From the Foreword

-Todd R. Clear, Distinguished Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Praise for Ironies of Imprisonment:

"The American correctional system is too often misshaped by a toxic mixture of ideology, anti-intellectualism, wishful thinking, and structural interests. Michael Welch uses his substantial critical skills to illuminate how these various factors intersect to create policies and practices that produce, in the end, more injustice and less public safety. His sobering analysis deconstructs the rhetoric used to justify mass imprisonment and its unanticipated, disquieting consequences."

-Frank Cullen, University of Cincinnati

-Roger Matthews, Middlesex University

Ironies of Imprisonment examines in-depth an array of problems confronting correctional programs and policies from the author's singular and consistent critical viewpoint. The book challenges the prevailing logic of mass incarceration and traces the ironies of imprisonment to their root causes, manifesting in social, political, economic, and racial inequality.

Key Features

• A compelling Foreword written by Todd E. Clear, an internationally recognized leader in the field of criminal justice.
• Chapters open with illuminating real-life vignettes and end with provocative review questions.
• The author's knowledgeable and dynamic voice provides a consistent perspective on key issues such as the war on drugs, the war on terror, prison violence, capital punishment, health care, and the prison industry.
• Up-to-date presentation of pertinent subject matter, including chief developments in research and theory.
• Discussion of the problems facing corrections in a post-September 11th world.

Unique and accessible, this book promises to stimulate spirited discussion and debate over the use of prisons. Ironies of Imprisonment is recommended reading for students in corrections classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels in sociology, criminology, and criminal justice departments. In addition, it can be used in conjunction with a core text in courses on policy, theories of punishment, and social problems. The book will also be of interest to a general audience interested in reading about incarceration.

Michael Welch is the author of numerous articles and several books on the subject of punishment and social control, including Punishment in America (1999), Flag Burning: Moral Panic and the Criminalization of Protest (2000), and Detained: Immigration Laws and the Expanding I.N.S. Jail Complex (2002). He has correctional experience at the federal, state, and local levels. Welch received a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of North Texas, Denton and is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University.

From the Foreword

-Todd R. Clear, Distinguished Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Praise for Ironies of Imprisonment:

"The American correctional system is too often misshaped by a toxic mixture of ideology, anti-intellectualism, wishful thinking, and structural interests. Michael Welch uses his substantial critical skills to illuminate how these various factors intersect to create policies and practices that produce, in the end, more injustice and less public safety. His sobering analysis deconstructs the rhetoric used to justify mass imprisonment and its unanticipated, disquieting consequences."

-Frank Cullen, University of Cincinnati

-Roger Matthews, Middlesex University

Ironies of Imprisonment examines in-depth an array of problems confronting correctional programs and policies from the author's singular and consistent critical viewpoint. The book challenges the prevailing logic of mass incarceration and traces the ironies of imprisonment to their root causes, manifesting in social, political, economic, and racial inequality.

Key Features

• A compelling Foreword written by Todd E. Clear, an internationally recognized leader in the field of criminal justice.
• Chapters open with illuminating real-life vignettes and end with provocative review questions.
• The author's knowledgeable and dynamic voice provides a consistent perspective on key issues such as the war on drugs, the war on terror, prison violence, capital punishment, health care, and the prison industry.
• Up-to-date presentation of pertinent subject matter, including chief developments in research and theory.
• Discussion of the problems facing corrections in a post-September 11th world.

Unique and accessible, this book promises to stimulate spirited discussion and debate over the use of prisons. Ironies of Imprisonment is recommended reading for students in corrections classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels in sociology, criminology, and criminal justice departments. In addition, it can be used in conjunction with a core text in courses on policy, theories of punishment, and social problems. The book will also be of interest to a general audience interested in reading about incarceration.

Michael Welch is the author of numerous articles and several books on the subject of punishment and social control, including Punishment in America (1999), Flag Burning: Moral Panic and the Criminalization of Protest (2000), and Detained: Immigration Laws and the Expanding I.N.S. Jail Complex (2002). He has correctional experience at the federal, state, and local levels. Welch received a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of North Texas, Denton and is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University.

From the Foreword

-Todd R. Clear, Distinguished Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Praise for Ironies of Imprisonment:

"The American correctional system is too often misshaped by a toxic mixture of ideology, anti-intellectualism, wishful thinking, and structural interests. Michael Welch uses his substantial critical skills to illuminate how these various factors intersect to create policies and practices that produce, in the end, more injustice and less public safety. His sobering analysis deconstructs the rhetoric used to justify mass imprisonment and its unanticipated, disquieting consequences."

-Frank Cullen, University of Cincinnati

-Roger Matthews, Middlesex University

Ironies of Imprisonment examines in-depth an array of problems confronting correctional programs and policies from the author's singular and consistent critical viewpoint. The book challenges the prevailing logic of mass incarceration and traces the ironies of imprisonment to their root causes, manifesting in social, political, economic, and racial inequality.

Key Features

• A compelling Foreword written by Todd E. Clear, an internationally recognized leader in the field of criminal justice.
• Chapters open with illuminating real-life vignettes and end with provocative review questions.
• The author's knowledgeable and dynamic voice provides a consistent perspective on key issues such as the war on drugs, the war on terror, prison violence, capital punishment, health care, and the prison industry.
• Up-to-date presentation of pertinent subject matter, including chief developments in research and theory.
• Discussion of the problems facing corrections in a post-September 11th world.

Unique and accessible, this book promises to stimulate spirited discussion and debate over the use of prisons. Ironies of Imprisonment is recommended reading for students in corrections classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels in sociology, criminology, and criminal justice departments. In addition, it can be used in conjunction with a core text in courses on policy, theories of punishment, and social problems. The book will also be of interest to a general audience interested in reading about incarceration.

Michael Welch is the author of numerous articles and several books on the subject of punishment and social control, including Punishment in America (1999), Flag Burning: Moral Panic and the Criminalization of Protest (2000), and Detained: Immigration Laws and the Expanding I.N.S. Jail Complex (2002). He has correctional experience at the federal, state, and local levels. Welch received a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of North Texas, Denton and is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University.