Prison Nation: The Warehousing of America's Poor

by Paul Wright (Editor), Tara Herivel (Editor)

First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Race, Essays, Sociology

348 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Bridgett]

Of all the books I read in 2009, I think this one moved me the most. Spending time with our prison system would be beneficial to everyone. Becoming aware of not only the number of women and men in prison, but also the systems that put them and keep them there has given me greater insight to the privileges we have and do not realize.

[Jacki]

If your against capital punishment, and imprisoning the innocent, this is the book to read. If you have the "lock 'em up" mentality, this will disappoint. A good look into the American need to imprison, right down to the racial disparity between jail population and percentages. Eye-opening.

[Nicholas B]

Written mostly by incarcerated individuals or those who have spent some time in our prison system, Prison Nation gives the contrary point of view to the idea that everyone who is in prison deserves to be in prison, that the American justice system is not biased against the poor and minorities, and that life in Prison is like a country club. I would recommend this to anyone interested in learning about who actually makes up the majority of our prison population and who benefits from the fact that we have by far the highest incarceration rate in the free world.

[Psychonaut]

An eye-opening book about the prison system. But it begins to wear on you after a while, as it is one story after another of people in power doing horrible things to those that are helpless to do anything about it.

[Darrell]

a series of articles on prisons and their effects on those interred in them and those who work in them

[Caty]

This book will make you wince--in a way you need to do.

[Koz]

Thoroughly depressing but informative.