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When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment
Since the crime explosion of the 1960s, the prison population in the United States has multiplied fivefold, to one prisoner for every hundred adults--a rate unprecedented in American history and unmatched anywhere in the world. Even as the prisoner head count continues to rise, crime has stopped falling, and poor people and minorities still bear the brunt of both crime and
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Published
September 1st 2009
(first published August 17th 2009)
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Wonderful, easy-to-read, thought-provoking book about the American criminal justice system, how it has changed during the last 40 years, its current failings, and what to do to fix them. Even-handed, non-partisan analysis of which tactics works and which don't, based on several pilot programs and lots of independent research. Should be required reading for any sociology student. Very sobering on the social justice aspect: 1% of American adults are currently incarcerated. Many of his findings wou...more
This is a clear, informative and realistic assessment of the public policy challenges posed by the American criminal justice system. The jewel at the center of Kleiman's book is the premise that the goal of crime reduction is compatible with a diminution of suffering at all organizational levels, including enforcement and punishment. It's the kind of book that one dearly hopes that our political class might actually read.
absolutely fascinating. i thought i knew a fair amount about crime policy, but was used to approaching it either from the ACLU view (all criminals are products of poverty or discrimination and we need to address root causes rather than punishing them) or the DA view (throw them all in jail forever!!). this is an utterly refreshing third view, thinking about how to have the most reduction in crime while still maximizing liberty and minimizing costs. some absolutely fascinating views and proposals...more
Fascinating. Really current, non-ideological thinking on how to reduce crime. Also a pretty quick read.
Fascinating! A nuanced analysis that does not fall into the same old recommendations or ideologies.
This book came highly recommended, but I almost gave up on it early on. The opening chapters are just too dry and directionless. Fortunately, Kleiman regroups and eventually walks through a very engaging argument about what we get wrong in how we deal with crime. B+.
Part of Councilmember Burgess' reading list. Theory that the way we've gone about punishing crime in the U.S. hasn't achieved the results we like, so maybe we should adopt new strategies.
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