Robert Perkinson, American studies professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, presents a history of America's prison system and examines its roots in Texas. Mr. Perkinson details two different ideologies that took form during the development of the American penal system. The North's interest in rehabilitation and the South's belief in retribution and profit. The author relays that the Southern ideology became the template for today's American prison system. Robert Perkinson discussed his book at New York University in New York City.