What I have Learned!

Overall, masculinity in prison is dramatically different than what is society typically expects from men. While in prison, men are more accustomed to toxic masculinity, where by domination and aggressive competition are thwarted throughout the grounds. Inmates reconstruct alternative definitions of what masculinity is than what the typical norm is outside of prison. The propensity for violence and aggression become a significant problem for inmates leaving and entering society. If you think of it, inmates need to adjust going into prison and when they leave. This type of change is confusing, and can be factored to whether crime will be continued upon reentering society. As I have talked about before, resistance in the inside to counseling and treatment, make leaving prison a potential problem. What will inmates do in the future when the options for treatment or help are offered? Will they stick to their altered masculinity form or will they be able to adapt and transition accordingly so as to prevent their return to prison. I believe there are all kinds of possible solutions to this type of influence. One of the things that I have learned in my Restorative Justice class is that repairing the harm comes from taking into consideration the perspectives (inclusion) of the offender, the victim, and the community. I feel that in some form, prisons could be systematically structured in holding a similar model for understanding what masculinity is and how it can impact one’s life. Restorative justice is known for accountability and has been known to reduce crime in the areas where restorative justice approaches are practiced. The education received from this message could be vast and could bring about possible reductions in recidivism rates. More examinations of masculinity and violence should move towards a better operationalization of the concept of masculinity. Without a strong operational definition, interactions between masculinity and other variables are impossible. More elaboration on both positive and negative outlets that exist to assert masculinity is necessary. Future efforts need to include both men and women in their sample research. Masculinity is too often only examined in relation to men. Masculinity is a characteristic of gender, not sex; therefore the addition of women to the sample may greatly increase the current knowledge base. Messerschmitt (1993) only discussed men in his masculinity hypothesis, the appropriate and less appropriate outlets that women have to assert their gender may lead to a better conceptualization of Messerschmitt’s original idea.

References:
Messerschmidt, James W. 1993. Masculinities and Crime: Critique and
Reconceptuatlization of Theory: Rowan & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Interventon programs in prison

Prisons are one of the major places seen where masculinity thrives and is reconstructed into dangerous elements leading to toxic masculinity. Over the years, and with significant research and studies, models for batterer intervention programs have served as a way to transform men into non-threatening, non-judgmental listeners who are empathetic, honest, accountable, and egalitarian in their parenting, housework, and familial decision making. Here in this environment, prisons under specific controls can change men from patriarchal authoritarians bent on controlling women into pro feminist men. The Duluth model has been influential in mitigating the violence while in prison. It incorporates aspects of rehabilitation that focus on skill building through education and vocation. In concurrence with the rehabilitation philosophy is ideas of anger management therapy, communication therapy, and ways demonstrate assertiveness without being aggressive.

Women in male corrections

Prisons today are faced with male oppositional resistance regarding women. Historically, the role of the prison guards has been traditionally segregated and portrayed as a masculine profession with terms like risk taking, leadership, athleticism, dominance, and power, thus it is primarily a male dominated subculture. Male peer systems like the correctional system seem to retain the notion that women are not capable of performing their duties as well as them, hence those who do cross the masculine barrier face heavy male resistance. Fundamentally, Brown and Sargent (1995) propose that informal institutional barriers exist to keep women from participating in the more masculine aspects of the job. They suggest that part of the reason women are underrepresented is due to the lack of encouragement provided by supervisors and the negative responses they receive from male officers. Studies have shown that gender plays an intricate role at the fundamental level within training academies. Male cadets learn hegemonic masculinity that it is acceptable to exclude women, that they are biologically different from men and thus can be treated differently, that degrading and objectifying women is a common place and expected, and that they can disregard women in authority. Without serious change, the prison culture will continue to degrade, subordinate, and oppress female correctional officers.

Brown, J., & Sargent, S. (1995). Policewomen and firearms in British police service.

Policing, 18, 1-16.

Toxic Masculinity In Prison

I’m sure there are various kinds of groups that are of significant importance, but for this blog posting, I wanted to touch upon one particular subculture more than any other. If there was ever a marginalized male group directly and powerfully affected by the toxic masculinity construct, its prison inmates. Considering that there are roughly 1.6 million men behind bars in the United States, it’s a relevant issue directly impacting a sizable population (census, 2011); and judging by the amount of scholarly attention (article: Toxic Masculinity as a Barrier to Mental Health Treatment in Prison) directed to masculinity within the prison culture, you can bet that it's one of the most scrutinized male ecosystems in academia. Male prison is a society dominated by discourses of masculinity due to a sharp hierarchy that exists not only between prisoners and guards, but also among prisoners themselves. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 93 percent of the prison population is serving time for violent offenses including robbery, aggravated assault, rape, and murder (2011). Once inside the prison system, inmate-on-inmate sexual violence has become such a commonplace that Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act in 2003 to fund data-gathering, interventions, and treatment programs. Within this toxic environment, the strong prey on the weak and gain status and power through the domination and abuse of fellow human beings.

E. Ann Carson. Prisoners in 2011. Retrieved from Bureau of Justice Statistics: http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4559

Kupers,T. (2005). Toxic Masculinity as a Barrier to Mental HealthTreatment in Prison. Journal of clinical psychology, Vol. 61(6), 713–724 (2005)

Gangs in Prison

Although gangs differ in many ways, there must be a chain of command to ensure that each member knows his place within the gang culture (hegemonic masculinity). Statuses and roles are very important in the gang society. A gang members status determines the role that person plays in the gang. They teach the younger gang members how to handle themselves in a variety of situations (i.e. in fights, during drug deals, with police, the courts, while in jail or prison, how to commit certain crimes).

Prisoners usually join gangs that represent their ethnic or racial background. Hispanics inmates can join the Mexican Mafia (EME), La Nuestra Familia (NF), or the Texas Syndicate (TS). Some African Americans join The Black Guerrilla Family (BGF) while others have formed smaller clusters of Crips or Bloods, which are referred to by California Department of Corrections (CDC) officials as “disruptive groups”. The Aryan Brotherhood (AB), consist of only white members.

Most prison gang members are expected to remain members for life by utilizing the phrase “blood in blood out”. To keep informants or undercover agents from penetrating the group, generally prospective members must murder or seriously assault someone in the prison. This process removes all doubt from the leadership that this individual is loyal and on the up and up.  Even if released from prison they are expected to remain loyal to the incarcerated members by providing support to them by whatever means, usually through the proceeds for drugs sales and other/or other street crimes. “The penalty for quitting the gang is death; in other words "Blood out.

Gender and Dominance

Correctional facilities are segregated gendered institutions. In mainstream society, the gender hierarchy comprises of two central paradigms: a hierarchal system in which men are dominant over women and another hierarchal system in which higher-status men dominate over other men, particularly those men who have lower statuses. These two processes mirror and support one another and violence is one way in which status is attained, maintained and re-attained. This relationship is reciprocal, as this ever-present threat of violence also shapes expectations of male behavior and what masculinity means to men and women. The idea of men using violence to maintain their dominant positions is seen in situations of domestic violence. It is likely this system of masculine power being retained via the use of violence is present in such a highly male environment as the prison. It is also likely that this dominant male system contributes to the problem of prison rape.

If we want to end the pandemic of rape, it’s going to require an entire universal movement of men who are willing to do the hard work required to unpack and question the ideas of masculinity they were raised with, and to create and model new masculinities that don’t enable misogyny. Masculinities built not on power over women, but on power with women.

Prison System

Masculinity is a vital and important role in correctional facilities. The role of masculinity in the male correctional system affects both prisoners, guards, and largely dictates the way in which prison facilities are socially constructed. When men are convicted of a crime the sentence is usually to enter the corrections system. Traditional ways for asserting masculinity, such as the victimization of women, are no longer available for inmates. The deconstruction of traditional masculinities is filled by the practice of men victimizing other men, rather than women, in order to prove their masculinity and dominance. Additionally, Security guards wield power over the prisoners, and in so doing are required to be even more masculine than the most masculine and toughest of the prison inmates. Such demonstrations of hyper-masculinity by prison guards can lead to the use of excessive violence. Shawshank Redemption (movie) provides an excellent example of the excessive force used by the guards in order to assert their hyper-masculinity in an effort to maintain order and establish their power over the prisoners. For survival sake, men are required to act tough, weight lift, and be willing to fight and settle disputes. Any sign of femininity leads to inmates being labeled as a victim for whom many are subjected to beatings and sodomy. The nature of masculinities within the confines of male prisons is broken down into a hierarchy of domination in which the toughest and most dominant men rule the less dominant.