The Punitive State: Crime, Punishment, and Imprisonment Across the United StatesOver the past several decades, punishment policy in the United States has taken a decidedly punitive turn. The U.S. incarceration rate is currently the highest in the world and far exceeds that of comparable Western European nations. Although the United States has a reputation as being among the most punitive nations, there is a great deal of variation in imprisonment across the states. Some have addressed these variations, but most have done so by reference to imprisonment rates per capita. In this book, I argue that the imprisonment rate ultimately reflects the cumulative outcome of two different punitive approaches. Analyses of variations in imprisonment risk and average time-served in prison demonstrate that states with high imprisonment rates are not necessarily the most punitive. Remarkably, some of the states with the lowest imprisonment rates have the highest risk of imprisonment or highest average time-served. |
Contents
The Punitive Turn | 1 |
Understanding the Punitive Turn | 35 |
Trends in Imprisonment | 61 |
Copyright | |
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admissions and releases analysis argue Arvanites average time served become more punitive Bureau of Justice changes in imprisonment Chapter correlations court commitments crime rates criminal justice Criminology determinate sentencing Dilulio drug offenders duration of imprisonment empirical excluded explain felony Florida Garland Georgia growth imprisonment rate rankings imprisonment rates imprisonment risk incarceration rate included increasing punitiveness inmates intensity jail Justice Statistics laws least punitive length of stay Louisiana mandatory minimum mandatory sentencing Maryland measure of punitiveness Michigan Minnesota Mississippi NCRP data Nevada North Dakota noted offense types Ohio Oklahoma over-punitive overall Parenti parole penal harm period political prison admissions prison population propensity to imprison property offenses punishment punitive turn reported risk of imprisonment sentencing guidelines sentencing policy social South Carolina state-level variations studies substantial Table terms of imprisonment Texas three-strikes three-strikes laws time-served Tonry under-punitive Utah variables variations in imprisonment variations in punitiveness violent offenders West Virginia Zimring