American Prison Chapter Summary

The last five chapters of the book “The American Prison: Imagining a Different Future” written by Francis Cullen, Mary Stohr and Cheryl Johnson discuss some of the various prison systems that can be found in America, and the issues that surround them. The main focus of discussion for each chapter is the history of the prison, its effectiveness in running, its social context in modern day America, and the authors of the chapter’s personal thoughts on the importance of that specific prison type. The four types of prisons covered in chapters 9-12 are the private prison, the green prison, the small prison, and the accountable prison; chapter thirteen of the book talks about the lessons that should be learned from the book regarding the harm and …show more content…
Summary:
In chapter nine of the book Kevin Wright talks about the private prison system, and the important changes it makes from the traditional public prison system. Recently the American prison system has come under fire for being very cost-expensive and for operating in a very illegitimate manor. Many of the problems that public prisons present are overcrowding, insufficient programs, racial conflicts, inmate violence, and poor correctional staff; most of these problems are addressed and fixed in the private prison system. Some criminal justice scholars currently argue against the private prison system stating that it would become too big and lucrative, and also saying the current system works best. The author argues against this by saying that the public prison system has already grown bigger than anyone anticipated, …show more content…
Basically what the authors talk about is the system that was set up in the twenty first century that relied on the three R’s to run itself. These three R’s are rehabilitation, restorative justice, and reentry programming. What the authors argue is that America created a system that was too cut and paste and focused on mass quantities of prisoners being integrated in and out of the system rather than looking at the quality of the system itself. The authors argue that at this time of progressive movements occurring it is quite possible to look at a better future for the American prison system that looks to improve the quality of life for prisoners and the system as a whole (Stohr, 258). Their main lessons that they suggest need to be learned in regards to the American prison system is that prisons should not harm inmates but should rather help them, prisons must be just and fair, prisons must be healthy, prisons must be held accountable, prisons need to be affordable and reserved for violent and repeat offenders, prisons must be developmental for staff, and that the humaneness found in prisons provides hope for a better future. These lessons are the main point of the book, which provides ideas on how to reform prisons for the better, and should be considered when looking