Peer group influences in correctional programs
By: by LaMar T. Empey
Publisher: President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice
Published: 1967
Place of publication: Washington, D.C.?
Language: eng
Number of pages: 51
Subjects: Criminals; Rehabilitation; Philosophy; Corrections
Description: This report looks at the nature of peer groups, their influence on the individual in his transition to deviant behavior, and their continuing effect upon him within the prison. The author likens a subculture of delinquency to a game with an elaborate set of rules. A fundamental problem in understanding and dealing with crime is inadequate knowledge of the games being played. In prison, the inmate code is rigid and authoritarian. The members are at the bottom of the caste system and cannot tolerate the slightest breach of social solidarity. The author suggests that treatment should recognize the intrinsic nature of an offender's membership in the inmate system and direct its efforts to him as a member of that system and not as a social atom. This would involve group problem sharing and solving as a means of building a legitimately oriented subgroup within the prison. The author recommends guided group interaction to concentrate, not on the past, but on the here-and-now. This approach uses present conflict and the doubts and fears the inmate may have about his criminal behavior to disturb the status quo and discover alternate behavior and alternate group structures.
Notes: Cover title.

Submitted to and reproduced by the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice.

Includes bibliographic footnotes.

Access to portions of this material may be restricted.
Table of contents: title: Part I. Peer group influences in crime causation; title: Part II. Peer influences in prison life; title: Part III. The problem and its implications; title: Footnotes.