Of the 78 possible strategic games in two-person game theory, one has acquired the most attention, and the most notoriety, from scholars and laymen alike. The so-called “Prisoner’s Dilemma,” or what we prefer to call the “Parable of the Prisoners,” is not only the most famous formal...

Prisons in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are run not so much by prison guards as by inmates. In circumstances of severe overcrowding and acute staff shortage, prisoners are recruited or organise themselves, not only to perform clerical and janitorial work, but also to provide for welfare,...

The PASTA WARS is a four-party negotiation/conflict simulation-game, in which participants must decide recurrently whether to adopt a cooperative stance or a competitive strategy towards one another. Participants are formed into four groups, each of which manages a flour mill that is attempting...

Punishment as a social institution has failed to live up to the quixotic ideals of theory and has descended into the practice of mass incarceration, which is one of the defining failures of this generation. Scholars have traditionally studied punishment and incarceration as parts of a social...

This article examines the working lives of female prison officers between 1877 and 1939. It documents a relatively under‐researched, but important, period in the history of women's imprisonment in England. In doing so it aims to uncover the working lives of female officers, the role and daily...

We investigate whether prisons contribute to homophobia in the general population given that inmates’ informal code often ascribes low status to persons perceived as ``passive’’ homosexuals. First, using Australian longitudinal survey data, we establish that prison experience prompts a...

Mass incarceration has many evils. One of them is the length and apparent fixedness of many criminal sentences—a relatively new development in the history of American criminal adjudication. Sympathetic system actors, concerned about this problem, often complain that they lack the ability to...

Crime is frightening. It breeds emotional responses which can lead to counterproductive governmental policy. To allow a rational analysis of these important concerns, Criminal Dilemmas applies intuition from economics, political science, and game theory as a way to develop new perspectives about...

The United States is unique among rich countries in the world in its level of contemporary mass incarceration, a massive social change that has reshaped the nature of inequality and social mobility. We have more than tripled the number of prison facilities since 1970. Despite employing nearly...

The economic downturn has resulted in a budget crisis for Ohio, as it has for other states, and out-of-control prison costs have emerged as a key concern. The ACLU of Ohio has been a forceful proponent of sentencing reform where policymakers may save taxpayer dollars and help create a more just...