Abstract
This is a book about prisons and about crowding. Most of the research to be discussed was conducted in prisons and is of use in resolving basic questions about prison design and housing. However, the aim in this research was not to understand prisons per se, but the nature and consequences of living in crowded conditions. This was a major concern of a wide array of researchers when we first began our studies. The choice of prisons as a site for research was predicated on a variety of methodological and conceptual grounds. It was felt that characteristics of living conditions in many prisons provided a unique opportunity to examine a variety of issues in the area of crowding. Even though the aim was “basic” research, the research in prisons soon led to involvement in a number of legal battles about the constitutionality of living conditions in prisons. This forced my colleagues and me to address the practical implications of our work as well as its theoretical meaning. In fact, the pressures of carrying out the research and being involved in the various legal proceedings made it difficult to find time for reflective theoretical appraisal of our results. This book represents an attempt to incorporate in one volume the empirical, theoretical, and practical fruits of a 15-year effort. The story is by no means complete. Many empirical, theoretical, and practical questions remain.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1988 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Paulus, P.B. (1988). Introduction. In: Prisons Crowding: A Psychological Perspective. Research in Criminology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3812-6_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3812-6_1
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8362-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-3812-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive