The book traces the history of prisons from the earliest forms of incarceration through the first disciplined American penitentiaries to the modern prison. These chapters emphasize pain as a central feature of prison life, but comment that prisoners' suffering today is a product of officials' inability to control the more violent inmates rather than deliberate policy. The author explains the attributes of mature coping -dealing with problems, avoiding deception and violence, and caring for self and others -- and shows how much of what passes for adjustment among prisoners falls short of these goals. Chapters on the social adjustments of both prisoners and staff emphasize opportunities for promoting mature coping skills that help men respond positively to prison stress and become reformed citizens. Among the issues addressed are the convict culture of violence, the ecology of prison survival, a typical prison day, alienation among guards, and the guard as a human services provider. The book concludes with a reform proposal in which correctional work's primary objective is mature adaptation to the pains of imprisonment. Approximately 100 references and index.