Applying Differential Coercion and Social Support Theory to Prison Organizations

Abstract

Colvin, Cullen, and Vander Ven's differential coercion and social support (DCSS) theory offers a comprehensive explanation of criminal behavior. The author argues that it also has implications for understanding organizational governance and deviance within prisons. Using the Penitentiary of New Mexico, he argues that organizational change and differences in forms of deviance are shaped by changes in both levels and types of social support for prisoners and levels of coercion experienced by prisoners. In each period of this prison's history, the relative strength of social supports and coercive forces differed. The author outlines the dominant characteristics of each period and how these characteristics affected disorder and consent and discusses policy implications for sound prison management to produce both order within prisons and ex-offenders better prepared for law-abiding lives. DCSS theory has great utility beyond understanding individual criminal behavior as it provides a cogent framework for also understanding organizational dynamics in prisons.