Prison In America Assignment

The entire class will engage in a paper on the subject of American prisons.  We will be attempting to figure out what modern American prisons look like and then write an authoritative paper on some aspect of the subject.  Each student will ultimately write his or her own paper on some topic within this subject area.   Papers will rely on a variety of sources and are to be informative in nature.  

Before beginning to write, you must answer the following:

1.      Who is in prison?

§         By race

§         By gender

§         By age

§         By crime

§         By state

2.      How many people are estimated to be in prison in America today?

§         Federal prisons

§         State prisons

3.      What are the costs involved in maintaining prisons?

4.      Where and how many for-profit private corporations operate prisons?

5.      What are the conditions found in prisons today?

§         Amenities

§         Population

§         Facilities

§         Food

§         Occupations

§         Education

6.      How safe are prisons?

§         For inmates

§         For guards

7.      How long are people in prison for on average?

§         Felons

§         Misdemeanants

§         Drug related crimes

§         Crimes of violence

8.      How many people are on death row around the country?

§         How long have they been there?

§         What is the average length of stay?

 9.      What are some of the major issues affecting prison and incarceration today?

10.  What other facts have you gleaned about the prison system?