Behind the Walls: Fifty-Two Weeks and Counting was written to give the reader an inside look at a social economic depravity system existing within the United States, a place where individuals migrate to achieve the American dream. Here in the United States, a country that has the largest prison population in the world, reported as of April 6, 2020, for every 100,000 in population, there are currently 737 inmates locked up (worldpopulationreview.com). If you think that's bad, look at the state of Texas. According to Prison Policy Initiative, for every 100,000 in population, 891 individuals are incarcerated, and this does not include federal prison inmates. And of course, it's no secret that most of the incarcerated population are people of color.
The Texas prison system is none other than a business, and though Behind the Walls: Fifty-Two Weeks and Counting does not reflect on the business side of it, it does give the reader an inside look at the community, a community where a different type of social conflict exists. It's a conflict which produces a struggle for power and respect. This conflict not only affects the incarcerated inmate but the correctional officers as well, whose number one goal is to make sure he or she leaves the same way they walked in. Behind the Walls paints a picture of the daily life and struggles from an officer's perspective and will have you asking yourself, "If I was convicted, whether wrongfully or not, could I make it behind the walls?"