This volume on penitentiary systems in the Americas offers a long-overdue look at the prisons that exist at the forefront of the ongoing struggle against drugs and violence throughout North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean. From Haiti to Bolivia, the authors examine the conditions in these systems, and allow several common themes to emerge, including the alarming prevalence of lengthy pre-trial detention and the often abysmal living conditions in these institutions. Taken together, this comprises the first comparative overview of the use and abuse of prisons in the Americas.

Contributions by: Astrid Arrarás, Emily D. Bello-Pardo, Adrián Bonilla, Marten W. Brienen, Nashira Chávez, Sebastián A. Cutrona, Lucía Dammert, Manuel Dammert Guardia, Khatchik DerGhougassian, Brian Fonseca, Jean-Claude Garcia-Zamor, Pamela Pamelá, W. Andy Knight, Susan Phillips, Christa L. Remington, Jonathan D. Rosen, Marcelo Rocha e Silva Zorovich, Tamara Rice Lave, Randy Seepersad, Dianne Williams, Roberto Zepeda Martínez