A Capacity to Punish: The Ecology of Crime and Punishment

By Henry Pontell

Henry Pontell convincingly demonstrates that despite the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars, the enactment of many new laws exacting harsher punish-ments, and the growth of a vast criminal justice system, America is losing its “war on crime.” In fact, the crime rate seems to have kept pace with the increase in our ef-forts to control it. Although the United States has the highest incarceration rate of any advanced country, we still manage to experience the highest rate of violent crime. As we continue to focus on deterrence through punishment meted out by our criminal justice system, our courts re-ceive more cases than they can handle and our prisons and jails overflow with in¬mates. The message from a beleaguered criminal justice system, according to Pon-tell, is clear: there is limited capacity to punish.

Indiana University Press. 1985. 140p.