Prisons in Crisis

by Selke, William L.

• ISBN13: 9780253351494
• ISBN10: 0253351499
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1993-09-01
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

More than one million people are now in prison in the United States. Incarceration rates in the U.S. are the highest in the world. William conveys the urgency of the problem by looking in detail at prison life and prison conditions today. He then reviews ideas and policies, both at home and abroad, that can be used to alleviate the prison courage and public support to put them into effect. His proposal for making prison systems more effective are an important contribution to the current debate over the ongoing prison crisis.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
The Sentence of Imprisonment	p. 1
Prison Populations	p. 1
Comparisons of Imprisonment Rates	p. 4
Ideologies and Criminal Justice	p. 10
The Community Corrections Model	p. 15
Research on the Use of Imprisonment	p. 18
U.S. Prisons in the Nineties	p. 23
Sentencing Reform and Prisons	p. 23
The Prisoners' Rights Movement	p. 28
Prison Conditions Today	p. 36
Responses to 1983 Suits	p. 41
Scandinavian Criminology and Prisons	p. 47
Scandinavian Criminology	p. 47
Crime and Punishment in Denmark and the United States	p. 52
Conditions in Danish Prisons	p. 57
Cultural Values and Imprisonment	p. 64
Open versus Closed Prisons	p. 68
The Basic Dilemma for Prisons	p. 69
Closed Prisons	p. 71
Open Prisons	p. 81
A Prison Index	p. 90
International Corrections	p. 96
Cross-Cultural Research	p. 96
Correctional Practices Worldwide	p. 99
Can Changes Be Imported?	p. 113
Toward a Moderation of Punishment	p. 116
Barriers to Prison Reform	p. 116
External Approaches to Change	p. 118
Improvements from Within	p. 123
Principles of Reform	p. 127
Antecedents to Change	p. 134
Epilogue	p. 140
References	p. 141
Index	p. 152
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