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Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

Print Price: $188.99

Format:
Paperback
191 mm x 231 mm

ISBN-13:
9780190280710

Copyright Year:
2016

Imprint: OUP US


Correctional Contexts

Contemporary and Classical Readings, Fifth Edition

Edward Latessa and Alexander Holsinger

A comprehensive and critical review of corrections, Correctional Contexts: Contemporary and Classical Readings, Fifth Edition, traces the history and development of corrections and punishment as it has evolved in the U.S. over the past few centuries. This text presents both classical and contemporary articles that cover the history of corrections in the U.S.; discusses how various facets of the system operate today; and considers where we as a country may be headed regarding the confinement, control, and treatment of our correctional populations. Each chapter opens with an introduction and concludes with study questions.

Readership : Students, professionals.

Reviews

  • "Correctional Contexts covers the primary areas I like to address in class but still allows me to introduce new material through my lectures. It is written at a level that challenges students and does an excellent job of exposing them to both classical and contemporary literature in the field."
    --Eric J. Wodahl, University of Wyoming

  • "This text is comprehensive: it provides a historical perspective, takes students through the entire spectrum of the field, and is instructor friendly."
    --Elvira M. White-Lewis, Texas A&M Commerce University

*=New to this Edition
Preface
About the Contributors
Introduction
PART I: HISTORY AND PURPOSE OF PUNISHMENT AND IMPRISONMENT
Introduction
1. Pieter C. Spierenburgh: The Spectacle of Suffering
Using a systems approach, Spierenburg explores the origins of the criminal justice system and the rise of the nation state in pre-industrial Western Europe. The criminal justice system at several points throughout history is identified as a tool of governmental repression.
2. David J. Rothman: The Discovery of the Asylum
Rothman considers urbanization, industrialization, and reform in his piece on the rise of the American penitentiary, in which he investigates the origin and design of the early penal institutions.
3. Thorsten Sellin: A Look at Prison History
Sellin analyzes the transition from confinement strictly for the purpose of detention to confinement as the punishment itself. He explores the conditions in the early institutions as well as prison labor.
4. Nicole Hahn Rafter: Partial Justice: Women, Prisons, and Social Control
Rafter examines the criminal justice system in general, and the Albion, New York, institution for women in particular as mechanisms of social control for women throughout the early twentieth century.
5. Lawrence F. Travis, III: Sentencing in the United States
Travis reviews the theory and philosophy of punishing and corrections. He discusses the prediction of future behavior and truth in sentencing, two of the more salient issues that face judges and legislators.
6. Francis T. Cullen: Assessing the Penal Harm Movement
Cullen reviews the impact of America's imprisonment binge and explores what damage may have resulted. He offers guidelines for the future of penal strategy.
PART II: LIVING IN PRISON
Introduction
7. Donald Clemmer: The Prison Community
Clemmer examines one aspect of the prison subculture, "prisonization," and its origins.
8. Ben Crewe: Depth, Weight, Tightness: Revisiting the Pains of Imprisonment
Analysis of the overt and covert "pains of imprisonment" has a long history in correctional research. Crewe revisits the relevance of historically identified pains of imprisonment and offers a vivid account and new conceptualization of what living in prison really entails.
9.9. Victor Hassine: Relationships Between Inmates and Guards
Hassine discusses the relationships between inmates and guards, contending that these relationships are complex and essentially hold prisons together. When stress in the form of overcrowding and understaffing occurs, the social control of the prison is jeopardized.
PART III. WORKING IN PRISON
Introduction
10. Ted Conover: A Block
Conover worked as a correctional officer at Sing Sing to understand the guard culture.
11. Robert M. Worley, Richard Tewksbury and Durant Frantzen: Preventing Fatal Attractions: Lessons Learned from Inmate Boundary Violators in a Southern Penitentiary System
All state prison systems have codified rules (including laws in some instances) defining and forbidding relationships between inmates and employees (most notably guards). Worley, Tewksbury, and Frantzen present rich data and reflections on this pervasive issue.
PART IV. CORRECTIONAL POLICY AND OFFENDER RIGHTS
12. Joseph R. Carlson, Richard H. Anson, and George Thomas: Correctional Officer Burnout and Stress: Does Gender Matter? *
Prison can be a very
stressful environment for both inmates and guards. This piece examines prison guards' stress and burnout through the lens of gender in light of the increasing number of women who have entered the corrections field.
13. Craig Haney and Philip Zimbardo: The Past and Future of U.S. Prison
Policy
Twenty-five years after their famous Stanford Prison Experiment, Haney and Zimbardo review the changes that have occurred in the criminal justice and correctional system.
14. Jack E. Call: The Supreme Court and Prisoners' Rights
There are three periods of case law and the
prisoners' rights movement: (1) the hands-off period, (2) the rights period, and (3) the deference period. Call traces these movements and highlights the important cases.
15. Jill S. Levenson and Leo P. Cotter: The Effect of Megan's Law on Sex Offender Reintegration *
Few if any types of
offenders cause more anxiety for criminal justice stakeholders and the public at large than sex offenders. Levenson and Cotter take a close look at offender notification programs and their intended as well as unintended effects.
PART V: OFFENDER PROGRAMMING AND TREATMENT
16. Robert
Martison: What Works? Questions and Answers about Prison Reform
Martinson summarizes the findings of a commission set up by the State of New York to seek the most effective forms of correctional treatment. His Martinson Report initiated a raging debate.
17. Don A. Andrews: The Principles of
Effective Correctional Programs
Perhaps no other researcher has done more to help us understand the importance of correctional treatment than Don Andrews. Through his work, he has articulated some principles of effective correctional programming.
18. Edward J. Latessa: Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Youthful Offenders-Review of the Research *
In recent years the popularity of cognitive behavioral interventions has grown dramatically as more and more studies demonstrate its effectiveness in reducing
recidivism. Latessa examines the different models that are used and explores the research.
19. Robert D. Morgan, William H. Fisher, Naihua Duan, Jon T. Mandracchia and Danielle Murray: Prevalence of Criminal Thinking Among State Prison Inmates with Serious Mental Illness *
Morgan and his colleagues compare a group of mentally disordered offenders to non-mentally disordered
offenders and find that indices of criminal attitudes are as high or higher among the mentally disordered group. This research makes a compelling case that with an offender population, mental illness and criminal thinking often co-occur, and both need to be adequately addressed if we want to reduce recidivism.
20. Edward J. Latessa: Why Work Is Important and How to Improve the Effectiveness of Correctional Reentry Programs that Target Employment *
Work is a very important part of most of our lives and is often seen as a remedy for reducing recidivism. Latessa addresses some of the ways
to improve programs that focus on employment as part of the reentry process.
21. James Bonta, Guy Bourgon, Tanya Rugge, Terri-Lynne Scott, Annie K. Yessine, Leticia Gutierrez, and Jobina Li: An Experimental Demonstration of Training Probation Officers in Evidence-Based Community Supervision
*
This research by Bonta and his colleagues demonstrates that training probation officers on core correctional practices can have a measureable effect on reducing recidivism. This is a must-read for anyone planning to work in or study community supervision.
22. Edward J. Latessa, Francis T.
Cullen, and Paul Gendreau: Beyond Correctional Quackery
Despite overwhelming evidence that well-designed, empirically based correctional programs can reduce recidivism, "correctional quackery" abounds. Latessa and his colleagues identify four failures of correctional practice.
PART VI:
REENTRY INTO THE COMMUNITY
23. Shelley Johnson Listwan, Francis T. Cullen, and Edward J. Latessa: How to Prevent Prisoner Reentry Programs from Failing: Insights from Evidence-Based Corrections
With prison populations at an all-time high, the number of offenders being released into the
community is staggering. Listwan and her colleagues present a blueprint for designing reentry programs that can work.
24. Edward J. Latessa, Lawrence F. Travis, III, and Christopher Lowenkamp: Halfway Houses
Halfway houses have a long history in America, yet until recently little was known
about their effectiveness in reducing recidivism. Latessa and his colleagues trace the development of halfway houses and discuss what is known about their effectiveness.
25. Stephanie A. Duriez, Francis T. Cullen, and Sarah M. Manchak: Is Project HOPE Creating a False Sense of Hope? A Case Study
in Correctional Popularity *
Over the years there have been numerous attempts to straighten offenders out through punishment. In this critique of one such effort, Duriez and her colleagues discuss the limitations of this approach in bringing about long-term behavioral change.
26. Pew Center
on the States: Putting Public Safety First: 13 Strategies for Successful Supervision and Reentry
Pew offers practical strategies for improving offender reentry and supervision.
PART VII: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
Introduction
27. Pew Center on the States: Reducing Recidivism:
Corrections Directors in Five States Share Lessons Learned *
Recently there has been a renewed understanding that correctional systems have a responsibility not only to house and care for offenders but also to reduce recidivism. Five state directors of corrections share their wisdom on these
efforts.
28. Eric L. Jensen, Jerg Gerber, and Clayton Mosher: Social Consequences of the War on Drugs: The Legacy of Failed Policy
Jenson and his associates argue that the so-called War on Drugs in America has had grave consequences for American corrections. Diminished life chances,
joblessness, HIV and AIDS, reduced social bonds, and disenfranchisement of minorities are some of the legacies of this misguided effort.
29. Sandra L. Barnes
and Ebonie Cunningham Stringer: Is Motherhood Important? Imprisoned Women's Maternal Experiences Before and During Confinement and their Postrelease Expectations *
30. Gabriella Celeste: Getting It Right: Realigning Juvenile Corrections in Ohio to Reinvest in What Works *
Few states have been as successful in reducing the number of youth committed to juvenile institutions as Ohio. Celeste discusses the strategy that was used
to achieve this reduction.

There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.

Edward J. Latessa is Director and Professor of the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Alexander M. Holsinger is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

The Oxford Handbook of Sentencing and Corrections - Edited by Joan Petersilia and Kevin R. Reitz
A Country Called Prison - Mary D. Looman and John D. Carl
Punishment, Communication, and Community - R. A. Duff
Making Sense - Margot Northey and Joan McKibbin

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