Prison Violence ─ Causes, Consequences and Solutions

Levan (criminal justice, Plymouth State U.) presents a comprehensive introduction to prison violence that draws on data from populations in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Violence includes actual and threatened harm, physical and psychological. The author focuses on individual violence, exploring collective violence on the micro-level in the form of small groups. To this end, she doesn't address prison or system-wide violence like riots. There is no discussion of violence perpetrated by prison employees against prisoners. She examines several theories as to the origins of prison violence and how it is or might be remedied. Number-rich chapters later in the book examine the consequences of this violence borne individually, economically, and socially. To this end, her final chapter offers several suggestions on both prison and criminal justice reform. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Kristine Levan is Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Plymouth State University, USA.