Courtney Lebby

Assignment One Observation

Orange Is The New Black
Relevant Background Information: The observations I was be conducting take place mostly in
The Litchfield Penitentiary which is an all female prison located in Litchfield, New York. The
prison is separated into three main groups: The Suburbs, The Ghetto, and Spanish Harlem. You
are assigned to theses groups based on your race or family background. Throughout this netflix
series they will show flashbacks pertaining to how each inmate ended up in the penitentiary and
also will give relevant information about each inmates personal background. This series is so
intriguing that you cannot help watching a whole season at one time.
Figured World: A figured world is a social structure or environment that has certain rules and
conventions which explain how you are supposed to act. This can include the way you speak
to people and how you speak to them. This can also include what is the appropriate way to
handle certain situations.

The figured world I have chose to observe is a Netflix series called Orange Is The New
Black. This series is showing how female inmates interact with each other in prison. It shows
how prison can shape and eventually change how you think about life. The prison shoes real life
situations that could possibly happen at a real all female prison. The situations are sometimes
funny and can also be very nerve wrecking. From sex to fighting to arguments this show has it
all. There are many different rules and conventions depending on who you are and what
environment you are in. In this prison there are cliques of people usually by race. While you are
around your clique you can be yourself. When you get around other you are supposed to act
hard or mean to impress or scare other cliques. Also in this series you are not allowed to
touch other inmates or the officers for any reason. This prison is usually very loud and noisy
unless they are sleep. It is inappropriate to try to converse with people not of your clique or use
the opposite races bathroom area. These women are always coming up with new ways to make
money for commissary and always have a trick up their sleeve. You must always watch your
surrounding when in this prison. You never know who has it out for you they can smile in your
face one moment and the next they can be your worst nightmare. They have to choose who they
call friends wisely because nobody is safe in prison. This series shows how being independent
and on your own can change you for better or for worse and it can also keep friendships strong or
break them apart.

Actors: Actors are the people that play different roles within my figured world. Actors can
have many different roles throughout the show. They can have different roles at different
points within the show. Some actors have more significance to the show than others and those
are the ones I will talk about below.
Piper Chapman: She is the main character of this series she is serving 15 months
in Litchfield for being associated with her ex girlfriend Alex Vause who was doing illegal
activities while in a relationship with Piper. This happened in her younger years and has
finally caught up with her. Piper was raised in a very wealthy family, they are very
supportive of her. The one thing she hates is she has to leave her husband Larry behind
when she was taken to prison.
Alex Vause: She is also a main character in this series. She was sent to jail for
being apart of the world's biggest drug trafficking company. She has been in and out of
prison since she was a teenager, but now all her illegal activity has caught up with her
and she may not be getting out this time. She has been in and out of Pipers life making
Pipers time in jail harder and more confusing than she wants it to be.
Artifacts: Artifacts are physical objects, emotions, or feelings that important to a figured world
or have significance to figured world. These artifacts do not have to always be physical
objects. They can be how somebody feels about something, or how somebody is feeling inside
about something going on internally.
Alex and Pipers Relationship: Their relationship is important to the show
because Alex is the reason Piper is in jail now. They hadnt spoken or seen each other in
over seven years. While Piper was in jail a couple months later Alex was then brought to
the same prison and all their old feelings for each other came rushing back. This shows
how your enemy can also be your best friend and being in jail can bring out the truth in
everybody.
Communities of Practice: Communities of practice is a collective learning group where people
of the same interest learn from each other to better themselves in the community. All
communities are not communities of practice, for example a neighborhood is a community but

not exactly a community of practice because everybody in the neighborhood is not connected
to each other.
Normas Fan Club: This clubs main purpose was to stay silent. The inmates in
this club believed Norma was magical and could make the unimaginable happen. If
associated with this club you are not supposed use loud voices unless in the courtyard,
also it is supposed to teach you to have faith in somebody other than just God. While in
the courtyard the girls would scream at the top of their lungs complimenting other
inmates in their club to make everybody feel good about themselves and raise their self
esteem.
The Spanish Harlem: This is one of the three main groups I mentioned earlier in
this observation. The Spanish Harlem consists of mainly inmates that are related to each
other or have family that know each other. The thing that bonds this community together
is their loyalty to each other. They might not always get along and they always argue. At
the end of the day they are always there for each other when it is really needed.
Literacy Practices: Literacy practices are the way people communicate with each other either
verbal or nonverbal, spoken or written. This can consist of everyday tasks such as talking on
the phone, texting, etc. or more complex tasks such as your manners and how you act towards
people.
Visitation Days: Visitation days are when the inmates are allowed to have
visitors such as friends. family, and significant others. This is usually a very emotional
time for the inmates because they are happy to see people that care about them that they
havent seen in awhile. During visitation you are not allowed to show PDA or touch for
an exceeded amount of time.
Letters: Letters are used as another form of communication for the inmates to
communicate with each other and for inmates to communicate with people outside of the
prison.
Practices of Communities: Practices of communities are the things people apart of the
community do that connect them to each other. They develop shared resources that connect
them to each other. As a group they practice these certain things that bond them together and
make them a community of practice.
The Panty Business: Piper starts this panty business selling the inmates used
underwear to perverts all around the world. She has a partner which is a new inmate that

helps her start this business and helps her transfer money to the inmates commissary
every month. This is a practice of communities because it is an illegal business because
they are inmates so they all have to work together and stay secretive about the business
because if one of them gets caught they all get caught. Even though a=half the inmates in
this business do not get along they will get along just to keep the business a success and
not get caught behind it.
Keeping The Peace: As security guards of the prison it is their job to keep all the
inmates safe and out of harms way regardless of the situation. Some guards are given
more respect from the inmates than others just because of their seniority. These guards
most of the time do not get along with each other, but they will while at work because
their job need everybody to work together and stay on the same page or the jail will be
complete chaos. From the fighting to the contraband, it is the guards job to keep the jail a
safe and chaos free environment.
The Domain: The domain to me is the environment or community you live in. The domain
can be a specific place, your house, or any place of your choice. Most of the places have
shared interest that connect the people in this community or environment. Usually this means
commitment to the specific domain that you are involved in. They have values and traditions
that are special to them that outsiders may not understand.
Litchfield Prison: Litchfield is the domain of the entire series. Litchfield is
where all the inmates interact and live with each other. This is the domain because all the
inmates are related because they are all there for some type of illegal activity which
bonds them together whether they agree with it or not. They all eat and sleep together,
share the same shower and the same common areas.
Observation One
4:00 : This episode starts in the spanish harlem showers in the prison house. Flacca and her sister
are having a conversation about her missing her daughter first birthday party. Flacca forces a girl
out of the shower by twisting her nipples. Gloria walks into the shower and looks down and there
is brown liquid coming up out of the drain all the girls migrate to the B-dorm bathrooms (african
american bathrooms) and try to take over. The spanish girls are threatening not to cook breakfast
for the girls. Vee enters the bathroom and is taking up for the girls, Flacca is calling Cindy names
in spanish and Cindy gets mad and pushes Flacca and the whole prison is ready to fight. The
black female guard enters the shower and breaks up the fight. Cindy tries to explain to the guard
what happened and refers to her as sister. The guard gives her a shot and makes the spanish
harlem girls go back to their own bathroom.

15:00 : In this time frame Red and some other members of a gardening club are in the
greenhouse trying to get things organized and cleaned out. It is very cold out there and the girls
are complaining about the weather. Mr. Healy walks in and asks to speak with Red in private so
the other girls disperse and let them speak in private. He is asking red for advice on his
relationship and a date night for them. Red responds by saying When I was a cook we had an
agreement, Youd scratch my back and Id tell you when your ear hairs need to be trimmed. I do
not need my back scratched anymore. Mr. Healy responds by saying he was only asking for an
opinion from her. Later in this scene Pipers sits down with her brother and her mom to catch up
on life. Piper is concerned about why her father did not show up with them, then she receives
some devastating news that her grandmother is dying.
23:00 : Gloria asks permission from Mr. Caputo for her and her girls to use the B-dorm
bathrooms and he grants it. Then she has a flashback from when her husband used to beat on her
in front of her kids and her mother and he is begging for forgiveness. Big Boo and Nicky are in a
contest on scoring points by having sex with certain women in the prison, women at higher
rankings are worth more points. Big Boo comes in bragging to Nicky about a one pointer, and
Nicky replies by flirting with the prison guard who is worth ten points. The girls from B-dorm
take all the work shoes from spanish harlem and tied the strings in a knot. Piper is sitting in her
bunk looking at a picture of her grandmother and Red comes in to ask what is wrong piper tries
to act like she is okay and nothing is wrong with her but red can sense there is a problem.
30:00 : Piper goes to Mr. Healys office to ask for furlough to see her ill grandmother, he denies
her this. Nicky is trying to flirt with Officer Fisher to score points by talking to her about the
inmate phone conversations and being sweet to her. She tells her how she likes to be alone in
electrical but not all alone basically trying to lure Officer Fisher to be somewhere alone with her.
Officer Fisher gets offended and yells at nicki and makes her leave right away. During dinner
time the spanish harlem makes special trays for the ladies in the B-dorm bathroom by not putting
any salt in their food. Janae trips Daya who is pregnant with one of the officers baby and she
falls on her stomach. The officer then grabs Janae and pins her to the ground telling her she is not
allowed to do that and suspends her commissary for a month.
Observation Two

10:00: Its Valentines Day at the prison and the kitchen staff are preparing a little get together for
the other inmates. The guards are telling the inmates that it must suck being locked up during the
holidays, but of course to them its just another day with less excitement. Some inmates feel as
if its a depressing time of year without family and friends. Unknowingly, Pipers ex-boyfriend
visits her and she gets carried away as usual. He mentions the passing of her grandmother and it
makes the conversation weird.
20:00: Pipers ex-boyfriend brings up some things about the jail that never went through as in
contracts; such as buildings that were never built. As his anger rises and tension builds, she gets
stressed out. As he leaves, the attention is turned towards Red. A trap is made by one of her sons
to sneak her certain goodies through a floor tunnel. Near the end of the scene, some of the
employees are getting a little close if you know what I mean. The manager invites one of his
employees to a band show that he plays in.
30:00: During this particular scene, the employees are going through pat-downs before entering
their shifts as recommended by Caputo. The inmates are still getting ready for Valentines Day
(making cookies and decorating different parts of the jail).
Observation Three
10:00: Caputo is toughening up security after a breakout. He wants the employees to write 5
shots AKA write-ups a week. He feels as if the guards are letting the inmates get away w/
too much. Piper gets a visitor and a lot of information that may be vital to the jails reports in
which the information being told about, never went through. Such as, a report of a gym being
paid for in full but was never built.
20:00: In Litchfield, the inmates, are getting their hands on anything that will sell. There are so
many exchanges going on for objects that are objected in prison. The inmates arent the only
ones sneaking in goodies. Bennett, the guard, is sneaking the cooks phones and iPods just to
keep them quiet about him having sex and getting an inmate pregnant.
30:00: Bennett is fed up with supplying the inmates with gifts. The inmates said that they would
snitch if he didnt come up with the gifts. So instead, he sent one of them to the SHU (lockdown)
to keep their silence. Alex starts a prison newsletter, as Caputo is helping stem certain ideas. As it
soon begins to turn into an interview for Caputo.

Interview
1. Tell me about how Pipers life changed from going to prison, and how it impacted her
personal life and your family.
Pipers life has changed dramatically. Being use to daily routines and average life, to
being in a cell daily will change any one individual. It impacted her life in various ways. Two
being most important would be the distance between her and her family and also her and her
ex-boyfriend. Their relationship went from loving to being fed up and not coming to a
consensus about anything.
2.

Reflect on Piper and Alexs relationship, and how it has changed from when they all met to now.

When Piper and Alex met, they were on the run fugitives basically. From dealing

drugs, to buying them it was all a matter of time before they got caught. Now, they have a
more distant relationship without the drugs involved. The drugs made them both people of a
different caliber.
3.

Explain to me how Piper adapted to life in prison, what changes did she have to make within

herself to cope with prison life.

Piper adapted to prison life quite steadily. She had to make life changes. From having

control of your own money to receiving money through commissary, is a true adaptation. She
had to realize one, that she wasnt going to be released any time soon and two, that she had to
own up for her mistakes in which that was the reason shes there in the first place.
4.

Explain to me why you feel like Stella attracted Piper, and how their relationship changed over

time.

I feel as if Stella attracted Piper because Piper was tired of the same old. Piper saw

someone new that caught her eye and she had nothing against Stella. Stella was an innocent
inmate in Stellas eyes in which Alex was not. So someone new catching her eye was just the
excitement she needed to get her mind off of Alex and her sentence. I also feel like their
relationship changed when Pipers money ended up going missing once Stella got released
from prison.
5.

Do you think Alex and Piper will end up together when they are both released from prison? Why

or why not?

I feel as if Alex and Piper will not end up together. Honestly speaking, Alex will end up

going right back to the life shes accustomed to. Piper will more than likely end up with Stella
or try to mend things with her ex-boyfriend even though hes with her best friend.
6.

Explain to me how you think Piper felt having to leave behind all her family and friends, and also

how it felt to know her husband left her for her best friend.

Piper probably felt just like any other woman would feel; estranged. From being

accustomed to one life then having to leave behind a cluster of family and friends who are

dearly loved. Then knowing the one man that knew you inside and out, left you for your best
friend would be heart breaking. I wouldnt be able to ever forgive her, EVER.