Structure of power relations in penitentiary community

Any social group is subject to public or unspoken management rules that operate within it in order to streamline its life. First of all, we are talking about building a hierarchy of authority among the members of this group. Social associations of persons serving a sentence of imprisonment are no exception. The main subject of the exercise of such powers in the informal environment of convicts in isolation from society is a consolidated elite group of prisoners - the penitentiary community. The article analyzes the structural features of power relations that exist in correctional institutions as closed social systems, the specifics of which are determined by the uniqueness of the contingent. The analysis of the system-forming features of the management models implemented in them, allowing them to be characterized from the point of view of the prevalence of informal power in the penitentiary environment, is carried out. In the course of the discussion, the most significant features that are important for the entire penitentiary society are identified, the consideration of which is necessary to understand the processes taking place among persons serving sentences in the form of imprisonment and isolation from society.