Civilization and Barbarism : Punishing Criminals in the Twenty-First Century

Challenges the established corrections paradigm and argues for replacing mass incarceration with a viable and more humane alternative. The practice of mass incarceration has come under increasing criticism by criminologists and corrections experts who, nevertheless, find themselves at a loss when it comes to offering credible, practical, and humane alternatives. In Civilization and Barbarism , Graeme R. Newman argues this impasse has arisen from a refusal to confront the original essence of punishment, namely, that in some sense it must be painful. He begins with an exposition of the traditional philosophical justifications for punishment and then provides a history of criminal punishment. He shows how, over time, the West abandoned short-term corporal punishment in favor of longer-term incarceration, justifying a massive bureaucratic prison complex as scientific and civilized. Newman compels the reader to confront the biases embedded in this model and the impossibility of defending prisons as a civilized form of punishment. A groundbreaking work that challenges the received wisdom of “corrections,” Civilization and Barbarism asks readers to reconsider moderate corporal punishment as an alternative to prison and, for the most serious offenders, forms of incapacitation without prison. The book also features two helpful appendixes: a list of debating points, with common criticisms and their rebuttals, and a chronology of civilized punishments. Contents 6 Acknowledgment 8 Introduction A Humane Solution to a Barbaric Situation 10 Three Justifications 11 Two Ways to Punish 14 The Moral Problem of Punishment 15 Overview of the Book 17 Chapter One From Barbaric to Civilized: The Replacement of Corporal Punishment with Prison 20 A Short History of Civilized Punishment 21 Chapter Two From Civilized to Barbaric: Prison, the Civilized Punishment, Violates both Body and Mind 28 The Body of Mutilation 28 Excess 30 Violence 35 Punishment Must Be Done (aka the Rule of Law) 37 Civilizing Punishment by Hiding It 38 Chapter Three Rethinking Corporal Punishment: Corporal Punishment Is Not Torture, nor Is It Barbaric 42 What Corporal Punishment Is and Is Not 42 Corporal Punishment Is Not, in Itself, Torture 45 Torture and Confession 47 Time as Torture 49 Excess and Torture 50 Understanding the Pain of Punishment 51 Varieties of Pain 52 Chronic and Acute Punishments 54 Is Pain Evil? 55 Chapter Four The Retribution of Mass Incarceration: How the Ideology of Retribution Caused a Committee to Fuel Mass Incarceration 58 Sentencing Chaos 58 Retribution by Committee 63 Reflecting the Crime in the Punishment 65 Chapter Five The Successful Failure of Deterrence: How the Fake Science of Deterrence Justified Mass Incarceration 70 Does Corporal Punishment Deter? 71 Corporal Punishment in Criminal Justice 72 Conclusions: From Corporal Punishment to Mass Incarceration 74 Chapter Six The Promise of Incapacitation: Redemption and Control of the Body in an Open Society 76 Incapacitation without Walls 76 Types of Incapacitation 78 The Ultimate Solution: Dependent Incapacitation 82 A Cautionary Note 85 Redemptive Incapacitation 86 Chapter Seven A New Way to Punish: Moderate Corporal Punishment Is the Least Imperfect of All Criminal Punishments 98 Comparing and Choosing Punishments 99 A New Way to Punish 113 Administering Pain: Moderate Corporal Punishment 117 Chapter Eight Punishing without Bias: The True Pain of Punishment Is the Great Equalizer 124 The Fairness of Moderate Corporal Punishment 129 Controlling the Pain of Punishment 132 The Normal and the Spectacular 141 Chapter Nine Civilizing Barbarism: Mass Incarceration Violates More Rights Than Moderate Corporal and Shari’a Punishments 144 Shari’a Punishments 145 Punishing Principles, East and West 149 The Two Cultures of Punishment 150 Shari’a and Liberty 154 Cruel and Unusual? 158 Incapacitation 169 Bodily Punishment and Human Rights 171 Chapter Ten The End of Punishment (as We Know It): Punishment Redistributed in a Century of Surveillance 176 1984 Redux 177 Normalizing Punishment 178 Transition: Body for Prison 181 The New Normal 182 Incapacitation 186 Appendix A Debating Points: Common Criticisms and Their Rebuttal 192 Appendix B A Chronology of Civilized Punishments 202 Notes 204 Works Cited 254 Index 276 The practice of mass incarceration has come under increasing criticism by criminologists and correction experts who, nevertheless, find themselves at a loss when it comes to offering credible, practical, and humane alternatives. In Civilization and Barbarism: Punishing Criminals in the Twenty-First Century author Graeme R. Newman argues this impasse has arisen from a refusal to confront the original essence of punishment, namely that it ought to include an experience of discomfort and even pain. He begins with an exposition of the traditional philosophical justifications for punishment, and then moves to the history of criminal punishment. Over time, the West abandoned the pain of short-term corporal punishment in favor of the more diffuse and longer-term discomfort inflicted by incarceration, justifying a massive bureaucratic prison complex as "scientific" and "civilized." Newman compels the reader to confront the biases embedded in this model of punishment and the impossibility of defending prisons as a civilized form of punishment. Illustrated with examples of drawn from everyday life, and their efficacy, he asks readers to reconsider moderate corporal punishment as an alternative to prison and, for the most serious offenders, forms of incapacitation without prison. The book also features two helpful appendixes : a list of debating points, with common criticisms and their rebuttals, and a chronology of civilized punishments "The practice of mass incarceration has come under increasing criticism by criminologists and correction experts who, nevertheless, find themselves at a loss when it comes to offering credible, practical, and humane alternatives. In Civilization and Barbarism: Punishing Criminals in the Twenty-First Century author Graeme R. Newman argues this impasse has arisen from a refusal to confront the original essence of punishment, namely that it ought to include an experience of discomfort and even pain. He begins with an exposition of the traditional philosophical justifications for punishment, and then moves to the history of criminal punishment. Over time, the West abandoned the pain of short-term corporal punishment in favor of the more diffuse and longer-term discomfort inflicted by incarceration, justifying a massive bureaucratic prison complex as "scientific" and "civilized." Newman compels the reader to confront the biases embedded in this model of punishment and the impossibility of defending prisons as a civilized form of punishment. Illustrated with examples of drawn from everyday life, and their efficacy, he asks readers to reconsider moderate corporal punishment as an alternative to prison and, for the most serious offenders, forms of incapacitation without prison"-- Provided by publisher __Challenges the established corrections paradigm and argues for replacing mass incarceration with a viable and more humane alternative.____Civilization and Barbarism____Civilization and Barbarism__