Book Review: Enforcing the convict code: Violence and prison culture

• DOI: 10.1177/0734016814525395
• Author: Clarissa Aguilar
• Date: 01 September 2014
• Published date: 01 September 2014
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Overall, Schneider provides survivors of abuse a voice. As Schneider states she ‘‘talked to

ordinary women who, because of certain life circumstances, ended up in abusive relationships

and who later crossed the line from victim to offender’’ (p.12). Therefore, this book provides an

illustrative account of this unfortunate transition. By doing so, she discusses several theoretical

links exploring the relationship between victimization and criminality using concepts from sociol-

ogy and victimology, as well as life-course and pathway perspectives. She also does a thorough job

of explaining the collateral consequence of prison, specifically for women, such as the deprivations

of prison, prison socialization, and the constant barriers to reentry. Her research suitably blurs the

line between victim and offender, making her research applicable to the varied nature of the study

of crime and victimization.

Trammell, R. (2012).

Enforcing the convict code: Violence and prison culture. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner. 157 pp. $49.95 hardcover,

ISBN 978-1-58826-80802.

Reviewed by: Clarissa Aguilar, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

DOI: 10.1177/0734016814525395

In Enforcing the Convict Code: Violence and Prison Culture, Rebecca Trammell coalesces her qua-

litative prison study and takes the reader on a guided journey through America’s own heart of dark-

ness, the prison system. Each chapter digs a little deeper into the daily challenges inmates are forced

to confront. As they discuss inescapable violence and hostile encounters, the reader is similarly

forced to deal with pressures in a contained environment. Additionally, Trammell has embedded the

personal accounts of women alongside the stories recounted by male inmates. Most significantly,

Trammell’s work adds to the current literature by providing vital insight in how both genders

respond to the constant threat of violence and an absolute lack of ascendancy.

In Chapter 1, Trammell begins by examining interpersonal violence and how it has shaped male

and female prison culture. Trammell herself experienced a vestige of such violence as when she

angered four offenders by indirectly referring to the parolees as ‘‘informants.’’ After correcting her-

self and assuring the offenders that she is not a police officer, the four skinheads threatened her with

violence should she ever mislabel them again. Just as these inmates are accustomed to violent beha-

vior, they also demonstrated an understanding of how to neutralize such violence. Moments after

admonishing Trammell, the offenders all agreed to cover their skinhead tattoos when they realize

they are in an area predominated by African American gangs. The parolees explain that it would

be unwise to invite unnecessary violence. Violence is frequently described as a necessary evil that

can also be used as a control mechanism.

Though various inmates criticize correctional officers and almost universally characterize them

as incompetent, these two agents both desire to minimize conflict and maximize control. We as a

society believe it is in our best interest for the prison guards to have the most control; however,

many of the inmates contend that their efforts ultimately have the most power by coordinating

fights. In conversations with Trammell, former inmates also discuss the process by which new

inmates are acclimated and how rampant racism provides a stable understructure for the inmates’

control in California prisons. As a whole, it appears that the male inmates are preoccupied with

something the law has stripped them of: control. However, female inmates contend they have

344 Criminal Justice Review 39(3)