The specific topics examined here include the societal purpose of incarceration, ways in which prisons affect criminals, ways in which prison overcrowding can be resolved, the question of prison privatization, and the viability of alternatives to incarceration. Each article is preceded by a quotation that expresses the author's primary argument. The articles are accompanied by activities designed to stimulate students to evaluate sources of information, separate fact from opinion, identify stereotypes, and recognize ethnocentrism.