David Musick

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.

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.

This basic overview of juvenile delinquency in the United States emphasizes the connection between delinquency and other problems faced by "at risk" children in America.This is a challenging book that makes no attempts to oversimplify and trivialize the highly complex subject of juvenile delinquency. Its approach is both conceptual and historical. It includes information not only about delinquents but also about other types of problem children. By doing so, the broader social environment of delinquency is better understood, and delinquency can be put into a more general conceptual context. Fundamental concepts, interpretive perspectives and methodologies that are used to describe and analyze juvenile delinquency and related children's problems are presented.