Books about Incarceration from Amazon.com

At no time in history, and certainly in no other democratic society, have prisons been filled so quickly and to such capacity than in the United States. And nowhere has this growth been more concentrated than in the disadvantaged--and primarily minority--neighborhoods of America's largest urban cities. In the most impoverished places, as much as 20% of the adult men are locked up on any given day, and there is hardly a family without a father, son, brother, or uncle who has not been behind bars.
While the effects of going to and returning home from prison are well-documented, little attention has been paid to the impact of removal on neighborhoods where large numbers of individuals have been imprisoned. In the first detailed, empirical exploration of the effects of mass incarceration on poor places, Imprisoning Communities demonstrates that in high doses incarceration contributes to the very social problems it is intended to solve: it breaks up family and social networks; deprives siblings, spouses, and parents of emotional and financial support; and threatens the economic and political infrastructure of already struggling neighborhoods. Especially at risk are children who, research shows, are more likely to commit a crime if a father or brother has been to prison. Clear makes the counterintuitive point that when incarceration concentrates at high levels, crime rates will go up. Removal, in other words, has exactly the opposite of its intended effect: it destabilizes the community, thus further reducing public safety.
Demonstrating that the current incarceration policy in urban America does more harm than good, from increasing crime to widening racial disparities and diminished life chances for youths, Todd Clear argues that we cannot overcome the problem of mass incarceration concentrated in poor places without incorporating an idea of community justice into our failing correctional and criminal justice systems..
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Within the past 25 years, the prison population in America shot upward to reach a staggering 1.53 million by 2005. This book takes a broad, critical look at incarceration, the huge social experiment of American society. The authors investigate the causes and consequences of the prison buildup, often challenging previously held notions from scholarly and public discourse. By examining such themes as social discontent, safety and security within prisons, and impact on crime and on the labor market, Piehl and Useem use evidence to address the inevitable larger question, where should incarceration go next for American society, and where is it likely to go?.
Price: $21.28 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The astonishing range of industries, corporations, and individuals profiting from the imprisonment of over 2.3 million Americans.

"Positive: With the baby boomlet demographics, we foresee increasing demand for juvenile [incarceration] services. Negative:...it is often difficult to maintain the occupancy rates required for profitability."—from a report produced for the private prison industry by investment analysts First Analysis Securities Corporation

Locking up 2.3 million people isn't cheap. Each year federal, state, and local governments spend over $185 billion annually in tax dollars to ensure that one out of every 137 Americans is imprisoned. Prison Profiteers looks at the private prison companies, investment banks, churches, guard unions, medical corporations, and other industries and individuals that benefit from this country's experiment with mass imprisonment. It lets us follow the money from public to private hands and exposes how monies formerly designated for the public good are diverted to prisons and their maintenance. Find out where your tax dollars are going as you help to bankroll the biggest prison machine the world has ever seen.

Contributors include: Judy Greene on private prison giants Geo (formerly Wackenhut) and CCA; Anne-Marie Cusac on who sells electronic weapons to prison guards; David Lapido on how private corporations profit from prison labor; Wil S. Hylton on the largest prison health care provider; Ian Urbina on how prison labor supports the military; Kirsten Levingston on the privatization of public defense; Jennifer Gonnerman on the costs to neighborhoods from which prisoners are removed; Kevin Pranis on the banks and brokerage houses that finance prison building; and Silja Talvi on the American Correctional Association as a tax-funded lobbyist for professional prison bureaucracies..
Price: $14.50 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Over the last three decades the United States has built a carceral state that is unprecedented among Western countries and in US history Nearly one in 50 people, excluding children and the elderly, is incarcerated today, a rate unsurpassed anywhere else in the world. What are some of the main political forces that explain this unprecedented reliance on mass imprisonment? Throughout American history, crime and punishment have been central features of American political development. This book examines the development of four key movements that mediated the construction of the carceral state in important ways: the victims' movement, the women's movement, the prisoners' rights movement, and opponents of the death penalty. This book argues that punitive penal policies were forged by particular social movements and interest groups within the constraints of larger institutional structures and historical developments that distinguish the United States from other Western countries..
Price: $19.86 [Notify me when price goes down.]

These inspiring and true stories reveal the restorative benevolence that is alive and well behind prison walls. Whether through a helping hand from another inmate, a gesture of kindness from a prison volunteer, or caring treatment and respect from a correctional officer, counselor, chaplain or other staff person, you will be uplifted as you read about amazing people who have performed humane acts in inhumane surroundings.

Serving Time, Serving Others is for those who have ever spent time behind bars; who have ever had a loved-one imprisoned; who work or volunteer in a correctional facility; who have ever been a victim of crime; and, who understand that we all share the responsibility of helping others—no matter who they are, where they live, or what they've done.

Each heartfelt story captures the essence of genuine kindness and illustrates that even the darkest pits of despair and hopelessness can be illuminated by just one good deed. Genuine kindheartedness has the miraculous power to heal, transform and inspire—even those behind bars. It can also foster forgiveness and a desire to change.

Some stories will help you in your personal growth and spiritual awareness. Others will help you appreciate your freedom. Still others will remind us that we all make mistakes. And some will reaffirm the fact that, although many of us may be imprisoned in some way (either by a limiting belief, addiction, illness, habit or other circumstance), we all need a helping hand, at some point in our lives, to lift us up out of the depths of despair.

Serving Time, Serving Others will leave you with a renewed appreciation of the restorative power of kindness and the resilience of the human spirit—whether or not you live or work behind the razor wire..
Price: $11.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

CHANGIN YOUR GAME PLAN is about the journey of change one must embark upon while incarcerated or living a destructive street lifestyle that will lead to a positive, productive and successful life. This book is the blueprint for that success. For those incarcerated or formerly incarcerated, Changin Your Game Plan offers hope that one can in fact turn their life around and go on to live a positive life after prison. For those living the street life, thug life, and gang life' Changin Your Game Plan is a warning signal on a road to self-destruction. BE WARNED! THIS IS NOT A GAME! By using my experiences before, during, and after my incarceration I hope anyone who reads this book will see the possibilities that exist CHANGIN YOUR GAME PLAN.
Price: $12.90 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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"There is a better path, and this book shows us how to find that new direction "
—Los Angeles Times

"Downsizing Prisons offers an innovative approach to reducing the strain on America's overcrowded prisons: namely, by fixing the dysfunctional parole systems in states around the country. . . . Jacobson's book comes at exactly the right time."
—Mother Jones

"Policy wonks, journalists, elected officials and students of criminal justice will find the arguments and data in this book worth grappling with."
—New York Newsday

"Should be read by the public and used by policy makers. Essential."
—Choice

"Downsizing Prisons explains not only why current incarceration policy is not working, but what we can do about it. Michael Jacobson's blueprint provides an overview of a pragmatic strategy that can reduce the size of our bloated prison system while improving prospects for public safety."
— Marc Mauer, author of Race to Incarcerate

"A very timely book, offering a unique and important perspective on a topic of widespread concern."
—David Garland, author of The Culture of Control

"In this excellent book, Michael Jacobson addresses one of the most important problems facing our society today, our bloated prisons. He traces their growth, the unintended consequences of this excessive punitive development and examines 'the new reality' of managing the hundreds of new, overcrowded prisons. He also demonstrates that this expansion has done nothing to reduce crime."
—John Irwin, author of The Felon

"Michael Jacobson's excellent book combines the hands-on experience of a seasoned policy practitioner with a researcher's keen sense of the political and economic climate in which criminal justice policy is formed."
—Bruce Western, co-editor of Imprisoning America: The Social Effects of Mass Incarceration

"Downsizing Prisons is an excellent, well-documented, and well-referenced case study. Jacobson is a seasoned policy practitioner who understands the fit of partisan, policy, and system politics. He has hands-on experience, understands what works, and knows first-hand the dysfunctional impacts of higher incarceration rates. He argues for more rational and effective cost-control approaches to crime control."
—Public Administration Review

Over two million people are incarcerated in America's prisons and jails, eight times as many since 1975. Mandatory minimum sentencing, parole agencies intent on sending people back to prison, three-strike laws, for-profit prisons, and other changes in the legal system have contributed to this spectacular rise of the general prison population.

After overseeing the largest city jail system in the country, Michael Jacobson knows first-hand the inner workings of the corrections system. In Downsizing Prisons, he convincingly argues that mass incarceration will not, as many have claimed, reduce crime nor create more public safety. Simply put, throwing away the key is not the answer.

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