Experiential Orientations To The Prison Experience: The Case of First-time, Short-Term Inmates

Authors

Thomas J. Schmid, Minnesota State University - Mankato
Richard S. Jones, Marquette UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Publication Date

1990

Publisher

Emerald (JAI Press)

Source Publication

Perspectives on Social Problems

Source ISSN

1047-0905

Abstract

This paper offers a new perspective on the "prisonization" experience by focusing on the processes through which first time, short-term inmates come to know, and act in, their prison worlds. The study is based on participant observation and interviewing in a men's maximum security prison. We discuss inmates' evolving perceptions and definitions of prison life as they enter, endure, then exit the prison, noting the changing imagery of the prison over the course of their sentences. We analyze inmates' adaptations to incarceration at various stages of their sentence in terms of experiential orientations to prison life and the practical problems and concerns that dominate inmates' everyday lives.

Comments

Journal on Social Problems, Vol. 2 (1990): 189-210. Publisher link.

Recommended Citation

Schmid, Thomas J. and Jones, Richard S., "Experiential Orientations To The Prison Experience: The Case of First-time, Short-Term Inmates" (1990). Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications. 195.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/socs_fac/195