Civilization and Barbarism: Punishing Criminals in the Twenty-First Century

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Challenges the established corrections paradigm and argues for replacing mass incarceration with a viable and more humane alternative. The practice of mass incarceration has come under increasing criticism by criminologists and corrections experts who, nevertheless, find themselves at a loss when it comes to offering credible, practical, and humane alternatives. In Civilization and Barbarism, Graeme R. Newman argues this impasse has arisen from a refusal to confront the original essence of punishment, namely, that in some sense it must be painful. He begins with an exposition of the traditional philosophical justifications for punishment and then provides a history of criminal punishment. He shows how, over time, the West abandoned short-term corporal punishment in favor of longer-term incarceration, justifying a massive bureaucratic prison complex as scientific and civilized. Newman compels the reader to confront the biases embedded in this model and the impossibility of defending prisons as a civilized form of punishment. A groundbreaking work that challenges the received wisdom of “corrections,” Civilization and Barbarism asks readers to reconsider moderate corporal punishment as an alternative to prison and, for the most serious offenders, forms of incapacitation without prison. The book also features two helpful appendixes: a list of debating points, with common criticisms and their rebuttals, and a chronology of civilized punishments. Contents Acknowledgment Introduction A Humane Solution to a Barbaric Situation Three Justifications Two Ways to Punish The Moral Problem of Punishment Overview of the Book Chapter One From Barbaric to Civilized: The Replacement of Corporal Punishment with Prison A Short History of Civilized Punishment Chapter Two From Civilized to Barbaric: Prison, the Civilized Punishment, Violates both Body and Mind The Body of Mutilation Excess Violence Punishment Must Be Done (aka the Rule of Law) Civilizing Punishment by Hiding It Chapter Three Rethinking Corporal Punishment: Corporal Punishment Is Not Torture, nor Is It Barbaric What Corporal Punishment Is and Is Not Corporal Punishment Is Not, in Itself, Torture Torture and Confession Time as Torture Excess and Torture Understanding the Pain of Punishment Varieties of Pain Chronic and Acute Punishments Is Pain Evil? Chapter Four The Retribution of Mass Incarceration: How the Ideology of Retribution Caused a Committee to Fuel Mass Incarceration Sentencing Chaos Retribution by Committee Reflecting the Crime in the Punishment Chapter Five The Successful Failure of Deterrence: How the Fake Science of Deterrence Justified Mass Incarceration Does Corporal Punishment Deter? Corporal Punishment in Criminal Justice Conclusions: From Corporal Punishment to Mass Incarceration Chapter Six The Promise of Incapacitation: Redemption and Control of the Body in an Open Society Incapacitation without Walls Types of Incapacitation The Ultimate Solution: Dependent Incapacitation A Cautionary Note Redemptive Incapacitation Chapter Seven A New Way to Punish: Moderate Corporal Punishment Is the Least Imperfect of All Criminal Punishments Comparing and Choosing Punishments A New Way to Punish Administering Pain: Moderate Corporal Punishment Chapter Eight Punishing without Bias: The True Pain of Punishment Is the Great Equalizer The Fairness of Moderate Corporal Punishment Controlling the Pain of Punishment The Normal and the Spectacular Chapter Nine Civilizing Barbarism: Mass Incarceration Violates More Rights Than Moderate Corporal and Shari’a Punishments Shari’a Punishments Punishing Principles, East and West The Two Cultures of Punishment Shari’a and Liberty Cruel and Unusual? Incapacitation Bodily Punishment and Human Rights Chapter Ten The End of Punishment (as We Know It): Punishment Redistributed in a Century of Surveillance 1984 Redux Normalizing Punishment Transition: Body for Prison The New Normal Incapacitation Appendix A Debating Points: Common Criticisms and Their Rebuttal Appendix B A Chronology of Civilized Punishments Notes Works Cited Index