he characteristics of total institutions is their systems of rewards. One of the examples Goffman (1961) gives is of the Navy, in which seamen are allowed one small serving of alcoholic beverage per day. The seamen look forward to this privilege, and some even structure their days around the prospect of receiving this reward. Such a reward would seem relatively minor in civilian life because access to alcohol is unrestricted. Within the confines of the institution, however, small rewards take on monumental proportions: "The building of a world around these minor privileges is perhaps the most important feature of inmate culture, and yet it is one that cannot easily be appreciated by an outsider . . . " (Goffman, 1961, p. 50).
Goffman (1961) also describes systems of secondary adjustments within institutions. These adjustments are practices that allow inmates to engage in certain types of behavior that is not sanctioned by the staff. Secondary adjustments are made by inmates who have been institutionalized long enough to know how to break the rules without getting caught: "Secondary adjustments provide the inmate with important evidence that he is still his own man, with some control of his environment . . . " (Goffman, 1961, p. 55).
Staff within the total institution is characterized by its desire to maintain smooth operations, regardless of the depersonalizing effect on the inmate. Thus staff prefers working with easily managed inmates as opposed to those who upset the status quo. Decisions regarding the structure of inmate garments, the keeping of personal possessions, and the retention of body parts are all made in favor of efficient management. Toward this end, staff routinely shave heads, remove teeth, perform hysterectomies and lobotomies, deprive inmates of personal possessions, and keep uniforms as simple as possible.
Regarding mental institutions, Goffman (1961) describes the elaborate personal strategi...