Suchergebnisse

Intro -- Title Page -- Contents -- Part I: A Marriage of Convenience -- 1. A Traumatized Nation -- 2. How the Call for Victims' Rights Led to Mass Incarceration -- Part II: The Hierarchy of Harm -- 3. Victims Seen and Unseen -- 4. A Tale of Two Cities -- 5. Good Victims, Bad Victims -- Part III: Poisonous Priorities -- 6. Up Is Down and Down Is Up -- 7. The Public Safety Myth -- Part IV: Hurt People and Healed People -- 8. The Cycle of Trauma -- 9. The Trauma of the Justice System -- Part V: A New Safety Movement -- 10. A New Victims' Right: Trauma Recovery for All -- 11. A New Lens: Crime Survivors Speak -- 12. A New Investment: Scaling Safety -- 13. A New Justice: Stopping the Cycle of Trauma and Poverty -- Conclusion: A Shared Safety -- Author's Note -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Index -- About the Author -- Copyright.

The United States has by far the world's largest population of incarcerated people. More than a million Americans are imprisoned; hundreds of thousands more are held in jails. This vast system has doled out punishment—particularly to people from marginalized groups—on an unfathomable scale. At the same time, it has manifestly failed to secure public safety, instead perpetuating inequalities and recidivism. Why does the United States see punishment as the main response to social harm, and what are the alternatives?This book brings together essays by scholars, practitioners, activists, and writers, including incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, to explore the harms of this punitive approach. The chapters address a range of issues, from policing to prosecution, and from how people are treated in prison to the consequences of a criminal conviction. Together, they consider a common theme: We cannot reduce our dependence on mass incarceration until we confront our impulse to punish in ways that are excessive, often wildly disproportionate to the harm caused. Essays trace how a maze of local, state, and federal agencies have contributed to mass incarceration and deterred attempts at reform. They shed light on how the excesses of America's criminal legal system are entwined with poverty, racism, and the legacy of slavery. A wide-ranging and powerful look at the failures of the status quo, Excessive Punishment also considers how to reimagine the justice system to support restoration instead of retribution