Living in Prison: A History of the Correctional System with an Insider's View - Hardcover

by Stephen Stanko (Author), Gordon a. Crews (Author), Wayne Gillespie (Author)

Can the morality of a nation really be judged by how it treats its prisoners? The United States has more people in prison than any other nation, and the nature of the American correctional system continues to be the subject of passionate debate. This unique combination of historical overview and personal testimony provides an unprecedented look at the U.S. correctional system.

The first section of the book places the notion of corrections within an historical context. The second examines contemporary correctional issues. In the third and final section, Stephen Stanko, an inmate in the South Carolina correctional system, provides a detailed look at prison life from the inside. Stanko offers his perspective--in a voice that is blunt but never preachy--on the harsh realities of prison life, making this a rigorous exploration of our correctional system in both theory and practice.

Author Biography

STEPHEN STANKO provides three chapters with a first-person account as an inmate of the MacDougall Correctional Institute in Ridgeville, South Carolina.

WAYNE GILLESPIE teaches in the Dept of Criminal Justice and Criminology at East Tennessee State University.

GORDON A. CREWS is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Marshall University in Huntington, Kansas.