The Defences of the Weak (Routledge Revivals) by Thomas Mathiesen

Author:Thomas Mathiesen [Mathiesen, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, General
ISBN: 9781136284090
Google: RIvwdC4Hv6QC
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2012-11-12T04:43:48+00:00

The excerpt indicates that the guard perceives several different relationships between informers and staff members. But it is extremely important that from the point of view of inmates, informing is always viewed as based on a wish for rewards. They are often uncertain as to how much is actually given.

Though informing certainly takes place, there seems to be an exaggerated fear of it. The exaggeration may partly be a consequence of the feeling of unpredictability relating to the distribution of important benefits and burdens: sudden changes in staff policy are often difficult to explain, and may in part be explained as a consequence of informing.

Exaggeration of the occurrence of informing is probably the root of the ignorance about who the informers are; an ignorance that seems to persist despite the extremely effective channels of communication among inmates (to be dealt with later). There is, in fact, not only ignorance about who are informers at any moment in time, but also about who may become informers in the future. This is reflected in the following excerpt from a conversation between two inmates:

Inmate 1: If I were going to escape, I wouldn’t tell it to anyone.

Inmate 2: No, you can’t say anything to anyone here, not even to your best friend.

Inmate 1: Couldn’t I have informed on you if I had wanted to? About things that are hidden and so on?

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