In a description of total institutions Goffman stated that his classification was not neat, exhaustive, or of immediate analytic use. This paper uses the terms of structural role theory to overcome these problems. When Goffman's three criteria are used simultaneously, there emerge eight instead of five categories of total institutions. The structure of the inmate role is analysed by using the categories of a structural role theory and relating them to Allport's idea of partial inclusion. The analysis is presented in the form of propositions for empirical research, and comments are made on the practical value of the anlaysis.