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Chapter 6. Being in Prison: En la Pinta
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n 123 CHAPTER 6 Being in Prison: En la Pinta Y los reyos protestan el chingaderismo dentro those leaden labyrinths where the soul dries as it dies and love is a four letter word countering plastic celluloid dreams and playboy fold-outs and muted memories haunt a sleep that knows no sanctuary. Ricardo Sánchez, Canto y grito mi liberación Hispano life in prison is poorly documented. This is due in part to lack of access and in part to the fact that men in prison as brothers, husbands, or sweethearts are often forgotten by society. The work reported in this chapter is partly drawn from a study conducted many years ago in a southwestern state. Other material was collected at a correctional facility in another state. I refer to these institutions as CF I and CF II. For purposes of continued confidentiality I do not identify the facilities further and I have given the men fictitious names in this chapter and in chapter 7. The offenses committed by the men—drug dealing, burglary, rape, and armed robbery—are also not specifically connected to each man. Some of the men who were part of the study group have probably since been released from prison in the intervening years. Most of what is presented here is drawn from interviews conducted in CF II over a period of one year by three mental health professionals. Other interviews were conducted in 1983 at CF I but are largely not reported here. We generally visited a group of men monthly for the better part of a day over an eight-month period. We ate with them and were locked in a secure area where we talked. Sometimes we met for two straight days. We tape-recorded 124 n Chapter 6 and transcribed everything. We had the men evaluate what was written, thereby providing some reliability to the material as it was being processed. The study was geared to learning more about how Hispanos/Chicanos do time, how they maintain their identity as men and Hispanos, and how they manage and cope with conflicts among themselves and between them and the correctional officers. Prison life is complex, so it is difficult to make generalizations beyond what is presented here. The reader should not assume that the chapter describes the way all Hispano men do time in all prisons. The details here are applicable to the men interviewed in CF II during this period in the history of this particular maximumsecurity institution. In other words, the findings are not generalizable beyond this institution, at the time, or for this group of men. The Research Problem According to Polsky, successful field research with career criminals is conducted with “trained abilities to look at people, listen to them, think and feel with them, Hands and bars (Jeremy Herrera) Being in Prison n 125 talk to them rather than at them” (Polsky 1969, 119). Polsky also makes an important distinction between criminologists who would be scientists and social workers interested in reforming the criminal. For our study, we needed to develop knowledge that would be useful in working with Chicanos in prison. What can one learn about how Hispanos make their lives in prison, to the extent they are able to do so? These questions and others were important as we began our study of Chicanos in prison (their term in this context), whose value systems may not be easily understood by outsiders. We wanted to examine the structure of their actions, which may be different from outsiders’ actions. Certain questions guided the study. How is identity presentation possible in a prison? How do leaders lead in a system designed to control and maintain order? How do men do “time”? What can we learn that will be useful to others in our profession? In both institutions, some of the men had long histories of involvement with programs offered in the prisons. The education program in CF I was important as a place where men could earn diplomas and degrees. A psychotherapeutic group in CF II led to discussions about a variety of topics. The topic was often dealt with further in individual therapy sessions. There were also interviews with men at lesser levels of confinement in CF II. Perhaps the men became involved as a way of dealing with the ennui of prison life. The group setting provided an avenue for discourse and time away from the cells. We, all male interviewers...