ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the detailed exposition of G. M. Sykes's The Society of Captives, which provides the basis for discussion of a range of debates, concepts and concerns. It focuses on the inner world of the prison rather than its broader social and political functions. However, in elaborating the debate about how prison culture is best explained, the chapter explores the relationship between the prison and its external environment as well as its interior features. The clearest theoretical contribution of The Society of Captives was its assertion that inmate culture was determined by the inherent deprivations of prison life. Sykes made some comments about the influence of personality factors on inmate adaptation, and some references to the influence of outside society on the prison's inner world, but these were tentative and tokenistic. The clearest theoretical contribution of The Society of Captives was its assertion that inmate culture was determined by the inherent deprivations of prison life.
