Research from the Inside: Inmate Analyses of Prison Culture

• In Event: Insider/Outsider Perceptions of the Justice System

Abstract

Research examining prison life from the perspective of inmates has received limited attention in criminological literature outside the subset body of research on convict criminology. The current study focuses on analyses of prison life from the perspectives of female prisoners serving time in a New York correctional facility. Researchers conducted observations and in-person interviews with other incarcerated women to explore mechanisms of social control in a prison context and modes of adaptation used to cope with and manage their lives in prison and maintain contact with family members on the outside. Social control refers to the ways in which correctional officers manage inmate conduct, requirements for program participation, and regulations on contact with family members. Modes of adaptation include participation in the unregulated prison economy, developing familial and sexual relationships with peers, and parenting children on the outside from the inside. The current study argues the significance for research on prison life to incorporate the perspectives of inmates in order to gain a holistic understanding on the wide-ranging effects of incarceration. Implications for future research and policy will be discussed.

Authors

• Douglas N Evans, Mercy College / John Jay College

• Shun Feng, The Graduate Center, CUNY / John Jay College, CUNY