Warehousing Violence

From overcrowding to violence the American prison system is facing its worst crisis in decades. More and more inmates are classified as violent - permanent dangers to society. Warehousing Violence addresses an issue of major concern for the prison system - how to maintain order amongst violent criminals who are in prison for life. How does an already overcrowded system `warehouse'' its worst cases and still maintain a semblance of order and nonviolence behind prison walls? Fleisher an anthropologist who served as a line corrections officer at a maximum security prison in California points to the success of at least one programme in warehousing society''s most violent people. Through a mixture of hands-on management strict control and innovative prison industry he shows how even the `hardest cases'' can be kept relatively placid in prison.This ethnographic account of life among inmates staff and administrators makes an important contribution to the development of correction policies that work.