In attempting to explain or predict punitive reversals, research conducted in 1984 and 1996 by Elias explained punitive reversal within the concept of decivilization. In order to understand this Eliasian theoretical framework of decivilization, one must understand and consider its counterpart, civilization. This paper situates the new punitiveness with an Eliasian theoretical framework. The author attempts to demonstrate that the penal reversals of recent years in the main English-speaking world do indeed fit within the main tenets of Elias’ work. What is seen emerging in this area across these societies are the contingent effects of long-term civilizing trends now running in conjunction with more recent decivilizing tendencies. There has been a dramatic realignment over the last 20 years of the assumptions, the values, and understandings of the forms punishment should take in societies that like to think of themselves as civilized. Notes, references