| Description |
1 online resource (vii, 225 pages) |
| Series |
Alternative criminology |
|
Alternative criminology series.
|
| Contents |
Degradation and disorientation: a glimpse into the Cook County jail -- What is the purpose of a jail? -- A matter of dignity -- Why do we stigmatize inmates? disgust, contempt, and fear in American jails -- What can we do? responding to a crisis -- Conclusion: can we reform the jail? -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index |
| Summary |
A look at the contemporary crisis in U.S. jails with recommendations for improving and protecting the dignity of inmates Twelve million Americans go through the U.S. jail system on an annual basis. Jails, which differ significantly from prisons, are designed to house inmates for short amounts of time, and are often occupied by large populations of legally innocent people waiting for a trial. Jails often have deplorable sanitary conditions, and there are countless records of inmates being brutalized by staff and other inmates while in custody. Local municipalities use jails to institutionalize those whom they perceive to be a threat, so hundreds of thousands of inmates suffer from mental illness. People abandoned by families or lacking health insurance, or those who cannot afford bail, often cycle in and out of jails. In America's Jails, Derek Jeffreys draws on sociology, philosophy, history, and his personal experience volunteering in jails and prisons to provide an understanding of the jail experience from the inmates' perspective, focusing on the stigma that surrounds incarceration. Using his research at Cook County Jail, the nation's largest single-site jail, Jeffreys attests that jail inmates possess an inherent dignity that should govern how we treat them. Ultimately, fundamental changes in the U.S. jail system are necessary and America's Jails provides specific policy recommendations for changing its poor conditions. Highlighting the experiences of inmates themselves, America's Jails aims to shift public perception and understanding of jail inmates to center their inherent dignity and help eliminate the stigma attached to their incarceration. A look at the contemporary crisis in U.S. jails with recommendations for improving and protecting the dignity of inmates Twelve million Americans go through the U.S. jail system on an annual basis. Jails, which differ significantly from prisons, are designed to house inmates for short amounts of time, and are often occupied by large populations of legally innocent people waiting for a trial. Jails often have deplorable sanitary conditions, and there are countless records of inmates being brutalized by staff and other inmates while in custody. Local municipalities use jails to institutionalize those whom they perceive to be a threat, so hundreds of thousands of inmates suffer from mental illness. People abandoned by families or lacking health insurance, or those who cannot afford bail, often cycle in and out of jails. In America's Jails, Derek Jeffreys draws on sociology, philosophy, history, and his personal experience volunteering in jails and prisons to provide an understanding of the jail experience from the inmates' perspective, focusing on the stigma that surrounds incarceration. Using his research at Cook County Jail, the nation's largest single-site jail, Jeffreys attests that jail inmates possess an inherent dignity that should govern how we treat them. Ultimately, fundamental changes in the U.S. jail system are necessary and America's Jails provides specific policy recommendations for changing its poor conditions. Highlighting the experiences of inmates themselves, America's Jails aims to shift public perception and understanding of jail inmates to center their inherent dignity and help eliminate the stigma attached to their incarceration |
| Analysis |
Prison reform |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Jails -- United States
|
|
Dignity.
|
|
Prisoners -- Abuse of -- United States
|
|
Prisoners -- United States -- Social conditions
|
|
Prisoners -- Mental health -- United States
|
|
Stigma (Social psychology) -- United States
|
|
Imprisonment -- Moral and ethical aspects -- United States
|
|
Discrimination in criminal justice administration -- United States
|
|
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Penology.
|
|
Dignity
|
|
Discrimination in criminal justice administration
|
|
Imprisonment -- Moral and ethical aspects
|
|
Jails
|
|
Prisoners -- Abuse of
|
|
Prisoners -- Mental health
|
|
Prisoners -- Social conditions
|
|
Stigma (Social psychology)
|
|
United States
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| ISBN |
9781479843787 |
|
1479843784 |
|
