NCJ Number
51583
Date Published
1978
Length
22 pages
Annotation
DATA OBTAINED FROM INDEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH A SAMPLE OF 120 PRISONERS IN NEW YORK STATE MAXIMUM SECURITY FACILITIES ARE USED TO EXPLORE THE VIABILITY OF MILITANT AND REVOLUTIONARY ROLES AMONG MINORITY INMATES.
Abstract
THE 'INMATE AS A REVOLUTIONARY,' AN IMAGE WHICH AROSE DURING THE ATTICA, NEW YORK, PRISON RIOT OF 1971, IS EXAMINED. A NUMBER OF WRITINGS ON THE SUBJECT HAS APPEARED SINCE ATTICA. A REVIEW OF THESE WRITINGS SHOWS MOST EITHER REFLECT AN ESTABLISHMENT VIEW, WHICH IGNORES THE REVOLUTIONARY ASPECTS OF TODAYS'S SOCIETY, OR REFLECT A PROREVOLUTIONARY OUTLOOK, WHICH CALLS MILITANT ALIENATION AGAINST SOCIETY A MAJOR NEW INMATE PROBLEM. BOTH APPROACHES ARE CRITICIZED BECAUSE THEY RELY ON HISTORY AND THEORY, RATHER THAN ON DATA. THIS STUDY THEN EXAMINES INFORMATION GATHERED THROUGH 120 TAPE-RECORDED OPEN-ENDED INTERVIEWS WITH BLACK, WHITE, AND SPANISH-SPEAKING INMATES IN MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISONS. THE INTERVIEWS SHOW THAT BLACK CONVICTS ARE THREE TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN EITHER WHITES OR HISPANICS TO SEE THEMSELVES AS VICTIMS AND HOLD FEELINGS OF RESENTMENT AND VIOLENCE. THEY ALSO HAD MORE AGGRESSION CONTROL PROBLEMS. HOWEVER, FULL-BLOWN IDEOLOGIES WERE VIRTUALLY ABSENT. ONLY THREE MILITANTS WERE FOUND, AND THEIR BEHAVIOR PROVED NOT ONLY DESTRUCTIVE TO THEMSELVES, BUT ALSO LOST THEM SUPPORT AMONG FELLOW INMATES. THE FACTORS IN PRISON LIFE WHICH DIFFUSE A RADICAL MOVEMENT ARE EXAMINED. THE STRONGEST FACTOR IS THE GHETTO SURVIVAL MENTALITY, WHICH COPES BY IGNORING EXTERNAL FACTORS AND WITHDRAWING INTO A SHELL. QUOTATIONS FROM INTERVIEWS ARE GIVEN PRAISING THIS APPROACH AND CONDEMNING THOSE WHO GET OVERLY MILITANT. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THE MAJORITY OF INMATES PREFER THE CONSERVATIVE ROAD TO SURVIVAL. REFERENCES ARE APPENDED. (GLR)