Acknowledgments1 Introduction Conceptual Framework Overview of Book2 Public Punishment in Colonial America (1600 1790) Life in the Colonies Crime as Sin Public and Corporal Punishment Church, Community, and Punishment3 Penal Code Reform in the Period of Transition (1790 1830) Post-Revolutionary America Crime as Reasoned Behavior Punishment and Deterrence Enlightenment, Free Will, and Incarceration4 Age of the Penitentiary in Nineteenth-Century America (1830 1870s) Jacksonian America and Beyond Crime as Moral Disease Promise of the Penitentiary The Penitentiary in Practice Southern Justice Urban Disenchantment, Moral Reform, and the Penitentiary
Thomas G. Blomberg is dean and Sheldon L. Messinger Professor of Criminology and executive director of the Center for Criminology and Public Policy at Florida State University.
-Blomberg and Lucken offer solid insight into the history of penal
practice, which will enable readers to understand penal practice in
the US more clearly and coherently than they previously might have.
. . . The authors identify general trends or practices that define
historical periods. . . . Highly recommended.- --M. A. Fole, Choice
-Most texts and research literature focus on a variety of topics
but lack an overall theme, whereas American Penology provides a
framework in which to see the development of correctional practice
as part of a larger process--an evolving -cultural of control- that
now threatens to impose a surveillance technology not only on the
growing numbers of felons and misdemeanants but on the rest of us
as well. So this book is not only a history of corrections,
although most of it deals with the past, but rather an attempt to
frame this history within a context of changing ideologies and
political philosophies. Further, the authors intend to show how
different eras were dominated by a particular idea and a
concomitant set of penal practices, only to give way to another era
of ideas and practices without ever completely relinquishing the
past. This contributed to a new-widening effect that has gradually
expanded the degree of control by the state over more of the
population. The implication is that -we are becoming a
medium-secure society- in which -democracy, privacy, and other
individual rights- are threatened and may disappear altogether. An
Orwellian future awaits. It is a provocative and troubling thesis,
and on the whole, Blomberg and Lucken argue it well. . . . This is
an important and valuable contribution to the growing debate about
social control in the electronic age.- --David J. Dodd,
Contemporary Sociology -This book is an interesting and intriguing
departure from the standard approach to corrections study in
America. The authors emphasize an historical approach and highlight
the social context of the various penal practices and reforms from
the last four centuries. Punishment is presented in the relation to
economic, religious, political, intellectual, and theoretical
influences. The introduction lays out the historical perspective of
the piece and does an excellent job of describing not only the
conceptual framework of the book, but also its scope and an outline
of the topics addressed. . . . The authors' consistency and focus
on the impact of the social, political, economic, and theoretical
factors encourages complex sociological thinking and understanding
of the evolution of penal policy and reform. Their overall approach
makes explicit the link between societal factors and penal
philosophy and practices. . . . This book should be considered as a
viable alternative to traditional texts for the study of
corrections.- --Kristi L. Hoffman, Teaching Sociology
"Blomberg and Lucken offer solid insight into the history of penal
practice, which will enable readers to understand penal practice in
the US more clearly and coherently than they previously might have.
. . . The authors identify general trends or practices that define
historical periods. . . . Highly recommended." --M. A. Fole, Choice
"Most texts and research literature focus on a variety of topics
but lack an overall theme, whereas American Penology provides a
framework in which to see the development of correctional practice
as part of a larger process--an evolving "cultural of control" that
now threatens to impose a surveillance technology not only on the
growing numbers of felons and misdemeanants but on the rest of us
as well. So this book is not only a history of corrections,
although most of it deals with the past, but rather an attempt to
frame this history within a context of changing ideologies and
political philosophies. Further, the authors intend to show how
different eras were dominated by a particular idea and a
concomitant set of penal practices, only to give way to another era
of ideas and practices without ever completely relinquishing the
past. This contributed to a new-widening effect that has gradually
expanded the degree of control by the state over more of the
population. The implication is that "we are becoming a
medium-secure society" in which "democracy, privacy, and other
individual rights" are threatened and may disappear altogether. An
Orwellian future awaits. It is a provocative and troubling thesis,
and on the whole, Blomberg and Lucken argue it well. . . . This is
an important and valuable contribution to the growing debate about
social control in the electronic age." --David J. Dodd,
Contemporary Sociology "This book is an interesting and intriguing
departure from the standard approach to corrections study in
America. The authors emphasize an historical approach and highlight
the social context of the various penal practices and reforms from
the last four centuries. Punishment is presented in the relation to
economic, religious, political, intellectual, and theoretical
influences. The introduction lays out the historical perspective of
the piece and does an excellent job of describing not only the
conceptual framework of the book, but also its scope and an outline
of the topics addressed. . . . The authors' consistency and focus
on the impact of the social, political, economic, and theoretical
factors encourages complex sociological thinking and understanding
of the evolution of penal policy and reform. Their overall approach
makes explicit the link between societal factors and penal
philosophy and practices. . . . This book should be considered as a
viable alternative to traditional texts for the study of
corrections." --Kristi L. Hoffman, Teaching Sociology
"Blomberg and Lucken offer solid insight into the history of penal
practice, which will enable readers to understand penal practice in
the US more clearly and coherently than they previously might have.
. . . The authors identify general trends or practices that define
historical periods. . . . Highly recommended." --M. A. Fole, Choice
"Most texts and research literature focus on a variety of topics
but lack an overall theme, whereas American Penology provides a
framework in which to see the development of correctional practice
as part of a larger process--an evolving "cultural of control" that
now threatens to impose a surveillance technology not only on the
growing numbers of felons and misdemeanants but on the rest of us
as well. So this book is not only a history of corrections,
although most of it deals with the past, but rather an attempt to
frame this history within a context of changing ideologies and
political philosophies. Further, the authors intend to show how
different eras were dominated by a particular idea and a
concomitant set of penal practices, only to give way to another era
of ideas and practices without ever completely relinquishing the
past. This contributed to a new-widening effect that has gradually
expanded the degree of control by the state over more of the
population. The implication is that "we are becoming a
medium-secure society" in which "democracy, privacy, and other
individual rights" are threatened and may disappear altogether. An
Orwellian future awaits. It is a provocative and troubling thesis,
and on the whole, Blomberg and Lucken argue it well. . . . This is
an important and valuable contribution to the growing debate about
social control in the electronic age." --David J. Dodd,
Contemporary Sociology "This book is an interesting and intriguing
departure from the standard approach to corrections study in
America. The authors emphasize an historical approach and highlight
the social context of the various penal practices and reforms from
the last four centuries. Punishment is presented in the relation to
economic, religious, political, intellectual, and theoretical
influences. The introduction lays out the historical perspective of
the piece and does an excellent job of describing not only the
conceptual framework of the book, but also its scope and an outline
of the topics addressed. . . . The authors' consistency and focus
on the impact of the social, political, economic, and theoretical
factors encourages complex sociological thinking and understanding
of the evolution of penal policy and reform. Their overall approach
makes explicit the link between societal factors and penal
philosophy and practices. . . . This book should be considered as a
viable alternative to traditional texts for the study of
corrections." --Kristi L. Hoffman, Teaching Sociology
"Blomberg and Lucken offer solid insight into the history of penal
practice, which will enable readers to understand penal practice in
the US more clearly and coherently than they previously might have.
. . . The authors identify general trends or practices that define
historical periods. . . . Highly recommended." --M. A. Fole, "
Choice" "The book is worth perusing and should find its way onto
college reading lists.... [W]ell written.... [A]n important and
valuable contribution to the growing debate about social control in
the electronic age." --David J. Dodd, Contemporary Sociology
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