Punishing the Poor
Punishing the Poor

Author: Loïc Wacquant

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 2009-05-22

Total Pages: 410

ISBN-13: 0822392259

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The punitive turn of penal policy in the United States after the acme of the Civil Rights movement responds not to rising criminal insecurity but to the social insecurity spawned by the fragmentation of wage labor and the shakeup of the ethnoracial hierarchy. It partakes of a broader reconstruction of the state wedding restrictive “workfare” and expansive “prisonfare” under a philosophy of moral behaviorism. This paternalist program of penalization of poverty aims to curb the urban disorders wrought by economic deregulation and to impose precarious employment on the postindustrial proletariat. It also erects a garish theater of civic morality on whose stage political elites can orchestrate the public vituperation of deviant figures—the teenage “welfare mother,” the ghetto “street thug,” and the roaming “sex predator”—and close the legitimacy deficit they suffer when they discard the established government mission of social and economic protection. By bringing developments in welfare and criminal justice into a single analytic framework attentive to both the instrumental and communicative moments of public policy, Punishing the Poor shows that the prison is not a mere technical implement for law enforcement but a core political institution. And it reveals that the capitalist revolution from above called neoliberalism entails not the advent of “small government” but the building of an overgrown and intrusive penal state deeply injurious to the ideals of democratic citizenship. Visit the author’s website.

Sex Offenders
Sex Offenders

Author: J. V. Fenner

Publisher: Nova Publishers

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 9781600217371

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book deals with society's responses to sex offenders. This issue is of vital interest to law enforcement professionals and society at large. This subsection of the population generates as much or more fear than virtually any other segment in the community. The chapters in this book deal with recidivism, tracking and location, impulsivity, long-term care, and reunification.

Forensic Management of Sexual Offenders
Forensic Management of Sexual Offenders

Author: Robert Alan Prentky

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 146154159X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Over the past several decades the seeming escalation of crimes involving sexually deviant, coercive, and aggressive behavior has become an increasingly serious problem, manifested in costs to both victims and society at large. The long-term psychological impact of sexual assault on adult and child victims has been documented numerous times. The costs incurred by society include a network of medical and psychological services provided to aid victim recovery, the investigation, trial, and incarceration of offenders-often in segregated units or special facilities-and the invisible but tangible blanket of fear that forces potential victims to schedule normal daily activities around issues of safety. Despite the gravity of the problem, there has been a paucity of empirical research directed at the etiology, course, remediation, and management of sexually deviant and coercive behavior. In treating these disorders and in making crucial decisions about how to manage these offenders, clinicians have been forced to rely on their personal experience. Such experience by its nature is unsystematic and lacks the validation that empirical research provides. The lack of sound empirical data addressing the problem is certainly noteworthy, though not surprising. The paucity of research in this area may well be attributable to historical scientific timidity about most aspects of sexual behavior. In 1922 Dr. Robert L.

No Easy Answers
No Easy Answers

Author: Sarah Tofte

Publisher: Human Rights Watch

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 147

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

No Easy Answers is the first comprehensive study of US sex offender registration, community notification and residency restriction laws, their public safety impact, and the effect they have on former offenders and their families. It concludes the laws are poorly crafted and misguided, failing to protect children from sex crimes but making it nearly impossible for former offenders to rebuild their lives. In many states, everyone convicted of a sex crime must register and the requirement can last for life. The requirements are overbroad in scope and overlong in duration. As a result, there are more than 600,000 registered sex offenders, including individuals convicted of sexual sex between teenagers, prostitution, and public urination, as well as those who committed their only offenses decades ago. Unfettered public access to online sex offender registries exposes registrants to harassment, ostracism, and even violence, with little evidence that this form of community notification protects anyone from sexual violence. Residency restrictions prohibit former offenders from living within a designated distance (anywhere from 500 to 2,500 feet) from places where children gather. The restrictions have the effect of banishing former offenders from entire towns, forcing them to live far from home, families, jobs, and treatment, and hindering law-enforcement supervision. The restrictions may have no impact on the likelihood of recidivism. Sex offender laws reflect public concern that children are at grave risk of sexual abuse by strangers who are repeat offenders. The real risks children face are quite different: statistics demonstrate that most sexual abuse of children is committed by family members or persons known and often trusted by the victim, and by someone who has not previously been convicted of a sex offense. The laws also reflect the widely shared but erroneous belief that sex offenders continually repeat their offenses. Authoritative studies, however, indicate that three out of four adult offenders do not reoffend.

Sex Offenders
Sex Offenders

Author: Sean Maddan

Publisher: Aspen Publishing

Published: 2022-09-14

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 1543817599

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In Sex Offenders: Crimes and Processing in the Criminal Justice System, Maddan and Pazzani draw on their extensive research and teaching experience to provide coverage of all facets of sex crimes and sexual deviance in the United States. The text emphasizes rape and sexual offenses against children and society’s responses through the criminal justice system, including enforcement and investigation, the courts, corrections, and post-punishment treatment. Up-to-date information, statistics, and research assessments include imprisonment, historical punishments, recidivism, registration and notification requirements (SORN), residence restrictions, civil commitments, and treatment. The impact of sex offenses on victims’ lives is treated in depth, as are possible directions for future policies to better address the threat posed by sex offenders. Students reading this book will get a true sense of the U.S. sex offender problem, the responses of the criminal justice system, and what can be done to further decrease the incidence of sex offending. New to the Second Edition: A fresh examination of sexual harassment in the workplace in light of the #MeToo movement. Incorporation throughout the book of the etiology of sexual harassment. In-depth consideration of why sexual harassment is not handled through the criminal justice system as a criminal offense. Updated literature, research, and statistics on sex crimes and criminal justice processing. New example stories that highlight more recent real-world instances of sex crimes and criminal justice responses to sex crimes. Professors and students will benefit from: An overview of sex offenses in the United States covers major theories to account for sex offending, legal statutes defining sex crimes, types of sex offenses and offenders, sex crime victims’ characteristics, policing of sex crimes, and society’s responses to sex crimes (including registries, residence restrictions, civil commitments, and treatment). A focus on sex offenses through the criminal justice system framework examines the pros and cons of various strategies, including criminal statutes, law enforcement and court processing approaches, and correctional techniques for treating or warehousing sex offenders. Real-world narratives in each chapter illustrate and provide a practical perspective on the complexity and impact of the sex offense under discussion for society, perpetrator, and victim. Accessibly written chapters include learning objectives, lists of key terms, exercises, and essay questions for review and information retention.