Lawful Order

Book excerpt: Prisons remain a controversial topic for debate in our society. While few doubt the necessity of their existence, there is considerable debate over their purpose, organization, and processes. Do prisons exist to rehabilitate, punish, or simply incarcerate? How do we judge prison conditions? If those conditions are found to be unacceptable, how do we change them? What are a prisoner's rights? This book charts the history of Rhode Island's Adult Correctional Institutions over the past 40 years. Professor Carroll examines the radical transformation of Rhode Island prisons in response to changes in their external environment, and determines that the transformation can be seen to manifest five distinct stages: patriarchy, anarchy, restoration, threat, and consolidation.