American Penology: A History of Control / Edition 2

by Thomas G. Blomberg

Overview

The purpose of American Penology is to provide a story of punishment's past, present, and likely future. The story begins in the 1600s, in the setting of colonial America, and ends in the present. As the story evolves through various historical and contemporary settings, America's efforts to understand and control crime unfold. The context, ideas, practices, and consequences of various reforms in the ways crime is punished are described and examined.

Though the book's broader scope and purpose can be distinguished from prior efforts, it necessarily incorporates many contributions from this rich literature. While this enlarged second edition incorporates select descriptions and contingencies in relation to particular eras and punishment ideas and practices, it does not limit itself to individual "histories" of these eras. Instead, it uses history to frame and help explain particular punishment ideas and practices in relation to the period and context from which they evolved. The authors focus upon selected demographic, economic, political, religious, and intellectual contingencies that are associated with historical and contemporary eras to show how these contingencies shaped America's punishment ideals and practices.

In offering a new understanding of received notions of crime control in this edition, Blomberg and Lucken not only provide insights into the future of punishment, but also show how the larger culture of control extends beyond the field of criminology to have an impact on declining levels of democracy, freedom, and privacy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780202363349
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	01/30/2010
Edition description:	Enlarged
Pages:	310
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Thomas G. Blomberg is dean and Sheldon L. Messinger Professor of Criminology and executive director of the Center for Criminology and Public Policy at Florida State University.

Karol Lucken is professor at the department of criminal justice, University of Central Florida and author of numerous scholarly articles.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

1 Introduction 1

Conceptual Framework 1

Overview of Book 4

2 Public Punishment in Colonial America (1600-1790) 11

Life in the Colonies 12

Crime as Sin 14

Public and Corporal Punishment 16

Church, Community, and Punishment 22

3 Penal Code Reform in the Period of Transition (1790-1830) 25

Post-Revolutionary America 26

Crime as Reasoned Behavior 29

Punishment and Deterrence 32

Enlightenment, Free Will, and Incarceration 40

4 Age of the Penitentiary in Nineteenth-Century America (1830-1870s) 41

Jacksonian America and Beyond 42

Crime as Moral Disease 45

Promise of the Penitentiary 48

The Penitentiary in Practice 53

Southern Justice 57

Urban Disenchantment, Moral Reform, and the Penitentiary 59

5 Progressivism and Reformatory, Parole, and Probation (1880s-1920s) 61

Progressive America 62

Crime and Positivism 68

Promise of Progressive Penology 70

Progressive Penology in Practice 77

Progressivism and Individual Treatment 83

6 Progressivism and the Juvenile Court (1900-1960s) 85

Juvenile Court as Progressive Ideology 86

Promise of Juvenile Courts 88

Juvenile Court in Practice 92

Juvenile Court: Advancing Individual Treatment 99

7 Twentieth-Century Rehabilitative Ideal and "Correctional" System (1900-1960s) 101

Rehabilitative Ideal and Crime Causation 102

Growth and Refinement of the Correctional System 110

Uneven Progress and Correctional System Failure 118

Rehabilitative Ideal: Explain, Treat, and Eliminate 121

8 Prison Subcultures (1950s-l960s) 123

Prison Community 124

Deprivation Model 126

Importation Model 130

Female Inmate Subcultures 133

Total Power and Institutional Control 135

Living in Prison 137

9 Prisoner Rights in the Age of Discontent (1960s-1970s) 141

Radicalism and Social Reform 142

Prisoner Rights 147

Abolishing Capital Punishment 159

Discovery of Prisoner Rights 161

10 Decentralizing Corrections (1960s-1970s) 163

Labeling Theory: Justifying Decentralization 164

Development of the Decentralization Movement 166

Goals and Practices of Decentralization Reforms 169

Decentralization: Not Less-More 177

11 Conservatism and Law-and-Order Punishment (1980s-1990s) 179

Reversing Course 180

Neo-Conservative Criminology 184

Law-and-Order Punishment 185

Consequences of Law-and-Order Punishment 197

Punishment Binge 203

12 Penal System as Surrogate Institution for Special Populations 207

Women and Mothers 208

Elderly 216

Mentally Ill 221

Inmates with AIDS and Tuberculosis 227

Prison as Nursery, Hospital, and Asylum 233

13 Punishment in the Millennial Age 235

Postmodern Society 236

Integrated Theories of Crime 237

"Anything Goes" Penal Strategies 238

Blending Soft and Tough Punishment 257

14 Conclusion 259

Past and Present Penal Practices 259

Culture of Control 265

Criminology and Public Policy 269

Individualism, Rights, and the Culture of Control 271

References 275

Index 295

Editorial Reviews

Blomberg and Lucken offer solid insight into the history of penal practice, which will enable readers to understand penal practice in the US more clearly and coherently than they previously might have. . . . The authors identify general trends or practices that define historical periods. . . . Highly recommended.” —M. A. Fole, Choice “Most texts and research literature focus on a variety of topics but lack an overall theme, whereas American Penology provides a framework in which to see the development of correctional practice as part of a larger process—an evolving “cultural of control” that now threatens to impose a surveillance technology not only on the growing numbers of felons and misdemeanants but on the rest of us as well. So this book is not only a history of corrections, although most of it deals with the past, but rather an attempt to frame this history within a context of changing ideologies and political philosophies. Further, the authors intend to show how different eras were dominated by a particular idea and a concomitant set of penal practices, only to give way to another era of ideas and practices without ever completely relinquishing the past. This contributed to a new-widening effect that has gradually expanded the degree of control by the state over more of the population. The implication is that “we are becoming a medium-secure society” in which “democracy, privacy, and other individual rights” are threatened and may disappear altogether. An Orwellian future awaits. It is a provocative and troubling thesis, and on the whole, Blomberg and Lucken argue it well. . . . This is an important and valuable contribution to the growing debate about social control in the electronic age.” —David J. Dodd, Contemporary Sociology “This book is an interesting and intriguing departure from the standard approach to corrections study in America. The authors emphasize an historical approach and highlight the social context of the various penal practices and reforms from the last four centuries. Punishment is presented in the relation to economic, religious, political, intellectual, and theoretical influences. The introduction lays out the historical perspective of the piece and does an excellent job of describing not only the conceptual framework of the book, but also its scope and an outline of the topics addressed. . . . The authors’ consistency and focus on the impact of the social, political, economic, and theoretical factors encourages complex sociological thinking and understanding of the evolution of penal policy and reform. Their overall approach makes explicit the link between societal factors and penal philosophy and practices. . . . This book should be considered as a viable alternative to traditional texts for the study of corrections.” —Kristi L. Hoffman, Teaching Sociology

From the Publisher

Offers a new understanding of received notions of crime control through an examination of the historical contexts and associated ideologies that gave rise to specific punishment policies, practices, and reforms in US history. Provides insight into the likely future of crime control, and shows how the larger culture of control extends beyond criminology and impacts on the declining levels of democracy, freedom, and privacy. Blomberg teaches criminology and criminal justice at Florida State University. Lucken teaches criminal justice at the University of Central Florida. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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