LEADER 03809nam 22006374a 450 001 9910451843603321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a1-281-15135-1 010 $a9786611151355 010 $a0-8135-4140-9 024 7 $a10.36019/9780813541402 035 $a(CKB)1000000000483384 035 $a(EBL)328681 035 $a(OCoLC)476126510 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000111394 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11139354 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000111394 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10095928 035 $a(PQKB)10909672 035 $a(DE-B1597)530183 035 $a(OCoLC)191680099 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780813541402 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC328681 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000483384 100 $a20070104d2007 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur||||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aBig prisons, big dreams $ecrime and the failure of America's penal system /$fMichael J. Lynch 205 $a1st ed. 210 $aNew Brunswick, N.J. $cRutgers University Press$dc2007 215 $a1 online resource (274 p.) 225 1 $aCritical issues in crime and society 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 $a0-8135-4185-9 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 241-251) and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tContents --$tPreface --$tChapter 1. Introduction: Big, Dark Secrets and America's Prison System --$tChapter 2. Prisons and Crime --$tChapter 3. The Growth of America's Prison System --$tChapter 4. Raising Questions About America's Big Prison System --$tChapter 5. Explaining Prison Growth in the United States: The Materialist Perspective --$tChapter 6. Prison Effects: Who Gets Locked Up --$tChapter 7. The Imprisonment Binge and Crime --$tChapter 8. The End of Oil and the Future of American Prisons? --$tChapter 9. A Consuming Culture --$tNotes --$tReferences --$tIndex --$tAbout the Author 330 $aThe American prison system has grown tenfold since the 1970's, but crime rates in the United States have not decreased. This doesn't surprise Michael J. Lynch, a critical criminologist, who argues that our oversized prison system is a product of our consumer culture, the public's inaccurate beliefs about controlling crime, and the government's criminalizing of the poor. While deterrence and incapacitation theories suggest that imprisoning more criminals and punishing them leads to a reduction in crime, case studies, such as one focusing on the New York City jail system between 1993 and 2003, show that a reduction in crime is unrelated to the size of jail populations. Although we are locking away more people, Lynch explains that we are not targeting the worst offenders. Prison populations are comprised of the poor, and many are incarcerated for relatively minor robberies and violence. America's prison expansion focused on this group to the exclusion of corporate and white collar offenders who create hazardous workplace and environmental conditions that lead to deaths and injuries, and enormous economic crimes. If America truly wants to reduce crime, Lynch urges readers to rethink cultural values that equate bigger with better. 410 0$aCritical issues in crime and society. 606 $aCriminals$xRehabilitation$zUnited States 606 $aImprisonment$zUnited States 606 $aCriminal justice, Administration of$zUnited States 615 0$aCriminals$xRehabilitation 615 0$aImprisonment 615 0$aCriminal justice, Administration of 676 $a365/.973 700 $aLynch$b Michael J$0787004 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910451843603321 996 $aBig prisons, big dreams$94191347 997 $aUNINA