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                            Library & Multimedia
 Race and Economic Marginality in Explaining Prison Adjustment
NCJ Number
              116150
Journal

*Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency* Volume: 26 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1989) Pages: 67-89
Author(s)
          K N Wright
Date Published

1989
Length
              23 pages
Annotation
              A literature review and data from inmates in correctional facilities in New York formed the basis of an analysis of whether black inmates and white inmates adjust to incarceration in similar ways.
Abstract
              Prison literature commonly suggests that blacks are more resilient to the pains of incarceration than are whites due to their experience in the modern urban ghetto. Ghetto life supposedly socializes the individual to engage in self-protection against the hostile social environment of the slum and the cold and unpredictable prison setting. Thus, Carroll describes black prisoners as tough, domineering, and aggressive, while Johnson suggests that they are strong, stoic, and unmoved by pressure.  However, a review of the empirical research about race and adjustment reveals that, with the exception of self-inflicted injury, blacks and whites experience incarceration similarly.  Outcome results were corroborated through a sample of 913 inmates.  Analysis showed that blacks and whites have similar environmental needs and rate their prison settings similarly. Some support for the claim that a more economically marginal lifestyle before incarceration is related to successful adjustment was found, yet this was true independent of race. Findings indicate that racial distinctions are not universal and that the practices of suggesting that blacks and whites adapt in different ways leads to inappropriate conclusions about patterns of prison adjustment.  Tables and 38 references. (Author abstract modified)
      
  
          Additional Details
Grant Number(s)
        83-IJ-CX-0011


  
  
        
  Agencies
        NIJ-Sponsored


  
  
        
  Publication Type
        Literature Review
    
  
  
Date Published: January 1, 1989
    
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Related Datasets
        
                      http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08437
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      PatentsRelated Topics
        
                Adjustment to prison
        Effects of imprisonment
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        Racial and Ethnic Disparities



  
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