NCJ Number
156912
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1995) Pages: 106-118
Date Published
1995
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This paper examines some of the ways in which social scientists have studied prisons and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of a qualitative methodological approach to the study of prisons.
Abstract
The author describes his study of a maximum-security prison for men which used traditional participant observation data collection and analysis techniques. Other sources of data included focused interviews with inmates at the facility and examination of prison journals. The methodology used here took a distinctive approach to achieve an insider's understanding of prison culture by combining data gathered by a sociologist (outside participant) and an inmate-sociology graduate student (inside participant). 44 references