NCJ Number
129083
Journal
International Journal of the Sociology of Law Volume: 19 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1991) Pages: 1-26
Date Published
1991
Length
26 pages
Annotation
A text on prisons and penal policy is examined against the backdrop of the current crisis in the British prison system.
Abstract
At the core of the analysis which the author provides of punishment and imprisonment in the opening pages of the book is his belief in social and cultural evolution. He asserts that the penal systems of all countries pass through the same stages of evolution: (1) revenge, (2) punishment, (3) deterrence, and (4) reclamation. The fundamental reason for the "inadequacy and ineffectuality" of the penal system of the time is that it is pursuing its aims in the context of social and economic relations that do not produce the pre-conditions of a generalized moral order. Carpenter places enormous emphasis on the uses of educational programming in prison. There is considerable pressure building in present circumstances for useful programs of education and training in prison. However, there is a clear contradiction between the viability and reasonableness of the practical program for penal reform that Carpenter suggests and the unreconstructed and unreformed character of the present law and the penal system especially at higher judicial and managerial levels. 6 notes and 36 references