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NCJ Number:	135775

Title:	Ten Deadly Myths About Crime and Punishment in the U.S.

Journal:	WI: Wisconsin Interest Volume:1 Issue:1 Dated:(Winter/Spring 1991) Pages:21-35

Author(s):	C H Logan; J J Dilulio Jr

Date Published:	1992

Annotation:	This analysis of criminal justice research and policy recommendations in the United States concludes that at least 10 false ideas about crime and punishment have been embodied in Federal, State, and local penal codes, making it easier for criminals to commit both minor and major crimes with impunity.

Abstract:	Data are presented to refute the view that crime in the United States is caused by poverty, chronic unemployment, and other socioeconomic factors. The discussion notes that other myths are that the United States became increasingly punitive during the 1980's, that prisons hold large numbers of petty offenders who should not be there, and that prisons are violent and overcrowded human warehouses that increase recidivism. Further falsehoods are that racial discrimination pervades the criminal justice system, that prisons are prohibitively expensive, that interventions by activist judges have improved prison and jail conditions, that the United States has the most punitive criminal justice system in the world, that alternatives to incarceration are not used enough, and that punishment is bad. 51 reference notes

Main Term(s):	Punishment

Index Term(s):	Crime causes theory; Crime control policies; Criminal justice system policy; Incarceration; Racial discrimination; Research uses in policymaking

Page Count:	15

Format:	Article

Type:	Legislation/Policy Analysis

Language:	English

Country:	United States of America



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