Private Prisons in America: A Critical Race Perspective

by Michael A. Hallett, Randall Shelden (Foreword)

Hallett (criminal justice, U. of North Florida) examines the reappearance of for-profit imprisonment in the U.S., with a particular focus on the racial history of imprisonment for private profit. Following an overview of the topic, coverage includes the operation of the Convict Lease system after the Civil War; the racial dynamics of modern prison privatization from the perspective of social-disorganization theory; the political economy of for-profit prisons; the racial context of American criminal justice policy in current debates about crime, welfare, and incarceration; the micropolitics of private prisons; and the "new colonialism" in criminal justice. For academics, researchers, professionals, and general readers interested in criminology, race and ethnicity issues. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 16, 2006

Reviews

[Adam]

While this book is well-researched, its narrow-lens (focus on private prisons) paired with being written in an academic style makes it hard for me to recommend outside of niche situations. If you're researching or doing scholarly work on the subject, it's certainly a worthwhile read. But for the average reader, I would strongly suggest Michelle Alexander's work The New Jim Crow, as it has become the seminal work on the intersection of race and the American carceral state.

[rebeck]

there’s nothing to really rate here a lot of good info and stats jus found it at a used book store and thought it was relevant and used it as a preface to start reading more non-fiction radical texts

[Corinne Cammarata]

Written by my college mentor. A must read for anyone interested in criminal justice policy and/or reform.