I POLITICAL PRISON CULTURE in TURKISH PRISONS
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POLITICAL PRISON CULTURE IN TURKISH PRISONS: FROM THE WARD TO THE F TYPE SYSTEM A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY ELĠF YAĞMUR KARAGÖL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY SEPTEMBER 2017 i Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Tülin GENÇÖZ Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science in Sociology. Prof. Dr. Sibel Kalaycıoğlu Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assist. Prof. Dr. Çağatay Topal Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assist. Prof. Dr. Besim Can Zırh (METU, SOC) Assist. Prof. Dr. Çağatay Topal (METU, SOC) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cenk Saraçoğlu (Ankara Uni, Journalism) ii PLAGIARISM I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Elif Yağmur Karagöl Signature : iii ABSTRACT POLITICAL PRISON CULTURE IN TURKISH PRISONS: FROM THE WARD TO THE F TYPE SYSTEM Karagöl, Elif Yağmur M. Sc., Department of Sociology Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Çağatay Topal September 2017, 132 pages In this study, the reciprocal relationship between prison architecture and prison culture is analyzed within the context of the transition from the ward system to the high security F type prison system. The analysis is fed by the prison culture discussions; the internal deprivation of Gresham Sykes and Erwing Goffman; and the external impact of James B. Jacobs, Donald Cressey and John Irwin. During the research process, the in-depth interviews were conducted with the former political prisoners. By assuming that there are variances in the practices and ideas of different political organizations, the existing common values and behavior patterns in the prisons were emphasized in the study. At the end of the research, it was observed that the pre-prison political culture found an opportunity to continue and to strenghten in the conditions of the ward system. The political power also referred to the prisons as a source of public opposition. Within this context, the transformation in the prison system can be interpreted as a better administration of the hostility against the State. The prisoners tried to maintain the political culture within the conditions of the F type prisons. The state of equilibrium of the ward system is to be re-established according to the new conditions by the political prisoners. Keywords: political prison culture, internal deficiencies, external impacts iv ÖZ TÜRKİYE HAPİSHANELERİNDE SİYASİ HAPİSHANE KÜLTÜRÜ: KOĞUŞTAN F TİPİ SİSTEMİNE Karagöl, Elif Yağmur Yüksek Lisans, Sosyoloji Anabilim Dalı Tez Yöneticisi: Yard. Doç. Dr. Çağatay Topal Eylül 2017, 132 sayfa Bu çalıĢmada, hapishane mimarisi ve hapishane kültürü arasındaki karĢılıklı iliĢki, koğuĢ sisteminden yüksek güvenlikli F tipi hapishane sistemine geçiĢ bağlamında analiz edilmiĢtir. Yapılan analiz hapishane kültürü tartıĢmalarından beslenmektedir; Gresham Sykes ve Erving Goffman‟ın içeriye ait eksiklikler; ve James B. Jacobs, Donald Cressey ve John Irwin‟in dıĢ etkiler tartıĢmaları. Saha araĢtırması sürecinde, eski mahkumlarla derinlemesine mülakat gerçekleĢtirilmiĢtir. Farklı siyasi örgütlerin, pratik ve düĢüncelerinde ayrılıklar olduğu varsayılarak, hapishanede var olan ortak değer ve davranıĢ biçimlerine odaklanılmıĢtır. ÇalıĢmanın sonunda, hapishane sürecinden önceki siyasi kültürün koğuĢ sistemi koĢullarında devam etme olanağı bulduğu ve güçlendiği gözlenmiĢtir. Siyasi iktidar da toplumsal muhalefetin kaynağı olarak hapishaneleri iĢaret etmiĢtir. Bu bağlamda, hapishane sistemindeki dönüĢüm, devlete karĢı olan düĢmanlığın daha iyi yönetilmesi olarak yorumlanabilir. Mahkumlar, siyasi kültürü F tipi hapishanelerin koĢullarında devam ettirmeye çalıĢmıĢlardır. KoğuĢ sistemindeki denge durumu, yeni koĢullarına göre mahkumlar tarafından yeniden kurulmaya çalıĢılmaktadır. Anahtar kelimeler: hapishane siyasi kültürü, iç eksiklikler, dıĢ etkiler v To my mother To all butterflies who struggle for and achieve to go out from the pit bottom vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Assist. Prof. Çağatay Topal to accept me as his master student and for his valuable comments and contributions. Then, I would like to thank to Assist. Prof. Dr. Besim Can Zırh and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cenk Saraçoğlu, who kindly agreed to take part in my thesis committee, for their attention and constructive comments. I am deeply grateful to my interviwees for their understanding, trust, and support. I may remind them the times which upset them. Without their trust, this research could not be realized. I also want to thank to my first housemates Demet Ġslambay, Derya Ferhat, and Hatice Ferhat for everything that we shared, for their support and encouragement. Thanks to my lovely friends Cansu Okan, Sibel Bekiroğlu, Dilek Çakır, and Merve Fidan. I always feel that they are with me whenever I need them. I also owe special thanks to Hazan Dağlayan for her friendship and for being my library partner. I am deeply indepted to my family; especially my mother, Aynur Sarıoğlu, without whose effort and support, I could not be a part of METU and could not realize my personal “revolution”. Last but not least, I would like to thank my beloved husband Eyüp Can Demir for his precious comments during the writing process and his patience in my stresful times. I could not find a word to tell my indebtedness. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ............................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iv ÖZ ................................................................................................................................. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... viii CHAPTER ................................................................................................................... ix 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 2. BRIEF HISTORY OF PUNISHMENT AND IMPRISONMENT ...................... 7 2.1 Penal Philosophy and Prisons of America ..................................................... 7 2.2 Penal Philosophy and Prisons of England-Europe ...................................... 10 2.3 Penal Philosophy and Prisons of Turkey ..................................................... 15 3. KEY CONCEPTS AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ........................... 22 3.1 Definition of Key Concepts ......................................................................... 22 3.1.1 Definition of Prison Culture ................................................................. 22 3.1.2 Definition of Political Prisoner ............................................................ 23 3.2 Literature Review ........................................................................................ 26 3.2.1 On Prison Culture and Imprisonment................................................... 26 3.2.2 On Prison Architecture and Design ...................................................... 40 4. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................. 44 5. DISCUSSION .................................................................................................... 52 5.1 The Prison Architecture and Design ............................................................ 52 viii 5.2 The External Impacts on the Prison Culture ............................................... 63 5.2.1 The Economic and Political Context.................................................... 63 5.2.2 The Period of Intense Contradiction .................................................... 70 5.2.3 The Period After the Operation ............................................................ 75 5.3 The Internal Dynamics on the Prison Culture ............................................. 78 5.3.1 The Daily Routine of the Prisoners ...................................................... 78 5.3.2 The Relation with the Prison Administration....................................... 82 5.3.3 The Commune Order Among Prisoners ............................................... 87 5.3.4 The Relations with the Outside Society ............................................... 93 6. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 99 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 105 APPENDICES ......................................................................................................... 118 Appendix-1 List of Abbreviations ....................................................................... 118 Appendix-2 Interview Questions ........................................................................