Scandinavian Prison Study

This book presents the formerly-unpublished manuscriptbyWheeler and Cline detailing the landmark, comparativeprisonsstudy they conductedin the 1960s whichexamined fifteen Scandinavian prisons and nearly 2000 inmates across four Nordic countries. At the time, it wasthe largest comparative study of prisons and inmate behaviorever undertaken and despite 15 years of analysis and write-up it was never published but it influencedmany other important prison studies thatfollowed. This bookengages with the functionalist perspectives that were widespread in the 1960s, and tries to answer some of the classical questions of prison sociology such as how prisoners adapt to imprisonment and the degree to which prisoner adaptations can be attributed to characteristics of prisoners and prisons. Itexamines the nature and structure of prisons, the effect of that structure on individual prisoners and the other factors that may influence the way that they respond to confinement. Italso includes discussion about the prisoners' considerations of justice and fairness and a explanation of the study design and data which was highly unique at the time. The Scandinavian Prison Study brings Wheeler and Cline's pioneering work into the present context with a preface and an introduction whichdiscuss the questions and claims raised in the book still relevant to this day.