cover image INVISIBLE PUNISHMENT: The Collateral Consequences of Mass Imprisonment

INVISIBLE PUNISHMENT: The Collateral Consequences of Mass Imprisonment

, . . New Press, $26.95 (288pp) ISBN 978-1-56584-726-2

Arguments against the current system of what the editors deem "mass imprisonment" drive this collection of 16 essays from respected criminologists and sociologists. Assistant director of the Sentencing Project Mauer (Race to Incarcerate) and Chesney-Lind (Girls, Delinquency, and Juvenile Justice) focus the debate on areas that often get neglected by the media: "Black Economic Progress in the Era of Mass Imprisonment"; "The House of the Dead: Tuberculosis and Incarceration"; and "Entrepreneurial Corrections: Incarceration as a Business." Some of the statistics are staggering: more than 47 million Americans have federal or state criminal records, roughly one-fourth of the adult population. As has been well-documented, a disproportionate number of these are people of color, and several essays investigate the impact on the social and material life of their families and communities: the title's "invisible punishment." Contributors are mainly academics but also include policy analysts and journalists familiar with the ramifications of the legal and corrections systems, making this a sometimes dense but mostly accessible compendium. (Nov.)