Most scholars have grown up academically, and personally, in the midst of a pervasive, seemingly unstoppable movement to “get tough” (penal harm movement) with crime, entailing mass incarceration as the preferred means to sanction offenders. However, this analysis reveals that major “cracks” exist in the penal harm movement. Progressive ideas are flourishing, and policymakers and practitioners across the United States are rolling back punitive interventions with progressive interventions in their place. The four major fissures revealed include: (1) the American public is open to a range of policy initiatives with regard to crime control; (2) policy developments are reviewed that represent retreats from punishment policies that have failed to achieve their promise; (3) developments are considered that emphasize the rehabilitation rather than the punishment of offenders; and (4) how the “principles of effective intervention” are providing a salient paradigm that combats the notion that offenders are “super predators” beyond redemption is explored. For more than three decades, the penal harm movement, which involves “get tough” policies, has held sway over United States corrections. However, taken together, these identified cracks comprise evidence that ideological space and political will exist to fight the penal harm movement and to map out a more effective and progressive response to crime. References