Prison Guards and the Use of Physical Coercion as a Mechanism of Prisoner Control

• NCJ Number: 110325
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 24 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1986) Pages: 347-366
• Author(s): J W Marquaret
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 20 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Revised version of a paper delivered at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, 1984.

Annotation

This paper examines the dynamics of the use of unofficial force by prison guards in a Texas penitentiary.

Abstract

The findings suggest that rather than being idiosyncratic or sporadic, guard use of physical coercion was highly structured and deeply entrenched in the guard subculture. Upper-ranking guards served as mentors and socialized younger nonranking guards into the process of using physical coercion. These nonranking guards actually served as apprentices. Most importantly, guards who used physical force were rewarded for their behavior with improved duty posts or even promotions. (Publisher abstract)