NCJ Number
98981
Date Published
1984
Length
36 pages
Annotation
Correctional institution adjustment was explored as a function of situational stress, conflict with other inmates, attitudes toward the institution (including staff and other inmates), and cultural/socioeconomic background in a sample of 1,618 (776 black and 1,842 white) inmates of 5 prisons.
Abstract
After attending an explanatory session, each inmate completed the study questionnaire. Comparison of attitudes showed that blacks were higher in radicalism and prisonization, while whites were higher in need for self-assertion and protection of their own interests in interactions with others. Blacks were more depressed than whites and reported more conflicts with prison guards, while whites reported more conflicts with other inmates. Even with age, prior convictions, and time served controlled, these findings held. Overall, blacks manifested significantly higher levels of prisonization than did their white counterparts. However, when the factors of education, prosocial commitment, and home city/town were controlled, ethnic differences in prisonization were no longer found. Moreover, the crucial variable was residence: Urban blacks and whites tended to be highly prisonized, rural blacks and whites less so. Finally, blacks appeared to be more highly predisposed than whites in their opposition to authority. Their degree of radicalism appeared to be unaltered by experience with the criminal justice system, while whites tended to become more radical and identify more with the inmate social system with increasing exposure to the system. Finally, regardless of experience with the criminal justice system and socioeconomic background, whites reported more control of events than did blacks, possibly reflecting discriminatory treatment of black inmates. Tabular data, notes, survey questions, and 66 references are provided.