The Society of Captives, first published in 1958, is a classic of modern criminology and one of the most important books ever written 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.
Introduction to the Princeton Classic Edition ix Preface xxvii Introduction xxix Chapter One: The Prison and Its Setting 3 Chapter Two: The Regime of the Custodians 13 Chapter Three: The Defects of Total Power 40 Chapter Four: The Pains of Imprisonment 63 Chapter Five: Argot Roles 84 Chapter Six: Crisis and Equilibrium 109 Chapter Seven: A Postscript for Reformers 130 Epilogue: The Structural-Functional Perspective on Imprisonment 135 Appendix A: A Note on Method 147 Appendix B: The Routine of Imprisonment 149 Index 157
