Prisons in the United States: A Reference Handbook (Contemporary World Issues)

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.

• Presents a comprehensive yet succinct history of the development of men's and women's prisons in the United States

• Offers a range of author perspectives that identify and explore the principal issues associated with prisons and imprisonment

• Documents the shift from an intent to reform inmates in prisons to retribution and an attempt to remove all criminals from society, using prisons for "warehousing" of undesired elements

• Provides a complete reference guide for the understanding of prisons and imprisonment as a punishment