I have to write a paper about prison life on the norms and values for inmates and staff. and how do inmates meet their needs?

Question

Does it mean that inmates meet their needs by gambling and smuggling drugs in the prison? making their own alochol..sexual acts?

thank you

There are 3 basic human needs:

--Food/Water
--Shelter
--Clothing

Those other things you mentioned are wants - not needs. Granted, they might be very strong wants, especially for those in prison. But they are not something they need to live.

Other things to consider along the lines of needs:
--Safety concerns
--Physical fitness
--Mental health
--You can probably brainstorm and come up with others.

I don't have any good resources, other than to say "google it" at this point. But wanted to clarify the question and hope someone else could point you in a good direction.

Matt

One of the important things for people to have is a perception of control over their environment, whether this control is real or not.

Prisoners have very little control (power) over their environment. Some are willing to do almost anything to increase their perception of personal control over their environment, even if the control is only over some other prisoners.

The article below covers some of this.

http://www.members.cox.net/dagershaw/lol/ControlPerception.html

I hope this helps a little more. Thanks for asking.