Prisoner

[6] The earliest evidence of the existence of the prisoner dates back to 8,000 BC from prehistoric graves in Lower Egypt.

[7][failed verification][8] Some of the most extreme adverse effects suffered by prisoners appear to be caused by solitary confinement for long durations.

When held in "Special Housing Units" (SHU), prisoners are subject to sensory deprivation and lack of social contact that can have a severe negative impact on their mental health.

[13] The victim's ego develops a series of defense mechanisms to achieve survival and cope with stress in a traumatic situation.

Clemmer's text, based on his study of 2,400 convicts over three years at the Menard Correctional Center where he worked as a clinical sociologist,[18] propagated the notion of the existence of a distinct inmate culture and society with values and norms antithetical to both the prison authority and the wider society.

[22] Opposed to these theories, several European sociologists[23] have shown that inmates were often fragmented and the links they have with society are often stronger than those forged in prison, particularly through the action of work on time perception[24] The convict code was theorized as a set of tacit behavioural norms which exercised a pervasive impact on the conduct of prisoners.

[26] Thus, it was seen as providing an expression and form of communal resistance and allowed for the psychological survival of the individual under extremely repressive and regimented systems of carceral control.

Prisoners in the United States do not have full rights under the Constitution, however, they are protected by the Eighth Amendment which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

In 2000, the Texas Department of Education conducted a longitudinal study of 883 men and women who earned college degrees while incarcerated, finding recidivism rates between 27.2 percent (completion of an AA degree) and 7.8 percent (completion of a BA degree), compared to a system-wide recidivism rate between 40 and 43 percent.10 One report, sponsored by the Correctional Education Association, focused on recidivism in three states, concluding that education prevented crime.

[31] Other types of prisoners can include those under police custody, house arrest, those in psychiatric institutions, internment camps, and peoples restricted to a specific area.