PUNISHMENT: A COMPARATIVE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE, Terance D. Miethe and Hong Lu (Cambridge University Press, 2005)
Overview
This book examines the sources of similarity and differences in types of punishments over time and place. Chapter 1 of the book is an introductory chapter that looks at the history or punishment and why punishment is a response to crime. In Chapter 2, the authors delve into the various philosophies of punishment and types of sanctions given as punishment. Chapter 3 examines contemporary punishments in a comparative perspective. Chapters 4 and 5 look at the history of punishment in America and China respectively and Chapter 6 looks at punishment under Islamic Law. The final Chapter, 7, reviews issues in the sociology of punishment.
This book gives the reader a history and background of punishment from the context of the United States of America, China and Saudi Arabia. It also demonstrates the universal nature and application of punishment as well as context-specific nature of punishment. The reader will benefit from understanding punishment and its use for social control, social change and the elimination of threat to the prevailing authorities.
About the Authors
Terance Miethe is Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He has authored six books in the areas of criminology and legal studies including Crime and Its Social Context (1994); Crime Profiles: The Anatomy of Dangerous Persons, Places, and Situations, 2nd edition (2001); Whistleblowing at Work: Tough Choices in Exposing Fraud, Waste, and Abuse on the Job (1999); Panic: The Social Construction of the Youth Gang Problem (2002); The Mismeasure of Crime (2002); Rethinking Homicide: Exploring the Structure and Process Underlying Deadly Situations (2004, Cambridge). His research articles have been published within all of the major journals in criminology and sociology, including Criminology, British Journal of Criminology, Law and Society Review, American Sociological Review, and Social Forces.
Hong Lu is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She has authored numerous articles in the areas of criminology and comparative legal studies appearing in journals such as Law and Society Review, British Journal of Criminology, Crime and Delinquency, and Justice Quarterly.
Part of the book review and author reviews from Google Books.
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