Prisons and Prison Life investigates and analyzes prisons--and the often undocumented costs of imprisonment for all involved. Beginning with a short history of imprisonment in the U.S., the text covers all aspects of prison life, including profiles of prisoners, a description of life in prison, women's prisons, correctional officers, management issues, and re-entry. The use of first-person quotations further enriches the discussion and personalizes the issues. Topical issues such as private prisons, supermax prisons, and AIDS are also discussed. Coverage includes: * A detailed and comprehensive discussion of the history of imprisonment rates and its impact on other areas of government spending * A chapter on the "drug war" and how it has contributed to the explosive growth of prisons and affected the subcultures within them * A chapter on the emerging problem of re-entry and how we must be prepared to accept back into society thousands of offenders who were given long sentences in the early 1980s * A discussion of how women's prisons are different from men's and the unique management issues associated with prisons for women * A detailed chapter on prisoner rights and the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act * Review questions to stimulate class discussion or for testing purposes