Why are so many Americans in prison? / Steven Raphael and Michael A. Stoll -- The origins of mass incarceration in New York State : the Rockefeller drug laws and the local war on drugs / David F. Weiman and Christopher Weiss -- The impact of prison on crime / Shawn D. Bushway and Raymond Paternoster -- The people prisons make : the effects of incarceration on criminal psychology / Amy E. Lerman -- Ever-increasing levels of parental incarceration and the consequences for children / Rucker C. Johnson -- Footing the bill : causes and budgetary consequences of state spending on corrections / John W. Ellwood and Joshua Guetzkow -- Collateral costs : effects of incarceration on employment and earnings among young workers / Harry J. Holzer -- Assessing the relative benefits of incarceration : overall changes and the benefits on the margin / John J. Donohue III.