Socialization in Correctional Communities

Twenty years ago the sociologist Donald Clemmer introduced the concept of prisonization to account for the changes inmates undergo during periods of confinement. This paper reexamines the concept of prisonization and provides an empirical test of the processes Clemmer described. Because of Clemmer's concern with the process of induction, little attention has been paid to changes inmates may exhibit as they approach the time of release. Evidence from a western state reformatory is consistent with Clemmer's analysis when length of time served in prison is taken as the relevant time variable. When inmates are classified into phases of their institutional career, however, there is evidence of a recovery process and a shedding of the prison culture that operates prior to parole. The evidence suggests a reformulation of the effects of imprisonment on inmates and poses further problems relevant to other total institutions.