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.

Living in Prison: The Ecology of Survival

Politics & Social Sciences

Toch, Hans

Social Sciences

Free Press

This book is about human breakdown under stress. It is the first attempt comprehensively to map the variety of forms that despair can take, to reconstruct the ineffable shapes of human extremity as fully and faithfully as possible. Presenting the results of one of the largest studies ever undertaken, the book is based on well over 600 interviews (and related background material) dealing with the self-destructive acts of men and women in prison. It is thus also a portrait of the impact of incarceration, bringing to life the prison world as seen through the eyes of those who suffer in confinement. Hundreds of inmates, speaking in their own words, here present a firsthand view of their experience with all its nuances and pathos. Following an introductory chapter on the scope and methods of the research, the first part of the book presents the major themes of coping that emerged from the study--the fundamental concerns of people under stress (potency, fear, need for support) as they are manifested in difficulties with the environment, with perception of the self and others, and with impulse management. Part Two takes up the questions of how typical are inmates who injure themselves and in what ways they differ from their peers--and major differences in risk and in themes of coping are shown to be related to age, sex, ethnic background, previous experiences with drugs and with personal violence, and incarceration in jails before sentence and in prisons. Part Three presents detailed psychological autopsies of men who ended their lives in prison cells, providing a convincing (and heart-rending) view of the process of human breakdown as it unfolds over time.  The book will be important not only to criminologists and penologists but also--and because of its profound general implications--to all those sociologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and administrators of institutions who wish to understand and effectively to deal with the tragic problems of human breakdown. Hans Toch is professor of psychology in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Albany. He is an elected fellow of the American Psychological Association as well as the American Society of Criminology. He has been president of the American Association of Forensic Psychology. He was also the Project Co-Director of the Institute for the Study of Crime and Delinquency at Sacramento, California.

Men in crisis: Human breakdowns in prison

Aldine Pub. Co.

This book is about human breakdown under stress. It is the first attempt comprehensively to map the variety of forms that despair can take, to reconstruct the ineffable shapes of human extremity as fully and faithfully as possible. Presenting the results of one of the largest studies ever undertaken, the book is based on well over 600 interviews (and related background material) dealing with the self-destructive acts of men and women in prison. It is thus also a portrait of the impact of incarceration, bringing to life the prison world as seen through the eyes of those who suffer in confinement. Hundreds of inmates, speaking in their own words, here present a firsthand view of their experience with all its nuances and pathos. Following an introductory chapter on the scope and methods of the research, the first part of the book presents the major themes of coping that emerged from the study--the fundamental concerns of people under stress (potency, fear, need for support) as they are manifested in difficulties with the environment, with perception of the self and others, and with impulse management. Part Two takes up the questions of how typical are inmates who injure themselves and in what ways they differ from their peers--and major differences in risk and in themes of coping are shown to be related to age, sex, ethnic background, previous experiences with drugs and with personal violence, and incarceration in jails before sentence and in prisons. Part Three presents detailed psychological autopsies of men who ended their lives in prison cells, providing a convincing (and heart-rending) view of the process of human breakdown as it unfolds over time. The book will be important not only to criminologists and penologists but also--and because of its profound general implications--to all those sociologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and administrators of institutions who wish to understand and effectively to deal with the tragic problems of human breakdown. Hans Toch is professor of psychology in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Albany. He is an elected fellow of the American Psychological Association as well as the American Society of Criminology. He has been president of the American Association of Forensic Psychology. He was also the Project Co-Director of the Institute for the Study of Crime and Delinquency at Sacramento, California.

Men in Crisis: Human Breakdowns in Prison

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Mental Health

Aldine de Gruyter

The Social Psychology of Social Movements (Psychology Revivals)

The social movements that Professor Toch examines in this book, originally published in 1966, range from the Black Muslims to food faddists, and the founders of these movements range from Hitler to Joan of Arc. Why do people join social movements? How do such movements serve the needs of their members, and what unique social problems do they cause? What are the typical consequences of membership? What gives rise to social movements, and how can we evaluate them? In The Social Psychology of Social Movements Hans Toch provides answers to these questions. It is impossible to avoid in a study of this sort the universal human implications of social movements, the latent tragedy and despair which involvement in such collective action implies. The humour, adversity and pathos is equally evident in many of the examples which Professor Toch describes. But he provides a sympathetic objectivity, and is at pains to provide a systematic psychological survey of large, ideologically orientated groups and their members in general.

Psychology & Counseling

Routledge

Peacekeeping: Police, prisons, and violence

Lexington Books

<p>The social movements that Professor Toch examines in this book, originally published in 1966, range from the Black Muslims to food faddists, and the founders of these movements range from Hitler to Joan of Arc. Why do people join social movements? How do such movements serve the needs of their members, and what unique social problems do they cause? What are the typical consequences of membership? What gives rise to social movements, and how can we evaluate them? In The Social Psychology of Social Movements Hans Toch provides answers to these questions.</p> <p>It is impossible to avoid in a study of this sort the universal human implications of social movements, the latent tragedy and despair which involvement in such collective action implies. The humour, adversity and pathos is equally evident in many of the examples which Professor Toch describes. But he provides a sympathetic objectivity, and is at pains to provide a systematic psychological survey of large, ideologically orientated groups and their members in general.</p>

The Social Psychology of Social Movements

Medical Books

Psychology

The Bobbs-Merril Co.

Social Psychology of Social Movements

Sociology

MacMillan Publishing Company

Violent Men

Schenkman Books

This seminal book offers an insightful portrait of chronic predatory offenders, problem police officers, and others with a demonstrated propensity for violent conduct. Dr. Toch analyzes the personal motives, attitudes, assumptions, and perceptions of men who are recurrently violent. How patterned and consistent is the violence of such men? What are the dynamics of their escalating encounters? What personal dispositions and orientations are most apt to lead to violence?  This special, 25th Anniversary Edition examines renewed debates over police violence, and offers new clinical applications, and reflections from preeminent clinicians and scholars on the widespread impact and enduring power of Dr. Toch's classic work.

Schenkman Pub. Co.

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