Review by Choice Review
Gottschalk's provocative, sophisticated book takes up the question of why the US imprisons a far greater proportion (3.2 percent) of its adult population than any other nation--a paradox, since crime has been going down. How did the "carceral state" come to be, and how does it compare with other countries, particularly Britain? Gottschalk (political science, Univ. of Pennsylvania) takes readers through the historical developments but focuses mainly on the period since the 1970s. Concerns over race, prisoners' rights, victims' rights, women's groups organized against rape and violence, and opponents of the death penalty became politicized in a way that allowed conservatives to push for hard-line penalties. That in turn led to a dramatic increase in the prison population, particularly in federal prisons. So entrenched is the system that it seems almost impervious to the arguments of experts or the reality of crushing costs. Gottschalk offers a variety of remedies to reduce the prison population to the same proportion as in other industrialized countries, while acknowledging that politics is central. The overall message is not optimistic, but this is an important, timely book. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Most levels/libraries. P. T. Smith Saint Joseph's University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
