A plurality of total institutions: towards a comparative penology

Data were collected in five countries, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Canada and France between 1996 and 2003. This was used to compare and assess prison social climates. A taxonomy of social climates based on different configurations of institutional and personalized trust is proposed. Relationships between, on the one hand, assessments of the social climate by inmates and staff, and, on the other hand, the overall stability of prison as a social institution are explored. It is argued that criteria for assessment do not have an absolute character; they depend on the external context, values and norms shared by inmates. Prison reforms might destabilize the situation if they fail to take into account mutual expectations of staff and inmates. This article is written as the significantly revisited and updated version of a section in the book (21], pp. 138–150). Previously published materials are reprinted with a kind permission of Ashgate Publishing Ltd. I am grateful to the anonymous reviewer for a number of very helpful comments and suggestions. The author also thanks Sheryl Curtis, Theresa Heath-Rodgers and Anamika Twyman-Ghoshal for helpful suggestions in editing. However, remaining inaccuracies and mistakes are only my own.