[Aspect of the prisoner's psychological universe]

This paper deals with an aspect of inmate's psychology. One of us is consultant psychiatrist in a jail. According to his experience, the behaviour of the prisoners appears to be very regressive. Inmates chiefly complain of digestive pains. They put a great emphasis on food, nourishment and drinking. That regression to the oral phase explains an unconscious will of staying in jail: It is rather frequent, for example, to see prisoners, who are about to recover their freedom, attempting a ridiculous and futile escape, with, as only result, one more year in jail. Obviously they want, through this absurd acting out, to keep living their childish and regressive way of life.