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9 Crim. Just. Rev. 22 (1984)
Becoming Homosexual in Prison: A Socialization Process

handle is hein.journals/crmrev9 and id is 28 raw text is: BECOMING HOMOSEXUAL IN PRISON: A SOCIALIZATION PROCESS KATHERINE VAN WORMER School of Social Work University of Tennessee Nashville, TN 37203 ABSTRACT The present paper examines the distinction between prison homosexuality and so-called true homosexuality as represented in the male and female experience. A thorough review of the literature is provided. Emphasis is on the process of institutional recruitment for desired homosexual roles. This discussion challenges the present dichotomizing of prison homosexuality into true and situational categories, a division that dominates the prison literature. The only crucial dichotomy is between those who come to see themselves as homosexual and those who do not. Until we know the cause of heterosexuality, we will not understand the cause of homosexuality. Until we understand the process of shaping a heterosexual, we cannot understand the process of shaping anything else. We cannot say what is natural or unnatural in the realm of human sexuality. About all we can say is that prison is unnatural: It is unnatural for an adult to be locked up, treated as a child, and housed in a cage apart from family, children or the opposite sex. In light of these limitations and of the dearth of meaningful research on these issues, all arguments and conclusions will be tentative. This study of prison homosexuality is concerned with the process of socialization and the effect of this socialization into the prison homosexual culture; emphasis is on becoming and remaining gay. Variations of the male and female prison experience will be explored. Research for the present study is based on personal observations at several prisons in the Southeastern United States and on perusal of books and journals on both homosexuality and on prison life. It has become a clich6 in the prison literature that there are two kinds of prison homosexuality, the situational and the dispositional. Situational homosexuality, according to this view, refers to a natural reaction to a deviant situation. The situation is the focus of concern. Dispositional or true homosexuality, on the other hand, operates apart from the particulars of the environment. Here, the behavior itself is stressed. Prison homosexualty is viewed as a situational phenomenon arising from sexual deprivation. The particular form that the homosexuality takes is seen as an outgrowth of the dominance/aggression structure of male prisons and the pseudo-family structure of female prisons. Writers on the male prison scene make a distinction between queens or fags (full-time homosexuals) and punks (new recruits). In female prisons, the counterparts are described as lesbians and jail turn-outs (new recruits). There is a perceived difference made in the correctional literature between homosexuality and homosexual activity; the latter in John Irwin's words is a form of prison improvisation (1980, p. 12). These behavioral forms will be dealt with separately by gender in the discussion that follows. Most prison inmates are not homosexually active; therefore, the concern of this paper is with a minority of inmate participants. Clemmer (1940) found that 10 percent of his male convict subjects had been homosexual before entering prison, while 30 percent had homosexual activity in jail only. Recent studies confirm these estimates, e.g., Karlen (1971). Propper (1981) presents research findings on girls in seven juvenile institutions. Seventeen percent were homosexually active. The estimate for adult women prisoners is around 30 percent. What we do not know is the percentage of inmates who remain homosexual following the prison activity. As do professional writers in the field, inmates themselves often draw a sharp distinction between those with a long-term homosexual preference and jailhouse turnouts, in this way dissociating themselves from the stigma of homosexuality. Although Propper, in her definitive study of prison homosexuality, refers to true homosexuals in prison, she is one of the very few corrections researchers who call into question the misuse of simplistic labels for types of homosexuals. It is a misconception, she writes, to think that no one is converted to homosexuality in prison(1981, p. 71). Although many men and women first try homosexuality expecting an isolated experience, this incidental experience sets the groundwork for future involvement should the correct combination of circumstances be present. A true homosexual from Frontera Prison for Women in California believes that inmates are unaware of the strong likelihood of long-term effects when they begin their prison experience (Propper, 1981, p. 67). Among men, even with the overtones of violence in their prison homosexuality, there is evidence that habitual prison encounters sometimes lead to later homosexual identity. Sagarin (1976) interviewed homosexuals in bars who had initially been forced into homosexuality in prison. And Bartollas, Miller, and Dinitz (1974) acknowledge that the punk role can give satisfaction after it has become a habit. All of this information is introduced as a cautionary note in

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