This paper examines prisonization — the process by which inmates shed their prior cultural identities and adopt the norms of prison life — drawing on Donald Clemmer's foundational concept, Erving Goffman's theory of total institutions, and Gresham Sykes' catalogue of inmate deprivations. The paper argues that the totalizing structure of the prison environment can undermine rehabilitative goals, particularly for individuals with unstable pre-incarceration identities. It also outlines the three primary goals of imprisonment — redemption of redeemable inmates, management of incorrigibles, and conversion of the apparently unredeemable — and evaluates strategies such as vocational training, halfway houses, therapy, and community service programs as tools for successful reintegration.
Prisonization, according to Clemmer, is a kind of acculturation process whereby the inmate's prior cultural assumptions are replaced with "the folkways, mores, customs, and general culture of the penitentiary" (Clemmer, 1940, p. 299). To take an extreme example, someone who was a wealthy hedge fund manager convicted of insider trading might transition into the culture of prison so thoroughly that, whereas before he thought in terms of making and losing millions and lived in an apartment with a security guard, in prison his entire day might be devoted to accumulating enough cigarettes to buy protection from the general population. The prisoner's view of what makes life livable and meaningful has entirely changed.
The ability of the prison environment to exert such a powerful effect on the psyche of the prisoner is manifest in the fact that prisons are total institutions. Goffman noted that in such total institutions, prisoners are stripped of their identity upon entering — including their clothes — and are often assigned a number rather than a name. The former daily routine of life "outside" is replaced with a new routine of life "inside," in which every aspect of normal daily functioning is altered, literally around the clock. Daily routines are carried out in lockstep with other prisoners, reinforcing the loss of individual identity while simultaneously fostering a sense of association and connection to fellow inmates.
Although the stated purpose of incarceration for at least some prisoners is redemption, the totalizing structure of the prison environment can have the opposite effect, shutting the individual off from the norms of regular society. The less stable the individual's identity was on the outside, the greater the impact of the routines imposed on the inside.
"Sykes' five pains of imprisonment"
Prisons have three main goals: to redeem the redeemable; to manage the incorrigible — those who are unredeemable, such as individuals serving life sentences — and to convert at least some incorrigibles into redeemable inmates through rehabilitation. To aid in the process of redeeming those who are redeemable, many prisons today operate halfway houses and offer opportunities for prisoners to learn meaningful trades, so that when they return to life on the outside they are better, rather than less, acclimated to the norms of daily society.
However, particularly from the perspective of corrections officers, managing incorrigible prisoners and limiting the physical harm inmates can do to others is paramount, and this goal cannot be subordinated to the rehabilitative function of the prison. A final goal — converting the apparently unredeemable — may be achieved through psychologically supportive programs such as therapy or by encouraging prisoners to make amends to the community through public works or charitable efforts that teach practical skills while benefiting society as a whole.
"Punishment and incentives for inmate compliance"
"Programs supporting release and reintegration"
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