Inferno : an anatomy of American punishment / Robert A. Ferguson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ferguson, Robert A., 1942-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Punishment--Philosophy.

Punishment.

Punishment--United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (352 p.)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England : Harvard University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

America's criminal justice system is broken. The United States punishes at a higher per capita rate than any other country in the world. In the last twenty years, incarceration rates have risen 500 percent. Sentences are harsh, prisons are overcrowded, life inside is dangerous, and rehabilitation programs are ineffective. Police and prosecutors operate in the dark shadows of the legal process--sometimes resigning themselves to the status quo, sometimes turning a profit from it. The courts define punishment as "time served," but that hardly begins to explain the suffering of prisoners. Looking not only to court records but to works of philosophy, history, and literature for illumination, Robert Ferguson, a distinguished law professor, diagnoses all parts of a now massive, out-of-control punishment regime. He reveals the veiled pleasure behind the impulse to punish (which confuses our thinking about the purpose of punishment), explains why over time all punishment regimes impose greater levels of punishment than originally intended, and traces a disturbing gap between our ability to quantify pain and the precision with which penalties are handed down. Ferguson turns the spotlight from the debate over legal issues to the real plight of prisoners, addressing not law professionals but the American people. Do we want our prisons to be this way? Or are we unaware, or confused, or indifferent, or misinformed about what is happening? Acknowledging the suffering of prisoners and understanding what punishers do when they punish are the first steps toward a better, more just system.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction The Intractable Problem

1. Punishment Misunderstood

2. The Rachet Effect in Theory

3. The Mixed Signs in Suffering

4. The Legal Punishers

5. The Legally Punished

6. The Punitive Impulse in American Society

7. The Law against Itself

Coda The Psychology of Punishment

Notes

Cases Cited

Further Reading

Credits

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-674-36993-9

OCLC:

979627359