NCJ Number
103050
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 28 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1986) Pages: 397-405
Date Published
1986
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This 1984 Canadian study examined differences in adherence to inmate codes between male and female inmates in a coeducational minimum-security provincial correctional center ('Minsec') and compared findings on adherence to the inmate code in a nearby all-male medium-security provincial correctional center ('Medsec').
Abstract
Minsec houses up to 16 female and 74 male inmates in the center itself and 30 males in adjacent houses. The inmates are managed in small groups (up to 16) to provide for more personal interchanges between staff and inmates. Males and females mix during work, recreation, programs, and free time. Physical contact between the sexes is prohibited. Questionnaires were administered to a random sample of 76 male and 24 female inmates at Minsec and 43 males at Medsec. The questionnaire measured adherence to the inmate code, discriminating between four code components: group solidarity, intergroup (staff-inmate) distrust, intragroup order, and intragroup cooperation. A test for the difference of means between male and female inmates in Minsec was conducted for each of the components, and a similar test was conducted for differences between Minsec and Medsec. The males and females at Minsec displayed virtually the same commitment to three of the four components. Only on intergroup distrust did females show less code adherence. The Minsec males displayed less commitment to the inmate code than did the Medsec males, suggesting that environment rather than gender is the most significant factor in the fostering of an inmate subculture. Other studies which have found less prisonization among female inmates than among males were conducted in all-male and all-female institutions with varying environments. 2 tables and 11 references.