Abstract: American prisons for men are places of violence and degradation. Most Americans view prisons as 'out there,' very often in rural areas, where a class of 'others,' criminals from urban areas, kill time (and each other) and hone criminal skills: a world seen as totally alien from the United states the average citizen inhabits. This crisis in American prisons needs to be better understood because of the over two million people in prison, 95% will be coming back! An examination of prison life, gleaned through the writings of prisoners, ex-convicts, guards, wardens, and prison personnel reveals a world similar to non-prison America. The American prison system, though it isolates prisoners from mainstream society, is not an isolated institution within society. It is part of the social landscape and reflects the social relationships of men and women. Given the absence of women in male prisons, a gender order is created, mostly through male-on-male rape, in which men dominate 'women,' and a male hierarchy is established wherein strong males dominate the weak. These relationships between men are part of the prisoners' code, and are tolerated, and at times tacitly encouraged, by prison administrators who are desperate to keep control of their prisons. The prisoner code, or law, is sacrosanct inside the walls, and it is ironic that administrators labor in service to a ruthless prisoner code, which inmates blindly obey and brutally enforce. Pity and tolerance are not part of the prison statutes.