Overcrowding is a terrific problem, and few are aware of the staggering costs of the prison system. California now spends more on corrections than on higher education, and in the same recent period that the state built 21 new prisons, it opened one new state college. Because of this cruel paradox, the focus shifts at the end of this book from madness in prisons to the madness of prisons. Kupers postulates a prison-industrial complex. Kupers argues that this coalition guides prison policy, which only metes severe punishment and does nothing to influence prisoners constructively.
Recidivism is the pretext with which to justify more and harsher prisons.
The author lays out a full array of sensible remedies, but he believes that nothing will change until lawmakers have strong public support to stand against the dangerous and wasteful status quo. The problems are systemic, and Kupers hopes one day to see the prisons rehumanized and the social problems that underlie crime redressed. The immediate lynchpin in prison madness is public ignorance, and with this eloquent book the author hopes to inform and disturb everyone. When prison madness ends, it will be because of books like this, which deserves to be bought, read, discussed, and loaned.