Subculture

Introduction

In a valiant attempt to clean the streets of societies, criminals are put away in rehabilitation institutions called prisons. It was a belief that they would learn their mistakes, repent and rejoin societies as better people. On the contrary, what happened was the cultivation of an environment leading to the evolution of prison subculture. In a constant power struggle amongst nations, politicians and people within society, many fail to perceive or notice a battle of another sort. That is the battle of those trying to survive in an environment predominant with racism, hate, violence and gangs. Prison subculture evolved, when doing time wasn't just about doing your time but became an intricate experience of politics, power, domination and overall supremacy. They formed a definite opposition against mainstream culture as its members felt that they have been ostracized and segregated as misfits. As criminals, they have nothing to lose and everything to go against. Prisoners follow the 'inmate code' where meanings were mainly circulated throughout the prison through pledges of allegiance, tattoos, racial identities and physical strength over others. This communication was vital as it identified the member with a specific group and provided protection for him. Semiotic analysis and performance theories on this subculture further reveals the structure and how the norms are very similar to mainstream culture, only that it's at the other end of the spectrum. There is however a debate on whether the subculture was bred within the walls of the prison or brought into the prison from the mainstream cultures itself.

Background

Ancient civilizations bore evidence of prison structures, which consisted of a vast network of dungeons under the city's main sewer. These subterranean cells held political dissidents and criminals for short periods of time in cramped, miserable conditions. However it was not until the 15th century that long-term confinement became a form of criminal punishment. Almost every nation in the world today punishes its criminals by locking them up within the prison walls, the maximum period being up to a life sentence. Ruling government bodies took upon themselves to construct and operate these prisons. Nevertheless in some countries including the United States, private corporations are given contracts to build and run prisons for the government. The ideology behind imprisonment was the protection of the society, prevention of crime, retribution (revenge) against criminals and the rehabilitation of inmates. It is also a system where the wrong doers are punished and given a chance to repent inside the prison to reintegrate into the community following their sentences. Prison life was expected to cause the inmates to regret their criminal acts, and that when most prisoners are released they will be deterred from committing future crimes. The maximum punishment of incarceration of criminals also aimed to deter other individuals from following criminal behaviour for fear of that punishment. However the truth was that the social structure of prisons and prison practices actually impeded any form of rehabilitation and reintegration.

Literature

The prison became a learning institution for various types of criminals. The inmates acquired attitudes and knowledge from other inmates that improved their criminal skills and the desire to engage in a similar criminal behaviour upon release. American sociologist Erving Goffman has described U.S. prisons as "total institutions- that is, self-contained, self-sufficient social systems that are unique and distinct." Isolated within a total institution, inmates are cut off from the rights and responsibilities of society. This lack of connection with societal norms can prevent successful reintegration into society when inmates are released. This stand-alone environment developed its own code rules apart from the institutional rules that inmates had to abide. Thus, a culture within a culture, or prison subculture, began to exist. This subculture developed its own status structure and hierarchy of authority. In many prisons, inmates fear the informal prison subculture and its reprisals for rule violations more than formal administrative rules and punishments. If the prison subculture rejects the goals of the institution (such as rehabilitation), inmates are less likely to accept those goals. For inmates, one of the fundamental consequences of their imprisonment is the lack of control over decisions about their activities. This lack of autonomy is evident in nearly all aspects of prison life.

Prisoners have virtually no privacy and are observable at all times by different forms of surveillance. In medium-security and maximum-security prisons, correctional officers constantly regulate and monitor inmates with state-of-the-art equipment, including video cameras and sound-detection mechanisms. This loss of liberty and privacy represents an extreme change from life in the community. The new social environment within the prison walls led to the formation of gangs and leaders. Gangs exist in almost every prison, and they tend to form along racial or ethnic lines. They developed their own hierarchical system, symbol, code of conduct, rituals and oaths of allegiance. In the prison social context where rape and murder are just a daily reality, gang activity for protection and security became a necessity. A fresh inmate is usually looked upon as fresh meat for the other inmates to torture, abuse and manipulate. As such 'sitting on the fence' or being neutral will not help one do his time in prison. In order to survive in prison a fresh inmate has to adapt to the prison subculture. Once he is identified with a particular gang, he communicates through messages in the forms of tattoos, affiliations and acts of violence.

The following are some of the rules and rituals that are created in the prison subculture.

Code of Ethics: The code of ethics among convicts is simply minding your own business. Snitching on another inmate can be fatal.

Con Games: Con games are manipulative games that inmates play on staff, volunteers and other inmates. All of these tactics are self-serving to the inmate.

Commissaries: Commissaries are stores that certain inmates operate out of their cells. Inmates keep their stores stocked by purchasing items from the prison commissary and reselling these items to the general population for twice the cost.

Loan Sharks: These are inmates who make monetary loans to other inmates for high rates of interest.