Living in Prison: The Ecology of Survival (Paperback)

by Hans Toch (Author)
Key Phrases: emotional feedback, social stimulation, inmate victimization, New York, Green Haven, All Samples (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"Living in Prison" offers an inmates' view of prison life, set against a backdrop of "objective" information, to understand how individual prisoners relate to and cope with their environment. Several salient inmate concerns emerged: privacy, safety, structure (stability of the environment), support (prison programmes), feedback (outside ties), activity and freedom. A "prison preference inventory" is presented to measure the relative importance of environmental concerns for individual prisoners. The conclusion drawn from this study is that organisations are more likely to achieve their objective if an attempt is made to match persons with relevant characteristics of particular surroundings. "Living in Prison" aims to make a major contribution to the fields of criminal justice and human ecology. It captures the flavour of inmate life and presents fully documented evidence that stress can be ameliorated through direct and practical intervention.

Product Details

• Paperback: 403 pages
• Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA); Rev Sub edition (December 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557981760
• ISBN-13: 978-1557981769
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #263,623 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars For academics not prisoners, June 9, 2001

By A Customer

This book is an academic, rhetorical, research-based psycho-sociological study of prisoners. It is not new and current. The first edition was published in 1977 with a revised edition in 1992 by the American Psychological Association. It does not address a prisoner's need for information about nuts and bolts specifics of the particular incarceration situation that motivates one to acquire the book. It is not about "Living in Prison" for those who anticipate doing so. Its statements and conclusions are not qualified as to the type of prison it references. In this regard, it combines all the particulars, making it so general readers cannot discern the particular situation it is talking about. This makes the conclusions unhelpful for someone who is looking for specific information about day to day "living in prison."