1) Introduction: presentation and objectives The scarcity of information on social life inside prisons is of interest due to the complexity of the prison's social environment. That said, it is important to see each prison as unique since each institution has its own formal and informal rules, social structure and specific interaction patterns. This justifies a more detailed analysis of each prison to create more contextualised intervention programmes according to the needs of each prison. This research arises from an interest in contributing to analysing the importance of understanding informal hierarchisation among prisoners. Understanding the hierarchisation of prisoners makes it possible to assess the risk that a particular prisoner poses to others, facilitating prison management. The aim is to identify specific groups and adapt policies and programmes to their needs. In addition, the aim is to encourage studies in this area to map the different hierarchical prison dynamics across the country, justifying the selection of more personalised intervention methods. Familiarisation with internal dynamics can improve the performance of social control agents since each institution has its distinct characteristics. In this context, the main objective of this dissertation is to study the formation of informal hierarchies among prisoners and to understand the dimensions that condition social mobility within this structure. 2) Theoretical-methodological framework An abductive methodological approach with a mixed analysis will be adopted to investigate inmate hierarchisation. This means that the abductive method will be used to formulate hypotheses about the processes of hierarchisation based on specific observations within the prison context. In addition, a mixed analysis will also be used, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques, such as interviews and a social network analysis. Information gathering will be qualitative, based on ethnographic research methods, with the help of semi-structured interviews with newly arrived inmates (15 interviews), "resident" inmates (10 interviews) and "repeat offenders" (5 interviews). A total of 30 interviews will be considered to understand the inmates' perspective on their perception of hierarchisation, i.e. how it works and what attributes are required to ascend in this structure. The data resulting from these interviews will result in synopses and subsequent content analysis as a means to answer the proposed objectives. The data will be used to carry out a social network analysis (quantitative research method) to describe better the case being analysed (Faro Prison), allowing us to gain a deeper understanding of the informal nature of the hierarchy established between inmates. The results will then be interpreted in the light of sociological theories of social capital to characterise the established social interactions, the nature of these relationships, and how the centrality of the actors is established. The fact that there are long-standing theories and little recent research justifies an abductive analysis to follow the contemporary hierarchy of prisoners. Timmermans and Tavory (2012) pursued the abductive approach as an option for the unfulfilled promises of grounded theory. Instead of entirely rejecting the previous theory, the authors (2012) developed the theory by analysing data inductively. That said, the abductive approach relies on theory to sensitise the researcher to potential hypotheses, stimulating the construction of new theories. To this end, it was realised that a mixed-methods analysis is appropriate for an abductive approach to the informal hierarchy of prisoners in Portugal, specifically the Faro Prison. The researcher applies content analysis to qualitative data (the interviews) to identify and categorise dimensions that influence social mobility in the informal structure of prisoners. These interviews are then compared and analysed using quantitative analysis. Using a mixed approach makes the research more complex, providing a comprehensive and multifaceted view of the phenomenon studied. The problem investigated here will be substantiated through Social Network Analysis. This methodological approach has gained prominence in sociological and criminological research in recent decades (McGloin and Kirk, 2010; Papachristos, 2009). Social network analysis refers to the concept of social systems comprised of individuals, each with distinct characteristics and behaviours, and the network of connections that bring them together in a social structure. This method commonly examines social structure and its consequences, highlighting behaviours and diffusion processes (Smith and Christakis 2008). This includes identifying and understanding the patterns of connections between individuals and groups and the intensity and nature of these connections. The network perspective describes status not as an individual characteristic but as a process that stems from individual interactions (Gould 2002). This means that status is not static but something attributed and recognised in specific contexts, such as prison. Furthermore, the importance of both the person who receives status and the person who attributes it is emphasised (Sauder, Lynn and Podolny 2012). Although social network analysis is the most appropriate method for investigating this issue, only a few quantitative network studies have gone beyond prison walls (Kreager et al. 2016). However, a limitation of social network analysis has been found because its focus on relational structure obscures the significance of the social relationships that make up this structure (Pachucki and Breiger 2010). In other words, when structural properties are prioritised, there is a risk of oversimplifying social relationships. By focusing solely on measuring the presence or absence of ties between inmates, this analysis does not consider the content of these ties or prison culture. 3) Results: main contributions, findings, and conclusions Although the research is still ongoing, it is possible to see the qualitative data being analysed and the expected data. Specifically, this qualitative analysis identifies (i) the individual profile of the interviewees (age, education level, main reason for conviction, length of sentence, number of incarcerations, professional occupation within the prison); (ii) the influence of the different Bourdieu’s capital forms (1986) (economic, cultural, social and symbolic) in the prison’s social structure Hierarchy and power in prison; (iii) and the motivations and competition within the prison context. Finally, by analysing social networks, it will be possible to statistically separate these concepts and compare their associations with the status nominations reported by the other inmates. In this sense, the potential of an abductive and iterative process in constructing new theories is highlighted.

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Social network analysis,Prison context,Inmates Hierarchy,Bourdieu's capitals