| Civilization and Barbarism Contributor(s): Newman, Graeme R. (Author) |
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ISBN: 1438478127 ISBN-13: 9781438478128 Publisher: State University of New York Press OUR PRICE: $33.20 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: January 2021 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Penology - Political Science | Political Freedom - Political Science | Law Enforcement |
| Dewey: 364.67 |
| LCCN: 2019027837 |
| Physical Information: 0.64" H x 6" W x 9" (0.92 lbs) 280 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The practice of mass incarceration has come under increasing criticism by criminologists and corrections experts who, nevertheless, find themselves at a loss when it comes to offering credible, practical, and humane alternatives. In Civilization and Barbarism, Graeme R. Newman argues this impasse has arisen from a refusal to confront the original essence of punishment, namely, that in some sense it must be painful. He begins with an exposition of the traditional philosophical justifications for punishment and then provides a history of criminal punishment. He shows how, over time, the West abandoned short-term corporal punishment in favor of longer-term incarceration, justifying a massive bureaucratic prison complex as scientific and civilized. Newman compels the reader to confront the biases embedded in this model and the impossibility of defending prisons as a civilized form of punishment. A groundbreaking work that challenges the received wisdom of "corrections," Civilization and Barbarism asks readers to reconsider moderate corporal punishment as an alternative to prison and, for the most serious offenders, forms of incapacitation without prison. The book also features two helpful appendixes: a list of debating points, with common criticisms and their rebuttals, and a chronology of civilized punishments. |