Group Dynamics and the Prison Guard Subculture: Is the Subculture an Impediment to Helping Inmates?

It is often argued that correctional officers as a group hold values that are antiethical to helping inmates. This assumption links "guard subculture" values to reinforcing group solidarity among correctional officers. This paper explores some of the literature on correctional officers from the perspective of the social psychology of group dynamics. Its conclusion are that factors which appear to foster group cohesion and group identification among correctional officers are relatively weak or absent. Under conditions of stress, however, these conditions are capable of mobilization. In general, this paperfinds that the guard subculture is not necessarily an impediment to positive guard behaviors.