This book examines case studies of recent prison riots in five states, including the 1971 radical uprising in Attica, New York, and the infamous 1981 bloodbath at the New Mexico Penitentiary. The most extensive and detailed work yet written on US prison riots, the authors explain the occurrence and variations of riots as a reflection of the administrative breakdown of the prison system within a changing ideological context. A theoretical appendix helps make this work an ideal introduction to sociological theories of collective action.

This book examines case studies of recent prison riots in five states, including the 1971 radical uprising in Attica, New York, and the infamous 1981 bloodbath at the New Mexico Penitentiary. The most extensive and detailed work yet written on US prison riots, the authors explain the occurrence and variations of riots as a reflection of the administrative breakdown of the prison system within a changing ideological context. A theoretical appendix helps make this work an ideal introduction to sociological theories of collective action.

The book uses eight diverse case studies of prison riots to explore how the outcomes were affected by policies, procedures, management, communications, and strategy immediately before, during, and after the riot. Exploring the results achieved by negotiation, by force, and by simply waiting, the authors illuminate the factors most important in controlling the costs of damage and human suffering that can result from increasingly common prison disturbances.

Within the past 25 years, the prison population in America shot upward to reach a staggering 1.53 million by 2005. This book takes a broad, critical look at incarceration, the huge social experiment of American society. The authors investigate the causes and consequences of the prison buildup, often challenging previously held notions from scholarly and public discourse. By examining such themes as social discontent, safety and security within prisons, and impact on crime and on the labor market, Piehl and Useem use evidence to address the inevitable larger question, where should...

Within the past 25 years, the prison population in America shot upward to reach a staggering 1.53 million by 2005. This book takes a broad, critical look at incarceration, the huge social experiment of American society. The authors investigate the causes and consequences of the prison buildup, often challenging previously held notions from scholarly and public discourse. By examining such themes as social discontent, safety and security within prisons, and impact on crime and on the labor market, Piehl and Useem use evidence to address the inevitable larger question, where should...