"THE PRISONER SOCIETY: POWER, ADAPTATION AND SOCIAL LIFE"
Ben Crewe
Remaining in control of one’s emotional reactions was a
challenging part of the prison experience. A common strategy was to feign
indifference in order to disguise one’s hopes of progression:
“Certain subjects will come up [and] walls will come straight up. Just what I’m like, [or] that I don’t give a fuck about the jail and that I don’t give a fuck about whether I get this or whether I get that. Or I don’t care what happens, when I really do.” (Ross)
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“Certain subjects will come up [and] walls will come straight up. Just what I’m like, [or] that I don’t give a fuck about the jail and that I don’t give a fuck about whether I get this or whether I get that. Or I don’t care what happens, when I really do.” (Ross)
Link
The prison environment is threatening, which is why so many inmates feel a need to build their ego, join gangs, and hide their emotions in fear that they will show weakness. This quote is said by a prisoner who puts up a wall to survive in prison and denies himself of his true personality in order to survive, when in fact his really does care.
This book by Ben Crewe revives prison ethnography, looking at the
different backgrounds, values and identities that prisoners bring into the prison environment.
This book by Ben Crewe revives prison ethnography, looking at the
different backgrounds, values and identities that prisoners bring into the prison environment.