The Handbook on Prisons and Jails brings together some of the brightest scholars and thinkers in the field to offer a wide range of perspectives for understanding the experiences of persons incarcerated or working/volunteering within carceral institutions. The assembled chapters consider what is known in the area while identifying emerging areas for theoretical, empirical, and policy work.
The volume includes contributions on numerous topics and areas related to penal control, containment, living, and/or working in carceral institutions and addresses methodological considerations for doing research with individuals incarcerated in jail or prison. This collection is essential reading for scholars and students seeking an up-to-date guide to contemporary issues facing corrections and sentencing. It also provides practitioners with valuable resources for developing socially informed policies and practices.
Table of Contents:
List of Contributors Volume Editors’ Introduction Part One: Adjustment and Support in Carceral Settings Section One: Individual Adjustment Experiences in Carceral Settings 1. "It Depends:" The Emotional Nature of Video Visitations Between Women Jail Residents and their Loved Ones 2. Some Kind of Light at the End of the Tunnel": Understanding The Importance of Prison Programming for Older, Life-Sentenced Incarcerated Men 3. Examining Prison Adjustment of Life-Sentenced Women 4. Responses to Institutional Misconduct and Pathways Toward Reform 5. The Carceral Experiences of the Wrongfully Convicted 6. The Defects of Total Power Revisited: Excavating Sykes’s Four Versions Of Power in Prison Commentary: Individual Adjustment Experiences in Carceral Settings Section Two: Staff and System Impact on Individual Incarceration Experiences 7. Correctional Officers’ Views of Prison, Punishment, and Rehabilitation 8. Understanding the Physical Prison: The Emergence and Evolution of Prison Design 9. Employment During Incarceration: Findings From a Sample of Serious Violent Justice-Involved Individuals 10. Amplifying Incarcerated Voices: Resident Perceptions of a Prison-Based Therapeutic Community Program 11. Beyond Green Corrections: An Invitation to Socio-Ecological Initiatives In United States Prisons, Jails, and Communities 12. Adopting Community-Oriented Policing Principles in Jails to Build Community And Improve Safety, Health, and Wellness Outcomes Commentary: Assessing the Prison Setting and the Voices of Those Working and Living Behind the Walls Part Two: Behavioral and Physical Health Concerns 13. Difficulties in Housing Individuals With Intellectual and Mental Health Challenges: An Examination of Policies and Practices in Jails and Prisons 14. The Lived Experiences of Prison Psychotherapists Commentary: Behavioral and Physical Health Considerations Part Three: On the Horizon: Policy and Program Reform 15. Parenting From Prison: Gender Inequalities Between Incarcerated Mothers And Fathers 16. I’m Not Who I Once Was: The Policies and Treatment of Transgender Individuals in U.S. Correctional Facilities 17. An Overview of Minority Religious Groups and the Need for Accommodations in U.S. Prisons 18. Understanding and Preventing Frequent Jail Contact 19. Implementing Jail Reform: The Approaches Counties Use to Alter Local Jails 20. Islam, Islamophobia, and the Carceral Experience Commentary: Heterogeneity in Correctional Populations and Institutions: Avenues for Future Research and Reform Part Four: Methodological Considerations 21. Interview Research With People in Jail: Challenges and Possibilities 22. Recognizing and Remedying: Reflexive and Centering Approaches To Engaging in Research With Individuals in Carceral Settings 23. Data Surveillance and Carceral Research 24. Poetic Inquiry Criminology: Opportunities for Imaginative Scholarship, Healing, and Transformative Justice 25. A High Potential for Something Good: Reflections on When Lived Experience Meets What Works Commentary: Methodological Considerations: Pitfalls and Potentials Index
About the Author :
Danielle S. Rudes, Ph.D., is a Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Sam Houston State University and the Deputy Director of the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!) at George Mason University. Dr. Rudes is a qualitative researcher with over 20 years of experience working with corrections agencies. Her research intersects at the nexus of law and society, punishment, and organizational theory. She is the author of Surviving Solitary: Living and Working in Restricted Housing Units (2022). She is also an Associate Editor at the Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment and serves on the editorial board of several other journals. Dr. Rudes received the American Society of Criminology’s Teaching Award and several other awards for her research, mentoring, and teaching. She is also a former chair and executive counselor of the Division on Corrections and Sentencing within the American Society of Criminology.
Gaylene S. Armstrong, Ph.D., is the Director and Distinguished Professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (UNO SCCJ) on the Omaha and Lincoln campuses. She is also the Co-Director of the Nebraska Collaborative for Violence Intervention and Prevention. As a criminologist, Dr. Armstrong engages in collaborative approaches to community-engaged research encompassing criminal justice agencies, community stakeholders, state legislators, and individuals with lived criminal justice experiences across the United States.
Kimberly R. Kras, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Affairs at San Diego State University. Her research examines the lived experiences of people experiencing reentry from prison and their process toward desistance. Her work has specifically looked at the role of housing, social support, fines and fees, and most recently, employment in the reintegration of legal system-involved people. She also considers how community corrections organizations and their staff employ evidence-based practices to support (or hinder) the reintegration of justice-involved people. She earned her Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Missouri-St. Louis following a career with the Missouri Division of Probation and Parole. Kim also holds a Masters in Criminal Justice and Criminology and Bachelors in Psychology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
TaLisa J. Carter, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Justice, Law & Criminology at American University in Washington, D.C., an Affiliated Scholar at Urban Institute, a non-residence fellow with the Brookings Institute, and an Affiliate with the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence! at George Mason University. Previously, she worked as a Deputy Corrections Officer in Savannah, GA. Ongoing research examines theoretical explanations of accountability in the Criminal Justice System, the role of identity in criminal justice professions, and the impact of skin tone on criminal justice outcomes. Both the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health funded her work.
Review :
"Over the past 40 years, the use of jails and prisons has skyrocketed. Once reserved for a select few, we now use jails and prisons to incapacitate a wide range of people without really understanding how this massive system affects the people who live in them. The editors have brought together a robust set of authors to share a fresh perspective on the impact the carceral system has on the people who live and work in the system, how policy and reforms have shaped the current landscape, and ultimately, how we may want to approach the methodological challenges of studying the impact that jails and prisons have on the people they are serving. This handbook is a must have for any scholars interested in gaining a better understanding of how the carceral settings truly impact the people who are housed within."
Brian Lovins, Ph.D.,Principal, Justice System Partners
"This volume is a significant contribution to carceral studies. Chapters represent the full depth of knowledge on jails and prisons with painstaking international reach. More importantly, the volume is a first at displaying interdisciplinary efforts bringing together vast topics in one book. It will surely make a permanent mark on how we view corrections for years to come."
Jason M. Williams, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Justice Studies, Montclair State University
"Although the number of individuals incarcerated in jails and prisons in the United States has declined modestly over the last several years, the United States remains the most carceral western nation. Evidence suggests that jail and prison environments are harmful to both those incarcerated and those who staff and manage these facilities. This important volume brings together critical insight into multiple issues that remain sorely understudied on the nature and impacts of incarceration. This volume is a must-read for anyone who hopes to see or further carceral reform in the United States."
Pamela K Lattimore, Ph.D., Senior Director for Research Development, Division for Applied Justice Research
"For those who want to know "what’s going on in prisons and jails," this is the volume to read. The rich chapters herein -- both orthodox and heterodox -- cover considerable territory as they interrogate and illuminate the structure and workings of prisons and jails and what that means for the people who inhabit these spaces. This remarkable volume is at once empirically grounded, theoretically informed, and pragmatic in terms of addressing real concerns that impact real people in real carceral spaces. It inspires us to learn more and do more, while also pointing to a path forward for researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and advocates for reform."
Valerie Jenness, Distinguished Professor of Criminology, Law and Society University of California, Irvine
