Prisons in Context

by King, Roy D.; Maguire, Mike

• ISBN13: 9780198258650
• ISBN10: 0198258658
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-07-14
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

State controlled--though increasingly privately run--prisons are the organs of state power which are used to punish deviant members of society. Much is known about prisons, their administration, their effectiveness and their problems, and since the late 1980s prisons have become the focus of increased attention from researchers, policymakers and government. However, little attention has been given to comparing and contrasting prison systems in different countries. This collection brings together leading prison scholars from the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Australia to offer a broad view of recent developments in imprisonment theory and practice. The essays explore such issues as privately run prisons, human rights, Russian prisons after Perestroika, European prisons, women in prisons, and racial disproportion in U.S. prisons. This is a high-quality collection of up-to-date essays which will be required reading for anyone interested in prisons and the process of criminal justice.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Contexts of Imprisonment: An International Perspective	p. 1
Can Prisons Be Legitimate? Penal Politics, Privatization, and the Timelessness of an Old Idea	p. 14
Public Imprisonment by Private Means: The Re-Emergence of Private Prisons and Jails in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia	p. 29
The New Penology and Politics in Crisis: The Italian Case	p. 49
Russian Prisons After Perestroika: End of the Gulag?	p. 62
The Growth of Imprisonment in California	p. 83
Racial Disproportion in US Prisons	p. 97
Cross-National Imprisonment Rates: Limitations of Method and Possible Conclusions	p. 116
Why Study Women's Imprisonment? Or Anyone Else's? An Indefinite Article	p. 131
Inspecting Prisons: The View from Strasbourg	p. 141
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