Explain why he believes each is actually a “misconception” and not actually reflective of the crime problems in the United States.

Readings: please apply the following reading to the
questions provided as well as other sources
Number the questions being answered

Addicted to Incarceration: Corrections Policy and Politics
of Misinformation in the United States (2009). Travis Pratt

Pratt
Chapter 1: Introduction:
The Politics and Consequences of Incarceration
Chapter 2: The Politics of
“Punishment” in the United States
Pratt
Chapter 3: Misinformation
about the Crime Problem
Chapter 4: Misinformation
About Public Opinion

Please address both questions below, bringing in the
texts as well as your own professional experiences to support your
writing.
In Chapter 3, Pratt examines the misconceptions about the nature
of crime in the United States has served as political fodder for advocates of
mass incarceration. He outlines three main misconceptions. What are those misconceptions?
Explain why he believes each is actually a “misconception” and not actually
reflective of the crime problems in the United States.
In Chapter 4, Pratt discusses the “global” and
“specific” attitudes of Americans towards punishment. What are the
differences between these two perspectives? Which perspective has been
guiding American penal philosophy since the 1970s and why has that
perspective been predominate? Why?

Pratt
Chapter 5: Misinformation
about Prisons and Crime Control
Chapter 6: The Social
Costs and Consequences of Incarceration
Chapter 7: Conclusions and
Recommendations

Discuss at least two of the questions below and
engage with your classmates on their input.
In Chapter 5, Pratt discusses the effectiveness
of prisons in reducing crime. He says that policy makers’ claims of massive
reductions in crime that can be attributed to the expansion of the prison
population are patently false. Why? Does your own experience support Pratt’s
position? Explain why or why not.
2.
Why should the “graying”
of the prison population play a role in developing incarceration policy?
Does the privatization of prisons cause any concerns
for social justice in the United States?
Pratt argues that drug use should be viewed as a public
health concern rather than criminal concern. Provide an argument against
that shift in perspective.

The Punishment Imperative: The Rise and Failure
of Mass Incarceration in America (2014). Todd Clear and
Natasha Frost.

Clear
and Frost
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Clear
and Frost
Chapter 3: The Punishment
Imperative as a Grand Social Experiment
Chapter 4: The policies of
the Punishment Imperative

Please address two of the
questions below, bringing in the texts as well as your own
professional experiences. Work to keep the conversation alive this week.
5.
In chapter 1, Clear and
Frost offer some reasons why the incarcerated population appears to be shrinking
at the time of publication. Explain their rational and whether you agree with
their conclusions.
In chapter 2, Clear and Frost provide evidence that
scholars prior to the 1970s believed that prisons were quickly becoming
obsolete. What are the factors that led to these predictions being so
wrong?
This chapter suggests that “crime might be conceived as
both an input of prison and an output of
prison. What does this mean?
In chapter 3, Clear and Frost suggest that the
“Punishment Imperative” is a “grand social experiment”. What do they mean
by this?

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