The Spread of the Prison Subculture as a Driver of Its Destructive Influence on the Personality of Young Correctional Officers

Abstract

Introduction: we study the negative impact of the prison subculture on the personality of a correctional officer. Amid the social crisis caused by the collapse of the USSR the prison subculture started to penetrate into popular culture. This was reflected in the widespread use of prison slang, increased interest in the way of “thieves’ life”, and the popularization and romanticization of crime bosses. Behind all this was the devaluation of the norms of law and the state, and the distortion of the status of the penal system officer. Aim: on the basis of generalization of modern experience in studying the impact of the prison subculture, we describe main directions aimed at preventing the destructive impact of the prison subculture on the personality of young correctional staff. The article deals with the issue of modern dissemination of the prison subculture among young people via the mass media, the Internet and oral transmission of information. Methods: we use empirical data collection methods (questionnaires, conversations, interviews), and methods of statistical analysis and system analysis of the data collected. Results: the findings of our research show that the prison subculture infects not only disadvantaged teenagers, but also young people from a socially favorable environment, who then enter departmental universities and serve in correctional institutions. Infection is assessed by the degree of internal involvement of a young person in the prison subculture. In the lightest form of this infection, they simply are well informed about what it is, know the meaning of prison slang expressions, understand the logic of the functioning of groups of inmates, and are favorably disposed toward these phenomena. When the infection is more complex, future and young correctional officers not only demonstrate awareness and tolerance, but also consider the prison subculture necessary and useful; they do not condemn colleagues who use it in solving official tasks and are themselves ready, if necessary, to act in this way. Discussion: general awareness of the specifics of the prison subculture is necessary for the penal system officer, but it should remain a professional knowledge that helps to assess social relations in the group and the operational situation in the correctional institution adequately. At the same time, the prison subculture should receive an objective assessment as an anti-humanistic and anti-legal phenomenon. Therefore, there is a need for systematic and targeted work to prevent the spread and deforming effects of the prison subculture among cadets of departmental universities and young correctional officers.\nKeywords: Subculture; prison subculture; inmates; correctional institutions; cadets; correctional officers; prevention of professional deformation; correction of the personality of a penal officer