Description
Book SynopsisModern criminal justice institutions globally include police, criminal courts, and prisons. Prisons, unlike courts which developed out of an old aristocratic function and unlike police which developed out of an ancient posse or standing army function, are only about 200 years old and are humanitarian inventions. Prisons, defined as modern institutions that deprive the freedom of individuals who violate societies' most basic norms in lieu of corporal or capital punishment, were near universal at the dawn of the 21st century and their use was expanding globally. The US alone spent $60 billion on prisons in 2014. Prison Bureaucracies addresses two fundamental questions. Do prisons in Christian, Hindu, and Muslim societies separated by space and level of socioeconomic development follow a common evolutionary path? Given that differences in prison structure and performance exist, what factorsresources, laws, leadership, historical accident, institutions, cultureaccount for differences? Base
Trade ReviewA culture-sensitive description of select prison administrations in three continents, narrated skillfully. -- Ujjwal Kumar Singh, University of Delhi
Norris’ research on prisons provides an excellent account on how prisons work. It states rich arguments that appropriately speak to many disciplines and invites to multiple thoughts on the issue of what is, and ought to be, the appropriate role of the state when imprisoning its citizens. The case studies in the book—the United States, Mexico, India, and Honduras—are thoroughly analyzed and documented. Norris succeeded in constructing coherent and solid arguments from the vast information that he recollected. This book is a must read for those interested on bureaucracies. -- Vidal Romero, ITAM
Table of ContentsIllustrations Tables Preface Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Modern Prison Bureaucracies: Monuments of a Charitable Disposition? Chapter 2: Poverty among Plenty: The Need for More Knowledge of Modern Prisons and Global Public Administration Chapter 3: The Origins and Structure of Prison Systems in Mexico and the US Chapter 4: The Origins and Structure of Prison Systems in India and Honduras Chapter 5: The Mis-Measure of Prison Performance Chapter 6: A Tyranny of the Educated versus Tudors Resurgent: Prisons in Mexico City and South Carolina Chapter 7: Differences in Bureaucratic Performance in Two Mexican Prisons Chapter 8: Indian Prisons in Delhi and Telangana compared to La Tamara Prison in Honduras Chapter 9: On the Meaning of Prisons Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Appendix D Appendix E Glossary Bibliography About the Author
