IT IS NOTED THAT TWO PERSPECTIVES HAVE DIRECTED MOST RECENT RESEARCH INTO THE DYNAMICS OF PRISONIZATION (NORMATIVE ASSIMILATION INTO AN INMATE SUBCULTURE): THE 'DEPRIVATION' MODEL, WHICH VIEWS THE CHARACTER OF PRISONIZATION AS AN ADAPTIVE RESPONSE TO COMMON DIFFICULTIES IMPOSED BY IMPRISONMENT; AND THE 'IMPORTATION' MODEL, WHICH CONSIDERS VARIABLES IN PRISONIZATION DERIVED FROM BEHAVIOR PATTERNS DEVELOPED IN ADJUSTMENT TO THE LARGER SOCIETY AND IMPORTED INTO PRISON SOCIETY. THE GOAL OF THE STUDY IS TO DETERMINE HOW EFFECTIVELY INDICATORS OF THESE TWO MODELS CAN ACCOUNT FOR PRISONIZATION. LENGTHY INTERVIEWS, COMPLETED WITH 239 INMATES, EXAMINED THE FOLLOWING OPERATIONAL MEASURES: ALIENATION, THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE SUBJECTS FEEL THAT THE STRUCTURE OF THE INSTITUTION DEPRIVES THEM OF ANY MEANINGFUL CONTROL OVER THEIR LIVES; POSTRELEASE EXPECTATIONS AND LIFE SATISFACTION, COMPARED WITH THESE FACTORS BEFORE IMPRISONMENT; AND PRISONIZATION, CHARACTERIZED BY INMATE SOLIDARITY, PHYSICAL TOUGHNESS, AND EXPLOITATIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH PRISON OFFICIALS. INSTRUMENTS USED TO MEASURE THESE VARIABLES ARE BRIEFLY DESCRIBED. WHILE IT IS ADVISED THAT ANY INTERPRETATION OF THE FINDINGS MUST BE APPROACHED WITH CAUTION, THEY SHOW THAT BOTH PRISON-SPECIFIC AND EXTRAPRISON VARIABLES ARE DIRECTLY LINKED TO PRISONIZATION. FURTHER, THEY SUGGEST THAT THE PROBLEMS AND PRESSURES ASSOCIATED WITH CONFINEMENT MAY BE EITHER LESSENED OR INTENSIFIED BY INFLUENCES NOT DIRECTLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRISON. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THE RESEARCH HAS IDENTIFIED SEVERAL SETS OF VARIABLES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH PRISONIZATION AND THAT CLEARLY GO BEYOND ANY LIMITS OF INFLUENCE THAT WOULD BE SET BY STRICT ADHERENCE TO EITHER THE 'DEPRIVATION' OR 'IMPORTATION' MODEL. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE VAGUE PROPOSITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH MODEL SHOULD BE STATED MORE PRECISELY AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, THEY SHOULD BE MERGED INTO A SINGLE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK THAT MORE ACCURATELY REFLECTS ALL THE VARIABLES INFLUENCING PRISONIZATION. A SUMMARY OF DATA ANALYSIS IS PRESENTED. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED.