ABSTRACT
Research on institutional corrections and parole has taken many methodological forms in past years. However, my focus on qualitative studies of prison and parole research in this chapter will: (1) provide some methodological types of qualitative use for the study of total institutions, (2) discuss some classic research on an organizational approach to prison social structure, (3) introduce the individual inmate socialization and behavioral responses to incarceration, (4) detail my own experiences of conducting qualitative research in a prison setting, and (5) describe the difficulties I faced with gaining access to conduct research inside prisons.
