The number of Americans who live behind bars has increased by 550 percent over the last 40 years. This has been the result of aggressive tough-on-crime legislation that had more harmful effects than lawmakers could have foreseen. Experts now see the problem but disagree on the solutions. Does incarceration limit crime, or does it simply feed into a cycle of problems that harm society and create a criminal class? Are sentences and rehabilitation programs that avoid prison time effective? This compelling volume tackles tough questions from many different angles. Full-Color Photographs, Bibliography, Charts, Graphs, Tables, Detailed Table of Contents, Further Information Section, Index, Primary Sources, Sidebars, Websites.