Toch, Hans: Coping in Prison

Living in Prison: The Ecology of Survival

Living in Prison was based primarily on findings from in-depth interviews with inmates housed within five maximum-security prisons operated by the State of New York. Toch framed the study within a psychological perspective on transactions, which assumes human uniqueness and recognizes that individuals’ needs may vary within the same context. Toch recognized differences among inmates in how they prioritized their needs, which contributed to how they perceived aspects of prison environments. Therefore, the same aspects of a prison environment may influence inmates differently based on whether that feature of the environment frustrated or facilitated satisfaction of their needs.

Toch identified seven environmental concerns that were salient for inmates in prisons: privacy, activity, safety, structure, support, emotional feedback, and freedom. Privacy refers to a preference for isolation, peace, and quiet and to the absence of environmental irritants (e.g., noise, crowding). Satisfaction of the need for privacy involves reducing external stimuli to streamline experience and ease adjustment. Activity reflects a concern about understimulation. Activity may be important to inmates who need their time to be filled with distraction, entertainment, or action. Safety refers to a concern for one's physical well-being and a preference for social and physical settings that provide protection and minimize the chance of being victimized. Structure is a preference for predictability, orderly routines, clear-cut rules, and consistent enforcement. Support reflects a concern for reliable, tangible assistance from persons and settings, and for services that facilitate self-advancement and self-improvement. Emotional feedback is a concern about being loved and appreciated and refers to a desire for relationships that provide emotional sustenance and empathy. Freedom is a concern about maintaining autonomy and a desire for minimal restrictions on space and activity. In addition to the seven environmental concerns revealed by the interviews, Toch also identified social stimulation as a potential concern. Social stimulation is a concern with congeniality and a preference for settings that provide an opportunity for social interaction and companionship.

Toch observed that the importance of environmental requirements varied across inmates due to their personal experiences and motives. For example, Toch found that different environmental preferences corresponded with different background characteristics of inmates (e.g., race, criminal history). Differences between inmates influenced the needs required to facilitate coping and ultimately adjustment to the prison environment.

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