Sets out to identify the most pressing issues affecting the correctional system today.  Maintaining a solutions-focus, the book organizes problems into two distinct categories: those impacting the convicts and correctional facilities and those impacting the correctional officers and administrators. It examines long-standing, and emerging issues from a critical perspective, grounding discussion in empirical research and current events. Using the consistent voice of a single author, the book offers a no nonsense approach to explaining the problems of correctional officers, correctional managers, prisoners, and the public.