Mark R. Pogrebin

Collateral Costs of Imprisonment for Women: Complications of Reintegration

This article examines issues of family separation and community isolation as experienced by women on parole. Qualitative data, based on unstructured, in-depth interviews with 54 former inmates, offer retrospective reflections and current accounts that delineate many of the unintended costs of imprisonment. The narratives portray the difficulties these women experienced in parenting, relationships, and community reintegration. Social stigma and self-shame are important definitional and reactional elements of their efforts to reestablish social bonds. The collateral costs of imprisonment are related to diminished investment in self and others that is created by continued internal and external shaming.

HUMOR IN THE BRIEFING ROOM A Study of the Strategic Uses of Humor Among Police

This article explores the strategic uses of humor in the police organization. Based upon a year-long ethnographic study of one suburban police department, we examine four types of humor characteristics of the work relations among patrol officers: jocular aggression, audience degradation, diffusion of danger/tragedy, and normative neutralization. Humor allows for a wide range of creative expressions by which specific ideas, attitudes, and behaviors may be tested. Through humor, patrol officers relate and interpret work experiences to reinforce their own perspective of policing. Institutionalized humorous communication also contributes to the maintenance of organizational relationships.

Police and tragic events: The management of emotions

The expression of personal feelings is severely limited within the police culture. Professional conduct norms dictate that officers must remain calm and in control, constantly guarding their emotions. This article explores the emotion-management strategies employed by police officers. Based on interview data obtained from a sample of patrol officers working in four urban departments, the study examined how police officers account for their handling of emotions in their work experiences involving tragic events. Because of the norm to refrain from displays of emotions, officers find few opportunities to deal directly with the pent-up feelings engendered by tragic events; consequently, the aftermaths of tragedies are rarely discussed in terms of the impact on the officers involved. The police find themselves unable to reveal their feelings to fellow officers, much less discuss them, for fear of being viewed as inadequate—as not having what it takes to be a solid, dependable police officer. As a result, interpersonal barriers against seeking common solutions to problems of “emotion work” are created and maintained.

Gang-Related Gun Violence Socialization, Identity, and Self

Few studies have examined how violent norms are transmitted in street gangs. The purpose of this research is to add to the gang-related literature by examining socialization as the mechanism between street gang membership and violence. To explore this issue, we draw upon in-depth interviews with twenty-two inmates convicted of gang-related gun violence. We find that the gangs are important agents of socialization that help shape a gang member’s sense of self and identity. In addition, inmates reported to us that whereas guns offered them protection, they were also important tools of impression management that helped to project and protect a tough reputation. Our findings provide greater insight into the way gang socialization leads to gun-related violence and has implications for policies aimed at reducing that violence.

The Sexualized Work Environment: A Look at Women Jail Officers:

This article examines the nature of a sexualized work environment and adjustment strategies of female deputy sheriffs working in four county jails and three local adult detention centers. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 108 women deputies. The findings suggest that women experience various problems stemming from sexism and sexual harassment by their male coworkers. The impact of and response to these work problems are explored.

Deinstitutionalization and Increased Arrest Rates among the Mentally Disordered

Policies of deinstitutionalization, together with a general tightening of civil commitment laws and inadequate funding for community-based programs, have resulted in an increase of mentally ill people on the streets. Growing numbers of former mental patients and individuals whose bizarre behavior might have landed them in a state hospital bed a few years ago are now being arrested and ending up in jail. Four key areas––deinstitutionalization, police decision making, decline of mental health programs, and criminal histories of mental patients—are examined with respect to the shifting of mentally disordered persons from the mental health system to the criminal justice system.

Culture Conflict And Crime In The Korean-American Community

Like other immigrant groups, Korean-American offenders victimize their own people. These criminals have operated with near impunity since their victims have been afraid to report crimes to the police. Due to the lack of knowledge of American criminal law and the operations of the justice system in general, Korean immigrants attempt to avoid those institutions in their new homeland that they feared in Korea. The purpose of the present paper is to examine various cultural aspects of serious interpersonal violence among Korean immigrants that lead to official police response. Interpersonal violence seems to be a method of conflict resolution relied upon by Koreans in disputes involving honor. A propensity to punish someone physically who has dishonored another in the form of an insult, cheating, disrespect, or failure to keep ones word—seems to b an acceptable method for redeeming or restoring the honor of the wronged parties. Such manifestations of violence are expressions of power, with physical force often taken to an extreme. The purpose is not just to right a wrong or administer just deserts; it must also serve to demonstrate control.

African‐American policewomen: An exploration of professional relationships

Explores the professional, job‐related relationships of African‐American policewomen. The difficulties black women police officers face often are exacerbated by the intersection of race and gender that influence their self‐perceptions and the perceptions of those with whom they interact, including other officers and members of the community. Additionally, job‐related issues and interactions appear to impact community relations, particularly in circumstances involving minorities. The experiences of the women suggest that marginalization continues to be problematic for some minorities working in law enforcement. The research is based on qualitative data obtained from black female police officers in a large urban city.

Women's accounts of their prison experiences: A retrospective view of their subjective realities

Abstract This article examines the subjective experiences of previously imprisoned women. Their retrospective narratives of prison life reveal overt behavioral and underlying structural tensions that create an atmosphere of fear and violence. Furthermore, attitudes of indifference between inmates and correctional staff often contribute to fostering an environment of neglect. The study, based on in-depth interviews with fifty-four female subjects, describes and analyzes several aspects of the socialization process for inmates as related by women on parole. The research shows that the “pains of imprisonment” for women are suffered to a greater degree than previously acknowledged. Prison for these women is a social world filled with anxiety and, perhaps, represents a punishment well beyond what the law intended.

Retrospective Accounts of Violent Events by Gun Offenders

Mills (1940) argues that there is a sharp distinction between “causes” and “explanations” or “accounts.” In this study we employ Scott and Lymans (1968) classic formulation of accounts to examine the narrative explanations gun offenders provide for engaging in their violent acts. These narrative accounts illustrate how inmates attempt to preserve a conventional sense of self. Our observations are drawn from in-depth interviews with a random sample of Colorado inmates convicted of gun-related violent crimes. We find that inmates provide accounts in the form of justifications and excuses. Appeals to defeasibility (excuse) and denial of victim (justification) are the most common types of accounts inmates use to explain their violent behavior. We also find that inmates who report that their victim deserved the injury rarely offer additional accounts for their violence. In contrast, inmates who claim that their violent behavior was beyond their control tend to offer additional accounts in the form of justifications and excuses.