ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1, Michael C. Campbell and Paige E. Vaughn outline some of the most important trends in criminalization and punishment over the past three decades with a key emphasis on macro state-level trends. They describe how the growth in legal sanctions contributed to the rise of mass incarceration by criminalizing more behaviors and imposing new laws and policies that required longer prison stays. The chapter also includes a nuanced historical introduction to the rise of mass incarceration, a critical read for those new to this area of research. The authors conclude with a nuanced discussion on how the changes in legislation and policy have reinforced inequalities in the criminal justice system.
