Corrections : an introduction / Richard P. Seiter.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

I. Putting corrections in perspective -- 1. The history of crime and corrections -- Defining corrections -- Sentencing policy and incarceration rates -- Theories of crime and punishment -- Early responses to crime -- Development of the prison -- The Walnut Street jail -- The Pennsylvania system -- The Auburn system -- Prison throughout the last two centuries -- Sentencing goals of corrections -- Punishment -- Deterrence -- Incapacitation -- Rehabilitation -- Restitution -- 2. Sentencing and the correctional process -- Pretrial correctional activities -- The role of plea bargaining and sentencing -- Presentencing correctional activities -- Sentencing decision -- Sentencing options -- Sentencing models -- Discretion in sentencing -- Mandatory minimum sentences -- Three-strike laws -- Presumptive sentencing -- Sentencing guidelines -- Reforming sentencing -- Creative sentencing options -- Drug courts -- Mental health and other specialty courts -- Sentencing challenges from a judicial perspective -- II. Correctional policy and operations -- 3. Jails -- History of jails -- Current jail operations -- Jail populations -- Design and supervision of jails -- Issues in jails -- Responding to jail crowding -- Legal issues for jails -- Dealing with mentally ill offenders -- Preventing suicides -- 4. Probation and intermediate sanctions -- History of probation -- Modern probation operations --Organization of probation -- Characteristics of probationers -- Supervision -- conditions of probation -- Revocation of probation -- Issues regarding probation -- Effectiveness -- Changing style of supervision -- Probation classification systems -- Intermediate sanctions -- Economic sanctions -- Intensive supervised probation -- House arrest -- Community residential centers -- Split sentences -- Shock incarceration or boot camps -- Shock probation -- 5. Prison systems -- Current status of prisons in the United States -- Adult prison systems in the United States -- The Federal Prison system -- Federal bureau of Prisons -- State prison systems -- Other public correctional systems -- Private correctional systems -- Private correctional companies -- 6. Parole and prisoner reentry -- History of parole -- Maconochie and the Mark System -- Walter Crofton and the Irish system -- Parole begins in the United States -- Parole and the Medical Model -- Alternatives to indeterminate sentencing -- Current status of parole in the United States -- Operations of parole -- Organization of parole boards -- The parole hearing -- Supervision and conditions of parole -- Revoking parole -- Legal issues regarding revocation -- Effectiveness of parole -- Prisoner reentry : a changing phenomenon -- Issues faced by offenders returning to the community -- A systems approach to prison reentry -- III. Correctional clients -- 7. The clients of adult correctional agencies -- Overview of adult offenders -- Gender, race, and ethnicity -- Age of offenders -- Types of offenses and lengths of confinements -- Male offenders and violence -- Male prisoners -- Female offenders -- Women in prison -- Special issues and needs of female inmates -- Separation from family and children -- Alcohol and substance abuse -- Need for medical care -- Classification system for female offenders -- Legal issues regarding parity for female inmates -- 8. The juvenile correction system -- Problem of juvenile crime -- Development of the Juvenile Justice System -- Waiver of juvenile offenders -- Categories of juvenile offenders -- Juvenile Justice process -- Juvenile residential facilities -- Legal issues affecting the Juvenile Justice system -- Juvenile gangs and juvenile crime -- Juvenile competency and mental health issues -- Responding to juvenile drug crime -- 9. Special offenders -- Juvenile offenders in adult criminal courts -- Drug offenders -- Mentally ill offenders -- Aging offenders -- Violent offenders -- Sex offenders -- Treatment and management of sex offenders -- Sex offender recidivism -- Civil commitment of sexually violent predators -- Offenders with infectious diseases -- HIV/AIDS -- Tuberculosis -- Hepatitis C.

IV. Prison life -- 10. The management of prisons -- Organization of prisons -- State departments of correction -- Function of the Office of Director -- Prison staff organization -- Unit management -- Controlling inmate behavior -- Quality assurance in the implementation of policy -- Inmate classification -- Inmate discipline -- Role of staff in a prison -- Recruiting and hiring correctional staff -- Collective bargaining within correctional agencies -- 11. Prison life for inmates -- Prison life for male offenders -- Prison culture and the inmate code -- Violence in prisons -- Gangs in prison -- Homosexual behavior in male prisons -- Drugs in prisons -- Prison life for female offenders -- History of women's prisons -- Culture in women's prisons -- 12. The world of prison staff -- Jobs of prison staff -- Organization of prisons -- Prison chain of command -- The warden -- Life for a correctional officer -- Stress and danger -- Correctional officer careers -- Roles of other prison staff -- Prison culture for staff -- Female correctional officers in men's prisons -- 13. Custody within a prison -- Security and custody within a prison -- Inmate accountability -- Control of contraband -- Special housing units -- Inmate riots and disturbances -- 14. Treatment and programs within a prison -- Identifying inmate needs -- Academic and vocational programs -- Mental health programs -- Substance abuse programs -- Prison work programs -- Prison industries -- Religious programs -- Recreation programs -- V. Issues in corrections -- 15. Legal issues and the death penalty -- Legal issues regarding inmates -- The development of inmate legal rights -- The Bill of Rights and congressional actions providing inmate rights -- Specific rights of prisoners -- Conditions of confinement -- Religious freedom -- Medical care -- First Amendment rights -- Access to the courts -- Fourth Amendment rights -- Inmate discipline -- Limiting litigation by inmates -- Capital punishment -- History of capital punishment in the United States -- Current statistics regarding capital punishment -- Death Row prisoners -- Executions -- Operational problems -- Reasons for capital punishment -- Deterrence -- Retribution -- Incapacitation -- Cost -- Public opinion regarding the death penalty -- The potential for error -- 16. Current and future issues in corrections -- Prison and jail populations -- Politics and policy -- Impact of budgets on correctional policy -- Private prisons -- Importance of staff diversity -- Effectiveness of treatment programs -- Supervision of offenders in the community -- Impact of technology on corrections -- Issues for the future -- Corrections as a career.

Corrections: An Introduction, Fourth Edition, provides a practical approach to the world of corrections. The text focuses on what people do in corrections and why, as well as the challenges that face contemporary correctional staff and administrators. This unique approach integrates the author s practical experience with the theory, history and policy that students need to know. The text demonstrates both the realities of and reasons behind correctional practices at the local, state, and federal levels. Chapters also present case studies, information on careers, and real examples of situations to provide students with an understanding of the practical aspects of working in.