This powerful drama of prison life is set in a house of detention where a group of young convicts-predominantly black and Puerto Rican-taunt, fight, insult, and entertain one another in an attempt to preserve their sanity and to create a semblance of community. When a young white prisoner accused of child molesting is thrown into the cell block by a guard who says he belongs in Sing Sing because the men up there konw what to do with degenerates like you, the stage is set for an explosive series of events; for, among prisoners, this child molester called short eyes is the lowest of criminals.