Punishment A Comparative Historical Perspective

Punishment is the common response to crime and deviance in all societies. However, its particular form and purpose are also linked to specific features of the structure of these societies at a particular time and place. Through a comparative historical analysis of punishment, this 2005 book is designed to identify and examine the sources of similarity and differences in types of economic punishments, incapacitation devices and structures, and lethal and non-lethal forms of corporal punishment over time and place. We will look closely at punishment responses to crime and deviance across different regions of the world and in specific countries like the United States, China, and Saudi Arabia. It is hoped that the reader will gain an appreciation for both the universal and context-specific nature of punishment and its use for purposes of social control, social change, and the elimination of threat to the prevailing authorities.

List of figures; List of tables; Preface and acknowledgements; 1. Introduction: the punishment response; 2. Punishment philosophies and types of sanctions; 3. Contemporary punishments in comparative perspective; 4. Punishment in American history; 5. The history of punishment in China; 6. Punishment under Islamic law; 7. Issues in the sociology of punishments.

Terance Miethe is Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He has authored six books in the areas of criminology and legal studies including Crime and Its Social Context (1994); Crime Profiles: The Anatomy of Dangerous Persons, Places, and Situations, 2nd edition (2001); Whistleblowing at Work: Tough Choices in Exposing Fraud, Waste, and Abuse on the Job (1999); Panic: The Social Construction of the Youth Gang Problem (2002); The Mismeasure of Crime (2002); Rethinking Homicide: Exploring the Structure and Process Underlying Deadly Situations (2004, Cambridge). His research articles have been published within all of the major journals in criminology and sociology, including Criminology, British Journal of Criminology, Law and Society Review, American Sociological Review, and Social Forces.
Hong Lu is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She has authored numerous articles in the areas of criminology and comparative legal studies appearing in journals such as Law and Society Review, British Journal of Criminology, Crime and Delinquency, and Justice Quarterly.