American Prison : Imagining a Different Future

For the first time in four decades, prison populations are declining and politicians have reached the consensus that mass imprisonment is no longer sustainable. At this unique moment in the history of corrections, the opportunity has emerged to discuss in meaningful ways how best to shape efforts to control crime and to intervene effectively with offenders. This breakthrough book brings together established correctional scholars to imagine what this prison future might entail. Each scholar uses his or her expertise to craft―in an accessible way for students to read―a blueprint for how to create a new penology along a particular theme. For example, one contributor writes about how to use existing research expertise to create a prison that is therapeutic and another provides insight on how to create a "feminist" prison. In the final chapter the editors pull together the "lessons learned" in a cohesive, comprehensive essay.

Francis T. Cullen is Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Associate in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati, where he also holds a joint appointment in sociology. He received a Ph.D. (1979) in sociology and education from Columbia University. Professor Cullen has published more than 500 works in the areas of criminological theory, corrections, white-collar crime, public opinion, sexual victimization, and the criminology of Donald Trump. He is author of Rethinking Crime and Deviance Theory: The Emergence of a Structuring Tradition and is coauthor of Reaffirming Rehabilitation, Correctional Theory: Context and Consequences, Environmental Corrections: A New Paradigm for Supervising Offenders in the Community, Criminology, Communities and Crime: An Enduring American Challenge, Corporate Crime Under Attack: The Ford Pinto Case and Beyond, Combating Corporate Crime: Local Prosecutors at Work, Unsafe in the Ivory Tower: The Sexual Victimization of College Women, and Confronting School Violence: A Synthesis of Six Decades of Research. He also is coeditor of Criminological Theory: Past to Present―Essential Readings, Taking Stock: The Status of Criminological Theory, The Origins of American Criminology, Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory, The Oxford Handbook of Criminological Theory, Challenging Criminological Theory: The Legacy of Ruth Rosner Kornhauser, Sisters in Crime Revisited: Bringing Gender Into Criminology, Delinquency and Drift Revisited: The Criminology of David Matza and Beyond, Deterrence, Choice, and Crime: Contemporary Perspectives, The Oxford Handbook of White-Collar Crime, The American Prison: Imagining a Different Future, and Crime and Victimization in the Trump Era. Professor Cullen is a Past President of the American Society of Criminology and of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. In 2010, he received the ASC Edwin H. Sutherland Award. In 2013, he was honored by his alma mater, Bridgewater State University, with a Doctorate in Public Service. He was selected as the Winner of the 2022 Stockholm Prize in Criminology.

Cheryl Lero Jonson is Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Xavier University. She received a Ph.D. (2010) in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati. She is coeditor of The Origins of American Criminology, Sisters in Crime Revisited: Bringing Gender into Criminology, The American Prison: Imagining a Different Future, and Deterrence, Choice, and Crime: Contemporary Perspectives. Her published work has appeared in Criminology and Public Policy, Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, and Victims and Offenders. Her current research interests include correctional policy, the impact of incarceration on recidivism, the use of incentives to downsize American prisons, inmate adjustment to conditions of confinement, strategies to prevent school shootings, and work reactions among criminal justice employees. From 2012 to 2015, she served as an Executive Counselor of the Corrections Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

Mary K. Stohr is a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Washington State University. She earned her PhD in political science, with specializations in criminal justice and public administration, from Washington State University. Previously she worked at Missouri State, Boise State, and New Mexico State Universities for a total of 23 years. Before entering academe Stohr, worked in an adult male prison in Washington state as a correctional officer (for less than a year) and as a correctional counselor (for about two years). Stohr has published seven books and a total of over 150 other academic works of one sort or another in the areas of correctional organizations and operation, correctional personnel, client needs and assessment, program evaluation, drug policy and victimization. She is both a Founders and Fellows Award winner from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.