A comprehensive overview of American penology covering practices, historical precedents, ideologies, changing attitudes, system descriptions, and trends in prison management, as well as noteworthy penal literature. The entries are alphabetically arranged in a concise dictionary format and are cross-referenced to clarify the more technical penal terminology. There is a brief description of each state prison system and major components of the federal system are discussed. Entries include administrative structure, components of the adult and juvenile inmate populations in their respective institutions, and operating budgets for an indication of current costs and capital expenditure budgets for furture expansion costs to corrections systems.

The dictionary provides an overview of a broad variety of topics in American penology. Each entry is followed by complete references and cross references to clarify technical terminology of penology. The entries give essential information about the administrative structure, adult and adolescent population in respective institutions, and both operating budgets for current costs and capital budgets for future expansion for interstate comparison. Other entries include program description, ideology, techniques, and a historical perspective of American prisons.