A Note on Language
Introduction
PART 1: WHAT DRIVES THE MASS INCARCERATION BOOM? MYTHS ABOUT THE CAUSE OF MASS INCARCERATION
CHAPTER 1
The system of mass incarceration is flawed and not working as designed (or, A brief history).
CHAPTER 2
We need prisons to make us safer.
CHAPTER 3
Prisons are places of rehabilitation.
CHAPTER 4
Private prison corporations drive mass incarceration.
CHAPTER 5
Private corporations and profit from prison labor drive mass incarceration.
CHAPTER 6
Race has nothing to do with mass incarceration (or, If people of color are disproportionately incarcerated, it’s because they commit more crimes).
CHAPTER 7
“Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.” People need to take personal responsibility for their actions.
PART 2: THE MYTHS OF PRISONS AS SERVICE PROVIDERS AND SAFETY NETS
CHAPTER 8
Jails and prisons provide people with needed mental health care.
CHAPTER 9
People in prison “jump the line” for life-saving medical care.
CHAPTER 10
Incarceration is an effective way to get people into drug treatment.
PART 3: THE INVISIBLE PEOPLE BEHIND THE WALLS
CHAPTER 11
Mass incarceration only affects Black cisgender men.
CHAPTER 12
Bringing up a history of abuse and violence is simply an “abuse excuse.”
CHAPTER 13
Mass incarceration and immigrant detention are unrelated issues that can be addressed separately.
PART 4: HOW DO WE END MASS INCARCERATION?
CHAPTER 14
Most people are in prison for nonviolent drug offenses. Let them out and we’ll end mass incarceration.
CHAPTER 15
People in prison don’t resist or organize against abusive conditions.
CHAPTER 16
Prisons keep us safe from murderers and rapists.
CHAPTER 17
Incarceration and sex offender registries are necessary to keep our children safe.
CHAPTER 18
The system is broken and we simply need some reforms to fix it.
CHAPTER 19
We should make our prisons more like those in Norway.
CHAPTER 20
Prisons are the only logical and evident way to address violent crime and meet the needs of victims.
CHAPTER 21
Even if societal and political conditions are to blame, there’s nothing we can do about it.
For Further Reading
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
