This NIJ Research in Brief presents an overview of the current state of sentencing and corrections in America and a framework for analyzing the factors most likely to shape 21st century developments. The Fragmentation of Sentencing and Corrections in America, the first of four related policy briefs from the Executive Sessions on Sentencing and Corrections that distill what has been learned from the sessions, describes four competing conceptions of sentencing and corrections that coexist in the United States today: indeterminate sentencing, comprehensive structured sentencing, community/restorative justice, and comprehensive risk-based systems. These conceptions are characterized as to how likely they are to further or protect various goals or values of a sentencing and corrections system: equal treatment, autonomy, participation, transparency, and legitimacy.