Prison: A Social Nightmare Heather Baker General Psychology PSY 1012 Gloria Maremma-Giles, M. S. Social psychology is the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another. What happens when there is only one way to do things without being teased, mimicked or ever bullied? We conform. Even though the standards are different now than is has been in the past, the theory is the same: for most people, whatever they think will make their life easiest, they will conform to. Clyde Beasley has been a very good example of conformation in his life time, even though he is a highly independent person now.
He has been imprisoned twice for running a drug operation and been incarcerated a in level four maximum security prison. Only during the second sentence of over 10 years did he realize how he needed to change his life and since he has been free he has led an entirely legal life without so much as a minor traffic citation. While he was in prison however it is impossible to be yourself Even while he was still in prison Clyde began to think of ways he could become successful in a legal way. His aspirations had always been fame and wealth which was the reason he began to deal in the first place.
He came up with ideas of inventions he could sell while still in prison and now runs many company’s and a non-profit organization: HIPP-MO-TIME, which is focused on youth and women. In prison no matter what your culture and style is like you are forced to conform to a race standard, if you are Asian you have to be like all the other Asians, if you are white, you are forced to associate yourself with only the other white people. This is a very extreme example of normative social influence. Normative social influence, when a person changes their actions to either be accepted or to avoid being rejected, can be seen in any culture you observe. In schools you can see otherwise intelligent kids using words and talking in ways that can be classified as absurd and brainless. They will not do homework because it is considered uncool.
The Term Paper on Prison Life Prisoners One Inmates
Prison Life Most people have no idea what it feels like to be in prison, statistically only one out of every five people will know what its like to be in prison. Approximately 1. 4 million people out of the U. S.'s 280 million people are in prison. (Thomas, 2) The only reason people know about prisons is because of the media. The news, movies, and books all contribute to people's stereotypes about ...
In office buildings you can see normative social influence in executives that started smoking just because everyone they work with does. It would be extremely hard if not impossible to find a single person in this world that does not let themselves be influenced at all socially because no matter how much someone may not want to let themselves be influenced because it is greatly subconscious. Social influences are different in prison however, they are forced. To not conform in prison is to ask for trouble.
