Inside the Pyramid of Disputes

Naming Problems and Filing Grievances in California Prisons

Bibliographic Data

ID10532142
AuthorsKitty Calavita (University of California, Irvine, corresponding author), Valerie Jenne (0000-0002-9395-0499, University of California, Irvine)
Year2013
Volume60
Issue1
Pages50-80
Publication date2013-01-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Problems (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0037-7791 • E-ISSN: 1533-8533
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1525/sp.2013.60.1.50
OpenAlexW2183352268
LanguageEN
Citations received37
References cited78

Previous literature on disputing and legal mobilization suggests that stigmatized, self-blaming, and/or vulnerable populations often face insurmountable barriers to naming a situation as injurious and claiming redress. Contrary to what one would expect from this literature, prisoners in the United States—among the most stigmatized and vulnerable of populations—file tens of thousands of grievances annually. To explore this apparent paradox, we draw on an unprecedented data set comprised of interviews with a random sample of 120 men in three California prisons. Our data reveal that these prisoners are willing and able to name problems, and most of them have filed at least one grievance. While some expressed self-blame and most said there was retaliation for filing a grievance, the majority overcame these impediments to filing. We argue that the context of prison—a total institution in which law is a hypervisible force—enhances this form of legal mobilization by prisoners, trumping the social and psychological factors that the context otherwise produces and that in other populations tamp down claims making. The pattern of these prisoners' claims, however, reveals that they are by no means immune to the countervailing pressures. While staff disrespect was named frequently as a problem in prison, grievances against staff were relatively rare. In concluding, we note that the U.S. Supreme Court recently found California prisons violate the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, a finding that reveals the inadequacy of the inmate appeals system despite prisoners' repeated efforts to hold the state accountable

Blame · Context (archaeology · Criminology · Grievance · Imprisonment · Political science · Prison · Punishment (psychology · Redress · Sociology · Supreme court · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law · Psychology · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending · Social Psychology

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