Applying an abductive mixed‐methods approach, we investigate the informal status systems in three women's prison units (across two prisons) and one men's prison unit. Qualitative analyses suggest “old head” narratives—where age, time in prison, sociability, and prison wisdom confer unit status—are prevalent across all four contexts. Perceptions of maternal “caregivers” and manipulative “bullies,” however, are found only in the three women's units. The qualitative findings inform formal network analyses by differentiating “positive,” “neutral,” and “negative” status nominations, with “negative” ties primarily absent from the men's unit. Within the women's units, network analyses find that high‐status women are likely to receive both positive and negative peer nominations, such that evaluations depend on who is doing the evaluating. Comparing the women's and men's networks, the correlates of positive and neutral ties are generally the same and center on covariates of age, getting along with others, race, and religion. Overall, the study points to important similarities and differences in status across the gendered prison contexts, while demonstrating how a sequential mixed‐methods design can illuminate both the meaning and the structure of prison informal organization.

中文翻译：

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在旁观者眼中：男女监狱中非正规地位的含义和结构*

我们采用归纳混合方法，研究了三个女性监狱（跨两个监狱）和一个男性监狱的非正式身份系统。定性分析表明，“头颅”叙事（年龄，入狱时间，社交能力和监狱智慧赋予单位地位）在所有四种情况下都很普遍。然而，只有在三个妇女单位中才发现对产妇“照顾者”和操纵性“欺凌者”的看法。定性发现通过区分“阳性”，“中性”和“阴性”身份提名，而男性部门主要不存在“阴性”联系，从而为正式的网络分析提供了依据。在女性部门中，网络分析发现，地位高的女性很可能会获得正面和负面的同伴提名，这样评估就取决于谁在进行评估。比较男女网络，积极和中立关系的相关性通常相同，并且以年龄，与他人相处，种族和宗教的协变量为中心。总体而言，该研究指出了在不同性别的监狱环境中地位的重要异同，同时说明了顺序混合方法的设计如何能够阐明监狱非正式组织的含义和结构。