NCJ Number
107142
Date Published
1980
Length
119 pages
Annotation
This study describes the contraband markets in State Prison Southern Michigan (SPSM) and analyzes the organizational structure that facilitates the contraband system, the informal inmate power structure that supports and is supported by the distribution of contraband, the dilemmas of control faced by prison administrators, and strategies that may decrease the contraband flow.
Abstract
Most of the information and data for the study were obtained from open-ended interviews with 207 inmates, 49 guards and staff, and 27 former inmates. The interviews occurred between March 12, 1976, and August 19, 1977. Contraband is defined as any unauthorized substance or material possessed by SPSM residents. Examples of contraband goods are weapons, drugs, or any legitimate goods that belonged to another inmate. The study identifies the most common forms of contraband and their average prices and examines how residents and guards perceive the availability or commonness of contraband goods and services. Other issues addressed are the demand elasticities of generic contraband items and inmates' and guards' perceptions of risks encountered by individuals supplying different forms of contraband. Typologies of buyers and suppliers of major categories of contraband goods and services are depicted and estimates made as to whether the markets tended to be monopolistic, oligopolistic, or competitive. The concluding thesis is that the contraband system has not been eliminated with traditional bureaucratic solutions. On the contrary, the flow of contraband contributes to stability in the prison by supporting an informal power structure that supports order and helps meet the material and psychological needs of inmates. Strategies are recommended for decreasing the incongruity between institutional goals and inmates' psychological goals. Appended questionnaire, 9 figures, 13 tables, subject index, and 94-item bibliography.