The Relationship Between Prisonization and Social Skills among Prison Inmates

Abstract

This study examined the process of organizational assimilation and how it was affected by social skills, within the context of a midwestern correctional facility. Participants were inmates housed in a maximum-, medium-, or minimum-security prison. A survey was distributed that measured frequency of inmates' external communication, sources of internal communication, prisonization, powerlessness, and social skills. Results supported links between prisonization and amount of internal and external communication and powerlessness. However, inmates' prisonization was not related to their social skills. Results indicated that inmates' assimilation into prison culture is influenced by intra- and extraprison variables.