What do you think?
Rate this book
The Future of Crime and Punishment
Today, we know that crime is often not just a matter of making bad decisions. Rather, there are a variety of factors that are implicated in much criminal offending, some fairly obvious like poverty, mental illness, and drug abuse and others less so, such as neurocognitive problems. Today, we have the tools for effective criminal behavioral change, but this cannot be an excuse for criminal offending. In The Future of Crime and Punishment, William R. Kelly identifies the need to educate the public on how these tools can be used to most effectively and cost efficiently reduce crime, recidivism, victimization and cost.
The justice system of the future needs to be much more collaborative, utilizing the expertise of a variety of disciplines such as psychology, psychiatry, addiction, and neuroscience. Judges and prosecutors are lawyers, not clinicians, and as we transition the justice system to a focus on behavioral change, the decision making will need to reflect the input of clinical experts. The path forward is one characterized largely by change from traditional criminal prosecution and punishment to venues that balance accountability, compliance, and risk management with behavioral change interventions that address the primary underlying causes for recidivism.
There are many moving parts to this effort and it is a complex proposition. It requires substantial changes to law, procedure, decision making, roles and responsibilities, expertise, and funding. Moreover, it requires a radical shift in how we think about crime and punishment. Our thinking needs to reflect a perspective that crime is harmful, but that much criminal behavior is changeable.
The justice system of the future needs to be much more collaborative, utilizing the expertise of a variety of disciplines such as psychology, psychiatry, addiction, and neuroscience. Judges and prosecutors are lawyers, not clinicians, and as we transition the justice system to a focus on behavioral change, the decision making will need to reflect the input of clinical experts. The path forward is one characterized largely by change from traditional criminal prosecution and punishment to venues that balance accountability, compliance, and risk management with behavioral change interventions that address the primary underlying causes for recidivism.
There are many moving parts to this effort and it is a complex proposition. It requires substantial changes to law, procedure, decision making, roles and responsibilities, expertise, and funding. Moreover, it requires a radical shift in how we think about crime and punishment. Our thinking needs to reflect a perspective that crime is harmful, but that much criminal behavior is changeable.
282 pages, Paperback
Published February 6, 2019
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 3, 2017
We don’t want this American Justice system, and a full 3/4 of the book is all about solutions! Intensely and expertly researched, yet written with great clarity and heart, this book should be memorized like a bible for anyone interested in or in any way involved with criminal justice.
Nixon's Southerb Strategy legacy of "law and order" is poison to America's civilized society, started 45 years of devastation, and echoes today in Sessions and Trump.
In 1990, I spent my entire high school senior year debating solutions to prison and jail overcrowding, since the incarcerated population was nearing 700,000 up from 200,000 at my birth 18 years prior. We felt the topic uninspired and boring, yet competed successfully and fell just short of nationals. I so much wish this brilliant and amazing book had been available as evidence, because it is so wise and objectively true.
Yet the adults who judged us, and voted in two decades of crazy harsh sentencing laws, and repeatedly punished us accepting only tough on crime arguments ... they have devasted criminal justice in America, and left a legacy off millions of ruined lives. Now America far leads the world in prisoners, with 1,600,000 human beings incarcerated, and so many more paroled or otherwise managed in a totally broken system.
Criminal Justice costs $260B/yr and Corrections cost $77B/yr in the US, 90%+ of which is for incarceration. What a terrible waste of money. There are over 75 million adults in the US with criminal records! (p143). They must not be 2nd class citizens. 10% of US citizens 12 and over have a drug addiction, excluding alcohol. Only ~10% of addicts get any treatment, and a higher fraction end up with an ER visit. (p160)
How unfair it is! One in three black men and one in six Hispanic men, can expect to spend time incarcerated. 70% of prison admissions are for non-violent crime. (p12) Half of federal prisoners are in for drug offenses. Over half of the incarcerated population has a mental health problem. (p44 & 72, 2006 DOJ study) 80% have drug or alcohol addictions. 60% of inmates have had at least one traumatic brain injury (p77, & Scientific American 2012)
We have 22m Americans who are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Only 11% are receiving any treatment, primarily because they can't afford it (p71). Obviously -- treatment would be so much cheaper, and humane. In 2012, over 700,000 people were arrested just for possession of marijuana. (p166). How crazy is that?!
Less than 57% of blacks and Hispanics graduate high school. 82% of public schools in Massachusetts are "failing", 91% in the worst FL. (p80)
There are roughly 3000 drug courts in United States today, in nearly half of all counties. They reduce drug use and recidivism by 35% and more. Their total capacity is only able to meet 10% of the need. Fortunately the ACA requires coverage for substance-abuse treatment on parity with medical treatment, which should lead to increased capacity and fewer financial barriers to treatment as long as ACA is law. (p97)
Over 250,000 inmates (16%) are 50 years of older, and have a <5% recidivism rate if released (p139), compared to about 2/3 recidivism for all inmates. Most of these elderly inmates are in for non-violent offenses, and cost twice as much to incarcerate. Why are they in there??!!
"We have essentially one firearm for man, woman, and child, although only 37% of adults on at least one firearm. " (p177, according to the Congressional Research Service). In 2012, that's 310 million civilian firearms, compared to 4 million police and military guns. Of the civilian weapons, over 4 million are assault rifles, which can shoot about a round a second.
The chapter on juvenile justice was the most heartbreaking. Of the 1.3 million juvenile arrests in United States in 2012, 2/3 are white, but of incarcerated youth 62% are black or Hispanic. Only 5% of arrests are for violent crimes, and in 2013 a full 113,000 were in Texas for missing school. (p189-193) Over 2/3rd of arrested kids had at least one mental health disorder, and 60% had experienced 6 or more distinct traumatic events. (p195). The "age of responsibility" is seven or eight depending on state (p213); how does anyone think that a child is responsible for their actions at that age??
Nixon's Southerb Strategy legacy of "law and order" is poison to America's civilized society, started 45 years of devastation, and echoes today in Sessions and Trump.
In 1990, I spent my entire high school senior year debating solutions to prison and jail overcrowding, since the incarcerated population was nearing 700,000 up from 200,000 at my birth 18 years prior. We felt the topic uninspired and boring, yet competed successfully and fell just short of nationals. I so much wish this brilliant and amazing book had been available as evidence, because it is so wise and objectively true.
Yet the adults who judged us, and voted in two decades of crazy harsh sentencing laws, and repeatedly punished us accepting only tough on crime arguments ... they have devasted criminal justice in America, and left a legacy off millions of ruined lives. Now America far leads the world in prisoners, with 1,600,000 human beings incarcerated, and so many more paroled or otherwise managed in a totally broken system.
Criminal Justice costs $260B/yr and Corrections cost $77B/yr in the US, 90%+ of which is for incarceration. What a terrible waste of money. There are over 75 million adults in the US with criminal records! (p143). They must not be 2nd class citizens. 10% of US citizens 12 and over have a drug addiction, excluding alcohol. Only ~10% of addicts get any treatment, and a higher fraction end up with an ER visit. (p160)
How unfair it is! One in three black men and one in six Hispanic men, can expect to spend time incarcerated. 70% of prison admissions are for non-violent crime. (p12) Half of federal prisoners are in for drug offenses. Over half of the incarcerated population has a mental health problem. (p44 & 72, 2006 DOJ study) 80% have drug or alcohol addictions. 60% of inmates have had at least one traumatic brain injury (p77, & Scientific American 2012)
We have 22m Americans who are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Only 11% are receiving any treatment, primarily because they can't afford it (p71). Obviously -- treatment would be so much cheaper, and humane. In 2012, over 700,000 people were arrested just for possession of marijuana. (p166). How crazy is that?!
Less than 57% of blacks and Hispanics graduate high school. 82% of public schools in Massachusetts are "failing", 91% in the worst FL. (p80)
There are roughly 3000 drug courts in United States today, in nearly half of all counties. They reduce drug use and recidivism by 35% and more. Their total capacity is only able to meet 10% of the need. Fortunately the ACA requires coverage for substance-abuse treatment on parity with medical treatment, which should lead to increased capacity and fewer financial barriers to treatment as long as ACA is law. (p97)
Over 250,000 inmates (16%) are 50 years of older, and have a <5% recidivism rate if released (p139), compared to about 2/3 recidivism for all inmates. Most of these elderly inmates are in for non-violent offenses, and cost twice as much to incarcerate. Why are they in there??!!
"We have essentially one firearm for man, woman, and child, although only 37% of adults on at least one firearm. " (p177, according to the Congressional Research Service). In 2012, that's 310 million civilian firearms, compared to 4 million police and military guns. Of the civilian weapons, over 4 million are assault rifles, which can shoot about a round a second.
The chapter on juvenile justice was the most heartbreaking. Of the 1.3 million juvenile arrests in United States in 2012, 2/3 are white, but of incarcerated youth 62% are black or Hispanic. Only 5% of arrests are for violent crimes, and in 2013 a full 113,000 were in Texas for missing school. (p189-193) Over 2/3rd of arrested kids had at least one mental health disorder, and 60% had experienced 6 or more distinct traumatic events. (p195). The "age of responsibility" is seven or eight depending on state (p213); how does anyone think that a child is responsible for their actions at that age??
April 28, 2018
I read this book for a class that I'm currently taking with Professor Kelly, "Sociology of Criminal Justice". I really enjoy the class, and the book just helped reinforce a lot of the ideas that we've discussed in class. Dr. Kelly is an effective writer because he makes his ideas easy to follow and his information digestible. There are a lot of problems with America's criminal justice system today, and there are many ways that reform should happen, and Dr. Kelly doesn't take the blanket optimistic approach when writing about these situations. He uses realistic, practical, concrete ideas to explain how criminal justice reform should occur. There's a lot to be done, and knowing what I do now, I am better informed to help drive policy decisions and votes towards reform and smart on crime policies that will benefit all parts of society.
March 16, 2018
I’ve had the privilege to take a criminal justice class in college with Professor Kelly. He knows his stuff... After more than 40 years working with criminal justice reform, Kelly offers data-driven tactics for restructuring our dilapidated CJ system in this book. The political will for restructuring (in monumental ways) will need to prevail in order to spearhead this agenda. This book adequately analyzes the significant correlates of crime, and offers evidence-based approaches for effectively reducing recidivism, further victimization, and taxpayer dollars spent on incarceration.
June 10, 2018
Everyone should read this book. Although I feel as though I say this a lot (for there are many books that many people SHOULD read), this work is necessary. It explains the American criminal systems, flaws, and historical background. But more importantly, Kelly proposes well-thought out solutions to the problems in the criminal system. The majority people do not understand the problems with the criminal system, due to the significant amount of misinformation out there. However, Kelly, through an incredibly well researched historical background, explains exactly how our society has created the so-called justice system we struggle with, and often oppose, today. Every law student considering to be a prosecutor should read this book and every judge sitting on a criminal docket should read this book and every senator/representative/lobbyist representing "tough on crime" or "war on drugs" propaganda should read this book. These are the people who are going to be the change in the system, and Kelly's solutions would be a great start to problems that run decade deep.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews