“Before prison gangs showed up,” he says, “you survived in prison by following something called ‘the convict code.’ ” There is a great book by a Polish-America

“Before prison gangs showed up,” he says, “you survived in prison by following something called ‘the convict code.’ ” There is a great book by a Polish-American sociologist Marek Kamiński[1] describing the convict code in Polish prisons, Games Prisoners Play[2]. It's based on his personal experience (he ended up in prison as an anticommunist dissident in the 80s) and tries to explain the prison culture from game theory perspective. Which is a fine premise but what makes it a great read is the long, intricate process of initiation he went through as a fresh prisoner. It's also not nearly as brutal. There are no gangs, there's only this one inner culture. Actually, some of the initiation games were kind of clever. In one they threw him under the bunk and two of his cell mates where kicking him (or poking with a broom, something like that) while the third was yelling "gear up" or "gear down". He broke a comb he had in his pocket and screamed like it was a bone at which point they stopped but what they were looking for was for him to say "put it in neutral". [1] http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=4931 http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=4931 [2] http://www.amazon.com/Games-Prisoners-Play-Tragicomic-Worlds/dp/0691149321 http://www.amazon.com/Games-Prisoners-Play-Tragicomic-Worlds...