US prison inmates.

I'm watching Locked Up and I've noticed something. There's some inmates that want to fight the odds that are stacked against them. There are some who want to manipulate the system and act like they want to fight. Then there are some who just embrace the odds and are okay with being another statistic, another stereotype. The other two types, I understand. The ones who want to fight have something to fight for. The manipulators think they're slick and they can fool everyone. The last type puzzles me, though. Why would someone want to embrace the negative statistic that has been set in front of them? Why not fight against it and prove people wrong? I don't understand.