Books,+ebooks,+reference

**Student Name: Brigid Clark **
 * Graduation Project Annotated Bibliography **
 * Annotation #2 **

** __MLA Citation:__ ** Wiloch, Thomas. //Prisons and Jails: A Deterrent to Crime?// Ed. Kepos Paula and John McCoy. Wylie, Texas: Thompson Gale, 2005. Print. __Author’s credentials:__ Thomas Wiloch completed his graduate studies at Howard University. Although primarily a poet and editor, he published several nonfiction books on the prison system, including // Everything You Need to Know about Protecting Yourself and Others Against Abduction (1998), and Crime: A Serious American Problem (2004). //He died in September of 2008.
 * __INFORMATION:__ **

__Scope and purpose of the work:__ The article acts as a persuasive nonfiction work, and it claims to offer unbiased results, yet some may end up persuading the audience as well as informing. __ Intended Audience: __ Based on the source where the article is published, the professional tone, and the complex terminology and ideas included, the article was likely written for a professional audience, yet the research question and results may still be valuable to the average person. __ SUMMARY __ ** __Thesis or main idea:__ The preface of the nonfiction book opens by presenting the various problems plaguing the US prison system: capital punishment, juvenile crime, the history of punishment, etc. It claims to offer an unbiased argument on each topic. __ Summary of main arguments: __Each chapter addresses an argument, with its own topic. Chapters are titled: History of Corrections, Expenditures, Jails, Prisons, Inmate Health, Juvenile Confinement, Probation and Parole, Sentencing, Special Facilities and Populations, and, finally, Prisoners’ Rights under Law. __ Summary of evidence: __ The book uses sources from many other studies, and a lot of statistical information directly from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and various police departments. While they do not argue their own opinion, the information speaks for itself. ** __ EVALUATION __ ** __Evaluation of research:__ The book is well researched and presented in a logical order, seeming to flow together. It was published and edited by researches who, based on their occupation and background, are reliable, and published by a reliable, scholarly group. Four organizations are cited as references, including 24 articles. An additional 4 articles are also cited, all of which are scholarly. __ Evaluation of scope: __ The topic has been fully addressed. The author cites many resources, but does not cite opposing viewpoints. However, seeing how it is based on studies, opposing viewpoints are only so relevant when compared to statistical findings. __ Evaluation of author bias: __ The author, based on his profession, seems a reliable source, yet he does not present any opposing arguments, arguing only the pros of his opinion. Factual evidence supports his arguments, and his work is almost entirely based on statistical results.  __** REFLECTION:  **__ This article was highly helpful in providing specified information about my topic. It helped expand my knowledge of deviance and deterrence. The information in the study provides an interesting new side to my project, and is a view I had not considered before. I will definitely use this source in my final project.
 * __ EVIDENCE __ **