Prison and the Penal System (Criminal Justice (Chelsea))**OUT OF PRINT**

Convicted criminals may be sentenced to jail terms, fines, probation, community service, or even death. Prison and the Penal System discussess how the justice system punishes criminals and attempts to rehabilitate them. It follows the history of federal and state prisons to the present day and looks at key issues and controversies, such as budgets, mandatory sentencing, overcrowding, security risks, and gangs. It examines prison as a deterrent to crime, explores the debate over capital punishment, and explains alternative sentencing. The Criminal Justice set takes readers on a step-by-step journey through crime, law enforcement, and criminal justice with a focus on these subjects in the United States of America. Each volume explains a major facet of crime and punishment and places it in context of the criminal justice system as a whole. Through historical and statistical facts combined with "you-are-there" case studies, this set will help readers understand crime, why and how laws are made and enforced, and the key social and political issues connected to criminal justice. Convicted criminals are sentenced to jail terms, fines, probation, community service, and sometimes execution. Prison and the Penal System discusses how the justice system deals with criminals in relation to their crimes. It looks at the prison system and its history, discusses relevant social and political issues, and explores concerns of rehabilitation, prison overcrowding, mandatory sentencing, and gangs in prisons. This informative new title also examines prison as a deterrent to crime and discusses the debate over capital punishment. Chapters include: Crime and Punishment; State Prisons; Federal Prisons; Capital Punishment; Alternative Sentencing. Contents......Page 6 Introduction......Page 8 Behind Bars......Page 12 Crime And Punishment......Page 23 Local Jails......Page 35 State Prisons......Page 46 Federal Prisons......Page 57 Capital Punishment......Page 68 Alternative Sentencing......Page 78 Prison Rights And Wrongs......Page 88 New World Disorder......Page 98 Chronology......Page 108 Endnotes......Page 112 Bibliography......Page 123 Further Resources......Page 124 Index......Page 125 About The Author......Page 129 An overview of the criminal justice system in the United States that reviews the history of prisons and the penal system from the beginning of the seventeenth century to the early twenty-first, and discusses methods of punishment; local, state, and federal prisons; alternative sentencing, and related topics Describes the justice system and its attempts to punish criminals, includes historical information on prisons, and examines such issues as capital punishment, rehabilitation, and security.