Discuss in detail Goffman’s idea of a total institution. How do these aspects affect the lives of inmates?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A total institution is a place of residence and work where a large number of like-situated individuals, cut off from the wider society for an appreciable period of time, together lead an enclosed, formally administered round of life. Another key component of this total institution is the defined social strata, particularly as that includes “inmates” and the “staff.” Specifically, there are formal prohibitions against even minor social interactions between these two groups in a total institution, and all of the formal power resides with one group (the staff) over the other group (the inmates). For prison inmates, the institution is where they live, and often work, with people who are like themselves not only in terms of criminal involvement but also largely in terms of their social class and other background characteristics. Though there is some ability to visit with others, the mode and manner of this contact with the outside world are quite limited in prisons and are also dependent on the security status of the institution. The formal rules of prisons also closely control inmate behavior and movement. Another key formal attribute of total institutions governs interactions between staff and inmates. Simply put, staff are to restrict such interactions to business only and are to parcel out information only as absolutely necessary. Social mobility between the two strata is grossly restricted; social distance is typically great and often formally prescribed. Total institutions had the effect of debilitating their inmates. Upon entrance into the institution, the inmate may become mortified or suffered from the loss of the many roles he or she occupied in the wider world. Instead, only the role of “inmate” is available, a role that is formally powerless and dependent. In addition, though each person entering a prison imports aspects of his or her own culture from the outside, to some extent inmates are likely to experience prisonization, whereby they adopt the inmate subculture of the institution Couple this mortification, and subsequent role displacement, with the prisonization into the contingent inmate subculture, and you have the potential for the new inmate to experience a life in turmoil while he or she adjusts, and some difficulty when reentering the community.