NCJ Number
131118
Journal
Deviance et societe Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1991) Pages: 137-156
Date Published
1991
Length
20 pages
Annotation
The article analyzes the reactions of 18 female Canadian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment and ineligible for parole for 10 to 25 years.
Abstract
The interviews were conducted in 1988 and lasted 2 to 3 hours. They revealed that the loss of personal autonomy and the strict discipline of institutional life were the women's most severe problems. Interviewees complained about the lack of logic, meaninglessness, and dehumanizing effects of the prison routine. Punishments ranging from the loss of privileges to the use of physical force left the women little opportunity for active resistance. Instead inmates had to find different coping strategies: (1) total submission to the prison regime, (2) self-realization at the fringes of the institutional environment, (3) attempts to change aspects of their situation, and (4) self-destructive behavior (such as suicide attempts). The article concludes that long-term imprisonment means not only separation from loved ones and loss of liberty, but a real threat to an individual's personality. In general, the inmates who knew most about the power structures in a prison setting were able to cope best with this threat. Short bibliography included