EXAMINATION OF NON-STRUCTURAL DETERMINANTS OF ALIENATION IN THE PRISON COMMUNITY

• NCJ Number: 34075
• Author(s): C W THOMAS; I HAEN; B W SWAIN
• Date Published: 1974
• Length: 25 pages
• Grant Number(s): 73-ED-03-0002; 73-NI-03-0002
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THIS PAPER EXAMINES THE POSSIBLE EFFECTS AND RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF FIVE SETS OF POTENTIAL DETERMINANTS OF ALIENTATION AMONG INMATES CONFINED IN A COERCIVELY ORIENTED MAXIMUM SECURITY PENITENTIARY.

Abstract

DATA ON A SAMPLE OF 276 ADULT MALE FELONS IN VIRGINIA IN 1970 ARE ANALYZED. CONSIDERED ARE SOCIAL BACKGROUND AND DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES IN THE PREPRISON EXPERIENCE OF THE INMATES, CRIMINAL CAREER VARIABLES, EXTRAPRISON CONTACT VARIABLES, POSTPRISON EXPECTATIONS, AND DURATION OF EXPOSURE TO THE VARIOUS INFLUENCES OF PRISON LIFE. AN INTERCORRELATION MATRIX AND MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS ARE USED TO EVALUATE THE DEGREE OF ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EACH OF THE PREDICTOR VARIABLES AND A LEVEL OF ALIENATION AS MEASURED BY SELF-REPORTED AND OFFICIAL RECORDS DATA. STUDY RESULTS ARE INTERPRETED IN LIGHT OF TWO DIFFERENT THEORIES WHICH HAVE BEEN SUGGESTED TO EXPLAIN THE EFFECTS OF IMPRISONMENT - THE 'DEPRIVATION' MODEL AND THE 'IMPORTATION' MODEL. (THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF THE DEPRIVATION MODEL IS ON THE PRISON SETTING AND THE PROBLEMS WHICH THIS SETTING PRESENTS TO THE INMATE POPULATION. THE IMPORTATION MODEL SUGGESTS THAT THE FORM OF ADAPTATIONS MADE TO CONFINEMENT ARE BOTH CONDITIONED BY THE PREPRISON SOCIALIZATION OF THE INMATES AND MEDIATED BY QUALITY OF THEIR CONTACTS WITH THE LARGER SOCIETY DURING THE PERIOD OF THEIR CONFINEMENT AND THEIR PERCEIVED POSTRELEASE LIFE-CHANCES). DATA ANALYSIS REVEALED THAT PREPRISON VARIABLES ACCOUNT FOR MORE OF THE EXPLAINED VARIANCE THAN DO THOSE FROM ANY OTHER SET, ALTHOUGH SOME IMPORTANCE COULD BE ASCRIBED TO BOTH CRIMINAL CAREER VARIABLES AND EXTRAPRISON INFLUENCES. LENGTH OF TIME SERVED, TOTAL LENGTH OF SENTENCE, TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME SERVED ON CURRENT AND OTHER SENTENCES, AND THE PROPORTION OF CURRENT SENTENCE SERVED WERE FOUND TO BE TOTALLY UNRELATED TO LEVELS OF ALIENATION. IN THE LIGHT OF THESE FINDINGS, THE UTILITY OF THE IMPORTATION MODEL IS REJECTED AND THAT OF THE DEPRIVATION MODEL UPHELD. A FOUR-PAGE LIST OF REFERENCES IS PROVIDED.