Overview

Can the morality of a nation really be judged by how it treats its prisoners? The United States has more people in prison than any other nation, and the nature of the American correctional system continues to be the subject of passionate debate. This unique combination of historical overview and personal testimony provides an unprecedented look at the U.S. correctional system. The first section of the book places the notion of corrections within an historical context. The second examines contemporary correctional issues. In the third and final section, Stephen Stanko, an inmate in the South Carolina correctional system, provides a detailed look at prison life from the inside. Stanko offers his perspective—in a voice that is blunt but never preachy—on the harsh realities of prison life, making this a rigorous exploration of our correctional system in both theory and practice.

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9780313318566

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?This book by two criminologists and a currently incarcerated inmate surveys the history of the correctional system in the US and provides an overview of contemporary prisons, criminal justice policies, women in prison, prisoner rights, and the evolution of current penological practices. As such, it would stand as an effective text for college-level criminology classes. The strength of the work, however, is the powerful personalization of the prison experience provided by Stanko, who is currently incarcerated in South Carolina. He discusses, among other topics, his pretrial detention, the psychology of imprisonment, coping strategies, health care in prison, food, relations with corrections officials, and the intense depression of being cut off from freedom that afflicts most inmates....Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.?-Choice

This book by two criminologists and a currently incarcerated inmate surveys the history of the correctional system in the US and provides an overview of contemporary prisons, criminal justice policies, women in prison, prisoner rights, and the evolution of current penological practices. As such, it would stand as an effective text for college-level criminology classes. The strength of the work, however, is the powerful personalization of the prison experience provided by Stanko, who is currently incarcerated in South Carolina. He discusses, among other topics, his pretrial detention, the psychology of imprisonment, coping strategies, health care in prison, food, relations with corrections officials, and the intense depression of being cut off from freedom that afflicts most inmates....Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. -Choice ?This book by two criminologists and a currently incarcerated inmate surveys the history of the correctional system in the US and provides an overview of contemporary prisons, criminal justice policies, women in prison, prisoner rights, and the evolution of current penological practices. As such, it would stand as an effective text for college-level criminology classes. The strength of the work, however, is the powerful personalization of the prison experience provided by Stanko, who is currently incarcerated in South Carolina. He discusses, among other topics, his pretrial detention, the psychology of imprisonment, coping strategies, health care in prison, food, relations with corrections officials, and the intense depression of being cut off from freedom that afflicts most inmates....Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.?-Choice

Author Information

STEPHEN STANKO provides three chapters with a first-person account as an inmate of the MacDougall Correctional Institute in Ridgeville, South Carolina. WAYNE GILLESPIE teaches in the Dept of Criminal Justice and Criminology at East Tennessee State University. GORDON A. CREWS is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Marshall University in Huntington, Kansas.

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