1.       Deprivation of Liberty

•     Graterford – steel reinforced concrete walls. Four feet thick walls. 6 feet by 12 room. Even though the prison is 60+ acres, its designed so that you can never get an unobstructed view of anything.

2.       deprivation of goods and services

• Upon entering prison, told to get naked and give all of personal items to prison. Given prison issues items which were poor quality.  Inmates stole each others stuff; had to learn how to lock his cell
•    Contraband brought into prison due to lack of goods & “creature comforts” that inmates are used to… strong demand for drugs in prison.
• c.       Inmates gave themselves “jobs” like cell cleaners, laundry men, barbers, etc to earn extra money and goods.
•  Violence directed towards people that failed to pay their debts
•  Describes a lack of access to medical care – especially for his friend David who only received a physical exam to affirmthat he had been sexually assaulted – no further medical treatment after incident.

3.       deprivation of heterosexual relationships,

•        missed family, love, & sex at first and Felt sorry for self at first.
• b.      Witnessed other inmates becoming sexual prey. Inmate returned to cell from showering in a towel & another inmate was underneath his bed trying to watch him undress.

c.      Deprivation of autonomy

•           Routine gets old. Stripped of identity, given a number, no longer have name.
•               there’s an illusion of being able to make own choices periodically – example: employment. Agency will ask where the inmate wants to work & then place them elsewhere to avoid conspiracies or placement with friends.

5.       deprivation of security

•     At the Burg, inmate violence was not reinforced. Guards were terrified too. Inmates try to appear dangerous; superficial, don’t know who is really your friend. Cant trust anyone. Being kind was a weakness. Cellmate tells him that he cant sleep all day and that in order to stay alive he has to stay awake. He arranged a “neighborhood watch” system with his cellblock mates to increase safety. Gangs were formed to protect. He drilled a hole inside his door so that he could put a bolt inside it to lock it for safety & to protect his stuff
•  Overexposure of irritable guards to violent inmates & increased threats of violence coming from both directions created a violent and unpredictable prison environment.
• b  ecomes friends with David who was sexually assaulted & gang raped twice. Security guard unlocked his door when he was in protective custody (24 hrs/day) and left. Six inmates rushed into the cell & abused him.

b.       

1. Equality exposes women to more criminal opportunities

2. increase in crime are observed largely in the low level crimes that they have been invplved with historically

3. violent crime by women has remained steady for decades

1. assumes that men and women have the same propensity for crime but are socialized differently

2. men are told to be tough; women are told to be passive, obedient. more supervised; domestic realm

3. men and women are held to very different standards

4. crime rates do not support difference in socialization. 

5. girls have more opportunities to commit crime now, but crime has remained steady

hormones imbalanced

testosterone and aggression

impulsivity and serotonin

ADHD and other disabilities 

The prison social world is influenced by these three pre-prison orientations: Race (the most salient), criminal identity, and sentence length

ERIN GEORGE IS A SQUARE JOHN (NOT NORMALLY INVOLVED IN CRIME; SERVING LONG SENTENCE, CONFLICT ORIENTED CRIME (MURDER) THAT ISNT LIKELY TO OCCUR AGAIN)

CORNER BOYS (MAYBE?) (DOES NOT VIEW SELF AS CRIMINAL; CRIME AS A SOCIAL NETWORK? NO)

Erin George –

Killed husband allegedly, but says that she didn’t do it --- shooting in front yard to collect life insurance

Had more opportunity than most people, wasn’t economically disadvantaged,

Married with kids

No drug problems

Didn’t come from a broken family

Created “Mothers Inside Loving Kids” to prove to herself and others that she was “different”  - let her see kids and support from the group

BEFORE TRANSFERRING T O SUPERMAX:

1.       Felt depressed upon entering

2.       Developed the “lingo” while secretely loathing self for using it. Still thought she was better htan everyone else. Embraced the jail culture so she didn’t seem different; bullied other women; lent inmates commissary items and harassed them to get it back.

3.       Status as a murderer- found her niche; people feared her. Used status as tool of intimidation; murderer= pride.

4.       Played card games with other inmates to learn about them and to talk smack; \

SUPERMAX:

-elaborate plans for suicide

-understands thw rules and how arbitrary and inconsistent the officers can be, so she tries to avoid trouble. Wants to have reputation as being a good person of integrity. A few minor rule violations; emotionally breaks down when she is given a ticket. Promised herself in jail that she would be a decent and honorable person in the new prison.

-is nice to other inmates for the most part – gave Twin a bag of commissary ecause she couldn’t afford anything

-avoids homosexual relationships

Thinks negatively of the other inmates but as she gets to know them, she recognizes their talents and sympathizes for them. Another inmate makes soup out of common commissary items and George revels at her culinary expertise. She begins to trust other inmates and have compassion for them; almost like having a real family.

Other people look up to her and recognize her as an educated person. People ask her for help with GED class homework and with their poetry.

She has adapted to prison, but also given up hope – she knows she is stuck there for the rest of her life. If something good happens, it’s a positive suprirse.

Works out when she can, tries to eat right, takes her vitamins,

Become friends with Carmen, a Christian. George was atheist and did not find refuge in god. Tried to learn about different religions