NCJ Number
18061
Date Published
1973
Length
33 pages
Annotation
EXPLORES A RANGE OF ISSUES CHARACTERIZING PRISONIZATION RESEARCH UTILIZING CROSS-SECTIONAL QUESTIONNAIRE DATA GATHERED FROM 172 FEMALE FELONS AND MISDEMEANANTS INCARCERATED IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES.
Abstract
THE ANALYSIS CONCENTRATES ON THREE MAJOR ISSUES: (1) THE RELATION OF TRADITIONAL SITUATIONAL VARIABLES (CAREER PHASE AND GROUP CONTACT) TO INMATE PERSPECTIVES, (2) THE RELATIVE IMPACT OF SITUATIONAL VERSUS IMPORTED CHARACTERISTICS ON INMATE PERSPECTIVES, AND (3) THE RELEVANCE OF LABELING THEORY NOTIONS OF RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE TO PRISONIZATION RESEARCH. IN GENERAL, IT WAS FOUND THAT THE PATTERNS INVOLVING CAREER PHASE AND GROUP CONTACT WERE SIMILAR TO THOSE TYPICALLY FOUND AMONG MALES AND SIMILAR TO THE MOST RECENT ANALYSIS AMONG FEMALES. MOREOVER, OF ALL SITUATIONAL VARIABLES EXAMINED THE TRADITIONAL SITUATIONAL VARIABLES WERE THE MOST STRONGLY RELATED TO INMATE PERSPECTIVES. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE BACKGROUND VARIABLES, AGE AND FELONY STATUS, WERE MOST STRONGLY RELATED THAN SITUATIONAL VARIABLES. FINALLY, CAREER PHASE AND GROUP CONTACT WERE MORE STRONGLY RELATED IN SOME CATEGORIES OF INMATES THAN IN OTHERS AND THE PATTERN OF INTERACTION FOUND SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN ANTICIPATED BY LABELING THEORISTS. THIS LATTER SET OF FINDINGS SUGGESTS THAT PRISONIZATION MODELS MIGHT BE 'SPECIFIED' BY DRAWING ON NOTIONS OF RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)