Prisons and Homophobia

Abstract

We evaluate whether prisons contribute to anti-gay sentiments in the population. One of the most important features of prison communities in many nations is self-governance with the inmate code. This code is often homophobic mandating that persons perceived as ``passive" homosexuals occupy the lowest positions in the social hierarchy. Once the inmates leave prisons, these attitudes are spread to the population. We explore this proposition using several sources of data. First, using, Australian longitudinal survey data, we establish that prison experience prompts a higher level of anti-gay sentiments among males and members of their families, even though no discernible difference exists before the incarceration. Second, to explore the transmission of anti-gay sentiments from ex-prisoners to the general population, we use the Soviet amnesty of 1953, which, after the death of Joseph Stalin, released 1.3 million prisoners. We find that the municipalities in Russia more exposed to the influx of released individuals have more incidences of anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes, higher levels of homophobic slurs on social media, and higher levels of discriminatory attitudes expressed in representative surveys. We offer suggestive evidence of the potential mechanism by demonstrating that (i) in the aftermath of the amnesty more exposed locations had a higher number of thieves-in-law, a specific class of individuals inside the criminal community responsible for upholding the inmate code, (ii) persons whose ancestors went through the Gulag system have higher levels of anti-gay attitudes. Our results demonstrate a previously under-emphasized cost of mass incarceration: a higher level of homophobia.