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                            Library & Multimedia
 Politics of Crime and Punishment
NCJ Number
              185512

Author(s)
          William Lyons, Stuart Scheingold, Criminal Justice 2000, Volume 1: The Nature of Crime: Continuity and Change
Date Published

January 2000
Length
              47 pages
Annotation
              The underlying thesis of this paper is that crime-control policy
is politically constructed.
Abstract
              In developing the thesis and its implications, the authors depart
from much of the conventional wisdom in three basic ways. First,
in showing the political derivations of crime-control policy, the
theory reveals how, why, and to what extent criminological
knowledge is marginalized in the policymaking process. Second,
the authors take issue with what is largely taken for granted by
criminologists, criminal process professionals, and the general
public, i.e., the pervasive attractions of a punitive discourse
and punitive approaches to crime control. Third, the exploration
of the politics that drive crime-control policy reveals more
complexity, contingency, and variation within the political
process than most observers attribute to the politics of crime
and punishment. Many claim that the widespread decrease in crime
is directly and causally linked to zero-tolerance policing, to
extraordinarily high rates of incarceration, to the increasing
length of sentences, to harsh imprisonment conditions, and to the
return of capital punishment. Even if these claims are partly
true, the authors' counterclaim is that the putative benefits
must be weighed against the oppressive costs of overwhelmingly
punitive policies. Punitive policies are destructive in a number
of ways, but primarily in their exacerbation of racial cleavage
and the shattering of communities in order to save them. The
authors argue that regardless of whether or not punishment
"works", which is a contested proposition, it diverts attention,
energy, and resources from strategic responses that identify and
respond to the complexity of the crime problems as determined by
social inquiry in general and criminological knowledge in
particular. 5 exhibits, 22 notes, and 92 references
      
  
          Additional Details
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Date Published: January 1, 2000
    
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