Do prisons make us safer?

"Do Prisons Make Us Safer? asks whether it makes sense to maintain such a large and costly prison system. The contributors expand the scope of previous analyses to Include a number of underexplored dimensions, such as the fiscal impact on states, effects on children, and employment prospects for former inmates." "The United States currently imprisons a greater proportion of its citizens than any other nation in the world. Until now, however, we have lacked systematic and comprehensive data on how this prison boom has affected families, communities, and our nation as a whole. Do Prisons Make Us Safer? provides a highly nuanced and deeply engaging account of one of the most dramatic policy developments in recent U.S. history."--BOOK JACKET.