Castles of our Conscience – Social Control and the American State 1800–1985

Bill Staples grew up on the south shore of Long Island, New York. He has been a commercial fisherman, taxicab driver, plumber's apprentice, and pizza maker. He studied sociology at the University of Oregon, the University of Southern California, and UCLA. Staples is currently the 2013-14 E. Jackson Baur Professor of Sociology and founding Director of the Surveillance Studies Research Center at the University of Kansas. In addition to the first edition of EVERYDAY SURVEILLANCE his previous books include CASTLES OF OUR CONSCIENCE: SOCIAL CONTROL AND THE AMERICAN STATE, 1800-1985, a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title, POWER, PROFITS, AND PATRIARCHY: THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF WORK AT A BRITISH METAL TRADES FIRM, 1791-1922 (with C. L. Staples), an American Sociological Association Book Award winner as well as and the two-volume reference work, THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRIVACY, also a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas.

Presents an analysis of the role of the modern state in the shaping of policies of social control. First providing a theoretical understanding of the mechanisms of state policy-making, the author then discusses the changing nature of social control in the US from the 19th century to the present.