Prison Gangs in the United States Research Paper

Prison Gangs in the United States - Research Paper ExampleFirst, inmates are not to interfere with opposite inmates, a rule which places a premium on minding your own business. Inmates are not to inform on one another and not to place a fellow inmate in a precarious situation. The second principle commands dont lose your head. Inmates should control their emotions during their incarceration. Third, inmates should not exploit each other. The traditional inmate codification forbids racketeering, welshing on bets, stealing from other inmates, or retracting promises. Inmates have an obligation to share any wealth which they may acquire. Fourth, inmates should not show weakness or they game their mannish image. It is very important for an inmate to maintain his masculinity. Any signs of fear or cowardice will greatly harm an inmates reputation in the prison. Finally, dont be a sucker, in other words, prisoners should not trust the administration. This final principle demands that inmat es reject the values of society represented by prison officials. Guards are continuously considered to be wrong in any dispute with inmates. The administration must not be trusted for any reason (Sykes and Messinger, 1960, p. 7-8). Adherence to the inmate write in code varies greatly. While most inmates make strong verbal commitment to the code, the actual behaviors of inmates often deviate from it (Ross & Richards, 2002). The inmate code serves to lessen the pains of imprisonment by increasing solidarity among the inmates (Sykes and Messinger, 1960. p. 16). By uniting inmate society, the code lessens the sense of isolation inmates often face. An inmate follows the prescription to share wealth, he can alleviate petulance and hostility. By sharing the limited wealth offered by prison society, the potential for psychological harm can be decreased substantially (Sykes and Messinger, 1960, p. 16). The threat to an inmates masculine self image can be substantially alleviated by the re quirement that inmates maintain their manhood through shows of strength and suppression of weakness (Sykes and Messinger, 1960. p. 17). When inmates gain in prison they undergo prison procedures which have been likened to a series of status degradation ceremonies (Cloward, 1960 Sykes, 1958). These ceremonies convey two messages to the inmate. First, they involve the ritual destruction of the individuals identity (Cloward, 1960, p. 20). The individuals dignity is removed as his status is lowered. The lowering of status and stripping of dignity occurs through such procedures as strip searches, assignment of identification verse instead of names, and the provision of uniforms, all of which create a homogenous inmate society. Second, the new identity provided to the inmate is of a lower status than their previous gross as a member of free society (Cloward, 1960, p. 20). Cloward (1960) argues that prison allows inmates to enhance their status through illegitimate means. Inmates may t ake on several roles in their efforts to gain status within prison culture. They may become merchants or peddlers who specialize in providing material goods to other inmates. Politicians, or big-shots, will control the bedspread of information among inmates (Cloward, 1960, p. 34). These inmates will seek positions, which grant them greater freedom of movement or greater access to prison officials, allowing them to gather information. Finally, an inmate may embrace the role of right