Encyclopedia of Prisons and Correctional Facilities

Book Overview

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The two-volume Encyclopedia of Prisons and Correctional Facilities aims to provide a critical overview of penal institutions within a historical and contemporary framework. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, a fact that has caused lawmakers, advocates, and legal professionals to rethink punishment policies as well as develop new policies on prisoner education and rehabilitation.

Issues of race, gender, and class are fully integrated throughout in order to demonstrate the complexity of the implementation and intended results of incarceration. The Encyclopedia contains biographies, articles describing important legal statutes, and detailed and authoritative descriptions of the major prisons in the United States. Comparative data and examples are employed to analyze the American system within an international context. The Encyclopedia′s 400 entries are all written by recognized authorities. The appendix contains a comprehensive listing of every federal prison in the U.S., complete with facility details and service information.

Key Themes

Juvenile Justice
Labor
Prison Architecture
Prison Populations
Prison Reform
Privatization
Race, Gender, Class
Security and Classification
Sentencing Policy and Laws
Staff
Theories of Punishment
Treatment Programs

Editorial Board
Stephanie Bush-Baskette, National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD)
Jeanne Flavin, Fordham University
Esther Heffernan, Edgewood College
Jim Thomas, Northern Illinois University

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 076192731X
• ISBN13: 9780761927310
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc
• Length: 1400 Pages
• Weight: 4.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 3.0" x 9.1" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Good effort but...

The problem with a book like this is, the minute it's published, it's obsolete. Prisons are getting worse by the day. For instance, it states here that women at MCI-Framingham in Massachusetts, receive training in building trades and have access to programs through Boston University. That's not entirely true. "Programs" indicates something tangible like a degree but BU's endowment can only go so far; the state should kick in (especially since state law mandates it) but doesn't. Soon (as of this date Oct. 9, 2007), however, women at Framingham will be provided culinary arts and cosmetology programs, skills once considered traditionally "female" (and obviously still are). But they only have room for about 12 people at a time. There are roughly 1080 inmates in this 452 capacity prison. Right now, there is nothing else offered that is a marketable skill. And that's just the women's prison. An entire book would need to be written to touch on the severe deficiencies within the men's prisons. I gave this book 4 stars because it doesn't cover enough about Massachusetts prisons, which I have discovered has one of the worst systems in the country. It is this silence that allows it to remain so. MA has the highest rate of over classified inmates (inmates who are in max should be in med, and med in min, etc.), second highest percentage of innocent people incarcerated (Illinois is number 1), the highest suicide rate in DYS in the nation, etc.