This text applied economic principles to the analysis of the prison economy, prison hustling and inmate careers in both men's and women's institutions. Prisons provide a basic subsistence for inmates, but deny them legitimate income-producing opportunities. Therefore, the study starts with the proposition that prisons are islands of poverty in which a high demand is created for goods and services such as coffee, food, drugs, weapons and sex, and goes on to examine the economic systems that develop. Three types of hustling are identified. The most elaborate is that of the entrepreneurial clique under the leadership of the antisocial 'right guy' who utilizes the techniques of ghetto hustling. He organizes his clique by using the methods and providing the services of a crime syndicate. The second system involves inmates who achieve sufficiently high levels of production to qualify as 'merchants'. They produce enough goods to become involved in reciprocal trade arrangements with other prisoners. In women's prisons, for social as well as economic reasons, inmates develop a 'family' system and lesbian butch/"femme" relations, with families supporting themselves through barter and theft.

Today’s headlines vividly illustrate the importance of understanding aspects of the criminal justice system too often ignored. While the second edition of Crime and Criminal Justice in American Society includes the most recent statistics on the police, courts, and corrections, its provocative, current examples also spur critical thinking about justice in the United States. The authors offer an alternative interpretation of criminal justice rarely presented in traditional textbooks or by the media. They encourage readers to examine their beliefs about crime, punishment, and the law. Discussions in the chapters about how African Americans, Hispanics, whites, women, juveniles, the rich, and the poor experience crime and the criminal justice system contribute context for understanding different viewpoints. The poor and minorities are the most likely to be caught in the net of criminal justice—but inequities have consequences for everyone. Reflection on various perspectives provides helpful input for assessing attitudes and for becoming actively involved with issues that have significant consequences. Eighteen thoroughly revised chapters present historical backgrounds, theories, and emerging issues. New to the second edition is a chapter on veterans involved in the criminal justice system. Affordable, succinct, and engaging, this textbook presents the key concepts of the criminal justice system at less than half the cost of many competing textbooks.

Hard Time: A Fresh Look at Understanding and Reforming the Prison, 4th Edition, is a revised and updated version of the highly successful text addressing the origins, evolution, and promise of America’s penal system. Draws from both ethnographic and professional material, and situates the prison experience within both contemporary and historical contexts Features first person accounts from male and female inmates and staff, revealing what it’s actually like to live and work in prison Includes all-new chapters on prison reform and on supermax correctional facilities, including the latest research on confinement, long-term segregation, and death row Explores a wide range of topics, including the nature of prison as punishment; prisoner personality types and coping strategies; gang violence; prison officers’ custodial duties; and psychological, educational, and work programs Develops policy recommendations for the future based on qualitative and quantitative research and evidence-based initiatives

Archival snapshot of entire looseleaf Code of Massachusetts Regulations held by the Social Law Library of Massachusetts as of January 2020.

In the second edition of this introductory text, the authors offer the idea of the corrections system to enhance understanding of the complexity of corrections. Students become aware that there are not just prisons, but a wide variety of programs and methods to deal with offenders.