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Scholarship on prison masculinities to date has primarily centered on the most revered, dominant, or hegemonic forms, with little attention to how subordinated prisoners negotiate masculinities at the bottom of prisoner hierarchies. This article, drawing from a wider qualitative study on "revolving door" imprisonment, charts the shift from normative to subordinate masculinity for a group of men housed in a segregated Vulnerable Prisoner Unit (VPU) in an English prison. I show how these men, influenced by their previous prison status and criminal history, adopted different—more costly and high-risk—situationally adaptive strategies in negotiating their masculinities at the bottom of prison hierarchies. Exploring their subordinated prison identities reveals the dynamic, relational, fragile, and spatial elements of their masculinities. I conclude by suggesting that a greater focus on subordinated carceral masculinities adds a much-needed divergence from the preoccupation with hegemonic or dominant prison masculinities. This divergence offers researchers a new opportunity to shape and to inform policy debates on how, in extreme environments like the prison, alternative ways of "being a man" might be opened up to those who have suffered at the most brutal end of prison hierarchies.

This paper finds qualified support for the use of Skarbek's (2011, 2014) governance theory to understand the emergence of prison gang-like groups in Kyrgyzstan, Northern Ireland and Brazil. However, Skarbek's (2011, 2014) governance theory has little to say about how many prison gangs emerge and how they organise comparatively outside the US context. This paper argues that variation in the number of gangs and their monopolization of informal governance can only be explained by considering importation and deprivation theories alongside governance theories. These theories factor in variation in prison environments and pre-existing societal divisions imported into prison, which affect the costs on information transmission and incentives for gang expansion. In particular, the paper pays particular attention to the wider role social and political processes play in influencing whether monopoly power by prison gangs is supported and legitimized or not.

Our study tried to return and analyse 20 biographical stories of imprisoned minors, in minor neighbourhoods of two arrest houses and a prison centre. The data collected allowed us to shift the eye, from a question about the 'passing to act' and the 'sense of punishment', to an analysis of biographic reports to prison and the institutional functioning of juvenile neighbourhoods, the exercise of power within them, and how to deal with them as a detainee. The methodological framework provides data on the ordinary, banal and daily experience of detainees, both from a biographical and institutional point of view. In this context, like our previous work at the stopping house [1], the 'miners' district was seized as a crossing point, a point to which individual destinies converge. This point of passage is not meaningless for the actor; as a specific episode of existence, detention forces the locked actor to 'biographical work', during which past, present and future experiences are receding, and where self-thinking is to be redefined. [1] Chantraine G., 2004, Beyond walls. Trajectories and experiments at the stopping house, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France-le Monde. ; International audience ; Our study tried to return and analyse 20 biographical stories of imprisoned minors, in minor neighbourhoods of two arrest houses and a prison centre. The data collected allowed us to shift the eye, from a question about the 'passing to act' and the 'sense of punishment', to an analysis of biographic reports to prison and the institutional functioning of juvenile neighbourhoods, the exercise of power within them, and how to deal with them as a detainee. The methodological framework provides data on the ordinary, banal and daily experience of detainees, both from a biographical and institutional point of view. In this context, like our previous work at the stopping house [1], the 'miners' district was seized as a crossing point, a point to which individual destinies converge. This point of passage is not meaningless for the ...

The article presents the characteristics of the language used in the prison employees and inmates. There is a nonverbal language, gesture that is learned by imitation two social categories in the everyday interaction. And there are two types of verbal language - one official and one secret slang. In the universe of prison three languages intertwine not possible without each other. To understand the functioning of an institution's total language understanding is essential, for it is vital for human interaction flow, understanding and functioning of formal and informal rules for the two categories internalization of social values.

Prison gangs are a growing problem in prisons. In recent times, Skarbek's (2011, 2014) governance theory has become increasingly popular in explaining their emergence. Yet, this theory downplays the role that deprivation and importation theories can play in understanding the emergence and behaviour of these gangs. This chapter seeks to address this shortcoming by demonstrating how the inclusion of these theories, alongside the governance theory, can enhance our understanding of prison gang emergence and when gang fragmentation or consolidation may occur. Drawing on research conducted in the US and beyond, this chapter argues that a holistic understanding of prison gangs and their monopolisation of power requires a consideration of the importation and deprivation theories, together with Skarbek's (2011, 2014) governance theory. Special attention is paid to the wider role political and social processes may play in influencing whether monopoly power by prison gangs is supported and legitimised or not.

Experiments in prison reform have often included efforts to democratize prisons. Such experiments were especially popular during the progressive era. Today, democratization efforts are congruent with management literature that describes employee participation and total quality of management initiatives through which organizations try to improve the quality of their products and services. Prison democratization can combine opportunities for staff involvement with enhanced prisoner participation. Inmates can be afforded a greater role in classification and programming decisions, and in determining policies that affect the quality of prison life. Such participatory approaches help to normalize prison life and contribute to the resocialization of offenders.

Dealing with crime is everyone's business. It demands a clear law enforcement response combined with significant efforts to address the root causes of crime, particularly poverty, racism, and overwhelmed families. As a society, we are spending the bulk of our resources on the most expensive response: incarceration. Traditional approaches to crime need to address the differences between men and women as these differences translate to appropriate reactions by the criminal justice system. For example, the Rockefeller drug laws in New York were meant to incarcerate high-level drug pushers for long terms. Instead, women in financial or family crises have been easy dupes for dealers who never handle their own drugs. These women do not dispute their guilt, but is their crime worth a 15-year minimum? Certainly, the public needs to make informed decisions about which women should be in prison and for how long and which women might be dealt with differently.

Drawing on survey data collected from 396 visitors to inmates at a medium-security prison, this research examines the experience of visiting inmates from the visitor's perspective. Data include visitors' demographics, relationships to inmates, social, psychological, and emotional contexts of visits, barriers to visitation, other means of maintaining contact, and perceptions of the visitation program. Analysis also shows that visitors'age, race, education, and frequency of visits are significantly related to perceptions of the visitation experience and environment. Discussion of the value of visitation programs and how correctional administrators can best structure and operate visitation programs is provided.

Several state prisons have provided tablets to imprisoned people which appears to be indicative of a larger trend to increase access to technology for imprisoned people. However, access to and the use of technology in prison has not been evaluated by social scientists. This study surveyed 70 prison officials from six states to report their attitudes toward access to and the use of tablets in prison for imprisoned people and for the prisons themselves. Survey results show that prison officials who work in prisons with more access to technology are more likely to believe technology to be a positive contribution for imprisoned people.

It is widely accepted that prisoners are at risk of victimization from their fellow prisoners. However, little is known about the psychological consequences of exposure to such risk. In particular, what is the relationship between prisoners' feelings of anxiety and their observations or experiences of victimization? How is the level of incivility in penal institutions related to perceptions of safety? The findings from a survey of 1,182 inmates shed some light on the dynamics of fear in prison. Most prisoners reported feeling safe most of the time, although a small number of prison locations consistently were rated as unsafe. Prisoners with direct experience of victimization were more fearful than those without. An attempt is made to outline possible explanations for these and other findings.