Some Latent Functions of Imprisonment

The author is the President of the Illinois Academy of Criminology. For four years (1954-1958) he was Assistant Warden of the Cook County (Chicago) jail. He has lectured in sociology and criminology at the University of Chicago and Indiana University, and has been a research sociologist for the Illinois Parole and Pardon Board. He is the author of Parole to the Army, a detailed study of 3,000 exconvicts who served in the Army during World War II. The present article, was recently read before the Illinois Academy of Criminology. The author challenges us to think seriously of some usually unthought-of effects of our traditional methods of dealing with criminals.-EDITOR.