“Culture” is frequently invoked as an explanatory device in criminology and criminal justice. Research examining the “culture” of women’s prisons emphasizes the salience of trust relationships for understanding social order. However, this work primarily documents the importance of trust, with less attention to understanding the meanings incarcerated women attribute to trust relationships. This manuscript presents two studies examining the cultural domain of trust in a women’s prison. Study 1 uses qualitative inquiry (n = 29) to identify key themes regarding the meaning of the domain. Building from these findings, Study 2 (n = 198) develops quantitative measures to examine a cultural model of trust. Results for Study 2 reveal two cultural models of trust (i.e., a multicentric cultural domain) and highlight how knowledge of the cultural model correlates with beliefs relevant to the setting (i.e., cultural consonance). Implications for the study of culture in criminology and criminal justice are discussed.
AndersR. (2017). CCTpack: Cultural Consensus Theory applications to data (R package version 1.5.2).
2.
AndersR.AlarioF.-X.BatchelderW. H. (2018). Consensus analysis for populations with latent subgroups: Applying multicultural consensus theory and model-based clustering with CCTpack. Cross-Cultural Research, 52(3), 274–308. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069397117727500
3.
AndersR.BatchelderW. H. (2012). Cultural consensus theory for multiple consensus truths. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 56(6), 452–469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmp.2013.01.004
4.
ArchibaldM. M.AmbagtsheerR. C.CaseyM. G.LawlessM. (2019). Using zoom videoconferencing for qualitative data collection: Perceptions and experiences of researchers and participants. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 18, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919874596
5.
BennardoG.de MunckV. C. (2013). Cultural models: Genesis, methods, and experiences. Oxford University Press.
6.
BloomB.OwenB.CovingtonS. (2003). Gender-responsive strategies: Research practice and guiding principles for women offenders. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections.
7.
BorgattiS. P. (1994). Cultural domain analysis. Journal of Quantitative Anthropology, 4(4), 261–278.
CaulkinsD.HyattS. B. (1999). Using consensus analysis to measure cultural diversity in organizations and social movements. Field Methods, 11(1), 5–26.
10.
CollicaK. (2010). Surviving incarceration: Two prison-based peer programs build communities of support for female offenders. Deviant Behavior, 31(4), 314–347. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639620903004812
11.
CovingtonS. (1998). The relational theory of women’s psychological development: Implications for the criminal justice system. In ZaplinR. T. (Ed.), Female offenders: Critical perspectives and effective interventions (pp. 113–131). Aspen Publishers.
12.
CreweB.HulleyS.WrightS. (2017). The gendered pains of life imprisonment. The British Journal of Criminology, 57 (6), 1359–1378. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azw088
13.
CronbachL. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16, 297–334. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02310555
14.
D’AndradeR. G. (1995). The development of cognitive anthropology. Cambridge University Press.
15.
DresslerW. W. (2018). Culture and the individual: Theory and method of cultural consonance. Routledge.
16.
DresslerW. W.BalieiroM. C.dos SantosJ. E. (2018). What you know, what you do, and how you feel: Cultural competence, cultural consonance, and psychological distress. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 2355. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02355
17.
EdmondsonA. C. (2018). The fearless organization. John Wiley & Sons.
FuhseJ. A.GondalN. (2024). Networks from culture: Mechanisms of tie-formation follow institutionalized rules in social fields. Social Networks, 77, 43–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2021.12.005
20.
GiallombardoR. (1966). Society of women: A study of a woman’s prison. Wiley.
21.
HardingD. J. (2011). Rethinking the cultural context of schooling decisions in disadvantaged neighborhoods: From deviant subculture to cultural heterogeneity. Sociology of Education, 84(4), 322–339.
22.
HaverkateD. L.MeyersT. J.TelepC. W.WrightK. A. (2020). On PAR with the yard: Participatory action research to advance knowledge in corrections. Corrections, 5(1), 28–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/23774657.2019.1576149
23.
HeffernanE. (1972). Making it in prison:The square, the cool, and the life. John Wiley and Sons.
24.
HeimerK.MaloneS. E.De CosterS. (2023). Trends in women’s incarceration rates in US prisons and jails: A tale of inequalities. Annual Review Criminology, 6, 85–106. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-030421-041559
25.
HendersonN. L.MonocelloL. T.ElseR. J.DresslerW. W. (2022). Modeling culture: A framework. Ethos, 50(2), 111–130. https://doi.org/10.1111/etho.12348
26.
HowlettM. (2021). Looking at the “field” through a Zoom lens: Methodological reflections on conducting online research during a global pandemic. Qualitative Research, 22(3), 387–402. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794120985691
KreagerD. A.YoungJ. T. N.HaynieD. L.SchaeferD. R.BouchardM.DavidsonK. M. (2021). In the eye of the beholder: Meaning and structure of informal status in women’s and men’s prisons. Criminology, 59(2), 42–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12266
31.
LiangB.TracyA.TaylorC. A.WilliamsL. M.JordanJ. V.MillerJ. B. (2002). The relational health indices: A study of women’s relationships. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26(1), 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-6402.00040
32.
LindegaardM. R.MillerJ.ReynaldD. M. (2013). Transitory mobility, cultural heterogeneity, and victimization risk among young men of color. Criminology, 51(4), 967–1008. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12017
33.
MessnerS. F.RosenfeldR. (2013). Crime and the American dream (5th ed.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
34.
OwenB. (1998). In the mix: Struggle and survival in a women’s prison. SUNY Press.
35.
OwenB.WellsJ.PollockJ. (2017). In search of safety: Confronting inequality in women’s imprisonment. University of California Press.
36.
PollockJ. M. (2002). Parenting programs in women’s prisons. Women & Criminal Justice, 14, 131–154.
37.
RafterN. (1990). Partial justice: Women, prisons, and social control (2nd ed.). Routledge.
WardD. A.KassebaumG. G. (1965). Women’s prison: Sex and social structure. Aldine Publishing Company.
42.
WrightK. A.YoungJ. T. N.KlemmA. N. (2025). Who’s asking? Participatory research, interviewer effects, and the production of knowledge in a women’s prison. Journal of Experimental Criminology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-025-09710-8
43.
YoungJ. T. N.HaynieD. L. (2022). Trusting the untrustworthy: The social organization of trust among incarcerated women. Justice Quarterly, 39(3), 553–584. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2020.1807588
44.
YoungJ. T. N.MeyersT. J.MorseS. J. (2023). What is “prison culture”? Developing a theoretical and methodological foundation for understanding cultural schema in prison. Criminology, 61(3), 421–448. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12335
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
