Overview
Corrections: A Critical Approach (third edition) confronts mass imprisonment in the United States, a nation boasting the highest incarceration rate in the world. This statistic is all the more troubling considering that its correctional population is overrepresented by the poor, African-Americans, and Latinos. Not only throwing crucial light on matters involving race and social class, this book also identifies and examines the key social forces shaping penal practice in the US -- politics, economics, morality, and technology. By attending closely to historical and theoretical development, the narrative takes into account both instrumental (goal-oriented) as well as expressive (cultural) explanations to sharpen our understanding of punishment and the growing reliance on incarceration. Covering five main areas of inquiry -- penal context, penal populations, penal violence, penal process, and penal state -- this book is essential reading for both undergraduate and graduate students interested in undertaking a critical analysis of penology.
Full Product Details
Author: Michael Welch (Rutgers University, USA)
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint: Routledge
Edition: 3rd edition
Weight: 1.580kg
ISBN: 9780415782081
ISBN 10: 0415782082
Pages: 722
Publication Date: 21 March 2011
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
Comments on previous editions I would be hard-pressed to identify another corrections textbook that I would seriously consider adopting over this one. The updated material is welcomed. The strength of the book remains, however, its critical approach to corrections and the attention it gives to history, ideology, and the ways in which social forces influence punishment. - Jeanne Flavin, Fordham University In Corrections: A Critical Approach, Michael Welch overcomes the limitations of traditional analyses of the correctional field through his unique use of what he calls a critical approach ... All considered, the coverage throughout the book is broad ranging and well rounded. In short Welch's book on corrections is one of the best I have seen. - Professor Michael J. Lynch, University of South Florida. Quoted in Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice
'I would be hard-pressed to identify another corrections textbook that I would seriously consider adopting over this one. The updated material is welcomed. The strength of the book remains, however, its critical approach to corrections and the attention it gives to history, ideology, and the ways in which social forces influence punishment.' -- Jeanne Flavin, Fordham University 'In Corrections: A Critical Approach, Michael Welch overcomes the limitations of traditional analyses of the correctional field through his unique use of what he calls a critical approach ... All considered, the coverage throughout the book is broad ranging and well rounded. In short Welch's book on corrections is one of the best I have seen.' -- Professor Michael J. Lynch, University of South Florida. Quoted in Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice
Author Information
Michael Welch is a Professor in the Criminal Justice program at Rutgers University, US. His research interests include punishment, human rights, and social control, and his articles have appeared in journals such as Punishment and Society, Social Justice and Critical Criminology. He has also authored numerous books, including Crimes of Power & States of Impunity: The U.S. Response to Terror (Rutgers University Press, 2009), Ironies of Imprisonment (Sage, 2005), and Punishment in America (Sage, 1999).
