{{Short description|Prison code}} {{one source|date=January 2019}} The '''Inmate Code''' (sometimes referred to as "Convict Code") refers to the rules and values that have developed among prisoners inside prisons' social systems.<ref name="Clear">{{cite book |author=Clear, Todd R., Cole, George F., Resig, Michael D.|year=2006 |title=American Corrections |edition=7|publisher=Thompson}}</ref> The inmate code helps define an inmate's image as a model prisoner. The code helps to emphasize unity of prisoners against correctional workers. This code highlights the reasons why "rehabilitation" is often so difficult to achieve.
==The Code== In New Jersey, Gresham Sykes performed a study in prisons and refined the code as follows:<ref name="Clear"/>
# '''Don't Interfere With Inmate Interests.''' Never rat on an inmate, don't be nosy, don't have loose lips, and never put an inmate on the spot. # '''Don't Fight With Other Inmates.''' Don't lose your head; do your own time. # '''Don't Exploit Inmates'''. If you make a promise, keep it, don't steal from inmates, don't sell favors, and don't go back on bets. # '''Maintain Yourself.''' Don't: weaken, whine, cop out. Be a man and be tough. # '''Don't Trust Guards Or The Things They Stand For'''. Don't be a sucker, the officials are wrong and the prisoners are right.
==Notes== <references/> {{Authority control}} Category:Imprisonment and detention Category:Subcultures in the United States Category:Codes of conduct59-13