Punishment and Social Control: Essays in Honor of Sheldon L. Messinger (Social Problems & Social Issues) - Hardcover

Thomas G. Blomberg,Stanley Cohen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0202307026 ISBN 13: 9780202307022

Publisher: Aldine

Synopsis

While crime, law, and punishment are subjects that have everyday meanings not very far from their academic representations, "social control" is one of those terms that appear in the sociological discourse without any corresponding everyday usage. This concept has a rather mixed lineage. "After September 11" has become a slogan that conveys all things to all people but carries some very specific implications on interrogation and civil liberties for the future of punishment and social control.

The editors hold that the already pliable boundaries between ordinary and political crime will become more unstable; national and global considerations will come closer together; domestic crime control policies will be more influenced by interests of national security; measures to prevent and control international terrorism will cast their reach wider (to financial structures and ideological support); the movements of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers will be curtailed and criminalized; taken-for-granted human rights and civil liberties will be restricted. In the midst of these dramatic social changes, hardly anyone will notice the academic field of "punishment and social control" being drawn closer to political matters.

Criminology is neither a "pure" academic discipline nor a profession that offers an applied body of knowledge to solve the crime problem. Its historical lineage has left an insistent tension between the drive to understand and the drive to be relevant. While the scope and orientation of this new second edition remain the same, in recognition of the continued growth and diversity of interest in punishment and social control, new chapters have been added and several original chapters have been updated and revised.

About this title

About the Author:

Stanley Cohen was professor of criminology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He also taught in the departments of sociology at the University of Essex and the University of California, Santa Barbara. He wrote written widely in the fields of crime, deviance, and social control. His books include Folks Devils and Moral Panics, Psychological Survival, Social Control and the State, and Visions of Social Control.

Review:

"That this is an impressive volume is due in large part to the stature of the contributors and the importance of their chosen topic.... The result is a valuable and original set of essays that will be enjoyed by students and scholars alike."

—Journal of Law and Politics

"This book is a testament to the failure of Reason (specifically criminology) to hold back the tide of repression, violence, and craziness unleashed by the state against marginal groups. It is also a tribute to Sheldon Messinger, who fought against this tide." 

—David Tait, Contemporary Sociology

About this edition

• Publisher: Aldine
• ISBN 10: 0202307026
• ISBN 13: 9780202307022
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 526