The standard answer to the question posed by the title of Bill Keller's new book, What's Prison For?, cites four goals: punishment, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. But as Keller shows, that last goal is typically treated as an afterthought in the United States.
Given that 95 percent of prisoners will eventually be released, Keller argues, policy makers should pay more attention to whether what happens behind bars increases or decreases former inmates' chances of leading peaceful, productive lives when they get out.
