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.