Inmate Code (sometimes called "Convict Code") refers to the rules and values that have developed among prisoners inside prisons' social systems.
The inmate code helps define an inmate's image as a model prisoner. The code helps to emphasize unity of prisoners against
correctional workers.
This code highlights the reasons why "
rehabilitation
Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to:
Health
* Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished
* Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...
" is often so difficult to achieve.
The Code
In New Jersey,
Gresham Sykes Gresham M'Cready Sykes (May 26, 1922 – October 29, 2010) was an American sociologist and criminologist. He earned a Bachelor of Arts at Princeton University and a Ph.D. at Northwestern University. He taught at Princeton, Dartmouth, and Northwes ...
performed a study in prisons and refined the code as follows:
# Don't Interfere With Inmate Interests. Never rat on an inmate, don't be nosy, don't have loose lips, and never put an inmate on the spot.
# Don't Fight With Other Inmates. Don't lose your head; do your own time.
# Don't Exploit Inmates. If you make a promise, keep it, don't steal from inmates, don't sell favors, and don't go back on bets.
# Maintain Yourself. Don't: weaken, whine, cop out. Be a man and be tough.
# Don't Trust Guards Or The Things They Stand For. Don't be a sucker, the officials are wrong and the prisoners are right.
Notes
{{Authority control
Imprisonment and detention
Subcultures in the United States
Codes of conduct