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America's Prisons: The Movement Toward Profit and Privatization

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I have recently read Blakely's America's Prisons: The Movement Toward Profit and Privatization. As a supplemental reader, instructors will find it useful in a number of courses. Perhaps the most interesting characteristic of this book is its approach to prisoner commodification and Blakely's contention that a number of traditional socially-productive objectives of the prison are being replaced by the pursuit of profit and efficiency. In approaching this topic, Blakely considers perceptions of the modern prison by both the judiciary and the print media. I know of no other published work that does this. Blakely also calls attention to additional factors associated with commercialized imprisonment that are often overlooked by other authors - particularly how current changes are effecting correctional staff. This book is timely, innovative, and thought provoking.

Vic Bumphus, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator
Department of Criminal Justice
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga