The Politics of Injustice: Crime and Punishment in America

by Katherine Beckett, Theodore Sasson

This book examines the US crime problem and the resulting policies as a political and cultural issue. It draws on a wide range of scholarship, including the representation of crime in political discourse, the mass media, and public opinion. It proposes that the punitive turn in crime policy is not just the result of a worsening crime problem or an increasingly fearful and vengeful public, but reflects efforts by national politicians to shift public policy on a variety of social problems toward harsher, more repressive solutions.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Holli]

A thorough and critical examination of the criminal justice system in America. Lots of statistics, lots of empirical evidence and riveting reading.

[Kaleigh]

Read this on a day you want to get VERY PISSED OFF.