graduating and are left to seek manual work — if any work is available at all (Decker, Alarid & Katz, 2013).

The documentary illuminates the permeable boundary between penitentiaries and the outside world — specifically, the relationship between prison life and street life. In this ethnographic portrait of inmate culture, the film observes that prisoners who grew up living by the rules of the street find incarceration reinforcing, because it strengthens their social identities as convicts and street gang members. In such circumstances, a reputation built in prison can translate into significant social currency on the streets. Although the film clearly links the social patterns between prison and street life, other researchers have further developed this theory (Walsh & Hemmens, 2011).

The documentary identifies two primary ways that prisons endanger society. First, the prison system tends to release ex-convicts who are often more dangerous than when they entered. Disturbingly, released inmates carry the aggressive behaviors that develop inside modern prisons back into the community. This creates a destructive cycle of violence between society and the very prison system designed to reduce it. In this cycle, a person enters prison and eventually returns to society more harmful than before. This points to the troubling possibility that prisons can function as incubators that breed violence — both within their walls and beyond (Decker, Alarid & Katz, 2013).

Prisoners are also at significant risk of returning to incarceration after release. While this risk may be overstated in some accounts, it is clearly a central feature of prison life as depicted in the film. New inmates turn to gangs for protection, and this security arrangement can evolve into a lifelong commitment to the group. As a result, individuals who might otherwise be productive members of society find themselves drawn deeper into gang life upon release: on the street, a gang member may be compelled to commit crimes on the group's behalf simply to avoid becoming a target. That same member is also a constant target for rival gangs (Walsh & Hemmens, 2011). Whether the threat comes from one's own group or from competitors, the cycle makes clear that an inextricable connection exists between what happens inside prison and what happens on the street — a pattern that should be of serious concern to all stakeholders.

References

Decker, S. H., Alarid, L. F., & Katz, C. M. (2013). Controversies in criminal justice: Contemporary readings. Los Angeles: Roxbury Pub. Co.

Stanley, E. A., & Smith, N. (2011). Captive genders: Trans embodiment and the prison industrial complex. Oakland, CA: AK Press.

Walsh, A., & Hemmens, C. (2011). Introduction to criminology: A text/reader. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.