Research Catalog

Title

The society of captives : a study of a maximum security prison / by Gresham M. Sykes ; with a new introductio by Bruce Western and a new epilogue by the author.

Author

Sykes, Gresham M.

Publication

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, 2007.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxxviii, 161 p.; 22 cm.

Summary

"The Society of Captives, first published in 1958, is a classic of modern criminology and . . . [an] important book . . . about prison. Gresham Sykes wrote the book at the height of the Cold War, motivated by the world's experience of fascism and communism to study the closest thing to a totalitarian system in American life: a maximum security prison. His analysis calls into question the extent to which prisons can succeed in their attempts to control every facet of life--or whether the strong bonds between prisoners make it impossible to run a prison without finding ways of "accommodating" the prisoners. Re-released now with a new introduction by Bruce Western and a new epilogue by the author, The Society of Captives will continue to serve as an indispensable text for coming to terms with the nature of modern power." -- Publisher's description

Series Statement

Princeton classic editions

Uniform Title

Princeton classic editions

Subject

• State Prison, Trenton (N.J.)
• Geschichte 1958
• Prisons > New Jersey > Case studies
• Prison administration > New Jersey > History
• Prisoners > New Jersey > Case studies

Genre/Form

• Case studies
• History

Note

• Originally published, 1958.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

1. The prison and its setting -- 2. The regime of the custodians -- 3. The defects of total power -- 4. The pains of imprisonment -- 5. Argot roles -- 6. Crisis and equilibrium -- 7. A postscript for reformers -- Epilogue. The structural-functional perspective of imprisonment -- Appendix A.A note on method -- Appendix B. The routine of imprisonment.

ISBN

• 9780691130644 (pb : alk. paper)
• 0691130647 (pb : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2006052590

OCLC

• 76143860
• SCSB-12682318

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library