ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the communicative technologies used by American prisons. It examines how some of the more popular – and problematic – types of technology were adopted in contemporary American prisons and what challenges or benefits accompanied their use. The chapter reports on a survey in which explores how prisons in the USA use communication technology, how much access inmates have in practice, what trends are emerging in the availability and use of technology, and how it access to technology entails both benefits and costs to inmates. Prison inmates are physically and socially isolated from society. Physical isolation sets the scene for several forms of deprivation – the deprivation of freedom, ownership, touch and, to an increasing degree, contact with the world. Additionally, providing inmates with access to technology is thought to pose security risks. Ostensibly, providing inmates with modern communication technologies would allow them to contact and harass victims or run scams on an unsuspecting public.
