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Punishment and Culture
Philip Smith
€ 94.93
€ 78.49
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Description for Punishment and Culture
Hardback. Denies that punishment is about justice, reason, and law. This book shows that punishment is an essentially irrational act founded in ritual as a means to control evil without creating more of it in the process. It looks at issues ranging from public executions and the development of the prison to the invention of the guillotine. Num Pages: 224 pages, 6 halftones. BIC Classification: JFC; JKVP. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 236 x 163 x 18. Weight in Grams: 424.
From the chain gang to the electric chair, the problem of how to deal with criminals has long been debated. What explains this concern with getting punishment right? And why do attitudes toward particular punishments change radically over time? In addressing these questions, Philip Smith attacks the comfortable myth that punishment is about justice, reason, and law. Instead he argues that punishment is an essentially irrational act founded in ritual as a means to control evil without creating more of it in the process."Punishment and Culture" traces three centuries of the history of punishment, looking in detail at issues ranging ... Read more
From the chain gang to the electric chair, the problem of how to deal with criminals has long been debated. What explains this concern with getting punishment right? And why do attitudes toward particular punishments change radically over time? In addressing these questions, Philip Smith attacks the comfortable myth that punishment is about justice, reason, and law. Instead he argues that punishment is an essentially irrational act founded in ritual as a means to control evil without creating more of it in the process."Punishment and Culture" traces three centuries of the history of punishment, looking in detail at issues ranging ... Read more
Product Details
Format
Hardback
Publication date
2008
Publisher
The University of Chicago Press
Condition
New
Number of Pages
224
Place of Publication
, United States
ISBN
9780226766096
SKU
V9780226766096
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-1
About Philip Smith
Philip Smith is associate professor of sociology at Yale University and the author of Cultural Theory: An Introduction and Why War? The Cultural Logic of Iraq, the Gulf War, and Suez, the latter also published by the University of Chicago Press.
Reviews for Punishment and Culture
"This is a polished, original, and forcefully argued book that provides a fascinating discussion of a series of iconic penal institutions. Smith's analyses will become a standard reference point, and the lessons he has to teach will, I hope, quickly be learned and assimilated." - David Garland, New York University"