Under the auspices of a governmentally sanctioned "war on drugs," incarceration rates in the United States have risen dramatically since 1980. Increasingly, correctional administrators at all levels are turning to private, for-profit corporations to manage the swelling inmate population. Policy discussions of this trend toward prison privatization tend to focus on cost-effectiveness, contract monitoring, and enforcement, but in his Private Prisons in America, Michael A. Hallett reveals that these issues are only part of the story. Demonstrating that imprisonment serves numerous agendas other than "crime control," Hallett's analysis suggests that private prisons are best understood not as the product of increasing crime rates, but instead as the latest chapter in a troubling history of discrimination aimed primarily at African American men.

This two-volume encyclopedia provides a comprehensive and authoritative examination of the history and current character of American prisons and jails and their place in the U.S. corrections system. This encyclopedia provides a rigorous and comprehensive summary of correctional systems and practices and their evolution throughout US history. Topics include sentencing norms and contemporary developments; differences between local jails and prisons and regional, state, and federal systems; violent and nonviolent inmate populations; operations of state and federal prisons, including well-known prisons such as ADX-Florence, Alcatrez, Attica, Leavenworth, and San Quentin; privately run, for-profit prisons as well as the companies that run them; inmate culture, including prisoner-generated social hierarchies, prisoner slang, gangs, drug use, and violence; prison trends and statistics, including racial, ethnic, age, gender, and educational breakdowns; the death penalty; and post-incarceration outcomes, including recidivism. The set showcases contributions from some of the leading scholars in the fields of correctional systems and practices and will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in learning more about American prisons, jails, and community corrections.

When the tough-on-crime politics of the 1980s overcrowded state prisons, private companies saw potential profit in building and operating correctional facilities. Today more than a hundred thousand of the 1.5 million incarcerated Americans are held in private prisons in twenty-nine states and federal corrections. Private prisons are criticized for making money off mass incarceration—to the tune of $5 billion in annual revenue. Based on Lauren-Brooke Eisen’s work as a prosecutor, journalist, and attorney at policy think tanks, Inside Private Prisons blends investigative reportage and quantitative and historical research to analyze privatized corrections in America. From divestment campaigns to boardrooms to private immigration-detention centers across the Southwest, Eisen examines private prisons through the eyes of inmates, their families, correctional staff, policymakers, activists, Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees, undocumented immigrants, and the executives of America’s largest private prison corporations. Private prisons have become ground zero in the anti-mass-incarceration movement. Universities have divested from these companies, political candidates hesitate to accept their campaign donations, and the Department of Justice tried to phase out its contracts with them. On the other side, impoverished rural towns often try to lure the for-profit prison industry to build facilities and create new jobs. Neither an endorsement or a demonization, Inside Private Prisons details the complicated and perverse incentives rooted in the industry, from mandatory bed occupancy to vested interests in mass incarceration. If private prisons are here to stay, how can we fix them? This book is a blueprint for policymakers to reform practices and for concerned citizens to understand our changing carceral landscape.

This reader introduces the student to prison management. Particular interest is given the increased role of profit in the application of punishment. Profit and prison privatization are viewed within their larger context. As such, public and private prison operations are compared. Part of this comparison takes place through situating each sector upon an ideological continuum. This placement helps indicate the direction being taken by the contemporary prison. It further reveals that tomorrow's prisons may be less driven by traditional objectives and more driven by the notions of profit and efficiency.

For the first time in four decades, prison populations are declining and politicians have reached the consensus that mass imprisonment is no longer sustainable. At this unique moment in the history of corrections, the opportunity has emerged to discuss in meaningful ways how best to shape efforts to control crime and to intervene effectively with offenders. The American Prison: Imagining a Different Future, by Francis T. Cullen, Cheryl, Lero Johnson, and Mary K. Stohr, pulls together established correctional scholars to imagine what this prison future might entail. Each scholar uses his or her expertise to craft—in an accessible way for students to read—a blueprint for how to create a new penology along a particular theme. For example, one contributor writes about how to use existing research expertise to create a prison that is therapeutic and another provides insight on how to create a "feminist" prison. In the final chapter the editors pull together the "lessons learned" in a cohesive, comprehensive essay.

Examines the history of prisons in the United States with articles about convict labor, escapes, famous and infamous wardens, fires, notable prisoners, riots, prison society, reformers, terminology, and more.

The Routledge Handbook on American Prisons is an authoritative volume that provides an overview of the state of U.S. prisons and synthesizes the research on the many facets of the prison system. The United States is exceptional in its use of incarceration as punishment. It not only has the largest prison population in the world, but also the highest per-capita incarceration rate. Research and debate about mass incarceration continues to grow, with mounting bipartisan agreement on the need for criminal justice reform. Divided into four sections (Prisons: Security, Operations and Administration; Types of Offenders and Populations; Living and Dying in Prison; and Release, Reentry, and Reform), the volume explores the key issues fundamental to understanding the U.S. prison system, including the characteristics of facilities; inmate risk assessment and classification, prison administration and employment, for-profit prisons, special populations, overcrowding, prison health care, prison violence, the special circumstances of death row prisoners, collateral consequences of incarceration, prison programming, and parole. The final section examines reform efforts and ideas, and offers suggestions for future research and attention. With contributions from leading correctional scholars, this book is a valuable resource for scholars with an interest in U.S. prisons and the issues surrounding them. It is structured to serve scholars and graduate students studying corrections, penology, institutional corrections, and other related topics.

Updated in a new 5th edition, Public Personnel Management, by Norma M. Riccucci, is a concise and accessible reader containing all original articles addressing the most current issues in public personnel management. Written expressly for the text by leading scholars, all of the articles are either new to this edition or substantially revised. Each article focuses on specific-often controversial-issues in public personal management, such as comparative personnel management, pensions, sexuality, health, succession planning, unions, and the multi-generational workforce.

2011 Updated Reprint. Updated Annually. Global Privatization Laws and Regulations Handbook. Vol. 1 United States

American Corrections, Second Edition offers you a contemporary, issues-oriented introduction that covers every aspect of corrections, prompting you to think critically about complex issues that are affecting the current U.S. correctional system. Incorporating the most recent theory, research, and data available, the Second Edition encourages you to explore the most interesting and progressive developments in correctional policy and practice. Authors Barry A. Krisberg, Susan Marchionna, and Christopher J. Hartney draw from years of professional experience to give you a practical knowledge of corrections, as well as provide a framework for thoughtful analysis into what is plaguing the American correctional system and a realistic exploration of the solutions that could make a difference. New to the Second Edition: Up-to-date coverage of today’s key issues reflects the latest developments in corrections, including the fiscal impact of corrections, reforms in corrections, and an expanded use of alternatives to incarceration. Debates around the effectiveness of corrections encourage you to think critically about probation, problem-solving courts, split sentences and flash incarceration, new recidivism studies, rates of racial and ethnic disparity in adult and juvenile corrections, and overrepresentation of youth of color in prisons. Recent trends are discussed to give you a clearer picture of how the correctional system has transformed over the years, including the decline in the practice of incarcerating juveniles in large prisons, the rising incarceration rate for women, the treatment of mentally ill inmates, the increase of private prisons, and more. Incisive exploration of policies proposed by the Trump administration shows you how the current administration’s approach differs from Obama-era sentencing reforms and encourages students to think critically about the potent impacts on the correctional system. New Spotlight boxes introduce you to key issues such as immigration and detention and the opioid addiction epidemic. Updated references, statistics, court rulings, and data help you understand the latest trends in correctional practices.