Full Description
Offering perspectives from a range of experts, both academic and nonacademic, this reference book examines the development of prisons in the United States and addresses the principal contemporary issues and controversies of our prisons and prison systems.
Prisons were initially created as a means of reforming offenders, but over time, the objective of rehabilitation gave way to a strategy of mass imprisonment—a system that has resulted in correctional facilities dealing with serious problems such as overcrowding, prison gangs, pervasive violence, and a significant incidence of mental illness among inmates. Prisons in the United States: A Reference Handbook examines the history of corrections in America, detailing how well-intentioned policies intended to "get tough on crime" sanctioned the dismantling of parole systems and resulted in laws that imposed mandatory minimum sentences. These changes contributed to the United States now having the biggest incarcerated population worldwide and the highest rate of incarceration.
The book offers an accessible history of the development of the prison system in the United States and analyzes the various problems and controversies associated with prisons in the present day. The coverage includes key related issues, including those of race and gender, and enables readers to understand how past developments continue to affect public and official perceptions of the prison experience—for example, how the practice of keeping inmates in solitary confinement for lengthy periods has been reinvented and represents a return to a historically discredited practice. Accounts of former inmates and of correctional officers are integrated into the text, adding context and offering rarely heard perspectives on difficult issues affecting prisons.
Contents
Preface,
1 Background and History,
History of the Prison,
Traditional Punishments: Colonial Period,
Jails, Prisons, and Penal Reform,
The Birth and Decline of the Penitentiary,
Elmira Reformatory and the Men's Reformatory Movement, 1876-1920,
The Women's Reformatory Movement,
Post-Penitentiary Developments, 1865-1940,
Individual Deviance and the Medical Model: Progressive Period, 1900-1920,
The 1940s,
Developments in Corrections: The 1950s to Date,
References,
2 Problems, Controversies, and Solutions,
The "Pains of Imprisonment" and Recidivism,
Prison and Amenities: Principle of Less Eligibility,
Rising Correctional Costs,
Mentally Ill Prisoners,
Elderly Prisoners,
Prison Violence,
Prison Gangs,
Juveniles in Adult Prisons,
The Corrections Industrial Complex,
Private Prisons,
Super-Maximum or "Supermax" Prisons,
Solitary Confinement,
Prison Rape,
Transgender Prisoners,
Life Sentences and Life without Parole (LWOP),
Abolishing Imprisonment and Prison Reform,
References,
3 Perspectives,
Imprisonment in America, Ashley Nellis,
Mass Injustice: The War on Drugs, Institutional Discrimination, and the Impact on U.S. Prisons, Christine Arazan,
Supermax: A Troubling Trend in Incarceration, Michael Costelloe,
Should a College Degree Be Required for Correctional Officers?, Deborah Mitchell Robinson,
Challenges Faced by Female Prison Officers Working with Female Prisoners, Susan Jones,
Threads of Correctional Leadership: A Warden's Perspective, Angel Medina,
Working with Chronically Mentally Ill Inmates: A Shift Commander's Perspective, Vince Guerrero,
Roll Call, James J. Hamm,
4 Profiles,
American Civil Liberties Union National Prison Project,
American Correctional Association,
American Correctional Health Services Association,
American Friends Service Committee,
Association of State Correctional Administrators,
Bureau of Justice Statistics,
Correctional Association of New York,
Corrections Technology Association,
Families Against Mandatory Minimums,
Federal Bureau of Prisons,
Human Rights Watch,
The Innocence Project,
National Association of Sentencing Commissions,
National Correctional Industries Association,
National Institute of Corrections,
The Sentencing Project,
Solitary Watch,
Transgender Law Center Detention Project,
U.S. Sentencing Commission,
Women's Prison Association,
5 Data and Documents,
Incarceration Trends and Numbers,
Figure 5.1: International Rates of Incarceration per 100,000,
Figure 5.2: U.S. State and Federal Prison Population, 1925-2014,
Table 5.1: Prisoners under the Jurisdiction of State or Federal Correctional Authorities, December 31, 2004-2014,
Table 5.2: Imprisonment Rates for Sentenced Prisoners under the Jurisdiction of State and Federal Correctional Authorities per 100,000 U.S. Residents, December 31, 2014,
Demographic Characteristics
Table 5.3: Imprisonment Rate of Sentenced State and Federal Male Prisoners per 100,000 U.S. Residents, by Demographic Characteristics, December 31, 2014,
Table 5.4: Imprisonment Rate of Sentenced State and Federal Female Prisoners per 100,000 U.S. Residents, by Demographic Characteristics, December 31, 2014,
Type of Offense,
Table 5.5: Estimated Percentage of Sentenced Prisoners under Federal Correctional Authority, by Most Serious Offense, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin, September 30, 2014,
Recidivism,
Table 5.6: Rearrest Rates for Recidivism Study Offenders by Federal Offense Type,
Table 5.7: Texas: Rearrest Rates by Fiscal Year of Release or Start of Supervision, Fiscal Years 2009-2011 Showing Percentage Rearrested within Three Years,
Mandatory Minimum Sentences,
Table 5.8: Overcrowding in All Federal Facilities and Low-, Medium-, and High-Security Male Facilities, FY1995-FY2012,
Life Sentences and Life without Parole,
Table 5.9: Offenses for Which Life Imprisonment Was Imposed in the Federal System in FY2013,
Table 5.10: Offenses for Which De Facto Life Sentences Were Imposed in the Federal System in FY2013,
Table 5.11: State Enactment of Life without Parole Laws,
The Aging Prison Population,
Table 5.12: Sentenced State Prisoners, by Age, Race, and Hispanic Origin, December 31, 1993,
Table 5.13: Sentenced State Prisoners, by Age, Race, and Hispanic Origin, December 31, 2013,
Mental Health,
Table 5.14: Prevalence of Symptoms of Mental Health Disorders among State and Federal Prisoners, 2004,
Table 5.15: Prisoners Who Had a Mental Health Problem, by Characteristic of Gender, Age, and Race,
Documents,
Colonial Punishments,
U.S. Constitution,
Benjamin Rush on Public Punishments (1798),
On the Penitentiary System in the United States (1833),
Female Convicts (1864),
Resolutions of the National Congress on Penitentiary and Reformatory Discipline (1870),
Grover Cleveland on Prison Reform (1886),
Herbert Hoover on Federal Prison Reform (1929),
Richard Nixon on Prison Labor (1973),
Barack Obama on Prison Reform (2015),
6 Resources,
Books and Book Chapters,
Journal Articles,
Reports of Federal Agencies,
News Media Reports,
Reports by Private Organizations,
Nonprint Resources,
7 Chronology,
Glossary,
Index,
About the Author,
