Prison subculture is a complex social phenomenon that has its own characteristics. Nowadays researchers study main features of the prison subculture, because it will be another step towards the creation of a holistic view of this social phenomenon, which in turn can help prevent its spread. T.Conover in "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" describes the life of convicts and their relationship with the guards on the basis of his experience as a guard in the prison Sing Sing located in Westchester. In this book author monitors the characteristics of the relationship between prisoners and guards. Informal rules of conduct reflect the socio-cultural diversity of society, contribute to isolation and discrimination of social communities within society (Schriver, 1994, p.19). Creation and submission of such standards is voluntary. Due to these rules prisoners may slightly ease their prison life, their basis build social relationships, communicate, resolve conflicts that arise during their existence in prison.
In contrast to the formal rules of the prisoners produce informal norms that are becoming more important in their environment. Informal norms are norms is spontaneously created and voluntarily applied by the prisoners themselves, aimed at trying to make their everyday life in prison more tolerable. Moreover, the order does not imply equality and symmetry of the rights and responsibilities of the various categories of prisoners. On the contrary, the main condition for the stability of this order should be recognized as a radical asymmetry of rights and duties. The formal rules are subject to absolutely all the actions of criminals. In fact, they are the embodiment of the law, thus associating with the order. On this basis, prison officers begin to consider themselves the owners of virtually unlimited power, all-powerful and all-knowing. The consequence of this is, as a rule, abuse of official authority to the detriment of the prisoners. T.Conover talks about what happens when correctional officers beat a prisoner with a broom handle. Prisoners in Sing Sing forced to constantly be together without being able to create a corner of personal space. The invention of new mechanisms of socialization as a result makes new values, norms so "now, seeing how outnumbered officers were and feeling more like prey than predator, I found in the tale a grain of comfort" (Conover, 2010, p.30). They abused prisoners, not counting them for people who are constantly interfere in their prison life, thereby further burdening it. Naturally, this behavior causes the custody order by prisoners sharp negative reaction both to themselves and to the official law submitted in their face. T.Conover asserts that Sing Sing had a few bands that try to establish leadership. They included mainly African-Americans and immigrants from Latin America. The representatives of this category act as guardians of the norms and values of the prison subculture. Prisoners selected informal leader of the prison community who is responsible for order and compliance with all the rules. Violation of prison practices, as a consequence, lead to severe penalties for non-compliance. The main way of the punishment of the guilty is usually the use of any coercive measures. The prison administration is almost all-powerful on the whole space, limited by prison walls: the guards can intervene at any moment of the daily life of prisoners. Legal authority can create both for the unwanted prisoner intolerable conditions, and significantly ease the hardships of prison life.
All categories of prisoners informal interact with each other on the basis of the rules developed by them. Social order in the prison society in Sing Sing maintained by informal leader who has indisputable authority. An interesting fact is that, as part of the normal and customary community is the presence of unequal scope of rights and responsibilities among different categories of prisoners. Each category has its own set of what is permitted and forbidden, there is no absolute equality of rights between certain groups of prisoners. This order is the main principle of the stability of society in Sing Sing.
The main principle of orientation among the prisoners implies the strategy of behavior in accordance with the opinion of the majority. Most importantly, prisoners lose the ability and willingness to think independently, individually, regardless of the opinions of others. Sing Sing has adopted by a rigid system of discipline demanded by prisoners observe complete silence. For violation of the offender subjected to corporal punishment. Nevertheless, in Sing Sing prisoners working a lot on the adaptation programs. All prisoners have the opportunity to work or study. Programs include not only different forms of education, but help in the treatment of alcoholism, as well as physical training. Prison subculture is characterized by specific representations of space and time. For prison characteristic spatial limitation of time and space compression process. Prison space is perceived as a closed and limited. The basic rules of the prison subculture are: violence is the main regulator of social relations; the prevalence of the general over the individual, the whole over the part that appears, in particular, in the presence of a collective property; the use of prison slang, which, on the one hand, serves as a means of recognition and a way of conspiracy. So “Conover proves his point, that everyone is dehumanized within the world of our prisons, that even ''normal men'' among the officers become ''violent once enmeshed in the system’’" (Bergner, 2000).
However, the system of relations between a prisoner and a guard works as a social system that is stable, prone to self-replicate in the society. It is worth noting the fact that the structure of the prison society is almost identical to the social structure of society. As in prison, and outside it there are strong links between individuals that make up a particular social community. In both cases it is possible to note the regularity, stability and repeatability of existing interactions. The main sign that shows the connection of socio-cultural mechanisms of society and the prison is subordination permanent social control, which regulates the work and functioning of social systems. The negative impact of personality prisoner solitary confinement for long term. Imprisonment is not re-educates the person, on the contrary, a man identifies himself with the criminal environment and opposes the rest of society. Imprisonment as a whole has a negative impact on the individual prisoner and not conducive to his rehabilitation and inclusion into normal life.
References
Bergner, D. (2000). Up the River. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 29 April 2016, from https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/05/14/reviews/000514.14bergnet.html
Conover, T. (2010). Newjack: Guarding sing sing. Vintage.
Schriver, J. M. (1994). Human behavior and the social environment. Shifting Paradigms in Essential Knowledge. Allyn and Bacon.
