ABSTRACT
In the first edition of this book, Michael Welch (1998) offered readers an alternative view of corrections within a social control context and distinguished between the text (rhetoric) and subtext (underlying principle) of American corrections. Welch argued that American society is increasingly reliant on the criminal justice system to deal with individuals who need to be managed (i.e., controlled). Due to correlations between unemployment, poverty, substance use and addiction, and the likelihood of incarceration, prisons and jails become storage facilities for poor, unemployed persons with significant substance abuse problems, and who most likely represent minority (black, Hispanic, native American) populations.
