ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explains about prisons in the United States. It explores the philosophy of imprisonment in the United States, as it took shape during early occupation by European armies and as it matured under internal political control. The book provides a brief history of early American prisons, covering the years 1600 to 1900. It examines the twentieth-century prison-building binge. The book illustrates the story of how federal prisons came to life and how they have become one of the fastest-growing, most costly, segments of corrections in the United States. It also helps to understand how a handful of American corporations, and their executives, became major players in the prison game. The book highlights two prison by-products – violence and disease. It explores some options for changing the character of imprisonment in the United States.
