Imprisonment has become big business in the United States. Using a "history of ideas" approach, this book examines the cultural underpinnings of prisons in the United States and explores how shared ideas about imprisonment evolve into a complex, loosely connected nationwide system of prisons that keeps enough persons to populate a small nation behind bars, razor wire and electrified fences.
Tracing both the history of the prison and the very idea of imprisonment in the United States, this book provides students with a critical overview of American prisons and considers their past, their present and directions for the future. Topics covered include:
• a history of imprisonment in America from 1600 to the present day;
• the twentieth-century prison building binge;
• the relationship between U.S. prisons and the private sector;
• a critical account of capital punishment;
• less-visible prison minorities, including women, children and the elderly; and
• sex, violence and disease in prison.
This comprehensive book is essential reading for advanced courses on corrections and correctional management and offers a compelling and provocative analysis of the realities of American penal culture from past to present. It is perfect reading for students of criminal justice, corrections, penology and the sociology of punishment.
**

motw/American Prisons_ Their Past, P - David Musick.epub

motw/American Prisons_ Their Past, P - David Musick.pdf

David Musick; Kristine Gunsaulus-Musick

Adobe InDesign CS5.5 (7.5)

Ashgate Publishing Limited

Taylor & Francis Ltd

Gower Publishing Ltd

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

May 18, 2017

producers:
Adobe PDF Library 9.9

Memory of the World Librarian: Slowrotation

Source title: American Prisons: Their Past, Present and Future

Cover 1
Title 4
Copyright 5
Dedication 6
Contents 8
List of tables 12
1 Introduction 14
Importance of the book 15
Book overview 17
2 A brief history of imprisonment in America (1600–1900) 19
Imprisonment in colonial America 19
American prisons after the revolution 22
State prisons 22
Federal prisons 28
Privatized prisons 32
Summary 34
3 The twentieth-century prison-building binge 35
State prisons 35
Prison subcultures 39
Manufacturing and marketing fear of crime 41
Recent expansion of the prison-industrial complex 46
Control units 51
Summary 58
4 Federal prisons in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries 60
Early federal prisons 61
Leavenworth 61
Atlanta 62
McNeil Island 62
Notable early federal inmates 62
The building boom begins 63
Alcatraz 65
Marion 69
The building boom accelerates 72
UNICOR 74
ADX 75
Summary 76
5 Profiting from punishment: corporations and American prisons 78
Introduction 79
Selling products and services 80
The prison telephone business 80
Transporting inmates for profit 82
Profiting from prison healthcare 85
Private financing for prisons 88
Lease-revenue bonds: public money goes to corrections corporations 89
Profiting from inmate labor 92
For-profit corporations and inmate labor 93
Privatized prisons 97
Inmate escapes, inmate-on-inmate violence and guard violence 101
Arguments for, and against, privatized prisons 105
Summary 106
6 The final solution – capital punishment 110
Introduction 111
Early methods of execution 112
American methods of execution 113
Capital punishment since 1977 121
Executioners 123
The federal death penalty 125
A statistical look at capital punishment in the United States 126
The costs of capital punishment 127
Arguments in favor of capital punishment 130
Arguments against capital punishment 130
Summary 134
7 Less visible prison minorities – women, children and the elderly 135
Introduction 136
Female inmates 136
Female inmates and their children 139
Sexual abuse of female inmates 140
Children as inmates 144
Growth in long-term U.S. children’s lock-ups 145
The character of children’s prisons 147
Children held in adult lock-ups 149
Children and the American death penalty 151
Elderly inmates 152
Growth in the elderly inmate population 153
Problems faced by elderly inmates and their keepers 155
Elderly female inmates 156
What should be done? 157
Summary 158
8 Prison by-products – violence and disease 160
Introduction 161
Prison rape 161
Prison rape 162
Abating prison rape 167
Other forms of prison violence 170
Gangs and prison violence 171
Inmate-on-inmate violence 180
Inmate-on-correctional officer violence 183
Correctional officer-on-inmate violence 185
Prison riots 189
Prisons and disease 197
AIDS 198
Tuberculosis 198
Hepatitis 199
Skin infections 199
Phantom illnesses 200
Summary 200
9 The future of prisons in the United States 202
Introduction 202
Factors favoring growth 203
Factors favoring shrinkage 205
About the death penalty and executions 206
What can be done? 207
Bibliography 209
Index 244

Imprisonment Has Become Big Business In The United States. Using A History Of Ideas Approach, This Book Examines The Cultural Underpinnings Of Prisons In The United States And Explores How Shared Ideas About Imprisonment Evolve Into A Complex, Loosely Connected Nationwide System Of Prisons That Keeps Enough Persons To Populate A Small Nation Behind Bars, Razor Wire And Electrified Fences. Tracing Both The History Of The Prison And The Very Idea Of Imprisonment In The United States, This Book Provides Students With A Critical Overview Of American Prisons And Considers Their Past, Their Present And Directions For The Future. Introduction -- A Brief History Of Imprisonment In America (1600-1900) -- The Twentieth Century Prison Building Binge -- Federal Prisons In The Twentieth And Twenty-first Centuries -- Profiting From Punishment: Corporations And American Prisons -- The Final Solution -- Capital Punishment -- Less Visible Prison Minorities -- Women, Children And The Elderly -- Prison By-products -- Violence And Disease -- The Future Of Prisons In The United States. David Musick And Kristine Gunsaulus-musick. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

This book offers a critical examination of American prisons, their history and their future and a compelling and provocative analysis of the realities of American penal culture. It is perfect reading for advanced courses on corrections and correctional management and offers a compelling and provocative analysis of the realities of American penal culture.

2025-10-27