What do you think these terms mean?

Resocialization and Total Institutions

Resocialization

• The process of being re-trained to function within a new society– Break with past experiences and the learning of new

values and norms

Voluntary vs. Involuntary Resocialization

• Voluntary: Individuals choose to assume a new status– Religious conversion– Moving to a new country

and adapting– Joining the military

• Involuntary: Against a person’s wishes

– Prison– Mandatory counselling– Drug rehabilitation

Resocialization “out of” Sports

• One’s sense of self changes when you stop playing

• Voluntary (ex. Retirement)

• Involuntary (ex. Injuries)• What factors could make

this transition more difficult?

• 66% of retired NFL players have emotional problems

• 1 of 6 divorced after 6 months

• Cricket players have highest suicide rates among retired players

• Key to success is to re-identify one’s sense of self

Resocialization in Total Institutions

• Total Institutions (Goffman): Setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society for a specific period of time and under tight control

• Ex. Prisons, Boot Camps, Monasteries, Psychiatric Hospitals

Examples of Total Institutions (Goffman)

• Care for people both harmless and incapable– Orphanages, nursing homes

• Care for people incapable of looking after themselves– Mental hospitals

• Institutions to protect the community– Jails, concentration camps

• Institutions to pursue work-like tasks– Colonial compounds, work camps, boarding school, army

barracks • Retreats from the world– Monasteries, convents

Athletes in Total Institutions

• Aaron Hernandez – Football Player in Prison• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIJAOnP

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What happens in Resocialization under a total institution?

• The goal is to drastically change a person’s identity

• 2-step process– 1st: person’s identity must be erased/re-

programmed– 2nd: must be replaced with an institutionally created

one

How is this new identity built?

• Number of ways– Uniform appearance (haircut, clothing, etc.)– Humiliation– Rename– Rewards and punishments– Expectation of conformity– Encouragement

Is this approach effective?

• Can create dependency on the institution– Inmates who, upon release, commit a crime in order

to go back to jail as it is the only life they know– Unable to resocialize outside of prison

Total Institutions and Resocialization – “The Shawshank Redemption”

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsiFanovOSI

Release and Recidivism

• When inmates are released from correctional institutions, the hope is that they will not experience recidivism.

• The return to illegal activity after release.

• Why do you think these people return to illegal activities?

Release and Recidivism

• In one study, about 40% of released prisoners had been arrested again or had had their parole revoked.

• Other studies have found recidivism rates as high as 75%.

PowerPoint 12 – The End