Stateville- the Penitentiary in Mass Society

by James B Jacobs

  15. Similar demands were made by the union in March 1971 after an incident in which an inmate threatened guards with a razor blade.

  16. The guards did implement a job action at Pontiac several weeks later.

  17. From what I can tell, the three guards were not at the prison at the time of the escape but were fired for not discovering the escape sooner.

  18. “Stateville Dissension: Prison Lock-up Angers Inmates,” Chicago Daily News, 6 July 1972, p. 27.

  19. Governor Walker early in 1973 made good on a campaign promise to initiate public employee bargaining. Executive Order No. 6 created the Office of Collective Bargaining and established the right of state employees to bargain collectively.

  20. The question of what issues are bargainable is a crucial and particularly difficult one in the context of the public sector, where there are no well-established inherent management prerogatives. In other states, particularly New York, the guard union has gone far in encroaching upon what the Department of Corrections has traditionally viewed as its prerogatives. Similar issues are sure to arise in Illinois within the next several years.

  21. Consider the following bulletin signed by Frank Pate (Bulletin No. 231, 2 December 1965): “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the employees who are helping to carry the tremendous load at the institution during the shortage of help. It is very gratifying to one to know that people think enough of the institution to work their days off and also double shifts when necessary. Everyone who has been requested to work overtime will eventually get compensatory time off for his extra work.”

  22. The crucial question is likely to be answered on some question of a strike. Quite recently in City of Pana v. Crowe 57 Ill. 2d 547 (1974) the Illinois Supreme Court held that Illinois legislation prohibiting court injunctions of unions did not apply to public employee unions. Thus the state could move for an injunction against union leaders if the guards went out on strike. Of course the political ramifications, at this late date, of any politician moving against labor unions might make the whole question quite hypothetical.

  23. Incomplete results of a survey that I have been administering to all in-service prison guards in Illinois as they pass through the Illinois Correctional Academy shows that for a sample of 160 Stateville/Joliet guards, including 109 whites and 51 blacks, there is a highly significant (at .001 level) difference in factor scores constructed from a series of questions measuring the guard’s social distance from the prisoners.

  Chapter 8

  1. Weber, “Bureaucracy” (see chap. 2, n. 5, above), p. 217.

  Appendix

  1. Rose Giallambardo, “Interviewing in the Prison Community,” Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science 7, no. 3 (September 1966).

  2. Sykes, Society of Captives (see Introduction, n. 8, above).

  3. In Analyzing Social Settings (Belmont: Wadsworth, 1971) John Lofland observes that “at the practical level of maintaining the role and one’s acceptability to the participants, it is probably necessary for one to perform services in the setting. In terms of “exchange of services”—the pure observer role involves a highly imbalanced relation to the participants. They let him watch but he does nothing for them in return. More immediate reciprocities are necessary. Indeed in a wide range of emergent circumstances, it will seem peculiar if the observer does not volunteer his help” (p. 98).

  4. See Arthur Vidich, “Participant Observation and the Collection and Interpretation of Data,” in Issues in Participant Observation, ed. G. McCall and J. Simmons (Reading: Addison-Wesley, 1969), pp. 78–86.

  5. Howard Becker, “Problems of Inference and Proof in Participant Observation,” American Sociological Review 23 (1958): 652–60.

  6. Vidich, “Observation” (see n. 4 above), p. 81. Vidich has said it well: “In avoiding commitments to political issues, [the participant-observer] plays the role of political eunuch. He is socially marginal to the extent that he measures his society as a non-involved outsider and avoids committing his loyalties and allegiances to segments of it. This is not hypocrisy but rather, as Howe has noted of Stendhal, ‘it is living a ruse.’ Being both a participant and an observer is ‘the strategy of deceiving the society to study it and wooing the society to live in it.’”

  *Much of this section has been previously published in James B. Jacobs, “Participant Observation in Prison,” Urban Life and Culture 3, no. 2 (July 1974).

  *human nigger scum.

  Index

  ABLE. See Adult Basic Learning Enterprise

  Academic community, 7–8, 18, 19, 127–29

  Adams v. Pate, 108, 109, 111, 118, 120

  Adler, Herman, 16

  Administration: accommodating gangs, 168–69; professionalization of, 102, 104, 138; separated from custodial staff, 84

  Administrative Regulations, 79, 88, 100, 102, 127, 205

  Administrative Review Board, 101–2, 130, 258 nn. 26, 27

  Adult Advisory Board, 77–78, 132

  Adult Basic Learning Enterprise (ABLE), 121–22, 130; “cooling” conflict, 156; organization of, 169–71

  Affirmative Action, 125–27, 136, 185

  Afro-American Correctional Officers Movement, 188

  Alexander, Meryl, 55, 74, 80

  Alinsky, Saul, 19, 140

  Alliance to End Repression, 132

  American Bar Association, 10

  American Civil Liberties Union, 64, 110

  American Correctional Association, 65, 251 n. 4

  American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). See Guards’ union

  Armstrong v. Bensinger, 110–11, 120

  Arsberry v. Sielaff, 166, 260 n. 26

  Attica, 9, 10, 83, 170, 228

  Austin, Richard B. (judge), 64–65

  Authoritarian prison regime. See Ragen

  Ball diamond incident, 86, 109, 112, 163, 225–26

  Barksdale, David, 147

  Barnes, John P. (judge), 37, 252 n. 18

  Barrick, Roy, 35

  Baseball bat incident, 164, 172, 192

  Bauer, William (judge), 110–11

  Bensinger, Peter: and ABLE, 170; and academic community, 127; bureaucratization under, 102; and counselors’ revolt, 98; failures of, 79; as head of the Youth Commission, 74; introducing counselors, 93–94; and Operation PUSH, 129; personal history of, 74–75; and Prison Legal Services, 121; and prison schools, 92; reforms of, 75–76, 79, 257 n. 2; resignation of, 86–87; and SPU, 109

  Bentham, Jeremy, panopticon model, 15–16, 248 n. 4

  B House, 16, 114, 115, 133; takeover of, 112–13, 135, 165, 263 n. 62

  Black Gangster Disciple Nation, 138

  Black Muslims, 255 n. 13, 256 nn. 19, 20, 257 n. 22; alleged persecution of, 52; alleged violence of, 68; and Cooper v. Pate, 64–67, 107; demands of, 61–62; and hatred of white guards, 59; hunger strike of, 67; importance of, in perspective, 69; and legal reform, 64–67; political language of, 61; politicization of, 59–62, 203–4; praised by prison staff, 68–69; rumor of a takeover by, 67; and segregation rebellion of 1964, 60, 62, 65; supported by ACLU, 64

  Black Panthers, 145, 155

  Black P Stone Nation: background of, 139–40; and Falconer v. Bensinger, 122; at Stateville, 146. See also Gangs

  Blackstone Rangers. See Black P Stone Nation

  Bosse, Daniel, 84, 258 n. 16

  Brierton, David: and attitude towards the courts, 91; and bureaucratization, 74; and corporate model, 87, 119, 136, 198; management techniques of, 103–4; praise for, 91, 258 n. 17; programs of, 88–91, 209; rational-legal bureaucracy of, 119, 136; and role of guards, 182–83, 210; and security-conscious administration, 174; at Sheridan, 90; as warden of Stateville, 90, 133

  Bruce, Andrew A. (judge), 18

  Buck Amendment, 19

  Bureaucratization, 73–74, 78, 102–4, 182–84. See also Bensinger, Peter; Brierton, David; Sielaff, Alyn

  Burgess, Ernest W., 18, 127

  Cannon, Joseph: breaking commissary boyc
ott, 116; and censorship, 135; collegial rule with guards, 181–82; and crisis in control, 103; disenchanted with the courts, 117, 119; reassignment of, 89–90; resisting PLS, 122; as warden of Stateville, 88, 89

  Captains: conservative beliefs of, 186; criticizing black guards, 184; differing role of, 180–83; and Ragen, 38, 186

  Captains’ meetings, 83–84

  Carney, George, 262 n. 55

  Carroll, Leo, 5

  Casa Central, 132

  Chaplain, 97. See also Weir, Eligius

  Charismatic dominance. See Ragen, Joseph E.

  Chicago Connections, 117, 118, 135

  Chicago Daily News, 192–93

  Chicago Defender, 134

  Chicago Police Department, 140, 141

  Chicago school of sociology, 1

  Chicago Theological Seminary, 132

  Chicago Today, 262 n. 55, 263 n. 62

  Chicago Tribune, 33, 44, 141, 263 n. 62

  Citizen’s Visiting Committee, 132–34

  City of Pana v. Crowe, 269 n. 22

  Civilians: effect of, on Stateville, 91–100; recruited by Bensinger, 55–58, 76, 92–93. See also Clerical workers; Counselors; Teachers

  Civil Rights Act, Section 1983, 9, 113, 121

  Civil rights movement, 51; effect on gangs, 144–45; politicizing of inmates, 58–59; and Stateville, 203

  Civil Service Commission, 76, 129, 190

  Civil Service Law, 19

  Clabaugh commission of 1928, 18, 20, 21, 22, 26, 200

  Clark, Ramsey, 65

  Classification Act of 1933, 17–18, 248 n. 6

  Cleaver, Eldridge, 145

  Clemmer, Donald, 2–3, 4, 19, 30, 250 n. 3

  Clerical workers, 93, 100, 267 n. 31

  Coalition for United Community Action, 143

  Collaborative model of prison, 178, 267 n. 3. See also Twomey, John

  College courses, 76

  Commissary: boycott of, 116; opening of, 22. See also Arsberry v. Sielaff

  Conservative Vice Lords. See Vice Lords

  Cooper, Thomas X., 50, 67; Cooper v. Pate, 64–67, 107, 256 nn. 16, 21

  Corporate model of prison, 87, 119, 136, 198, 209–11. See also Brierton, David; Sielaff, Alyn

  Counselors, 93–100

  Courts: abandonment of “hands off” doctrine, 9, 105, 138, 204, 259 n. 1; in Adams v. Pate, 108–9, 111, 118, 120; in Armstrong v. Bensinger, 110, 120; in Arsberry v. Sielaff, 116, 166, 260 n. 26; and Black Muslims, 64–67, 107; and Civil Service Reform, 19–20; in Cooper v. Pate, 64–67, 107; and due process, 112; effect on prisons, 102; and expedited parole eligibility, 204; in Haines v. Kerner, 259 n. 3; inability to implement decisions, 113–16; in Johnson v. Avery, 107–8; and mass society, 105, 204; in Miller v. Twomey, 105, 108–9, 111, 112, 118, 120; in Morales v. Schmidt, 111, 259 n. 15; in Morrissey v. Brewer, 111, 112; in Murphy v. Wheaton, 112; in the 1960s, 105; passing Model Penal Code, 57; pressuring prison to bureaucratize, 105–6; and “radical” literature, 135; Ragen’s only defeat in, 36–37, 252 n. 18; raising inmates’ expectations, 136; ruling against inmates, 37; slow progress of cases in, 122; and Stateville, 106–7, 116–17, 118, 136; in Thomas v. Pate, 120; in Wright v. Twomey, 113–14. See also Seventh Circuit Court

  Cressey, Donald, 127

  Criminologist, 35

  Crisis in control, at Stateville, 103, 160–61, 164, 172–74, 204, 206, 208

  Curtis, Carl (senator), 141

  Daley, Richard (mayor), 139, 145

  Daleyites, 87

  Davis, Keith, 120, 122, 125, 261 nn. 30, 35, 38

  Dawley, David, 142

  Decker, Thomas, 65

  Deenen, Charles (governor), 15

  Democratic Convention, 145

  Demystification of prison, 104, 118, 194, 198

  Department of Corrections, 101, 205; and Affirmative Action, 125–26; drifting of, 86; increased bureaucratization of, 77–79, 102; and Menard, 129; and On Ice ruling, 118; and Prison Legal Services, 120, 122; purpose of, 73; and Special Program Unit (SPU), 109–10, and unions, 196

  Department of Labor, 126

  Department of Public Welfare, 17

  Depression (Great), 25–26, 201, 250 n. 29

  Devil’s Disciples. See Disciples

  Disciples, 138; memorandum on strategy, 151–52; number of at Stateville, 146; organization of, 146–49; written rules of, 149–50; and Youth Manpower Project, 141. See also Gangs

  Eighth Amendment, 108–9, 113

  Eisenhower Commission, 6

  Emmerson, Louis (governor), 20

  Employee Review Board, 183, 194–95

  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 126

  Erickson, Gladys, 33–34, 106, 250 nn. 1, 2

  Ethnic groups, 48. See also Inmate social system

  Eynon, Tom, 74, 78

  Fair Employment Opportunity Commission, 126

  Falconer v. Bensinger, 122

  Fentress, Lowell, 170

  Fifth column theory, 178

  Finstone, Charles, 33–34, 106; Inside the World’s Toughest Prison, 28

  First Amendment, 122

  First Presbyterian Church, 140, 141, 142

  Fogel, David, 88; as director of Department of Corrections, 86–87; as director of Illinois Law Enforcement Commission, 121, 124; and guard walk-out, 193; and Prison Legal Services, 125

  Fort, Jeff, 140, 142, 146

  Fortune Society, 8

  Foundation for the New Business Ethic, 120

  Fry, John, 140, 141, 142

  Gang Intelligence Unit (GIU), 141, 143, 161

  Gangs: and ABLE, 121–22, 169–72, 173; challenging authority, 146, 161–62; and commissary boycott, 166; communication network of, 150–51; “cooling” conflict, 156, 171, 173; cooperation between, 155–56; as counter force to politicization, 145–46, 266 n. 24; degrees of member involvement in, 148–49, 267 n. 29; demands from prison administrators, 207; distributing contraband, 151; effect on Stateville, 173, 204, 206; estimate of numbers at Stateville, 143–44, 146, 265 n. 18; expectations of, 173; exploiting prison weaknesses, 160–61; and factors aiding rise of, 138; fear of a Stateville Attica, 156; friendship with Dorothy Mason, 129–30; and guards, 168–69; infusion into prisons, 173, 207; and inmate social system, 156–57; and “international” rules, 155–56; leaders as inmate spokesmen, 168; politicized, 144–46, 153–54, 206–7, 264 n. 10; and prison civilians, 167; as proto-grassroots community organizations, 139, 140, 173; providing psychological support, 149, 152–53; rumble between, 87; and SPU, 166–67; and therapy program, 167–68; violence of, 162–66, 172, 207; “welfare” system of, 150; working against Democratic machine, 143, 265 n. 17. See also Black P Stone Nation; Disciples; Latin Kings; Off-brands; Vice Lords

  Giallambardo, Rose, 216, 217, 219, 227, 229

  Gill, Howard, 51

  Glaser, Daniel, 35, 43–46, 126

  Governmental Agencies, 105, 123–27

  Governor’s Visiting Committee, 131

  Greene, Elmer, 20, 32

  Greer v. Sielaff, 268 n. 8

  Guards: as seen by Martin, 131; characterizations of, 175; conditions during early 1930s, 21; contradictory responsibilities of, 179–80; crisis in morale, 166–67, 178, 194, 207–8; dislike of Twomey, 176–77; grievance procedure of, 194–95; and hostage incident, 194; inmate attacks upon, 162–66, 175, 177–78; numbers of minority, 184–85, 187, 268 n. 8; and patronage, 21; and prison reforms, 175–77; racial division among, 198–99, 252 n. 24, 269 n. 23; racial integration of, 175, 184–86, 208; and racial problems, 69–70, 187–88, 268 n. 8; recruiting of minority, 125–27, 185, 268 n. 10; recruiting of white, 40; and rehabilitative ideal, 178–79; role limited by counselors, 96–97; separated from administration, 84; and training academy, 124; under Ragen, 39, 49–50, 84–85, 97, 210; walkout of, 193

  Guards’ union, 124, 175, 269 n. 14; and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, 56–57, 188–90, 193–97; beginnings of, 40, 56, 188–89, 208; and lawyers, 190; and strike, 177, 269 n. 22

&nbs
p; Haas, Jeffrey, 120

  Habeas corpus, 9, 252 n. 18

  Haines v. Kerner, 259 n. 3

  Hairston, Eugene, 140, 146, 164

  Hampton, Fred, 155

  Hampton, Mel, 126, 262 n. 43

  Hands off doctrine, abandonment of, 204, 259 n. 1. See also Courts

  Hanrahan, Edward, 143

  Hill, Henry, 20, 22, 250 n. 27

  Horner, Henry, 18, 20–21

  Horno, Albert S., 18

  House of the Golden Dragon, 159

  Houston, Ma, 130, 258 n. 26

  Hubbard, Fred, 139

  Huffman, Arthur, 74, 80

  Human relations model, 85–86, 138, 172. See also Bensinger, Peter; Twomey, John

  Illinois: history of prison reforms, 15; and indeterminate sentence, 15

  Illinois Congress of Ex-Offenders, 132, 134, 135

  Illinois Correctional Academy, 124

  Illinois Department of Personnel, 126

  Illinois Division of the State Criminologist, 16, 17

  Illinois Law Enforcement Commission, 121, 122, 124, 125, 136

  Illinois Prison and Jail Project, 132, 263 n. 59

  Illinois Prison Inquiry Commission, 19, 20

  Illinois prisons: bureaucratization of, 78; centralization of, 17, 55, 73, 88, 101, 205; in 1969, 75; and patronage system, 249 n. 11; professionals increasing in, 73. See also Stateville

  Inmate “lawyers”, 37, 252 n. 18

  Inmates: access to media, 8; alleged harassment of white, 63; better standards of living for, 78–79; as clerical workers, 22, 58, 93; comparison throughout years, 160; contacts with politicians, 24; demands in post-World War II years, 7; and disciplinary hearings, 260 n. 23; effect of parole upon, 57; effect of rehabilitative ideal upon, 85–86; expectations of, 7, 205, 206, 210; fabrication of information, 226–227; first money damages won, 114; first written demands, 61; given “Hobson’s choice,” 42, 253 n. 28; “going stir bugs,” 44–45; grievance procedure of, 100–102, 258 n. 25; and homosexual prostitutes, 25; lawsuits of, 106–14, legal representation for, 107–8, 119–20, 261 n. 34; punishment of, 22, 25, 27, 42, 47–48, 50–51, 91, 114, 176, 253 n. 27, 258 n. 24; race consciousness of black, 5; raised expectations of, 4, 106; and relaxed rules, 55–56, 75–76; and reward system, 202; and “safekeeping tier,” 177; Spanish programs for, 127; under Ragen, 42, 43, 48–50; violence of, 24, 25, 162–66, 177; “walking” of, 82–83. See also Black Muslims; Courts; Gangs, politicized; Jacobs, James B.