Prison Performing Arts Program

1. What makes this field site a good field site in studying this subculture?
Since the subculture is Prison Performing Arts Program then prison is the only place you can go to to observe it and interview people that is part of that subculture.

2. What observations does the author make that is useful in talking about this subculture?
He describes the scenery of the prison and describes what kind of security he had to go through in order to get into the prison. He says that this is a level four high security prison. He is given a screamer which is an alarm for help while he is in the prison. He describes the thick iron doors and the cinder block class room that the prisoners rehearse in. He also describes the huge yard that he walks into where there is thousands of prisoners playing hand ball or lifting weights.

3. What are the norms and values of this subculture?
Big hutch described the hierarchy of prisons as the guppies which are the lowest, the killer whales which are the highest, and himself as the blue whale who controls everybody. There was also another prisoner that put these men into categories of sexuality which straight, gay, and in the closet. Each group knows who to associate with and they need to leave alone. Yet this play brought them all together.

4. What interview techniques work well to understand this subculture?
Talking to each prisoner in the play helped understand them and how things work within the group and to even better understand the play. You received the truth and how they felt about the character they played and if it affected them at all. It was a great way to get a better understanding.

There was one question that I asked myself about this subculture and it was why did these prisoners decide to participate in this play?
One said because he felt human again for just those two and a half hours with Agnes after doing so many humiliating things. Another said that it helped him keep his sanity and he wanted to explore new things. One prisoner said the he discovered that he was not stupid he was just uneducated. Mr. Word, also a prisoner, said he was influenced by his wife because he had been playing the guy all his life.