The Information Model Perspective on Inmate Social Roles: An Empirical Test

Over the past 30 yrs 2 basic types of models have evolved to account for variations in the response of inmates to prison settings. The earlier of the 2 models to draw attention, the deprivation model, provides a closed-system paradigm that places considerable importance on the problems which similarly situated inmates must confront & resolve. The importation model, a relatively recent perspective, argues for a considerably more inclusive conceptualization & places a good deal of emphasis on preprison soc'ization, extraprison contacts, & the inmates' perecptions of their life chances upon release. An operational test is provided of several critical importation model hyp's. The data were obtained from 276 adult M Felons confined in a maximum security prison in a southeastern state. The independent variables include measures of SC, preprison involvement in criminality, contact with the outside world during confinement, & expectations of future life chances. The dependent variable used was the type of soc role adaptation made by the inmates, a variable which earlier res has shown to be related to the type & degree of assimilation into the inmate system. The importation model hyp's were supported. Such support clearly demonstrates fundamental flaws in the closed-system approach characteristic of the deprivation model. AA.