Introduction

     Before looking into the riots themselves, some background information must be given to understand the prison riots themselves and the role of prison food at Eastern State Penitentiary. In this blog, the riots chosen will be analyzed in two different formats. First, the riots will be discussed in terms of its stages: before the riot, during the riot, and after the riot. In the time period before the riot, the different causes of each individual riot will be analyzed. Next, the actual events of the riot will be examined. After the conclusion, the changes made following each riot will be examined where it is applicable. In addition to looking at the riots in stages, the riots will also be analyzed in terms of the different dimensions involved, including: the riot itself, events happening at Eastern State around the time of each riot, and any external influences affecting the conditions at Eastern State. While the formats serve as the basic foundation, in order to understand the riots themselves, it is necessary to look deeper into the causes and the different types of riots.
     While this list is by no means comprehensive, some of the underlying contributors to prison riots include: the institutional environment, substandard facilities, inadequate funding, overcrowding, staffing levels, idleness, and lack of programming. While looking at the specific years mentioned, common causes to the riots at Eastern State included institutional environment, substandard facilities, and overcrowding. The types of riots examined were broken down into a number of models. For the purposes of this blog, three types in particular will be analyzed. The first model, environmental conditions, focuses on the distal causes or preconditions in the prison before the riot. Another model, the spontaneity model, looks at the proximate cause of an individual disturbance. Finally, the rising expectations model focuses on the gap between inmates' expectations about the quality of the institutional environment and the quality of life experienced.
     In the riots analyzed at Eastern State, each of them had characteristics that made them unique. However, the underlying theme that connects the riots in this blog is the impact of food on each riot. But why is food so important in prisons? In the source Food for Thought: Essays on Eating and Culture, food is said to have a variety of different meanings in prisons. Some of these meanings include: reinforcement of punishment and powerlessness, evidence of what is lost because of incarceration, and a way to resist social control. These forms of symbolism are prevalent in the history of food and drink at Eastern State.
     In the 20th Century, the rigid structure of getting to the food and the overall quality of the food reinforce the sense of powerlessness in the inmates and what is lost because of incarceration. The process of getting the food was very rigid, hindering the inmates' right to choose when, what and where to eat. The quality of the food shows the inmates what they have lost due to their conditions. As a result of the rigid structure and in an effort to resist social control, inmates resort to riots and getting contraband food in an effort to improve their day to day life. With the background information given, the years, starting with 1919 should become more clear.