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Participant-Observation in a County Jail

Departments of Criminal Justice and Sociology, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina 28723, U.S.A.

As part of an evaluation for a rehabilitative/reintegrative program, the author spent 52 days incarcerated in a Massachusetts County House of Corrections. During this period, the role and importance of informal networks and power structures became readily apparent, not only in terms of institutional management, but in terms of successful management of one's life while incarcerated. In order to facilitate institutional management, informal networks between administrators and inmates, staff and inmates, and among inmates were developed outside of the formal organizational context. To enhance one's position in the institution, it was beneficial for all participants to develop ties with this informal organizational structure.

International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Vol. 30, No. 2, 163-175 (1986)
DOI: 10.1177/0306624X8603000209


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