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There are also, as Cicero pointed out, many people in prison who by rights should have been given psychiatric care at some stage and indeed many who have. A lot of people are in prison because they are simply not equipped to deal with things that most of us deal with routinely. Such as the guy who understood he was being taunted but didn't have the capacity to deal with it in a societally acceptable way.
There is also a much higher rate of illiteracy amongst the prison population than amongst the general population. There is a recognised pattern where a child living in a chaotic environment (generally speaking poverty makes for a chaotic and insecure existence) or with dyslexia, finds themself falling behind their peers at school. This is a particularly bad problem amongst boys. They quickly learn to mask their inability with 'bad' behaviour, get bored in lessons because they're no longer able to follow it, and act up even more. This is often then followed by truancy and a sense of social dislocation.
Many of these lads end up in trouble very young. We see more and more 12 and 13 year olds entering the judicial system and the profile I just gave you accounts for a ridiculously high proportion of them. A friend of mine (my ex team-leader) teaches literacy/basic skills in Strangeways Prison (one of our more notorious facilities in Manchester). Most of the lads she deals with have very low literacy levels, with several being unable even to recognise their names on a register (a standard pre-entry level test).
It's hard to live in the modern world if you cannot read or write adequately. How do you fill out a job application form? How do you access health care? The stigma attached those with literacy problems is huge. They've often spent their entire life being told either by parents, teachers or fellow pupils that they are stupid or 'thick'. Much of the world is closed to you if you cannot read above the level of a seven year old.
If on top of this difficulty you are surrounded by a culture that holds a tacit acceptance of some types of crime and violence (the subcultures that exist in grey little pockets of wealthy countries) being drawn into that as a way of navigating the world, and possibly commanding the respect of your fellows is as likely as not.
Add to that the many people who fill western jails for minor crimes which cause nobody any physical harm or endangerment and really, it is difficult to come up with picture that the majority of prisoners adhere to.
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