Pseudo families form in prisons to fulfill emotional and economic needs of inmates. They typically consist of 15-20 people assuming familial roles like mother, father, siblings. Pseudo families provide companionship, resources, and protection from loneliness and violence. However, they can also be a source of conflict through jealousy, coercion, and retaliation between members. Rivalries often form over control of goods and power within the prison system.

1. Pseudo Family Violence
Harold Sowards II
CJ 440

2. What is a pseudo family?
• Definition: A family that isn’t related to you, but pretends to care
about you.
• AKA “state families”
• Most common in medium security prisons
• 15-20 people usually
• Males: Gang vs Female: Families
• Permanent, stable ones exist
• Secondary, temporary ones also exist

3. Why join?
• Emotional support
Cope with loneliness, need for companionship
Being in prison magnifies loss of child and are need of support systems
• Economic support
Obtain canteen/contraband
• Protection
• Boredom
• Lack of privacy
• Forced association
• Stats: 69% of all females participate in pseudo families (Silvia, 2014)

4. Roles
• Breakdown: 2% male, 2% both, 45% female (of which: 31% sister, 13%
mom and 18% daughter) and 51% are neither (Silvia, 2014)
• Mother: Older, more experienced in prison, provides advice and
listens to the family
• Husbands: Offer protection in exchange for sex

5. • In women’s prisons, the relationships are usually consensual with the
very feminine considered femmes while the manlier ones who exhibit
male behaviors are considered studs, broads and butches
• In male prisons, a Wolf is considered the more aggressive partner,
while the punk/fag is considered to be the submissive one
• Pseudo families allow familial roles to be establish and thus provide
marriage and divorces as well

6. • Inmates adjust to prison by forming homosexual alliances with
compatible partners and conform their appearance based off the
assumptions of the role
• Female pseudo families have parents, children, grandparents, aunts
and cousins.
• Other roles include: husband, wives, sisters, brothers, daughters and
sons.
• Male inmates turn to homosexual relationships to cope with their
situations. The male inmate provides protection and the male wife
obtains goods for the man.

7. Conflict
• Dad provides food, economic gain and protection and due to this
creates rivalries
• Canteen punks and box whores usually exchange favors in exchange
for goods raising the issue over it being consensual due to coercion
and since most of the women in prison have been de-sensitized to
sexual coercion they don’t distinguish it from other forms of
relationships
• If someone wrongs a member of the pseudo family, there is usually
retaliatory sexual assaults on the person who has done those acts

8. • Male wives in prison creates jealousy and conflict
• This creates: Propositioning (no threats), players (threaten others),
gorillas (attempt to rape others)
• These situations cause chronic anxiety, depression, suicidal intentions
and self-isolation. The victim then has the dilemma of reporting the
aggressor, because if he does he is given the label “snitch” and is
open to reprisals of sexual aggressions, with the alternative to this
being protective custody which limits all activities, forcing the victim
to take it out on their own and fight or submit to the abuse.

9. • Women bring all of their outside experiences into the pseudo family
which includes violence, abuse and even victimization
• The higher the difference in economic status in prison, causes power
differentials because the more money you have the more power you
have
• Suffer from perception that no one can be trusted, because they are
easily manipulated

10. Gangs
• Formal (real)
• The Mexican Mafia controls gambling and prostitution in prison while
the Aryan Brotherhood is responsible for 18% of murders in prison.
• Informal
Race, address, crime status

11. Power and Control Wheel Applied
• Economic abuse: Victim forced to give the abuser all of their goods at the
shop
• Emotional abuse: Victim loses all power and status if they stop talking to
the family, when a new member is introduced they are usually indebted to
the one who introduced them and that person tries to control who they
have contact with
• Psychological abuse: Victims are taunted and made to feel shame, guilt
while enhancing the feelings of being alone, isolated and dependent on
someone else
• Using coercion and threats: pseudo families can threaten to have a victim
moved from the prison, cause them to lose their release date or get them
in trouble

12. • Intimidation, using others: Pseudo families tend to use each other to
intimidate other members of the prison in order to get what they
want
Privilege: One of the members in the prison wants to be the focal
point of the relationship

13. Stages of Violence
• According to Muscat (2008), there is the tension building phase. In
this phase, there is usually verbal alterations, disrespect, no
communication, jealousy and controlling behavior frequently occurs.
Then there is the acute battery incident. In this phase, there is
kicking, punching, biting, strangulation, sodomy, sexual assaults,
throwing the victim against objects and throwing objects at the
victim. Then finally there is the honeymoon phase. Here they usually
apologize for the actions that have taken place and usually engage in
sexual behaviors.

15. References
• ABC News. (2004). Inside a maximum security women’s prison. Retrieved from:
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=227295&page=1
• Amnesty International. (2005).Violence against women: A fact sheet. Retrieved from:
https://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/vaw_fact_sheet.pdf
• Auds. (2006). “Pseudo Family”. Retrieved from: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pseudo+family
• Bedard, L. (2008). Female vs. male inmates: The rewards and challenges of managing both. Retrieved from:
http://www.correctionsone.com/corrections/articles/1843155-Female-vs-male-inmates-The-rewards-and-challenges-of-
managing-both/
• Bedard, L. (2009). The pseudo-family phenomenon in women’s prisons. Retrieved from: http://www.correctionsone.com/jail-
management/articles/1956587-The-pseudo-family-phenomenon-in-womens-prisons/
• Benedict, R. (2009). Giving back not giving up: Generativity among older female inmates. Retrieved from:
http://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1630&context=utk_graddiss

16. • Bowker, L. (1981). Gender differences in prisoner subcultures. Retrieved from:
https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=93442
• Department of Corrections Washington State. (2015). Prison life-Glossary of prison terms and
staff titles. Retrieved from: http://www.doc.wa.gov/family/offenderlife/facilitystaff.asp
• Fleisher, M. & Krienert, J. (2006). The culture of prison sexual violence. Retrieved from:
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/216515.pdf
• Forsyth, C. & Evans, R.(2003). Reconsidering the pseudo-family/gang gender distinction in prison
research. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology,18. Retrieved from:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02802604#/page-1
• Greer, K. (2000). The changing nature of interpersonal relationships in a women’s prison. The
Prison Journal, 80. Retrieved from:
https://www.wcl.american.edu/endsilence/documents/interpersonalrelationshipsinwomenspriso
ns.pdf
• Heitmann, E. (2007). Finding pseudo families in women’s prisons: Fact and fantasy. Retrieved
from: https://mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/handle/10355/4940

17. • Jensen, G. & Jones, D. (1976). Perspective on inmate culture: A study of women in prison. Social Forces, 54.
Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2576284?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
• Kelley, M. (2014). America’s 11 most powerful prison gangs. Business Insider. Retrieved from:
http://www.businessinsider.com/most-dangerous-prison-gangs-in-the-us-2014-2
• Kohan, J. (Producer). (2013). Orange is the New Black [Television series]. Tilted Production & Lionsgate
Television. Retrieved from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2372162/
• Muscat, B. (2008). Violence and safety programs in women’s prisons and jails: Addressing prevention,
intervention and treatment. Retrieved from: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/225342.pdf
• Selling, L. (1931). The pseudo family. The American Journal of Sociology, 37. Retrieved from:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2766543?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
• Silvia, S. (2014). Pseudo families in female prisons [Prezi slides]. Retrieved from:
https://prezi.com/_mt7bczm_aqg/pseudo-families-in-female-prisons/
• Vidal, A. (2014). Women prisoners: Sex in prison is commonplace, the male inmates just hide it more than
girls. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-politics/10662145/Women-prisoners-
Sex-in-prison-is-commonplace-the-male-inmates-just-hide-it-more-than-girls.html

18. • Women and prison. Retrieved from:
http://womenandprison.weebly.com/life-in-prison.html
• Zaitzow, B. & Thomas, J. (2003). Women in Prison: Gender and Social
Control. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publisher, Inc. Retrieved from:
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=PA113&dq=pseudo+families&source=bl&ots=rUgT_8DK-
Q&sig=uwjJPm2SI7mGGGaGu1xY9NTMKhI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUK
EwiH34OnxsXLAhUENj4KHYquCAgQ6AEIdTAP#v=onepage&q=pseudo
%20families&f=false