The new red barn

the long version

"How valid are today's prisons? Should we continue to build prisons, and if so how should they be constructed? Does the physical design of a correctional institution have a direct bearing on the success of the program within its walls? Can the shockingly high repeater rate be reduced through new concepts in prison design? More than 350,000 Americans today are incarcerated in some form of correctional institution, whether federal, state, county, or military. They are tended by more than 115,000 employees. The size of these figures and the tax burden that the represent for the American taxpayer strongly suggest the need for a reevaluation of priorities. This evaluation was carried out by the Institute of Corrections of The American Foundation, Incorporated and the answers that were reached will be debated by penologists and, if effected, dramatically alter the concept of corrections in this country. The author states that a moratorium should be called on all correctional construction. Merely to replace and modernize existing prison facilities, billions of dollars would be needed. But a more urgent reason for the halt of prison construction is a basis disagreement with the traditional attitude that incarceration is the best response to anti-social behavior. The innovations proposed by the Institute of Corrections are based on the principle that the reintegration of the prisoner into the community should be the goal of contemporary corrections." -- Book jacket.