Deference or Respect? Status Management Practices Among Prison Inmates

Abstract

Interpersonal and intergroup contention is endemic to the social environment of California prisons. Data from in-depth interviews (N = 74) with prison inmates highlights a conceptual difference between the status behavior understood as signaling “deference” versus those signaling “respect.” Deference behavior signifies ordinal rank distinctions between actors in a power and prestige order. Respectful behavior signifies nominal distinctions rooted in perceived similarities and differences between actors. A theoretical model and typology of respect relations based on the correspondence between an actor's subjective belief and normative expectations is presented. The horizontal, intergroup structure found in the California prison system increases the profile of status behavior as marking nominal distinctions. I propose that the meaning of a given status behavior reflects the instrumentality of social situations and the objectivity or subjectivity of standards actors use in their evaluations of others.