Abstract
Kristine Levan’s book Prison Violence is a comprehensive and compelling description of an often overlooked problem. Her concise, detailed, yet highly readable analysis makes this book an important contribution to criminologists and sociologists alike. In Chapters One and Two, Levan lays out a general introduction to prisons, punishment, and prison violence, and provides a descriptive picture of the U.S. prison population with particular attention to changes in this population over time. Chapter Three describes prison populations and the extent of prison violence in other countries, providing useful cross-national comparisons. Chapter Four explores explanations of prison violence with particular attention to general criminological theories of violence as well as the importance of prison hierarchies, the convict code, the process of prisonization, and importation and deprivation theories. The author also includes a discussion of the different explanations for violence among the female prison population. Chapter Five discusses the far-reaching effects of incarceration and prison violence. Special attention is paid to the victim’s family, community, and society as a whole, and the ways that exposure to violence can affect reentry and reintegration negatively. Chapters Six, Seven, and Eight focus on why prison violence is a complicated issue to understand, violence prevention and education strategies, and the potential future of prison violence, respectively.
Although this book provides a comprehensive look at individual as well as collective violence perpetrated by groups or gangs, it does not focus on the larger forms of violence such as prison riots, facility-wide disturbances, or even violence that occurs between staff and inmates. This book would benefit any criminologist, but would be particularly important for those interested in penology and violence.