IntroductionTheory of Life in the RoundConclusion and DiscussionAcknowledgmentReferencesA Theory of Life in the RoundElfreda A. ChatmanFlorida State University, Louis Shores Building, Tallahassee, FL 32303. E-mail: [email protected] study addresses ways in which inmates at the onlymaximum-security prison for women in Neuse City (inthe northeastern United States) redefine their socialworld in order to survive incarceration. An aim of theproject is to engage in theory building in order to exam-ine the experiences of a world that is “lived in the round.”A life in the round is a public form of life. It is a lifestylewith an enormous degree of imprecision. Yet, it is thisinexactitude that provides an acceptable level of cer-tainty. This way of life sets standards by which oneconstructs everyday meaning from reality. It is a “taken-for-granted,” “business-as-usual” style of being. Relyingon ethnographic research and interviews with 80 womenat the prison, the findings revealed that a life in the roundwas sustaining a “normative” existence.IntroductionEarly in my research career, I chose to apply conceptualframeworks or theories to studies of information poverty.The decision to apply theories to the everyday needs ofpeople became a standard process. As a result, I haveexamined several theories in my research. But in light of thework I wanted to explore, these borrowed theories began toshow signs of serious weakness. Particularly noticeable tome, if not to my audiences, were the limited advances theymade regarding the information needs of people who liveprecariously within the brutal, marginalized world I wasobserving.The evidence was clear and compelling that theoriesborrowed from other disciplines were insufficient to exam-ine the information needs of people who had yet to find avoice in the literature.Subsequently, my first attempt at new theory buildingresulted from my study of aging women at a retirementcommunity I called Garden Towers (Chatman, 1992). Thetouching candor of the women regarding a world empty ofmeaningful advice or help led to the creation of my theoryof information poverty.1Within the boundaries of this seemingly insulated worldof mutual support and aid was a small society in which theaging women were driven by self-protective behaviors. Ef-forts to deal with the sudden breakdown of their lives whilestruggling to appear normal led to expressions of secrecyand deception.The findings of that research were so troubling that Iwent back to my previous studies to find other signs of theseconcepts that I might have overlooked. Indeed, secrecy anddeception were present in other studies I had conducted. Iconcluded that the lived experience of poor people is the neplus ultra of the shielding of needed information fromoutsiders. Something that was so elusive before becameclearer. My theory of information poverty could explain thediminishing reality of a world as lived by the residents at aretirement community that was eerie in its fastidious with-drawal of information.Leaving the haunting atmosphere of Garden Towers, Istarted a study at a maximum-security prison for women.My purpose was to explore aspects of the women’s livesthat might add another level to my understanding of infor-mation poverty. But what I found was an information worldthat was functioning quite well.A factor that seems to make this the case is the groundingof a shared reality. The inmates have standard ways ofpresenting themselves to each other. Initially, they mighthold individual perspectives about ways to survive inprison, but over time, private views assimilate to the com-munal view of the thatness of their lives.In its small worldness a prison, for many, is not anuncomfortable place to be. The routine of prison life givesa certain degree of security and even protection. Prisonerswill reshape their own private views in order to embody thenorms of prison precisely for the security that this processbrings.Received January 11, 1997; revised March 9, 1998; accepted March 9,1998.© 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.1For a comprehensive development of this theory, see “The Impover-ished Life-World of Outsiders.” JASIS (Chatman, 1996).JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE. 50(3):207–217, 1999 CCC 0002-8231/99/030207-11Women in PrisonAs indicated in the literature, there is minimal attentiondevoted to the prison life of women. For example, Giallom-baro (1966) notes that “a neglected area...of the adultprison setting concerns female forms of deprivation” (p.268). A finding that does emerge pertains to the effects ofrole distance between women in prison and the women whoare their keepers and the limited attempts to protect the legalrights of women prisoners (Pollock-Byrne, 1990). Barlow(1988) supports the idea that minimal attention is paid to therights of female inmates. She contends that “Women are farmore likely to receive custodial sentences for minor of-fenses like shoplifting, even for their first offense, than men,who are often fined” (p. 28).Sobel (1982) reported that women prisoners experience anumber of emotional and physical problems. She attributesthese problems to the stress they undergo as a result ofdeprivation from family and the need to learn survival skillsamong hostile, often dangerous, strangers.Quoting a prisoner, Barlow (1988, p. 28) provides insightabout life in prison as experienced by a female inmate:Life with the conditions at Holloway, I knew it would be nopicnic, but I just didn’t think they would treat human beingslike that, anywhere.Being unprepared for the realities of prison life leads toa number of problems: overdependence on long terms orwomen who are repeat offenders for emotional support,anxiety and stress over having to redefine oneself in astrange environment, and worry about family and lovedones.Who are the women who make up the prison population?Harm (1992) identifies them as women of color and poorwomen. She also indicates that they are often mothers. Thisfinding is also central to Hairston’s research. In a thought-provoking article entitled “Mothers in Jail” she notes that aneglected area of knowledge is the story of what happens totheir children while they are incarcerated and the effect ofincarceration on their relationship with their children(1991).Beckerman (1994) provides more detail regardingwomen prisoners who are also mothers. She observes thatthey range in age from younger than 20 to older than 32.Most are