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. The book is remarkably short--just 150 pages--but bristles with ideas. Sykes argued that many of the psychological effects of modern prison are even more brutal than the physical cruelties of the past. The trauma of being designated one of the very worst human beings in the world left prisoners with lifelong ...
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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. The book is remarkably short--just 150 pages--but bristles with ideas. Sykes argued that many of the psychological effects of modern prison are even more brutal than the physical cruelties of the past. The trauma of being designated one of the very worst human beings in the world left prisoners with lifelong scars. It also inspired solidarity among prisoners and fierce resistance to authorities as strategies for rejecting those who rejected them. His analysis called into question whether prisons genuinely were, as many believed, "total institutions," where every facet of life was rigidly controlled. Sykes showed that the stronger the bonds among prisoners, the more difficult it was for prison guards to run the prisons without finding ways of "accommodating" the prisoners. The book set the stage for Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish, among other works. Since it appeared in 1958, it has served society as an indispensable text in coming to terms with the nature of modern power.
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Add this copy of The Society of Captives: a Study of a Maximum Security to cart. $1.39, good condition, Sold by Poquette's Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dewitt, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1971 by Princeton University Press.
Add this copy of Society of Captives: a Study of a Maximum Security to cart. $2.48, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1971 by Princeton University Press.
Add this copy of Society of Captives: a Study of a Maximum Security to cart. $2.48, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1971 by Princeton University Press.
Add this copy of Society of Captives: a Study of a Maximum Security to cart. $2.48, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1971 by Princeton University Press.
Add this copy of Society of Captives: a Study of a Maximum Security to cart. $2.48, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1971 by Princeton University Press.
Add this copy of Society of Captives: a Study of a Maximum Security to cart. $2.48, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1971 by Princeton University Press.
Add this copy of Society of Captives: a Study of a Maximum Security to cart. $2.48, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1971 by Princeton University Press.
Add this copy of The Society of Captives: a Study of a Maximum Security to cart. $2.50, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Emerald rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1971 by Princeton University Press.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of The Society of Captives: a Study of a Maximum Security to cart. $2.50, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1971 by Princeton University Press.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of The Society of Captives: a Study of a Maximum Security to cart. $3.81, like new condition, Sold by Solr Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Skokie, IL, UNITED STATES, published 1971 by Princeton University Press.
Sykes delivers an insightful and accurate account of the development of a culture within prisons - a society of captives. Deprived of normal interactions, prisoners react by changing themselves, and not in a good fashion.
Written from a sociological perspective, Sykes gives readers an inside view of what most people will never see - prison.
Anyone with an interest in penology, criminology, or just knows someone behind bars will find this work fascinating.
