Mass Incarceration in America

On a per capita basis, the United States incarcerates a higher percentage of its population than any other nation in the world. This book explains the social, economic, and political forces that account for this controversial distinction through features that include context-setting introductory chapters, illuminating primary documents, informative biographical and organizational profiles, a detailed timeline of events and trends related to incarceration in the USA, and personal essays contributed by administrators, researchers, educators, and people with firsthand experience of life behind bars.

Author Biography

Rachel M. Durso is Associate Professor of Sociology and Department Chair of Sociology at Washington College, MD, USA. Durso’s primary research interests concern the consequences of mass incarceration in the United States in the 21st century. Her research explores the ways in which social control of minority groups, partisanship, and historical punishment practices affect modern-day punishment issues such as increases in corrections spending, prison admissions, and prison privatization.