Ironies of Imprisonment / Edition 1

by Michael Welch

Overview

Ironies of Imprisonment examines in-depth an array of problems confronting correctional programs and policies from the author's singular and consistent critical viewpoint. The book challenges the prevailing logic of mass incarceration and traces the ironies of imprisonment to their root causes, manifesting in social, political, economic, and racial inequality. Unique and accessible, this book promises to stimulate spirited discussion and debate over the use of prisons.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412904803
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	06/21/2004
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

MICHAEL WELCH received a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of North Texas and is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey (USA). He has correctional experience at the federal, state, and local levels. His research interests include punishment and social control, and he has published numerous articles for academic journals, edited volumes, and other scholarly publications. His key writings have appeared in Justice Quarterly, Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, The Prison Journal, Crime, Law & Social Change, Social Justice, Youth & Society, Race, Gender & Class, Critical Criminology: An International Journal, Contemporary Justice Review, American Journal of Criminal Justice, Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Women & Criminal Justice, Journal of Sport & Social Issues, Criminal Justice Policy Review, Journal of Crime & Justice, Addictive Behaviors: An International Journal, Dialectical Anthropology, Journal of Offender Counseling, Services & Rehabilitation, Social Pathology, Crisis Intervention & Time-Limited Treatment, Federal Probation: Journal of Correctional Philosophy & Practice, and The Justice Professional. Also he is author of Detained: Immigration Laws and the Expanding I.N.S. Jail Complex (2002, Temple University Press), Flag Burning: Moral Panic and the Criminalization of Protest (2000, de Gruyter), Punishment in America: Social Control & the Ironies of Imprisonment (1999, Sage), and Corrections: A Critical Approach, (2nd edition, 2004, Mc Graw-Hill). He serves as an Affiliate with Center for Mental Health Services and Criminal Justice Research at Rutgers University. Welch invites you to visit his website www.professormichaelwelch.com

Table of Contents

Preface
Foreward - By Todd R. Clear, Distinguished Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
1. Introduction
2. Discovery of the Penitentiary
3. Critical Penology
4. War on Drugs and Just War Theory
5. Health Care Crisis Behind Bars
6. Reproducing Prison Violence
7. Ironies of Capital Punishment
8. War on Terror and the Misuse of Detention
9. Punitive Profit
10. Confronting Corrections
References
Cases

Editorial Reviews

"Michael Welch’s book is an invitation to think. It is an invitation to grow intellectually and critically, as a consumer of crime policy and an observer of the American scene. Written by a scholar who has dedicated his work to uncovering the hidden ironies of formal crime policy, this is a collection of essays of depth and significance. "

Todd R. Clear

"The American correctional system is too often misshaped by a toxic mixture of ideology, anti-intellectualism, wishful thinking, and structural interests. Michael Welch uses his substantial critical skills to illuminate how these various factors intersect to create policies and practices that produce, in the end, more injustice and less public safety. His sobering analysis deconstructs the rhetoric used to justify mass imprisonment and its unanticipated, disquieting consequences. "

Frank Cullen

"Michael Welch has written a book which anyone who is looking for an alternative to conventional and conservative approaches to prisons and punishment should read. Welch provides the groundwork for the development of a penology which engages critically with the growing tensions and ironies of imprisonment. "

Roger Matthews

"This book brings to the reader in an accessible and engaging way questions of central concern to criminologists, politicians, penal reformists, and policy makers . . . This book achieves its aim in demonstrating that the prison enterprise is inhumane and unjust in its delivery of justice. "

Springer - Azrini Wahidin

"This book brings to the reader in an accessible and engaging way questions of central concern to criminologists, politicians, penal reformists, and policy makers . . . This book achieves its aim in demonstrating that the prison enterprise isinhumane and unjust in its delivery of justice. "— Azrini Wahidin

Springer