ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses four continuing issues in American incarceration: privatization, crowding, prison industries, and prison violence. Because the history of incarceration has been fraught with problems, it may be safe to say that there are no new issues in American prisons and jails. These problem areas represent continuing issues around incarceration that reveal the structural limitations on the ability of correctional institutions to change—and show the effects of broader social changes on criminal justice system operations. The inmates receive wages comparable to those paid on the free market, and are required to pay taxes, child support, and other expenses. R. Miller, G. Sexton, and V. Jacobsen reported on jail industry programs in 15 local and 1 federal jail/detention center operating inmate work programs. Sexual assaults in prison are a special case of individual violence among inmates. The riots at Attica and the New Mexico State Penitentiary in Santa Fe were among the bloodiest in history.
