in prison, marking another person as being of higher or lower status, and communicating those evaluations, can get you in a lot of trouble. You don’t want to seem subservient, and you also don’t want to diminish someone else. You want to maintain a level playing field. For that reason, to avoid conflict, a lot of emphasis is placed on respect. Showing someone respect is a way of recognizing his or her value as being similar to yours. It’s a way of honoring someone as a person, but not necessarily doing so because they’re better.

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