The Importation Model Perspective on Inmate Social Roles: an Empirical Test

Abstract

Two theoretical models have emerged to account for variations in the response to imprisonment among inmate populations. One, the “deprivation model,” focuses attention on the pressures and deprivations which confront the inmates. The other, the “importation model,” critiques the closed-system orientation of the deprivation model and suggests that the scope of an adequate explanation must give systematic attention to factors beyond the immediate prison situation. This study provides empirical tests of several major propositions implied by the importation model. Based on the analysis of data obtained from 276 adult felons confined in a maximum security institution, the analysis clearly shows that adaptations to imprisonment are in part attributable to such extraprison influences as social class, preprison involvement in criminal behavior, frequency of contacts with individuals in the free society, and the quality of the inmates' perceptions of their postprison life-chances. These findings illustrate the necessity of broadening the scope of explanatory models in this area.