Corrections in America: An Introduction - Hardcover

Allen, Harry E.; Simonsen, Clifford E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0023017414 ISBN 13: 9780023017414

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 1995

Synopsis

The 10th edition of this book, popular for the last quarter century, continues to explore the cutting edge of the corrections field. Clear, well-designed, and eminently readable, it carefully balances current and past research with practical examples and issues; this book impressively includes dynamic 4-color graphs and photographs that maintain reader interest and ease understanding. It covers the latest hot topics, including incarcerated terrorist offenders, legal issues in imprisoning terrorists, federal legislation to restrict post-conviction conditions as well as conditions of confinement appeals. Other more conventional topics covered are: historical perspectives, the court process, imprisonment alternatives, correctional systems and functions, institutional clients and their rights, reintegration systems, and the future of corrections. For corrections officers, institutional employees, and others in the criminal justice system.

About this title

From the Publisher

Now in its twentieth successful year, Corrections in America has grown into the preeminent work in its field--a comprehensive, skillfully organized introduction to all aspects of adult and juvenile corrections. The book covers everything from historical precedents to the very latest programs and practices. Its main focus is on how today's correctional subsystems function within the larger criminal justice system, with related theory and research introduced where appropriate. While Corrections in America covers more topics in more detail than other texts, its clarity and well- designed learning features make it a favorite with students, and its superior organization makes it easy for instructors to adapt to any type of course. This major new edition features many significant revisions and improvements. In particular it includes more on female offenders, alternative penalties, and juvenile violence, as well as updated examples, data, and references throughout. No other text offers such a thorough, current, and useful treatment of America's correctional systems.

From the Inside Flap

Preface

The ninth edition of Corrections in America: An Introduction is also the authors' celebration of the new century and millennium. The past eight editions are now surpassed by a complete overhaul of the entire text. For over a quarter of a century this book has been modified and changed many times, primarily as a result of comments and recommendations received from users of this text in their classes and from correctional professionals and other valued colleagues. We, the authors, feel #hat these major new efforts will provide the instructor and students with the finest introductory-level correctional text available on the market.

Experts in crime and criminology, practitioners in the field of institutional and community corrections, and instructors who have used our text year in and year out make your authors proud and humble—and that faith has motivated us to attempt to provide them with even more reasons for this book to continue to earn such praise.

In this totally new edition, we continue to attempt to provide a clear overview of each of the categories that make up corrections. We do not try to explore some subjects in too much depth at the expense of other subjects that are important to the introductory student. We offer this almost totally new edition to the student and instructor in the hope of providing not only an educational experience but also of provoking an enjoyable awakening to the vast field of corrections and its impact on society We hope the instructors will find the presentation, design, flow, and great new pedagogical tools and other materials helpful to their teaching experience, making it as effective and interesting as possible. We have always tried to remain academically sound and "student friendly." Traditions of the Past Continue into the New Millennium

This ninth edition of Corrections in America has undergone more revisions and changes than all of the previous eight editions combined. Most of the changes are based on reviews and comments from our colleagues and friends in academia and are aimed at making the text more accurate, complete, and useful as a teaching and learning tool. We have always sought to present a balance between current and past research, grand and applied theory, and practical and predictive examples and issues. The first thing the user will notice is that the publishers have given us a "full-color" format that allows us to present people, programs, institutions, graphics, art, and special features in exciting and stimulating color! We have incorporated the three new learning aids from the eighth edition with other exciting additions to the text—and in sparkling color. From the eighth edition we kept and improved these features: "Profiles," which describe persons of note or notoriety at a particular time or point in the text; "Sidebars," which are aimed at providing interesting facts and definitions from corrections and criminal justice to the student with the goal of reinforcing the materials being covered in the text without interfering with the flow of the main textual materials; and "Correctional Briefs," which are specific presentations of processes or programs that illustrate the points in the main body of the text in an interesting and illustrative manner. A new feature is "Correctional Champions," which highlights persons who have been selected by the American Correctional Association as the "best in the business." These are spread throughout. the text to honor their service and show what an individual can do to improve corrections. "Words to Remember" at the end of each chapter will again appear in bold in the text in order to enhance their learning potential. We have also redesigned and updated all tables, figures, and graphs to be more attractive and clear—and in color. We have added numerous color photographs to emphasize issues discussed in the text and highlight the persons, facilities, and programs that are important to the history and future of corrections. The field of correctional employment and careers is broad, varied and of great interest to students. A major new appendix addresses how to find out about correctional careers in city, county, state, private, and federal systems for those interested in institutions, probation, parole, and many other professions that serve to protect society and help reintegrate offenders. This new appendix, thanks to the miracle of the Internet, lists for the instructor or student the most current addresses, phone, fax numbers, and e-mail addresses, and web sites for all the major departments of corrections in the United States, with many excellent links and information sources about careers in Corrections.

The following features from the eighth edition continue to enhance the ninth:

Its systems approach explores each element of corrections as an integrated and interrelated series of subsystems of persons, programs, and processes. The systems approach develops the processes, programs, and people involved so that the information flows well and builds on previous material in an additive fashion. Its unbiased presentation and the wide range of topics covered make the text suitable for instructors who come from every point of view and academic orientation. Its end-of-chapter materials contain summaries, review questions, words to remember, extensive endnotes on other references to points covered, plus recommended readings at the end of each major part. Special New Features

In addition to the features mentioned above, we have made major changes and added specific features to the ninth edition as follows:

The authors have completely revised and realigned all of the text and graphic materials to update them with materials and references that are the most current and relevant available. The first section of the book, Part 1, dealing with history of corrections, has been reduced from four to two chapters, but retains the richness of the materials in a more concise format. Repetition and redundancy have been screened and weeded out without losing content about the rich history of corrections. The four chapters on the justice process have been also streamlined and reduced to two, again following careful editing to retain essential material. The chapters on jails, probation, and intermediate sanctions have been realigned in Part 3. This leads to a more systematic and logical flow The chapters have been placed in a new Part 3, which is now named Alternatives to Imprisonment. Following the plan to realign the topics in a more linear fashion, Part 4 now explains the concepts and practices of imprisonment and the systems in which offenders are imprisoned, and includes an updated chapter on the growing private prisons sector. Part 5 streamlines the former three chapters dealing with correctional staff and functions into two updated, revised and expanded chapters that deal with custody staff and functions and with noncustody functions. The chapter on female inmates has been greatly expanded and moved to Chapter 14, followed by chapters on male inmates, juveniles, and special category inmates. This effort responds to the need for a more balanced handling of the accelerating growth in specific clientele groups of corrections, with new material on the growing problems of dealing with geriatric inmates. The chapters on inmate and ex-offender rights, and the death penalty, now appear much later in the text and have been made more balanced and shorter, while still reflecting the latest data and problems in this critical sector involving the rights of those who move through the various systems of corrections. Chapters on parole and community-based corrections have been moved to their logical locations at the end of the linear process we call corrections. This approach allows instructors to develop their view of corrections in a logical and linear manner. Topics are better covered by use of the most current data from the many new web sites on the Internet, as well as from the NSA, ACA, AJA, NU, UCR, and OJJDP. Current critical issues such as elderly inmates, juveniles treated as adults, gang violence, the increase in sex offenders, home detention, the impact of the ADA on corrections, and many others have been covered in appropriate chapters, and are reexamined in depth in the final chapter that explores corrections as it enters the first decade of the twenty-first century. Organization of the Text

The ninth edition is now realigned into nine "parts" containing twenty-two k chapters. The authors have been diligent as possible in covering as many of the changes and trends that took place in the last half of the 1990s.

PART 1: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

This part provides the basis of historical development and presents philosophies in the handling of those who fall outside accepted norms of behavior. Based on input from users, it has been reduced to two chapters.

Chapter 1: Early History (2000 B.C. to A.D. 1800)
This chapter outlines the development of dealing with unacceptable behavior from tribalism to the beginnings of scientific enlightenment, covering the period

About this edition

• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0023017414
• ISBN 13: 9780023017414
• Binding: Hardcover