[Review of] Henry H. Pontell. A Capacity to Punish

Authors

Linda M. C. Abbott

Orginal Publication Date

1985

Journal Title

Explorations in Sights and Sounds

Volume

5

Issue

ess/vol5/iss1

First Page

61

Last Page

62

Abstract

Given the extraordinary costs of prisons, the current political climate which pushes for less government and lowered public spending, and the incapacity of the legal system to carry the entire burden of social control, Pontell argues for reexamination of the criminal justice system from a sociological perspective. Drawing upon data from the 1966-1974 period, Pontell's doctoral study, the basis for the book, searched for ecological relationships among crime rates, expenditures, conviction rates, and demographic features in the California counties under review.

Rights

Copyright, ​©EES, The National Association for Ethnic Studies, 1985