Most of the papers describe research undertaken at the Institute of Social Prevention and Resocialization of the University of warsaw, Poland. Topics include a psychosocial analysis of the recriminalizing effects of penitentiaries, the relationship of psychopathy to recidivism, and imprisonment from the inmates' perspective. Also covered are personality factors conducive to recidivism according to analysis of research data, patterns of multiple recidivism among mentally ill offenders, and psychological causes of aggressive behavior in the prison setting. Finally, discussions explore the characteristics of recidivists according to the age at which their criminal careers were launched, the distribution of criminal activity analyzed using population models of crime and Swedish data, employment of abstract games to assess cooperation and exploitation patterns of various prisoner types, and motivations for inmate behavior. Notes and tables are provided in several essays. --in French and English.