Following a brief history of prisons in America and Washington State, this book presents photographic and narrative profiles of 10 inmates, 1 visitor, and 1 correctional guard at the Walla Walla State Prison in Washington State.

The narrative includes a brief account of the authors' 4 months of observation and research in Walla Walla where they attempted to gain the trust of the inmates and portray their characters and lifestyles in prison. The profiles encompass a new inmate attempting to adjust to prison life, an older inmate who has been constantly in and out of prison, and prison's reigning homosexual 'queen,' a 'snitch,' and a 'lifer' who rules most of the prison. Other inmates profiled are an inmate revolutionary, a murderer on death row, a biker, a member of an ethnic inmate group, and a drug hustler.
The profiles not only encompass the inmates' prison lifestyles but also the criminal lifestyles that brought them to Walla Walla, which houses dangerous and chronic offenders. Also profiled are a correctional guard and a female visitor who regularly visits her inmate husband.
The profiles are offered in the context of prison overcrowding and just months before a convict riot on July 7, 1979.