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)