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Inmate Adjustment to Prison

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The American Prison

Part of the book series: Law, Society and Policy ((LSPO,volume 4))

Abstract

Since the publication of The Prison Community (Clemmer, 1940) virtually thousands of books and articles have been published on prison life and the adjustment of prisoners to their confinement. Most authors depict prison life as destructive to inmates who reenter community life with increased knowledge concerning the mechanics of crime and a reserve of bitterness toward “the system.” In recent years, researchers have recognized that whereas incarceration impacts adversely on some prisoners, others cope relatively well with the stresses of confinement. Researchers have begun to identify factors, both external to the prison environment and internal to the inmate, as well as combinations of these factors that may influence the type of adjustment an inmate makes.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Administration of Justice Department, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA

    Lynne Goodstein

  2. Center for Education and Social Research, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York, 13901, USA

    Kevin N. Wright

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  1. Lynne Goodstein
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  2. Kevin N. Wright
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Administration of Justice Department, The Pennsylvania State University, 16802, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Lynne Goodstein

  2. Louisiana State University, 70803, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

    Doris Layton MacKenzie

  3. U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, 633 Indiana Avenue NW, 20531, Washington, D.C., USA

    Doris Layton MacKenzie

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© 1989 Plenum Press, New York

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Goodstein, L., Wright, K.N. (1989). Inmate Adjustment to Prison. In: Goodstein, L., MacKenzie, D.L. (eds) The American Prison. Law, Society and Policy, vol 4. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5652-3_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5652-3_12

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