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Learning Objectives
• Review the ideological and financial obstacles to criminal
justice system reform.
• Analyze the disconnect between popular assumptions and

scientific evidence about crime.
• Analyze evidence-driven crime-control strategies in
contemporary America.
• Understand options to reform to the criminal justice system in
contemporary America.
• Contrast retributivism and restorative justice as guiding
principles for criminal justice.
• Articulate the critical role of interdisciplinary approaches to
criminal justice system reform.
Reducing Crime and Reforming
the Criminal Justice System
10
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Section 10.1 The Challenge of the Status Quo CHAPTER 10
In August of 2010, after serving nearly 10 years in prison for
two bank robberies, Lance
Brown walked out of a North Carolina prison a free man. Since
his release he has been
struggling with poverty and homelessness and was forced out of
a homeless shelter for
fighting with another patron. In April of 2012, Brown
approached his parole officer and
asked what he needed to do to get put back in prison! His parole
officer referred him to
a series of agencies and support services that Brown did not

pursue. Instead, he walked
into the local courthouse in Columbus Georgia and threatened to
kill the president of the
United States. However, officers did not believe that Brown’s
threats were credible and
thus there were no consequences. Apparently frustrated, Brown
exited the courthouse
and promptly threw a brick through the glass front door of the
courthouse. Brown was
held in jail for 9 months awaiting trial. At trial he was
sentenced to 1 month in jail and
3 years probation for malicious mischief. In court, Brown noted
that his behavior would
result in shelter in a facility in which at least, “someone’s going
to offer me a sandwich
and drink” (Associated Press, 2012, p. 1).
Many experts believe that the problem of crime in America is
grounded in larger issues
of social structural marginality. Thus, issues like the economy,
poverty, health care, and
education may be central in an encompassing crime-control
strategy.
10.1 The Challenge of the Status Quo
One of the paramount challenges in criminology is developing
systematic, evidence-driven and practical public policies to
address the crime problem. However, pub-lic policy does not
exist in a vacuum; developing, implementing, and evaluating
cost-effective and pragmatic crime-control policies is only part
of the challenge. Many
experts highlight that changes in criminal justice policy include
a series of obstacles. There
are ideological barriers to change given America’s historic
support of “tough on crime”

policies. There are individuals and industries that benefit from
the criminal justice system
in its existing form. And individuals and groups reap massive
profits from committing
crime in America and internationally.
Thus, the next era of criminal justice policy faces a two-
pronged challenge. First, to develop
sound public policy to reduce crime and its attendant harms.
And second, to overcome
obstacles to change and the vested interests in the status quo.
The Crime Control Industrial Complex
Classical sociological theorist Karl Marx made a series of astute
observations about
crime that are as relevant today as they were 150 years ago.
Marx argued that the social-
structural dynamics of capitalism would shape crime as well as
how society would
attempt to control crime. Economic obstacles may be one of the
most significant barriers
to criminal justice system reform.
Industries associated with crime control provide a series of
economic and social oppor-
tunities for individuals in modern society. A series of legal
system actors depend on the
criminal justice system for employment including police,
judges, prison guards, and many
others. In addition, a series of individuals and professions
depend on industries directly
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 308 7/5/13 4:23 PM

related with the criminal justice system. For example, both
college professors and college
students may study criminology and criminal justice. Publishing
companies regularly
publish textbooks and other books that are required in college
courses. Private security
companies install and monitor alarm systems in private homes
and businesses. These
firms may also provide private pseudo police to individuals and
communities. Construc-
tion companies build and maintain America’s jails and prisons.
Prisons require laundry
services, telephone companies, and electronic surveillance
systems. The garment industry
produces uniforms for both criminal justice system employees
and inmates. Crime and
crime control are big business.
Criminologists and sociologists often refer to the series of
individuals and industries that
depend on crime as the crime-control industrial complex. This
concept has a rich and
important history. The ideological origin of this construct was
former President Dwight
Eisenhower’s farewell address in 1961, which warned America
about what Eisenhower
coined the “military industrial complex.” In this famous speech,
Eisenhower reflected
on witnessing world war and the corresponding human and
social toll of widespread
violence. Within the framework of American democracy, he
warned the American public
to be extra judicious when deciding the appropriateness of war.

He expressed concern
that America had created a massive, expensive, and influential
military machine that had
the potential to artificially encourage the country to go to war,
in part to justify its own
existence; that military elites have the power to potentially
influence the country to use its
military might in part because of the economic necessity created
by the military industrial
complex. Criminologists have built upon Eisenhower’s rich
military industrial complex
concept by applying it to a series of criminal justice issues.
Journalist Eric Schlosser (1998) applied Eisenhower’s military-
industrial complex concept
to the economics of prisons. Schlosser defined the prison
industrial complex as “a set
of bureaucratic, political, and economic interests that encourage
increased spending on
imprisonment, regardless of the actual need” (Schlosser, 1998,
p. 1). Similarly, this concept
can be applied more broadly to crime control in general. Thus,
we can define the crime
control industrial complex as “a set of bureaucratic, political,
and economic interests that
encourage increased spending on [crime control] regardless of
the actual need” (Schlosser,
1998, p. 1).
Any systemic reforms to the criminal justice system must
overcome possible resistance
from the crime control and prison industrial complexes. Thus,
as suggested by Karl Marx,
economic dynamics are likely central to the future of criminal
justice policy in America.

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The Profitability of Crime
Crime is also big business for criminals; the scope and
profitability of crime on the inter-
national stage is striking. A new report from the United Nations
Office on Drugs & Crime
(2011) reveals the extent of worldwide crime. According to the
United Nations (UN), the
global gross proceeds from criminal behavior is estimated at
$2.1 trillion annually! Thus,
crime constitutes roughly 7% of the global economy. If “crime”
was a sovereign nation, it
would be one of the largest 20 economies in the world (Dahl,
2012).
The most profitable interna-
tional criminal industries are
illegal drugs and human traf-
ficking. The UN estimates that
the annual gross revenue for the
illegal drug trade may be as large
as $400 billion (United Nations
Office on Drugs & Crime, 2011).
Thus drug trafficking organiza-
tions in the developing world
may have enough power and
resources to destabilize and
threaten the viability of exist-
ing governments. In addition,
human traffickers victimize

approximately 2.4 million peo-
ple each year. The UN describes
this horrific criminal industry
Web Field Trip: Corrections Corporation of America
Up until 25 years ago, all correctional facilities were public or
government owned and operated. Then
a few individuals started a private company that promised to
design, construct, expand, and manage
prisons, jails, and detention facilities. They also provide inmate
transportation and a multitude of
in-prison programs. While private correctional facilities
promise to be better than public ones and to
offer more resources and a more effective system, they are also
companies trying to make a profit.
The ethics behind this business model and whether private
facilities are in fact better than public
prisons, is up for debate.
Visit the website of the private prison company the Corrections
Corporation America at http://www
.cca.com/. Watch the video on the homepage. Then click on
“about CCA,” and watch the embedded
video on that page. Then click on “CCA History,” and watch the
video clip embedded on that page.
Critical Thinking Questions
1. How would you describe the tone of the videos?
2. What are the pros and cons of privatization in the criminal
justice system?
3. Are there other ways to reform prisons that do not include
privatization?
Jupiter Images/Botanica/Getty Images

Illegal drug trade is one of the most profitable international
crimes, and thus, is one of the most difficult types of crime for
law enforcement agencies to combat.
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http://www.cca.com/
http://www.cca.com/
Ideological Challenges to the Status Quo
The chapters in this book have presented various theories to
explain crime and described a
range of crimes. While crime is declining, it remains a
significant social issue, and America
as, “a shameful crime of modern-day slavery” (Dahl, 2012, p.
1). Finally, many types of
organized criminal groups engage in corruption, which is
estimated to cost $40 billion
annually in the developing world alone (Dahl, 2012).
International criminal business is often associated with
organized crime. How-
ever, modern organized criminal groups tend to be more fluid
and dynamic com-
pared to past decades. In previous eras, international organized
criminal groups
were often strictly hierarchical in nature and typically restricted
membership by
national origin and ethnic or racial heritage. Modern groups
tend to be more flexible.
They often cooperate to commit one or more criminal endeavors

and then disband.
Thus, traditional international law enforcement strategies
targeting group leaders, “cut-
ting the head off the snake,” are less viable strategies (Dahl,
2012; Elliott, 1997).
Reducing the profitability of crime may be central to criminal
justice system reform.
Given the lucrativeness of crime, both internationally and
within America, reforms
might seek out practical ways to reduce the profits, and thus the
rewards, from engag-
ing in criminal behavior. While the scope of these problems can
be daunting, criminolo-
gists and policy experts have highlighted some areas that are
ripe for reform to reduce
the profitability of engaging in criminal behavior. The evidence
suggests that reducing
the profitability of drug crime might be a prudent approach to
undermining the profit-
ability of international organized crime. However, these
suggested reforms also have to
overcome entrenched ideologies that may be resistant to change.
Web Field Trip: Inside Cocaine Submarines
Due to the high profitability of the Colombian drug trade,
traffickers have become adept at smug-
gling cocaine by any means necessary. Once law enforcement
helicopters thwarted smugglers’ use
of speedboats, traffickers began building submarines to
transport drugs from miles of marshes and
rivers in Colombia to the Pacific Ocean and on to the United
States. Colombian and American officials
now try to destroy the subs while they are still under
construction in order to cripple the traffickers’
ability to transport drugs.

To learn more about this latest battle between drug traffickers
and law enforcement, watch the first
10 minutes of the National Geographic special, “Inside Cocaine
Submarines” at http://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=aO3hikt5H3k.
1. How do cocaine submarines reaffirm the challenges of
combating international organized
crime?
2. What strategies do you think would be effective to reduce the
supply of illegal drugs in America?
3. What strategies do you think would be effective to reduce the
demand for illegal drugs in
America?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO3hikt5H3k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO3hikt5H3k
continues to have significantly higher rates of violent crime
compared to other Western
democratic societies (Lynch & Pridemore, 2011). In addition,
the nature of crime and how
society responds to crime is changing. Advances in technology
give law enforcement new
tools to monitor what they believe may be potential criminal
activity. Information sharing

between law enforcement agencies and the private sector has
created a new era of polic-
ing. Many of these changes in how the criminal justice system
and society react to crime
have been shaped by the attacks on September 11, 2001. The
post-9/11 world has created
public fear of new types of crimes. Not only are people afraid of
being victimized by tra-
ditional street crime but concerns about terrorism shape
society’s experiences in places
ranging from airports to schools. Reviewing recent works about
crime and punishment
illustrate the changing nature of crime and society. Moreover,
these cornerstone works
examine the ideologies of crime control and public
interpretations of the crime problem.
The Culture of Control
In The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in
Contemporary Society, legal scholar
and sociologist David Garland (2001) presents an overview of
the changes in society’s
attitudes about crime and punishment since the 1970s. Garland
argues that changes in
social conditions, such as growing insecurities about safety and
increased perceptions
of risk, have led society to adopt increasingly punitive
responses to crime. Crime rates
did not rise, but fear of crime, possibly facilitated by the
government and media, did
grow. According to the analysis, increased vengeance is not
reserved for the most serious
offenses. Rather, a punitive approach is applied to juvenile
offenses and growing num-
bers of less serious offenses.

According to Garland, society reacts emotionally to the belief
that crime is an ever-increas-
ing problem. In turn, this fear of crime has changed the tone of
criminal justice policy.
The media creates images of “unruly youth, dangerous
predators, and incorrigible career
criminals” (Garland, 2001, p. 10). Rather than creating laws that
react to empirical realities
of increased crime rates, the government often passes
legislation based on sensationalized
media accounts. Thus, contemporary criminal justice is focused
on providing security for
the public, containing danger, and identifying and containing
any type of risk.
Protecting the public is a highly politicized process. This
process often omits criminologi-
cal researchers and practitioners from the creation of criminal
justice policy in favor of
politicians and members of society who have been victims of
crime. Accordingly, laws are
often named after crime victims. For example, Megan’s law was
named for Megan Kanka
who was raped and murdered by a neighbor who was a two-time
convicted pedophile.
In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Megan’s Law bill into
law. Nearly 20 years after
the law was established, society is struggling with the
increasing numbers of sex offenders
who, when released from prison, often abscond from parole.
Increasing restrictive provi-
sions, such as limitations on where they can live, and public
backlash when they move
into neighborhoods has created an unintended consequence.
Instead of improved super-
vision when released, Megan’s law has likely made it more

difficult for law enforcement
to track sex offenders.
Garland also discusses the expanding infrastructure of crime
prevention and commu-
nity safety. An ever-growing network of partnerships between
law enforcement agen-
cies are increasingly participating in information sharing. The
Department of Homeland
Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the
Central Intelligence Agency
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(CIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and local
enforcement agencies have cre-
ated networks in which they work together on public safety
initiatives. These initiatives
are largely preventative in nature. They do not react to crime, as
traditional law enforce-
ment, but watch, track, and collect data about individuals and
groups that may engage in
criminal activity. Multiagency information sharing and crime
prevention are likely sound
strategies, but in practice some controversial cases have raised
important questions about
individual civil liberties.
In 2012, the media learned that the New York Police
Department (NYPD) had been granted
permission to surveil Muslim students at Rutgers University,
New Jersey’s largest public

university in 2007. Apparently, the surveillance expanded to
include Muslims in Newark,
New Jersey, and other nearby cities. Media accounts suggest
that Newark’s mayor, the
New Jersey State Police, and Rutgers’ officials approved this
surveillance. No individual
Muslim people or members of the mosques where they
worshipped were suspected or
accused of engaging in terrorist or other criminal activity. The
operation is an example of
the preventative yet sometimes controversial networks of law
enforcement work being
undertaken in today’s climate.
Not only are law enforcement agencies creating new alliances,
but within society crime
control is becoming increasingly commercialized. Private
police, security guards, private
security systems installed in homes, and private prisons are
more common. While security
was once the responsibility of the state, private citizens are
relying on private industries to
provide them with the services the government once did.
Garland attributes some of the
growth of the private security business to the perpetual sense of
crisis present in society.
Governing Through Crime
In Governing Through Crime: How the War on Crime
Transformed American Democracy and
Created a Culture of Fear, Jonathan Simon (2007) argues that
freedom and equality are the
price society is willing to pay in order to achieve a sense of
safety. However, society’s fear
of crime and violence, he argues, is irrational. He points out
that the title of his book, “gov-

erning through crime control” refers to the idea that power and
authority in the United
States are wielded based on the constant threat of crime and
violence. Society typically
awards policies and procedures created in the name of
preventing crime with less scrutiny
and immediate legitimacy. According to Simon, society is more
willing than ever to relin-
quish rights while accepting social institutions’ expanding
powers.
Prisons of Poverty
In Prisons of Poverty, Loic Wacquant (2009) points out
society’s
intensified surveillance of so-called problem neighborhoods,
increased anxiety
over and representation of youth delinquency, harassment of the
homeless and
immigrants in public space, night curfews and “zero tolerance,”
the relentless
growth of custodial populations, the deterioration and
privatization of correc-
tional services, the disciplinary monitoring of recipients of
public assistance.
(Wacquant, 2009, p. 1)
He argues that governments, the United States and European
Union in particular, are
relying on the criminal justice system to control the disorder
that has resulted from social
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problems. More specifically, mass unemployment, the growing
wage gap between social
classes, and the shrinking networks of state social support have
a direct and important
connection with crime (see Chapter 3). He refers to the
phenomenon as a transition from
the social state to the penal state.
Wacquant pays particular attention to New York City and the
aggressive policy of fighting
quality-of-life crimes based on the broken windows theory.
According to the approach,
by focusing on relatively minor offenses, such as vandalism and
loitering by homeless
people, more serious crime will decrease. Law enforcement will
be sending a message
that smaller offenses will not be tolerated, and offenders will be
less likely to target those
communities. Poor people, disenfranchised, or powerless people
living in urban areas are
most likely to commit minor offenses such as quality-of-life
violations. Waquant argues
this creates a dangerous underclass in the eyes of the public.
Wacquant also points out how the changing approach to
controlling crime benefits the
state that puts the legislation in place. The penal state is
justified by the images of fear that
the government and media create for public consumption. The
combination of unemploy-
ment, immigrants, and criminality has often been used to justify
the penal state. Powerful
law enforcement becomes necessary, then, to protect the public
from the imminent threat

of these growing social problems. One way to protect society is
by collecting increasing
amounts of personal information—from the Internet searches of
individuals, to their travel
patterns, and even the groups to which they make charitable
contributions. Creating data-
bases of private information about individuals, which
increasingly includes genetic data,
permits the government to surveil without individuals’ consent
or knowledge. Budgets
for maintaining and strengthening this penal state continue to
grow as the state’s social
support or welfare role diminishes.
With Liberty and Justice for Some
In With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law is Used to
Destroy Equality and Protect the
Powerful, Glenn Greenwald (2011) outlines the inequalities that
permeate the United States’
criminal justice system. He argues that not only do people with
political and economic
power have advantages within the criminal justice system but
they are actually allowed
to break the law, largely without legal consequences. It is not
only that the wealthy have
better lawyers but many corporate acts that cause massive harm
are not defined as crimes
in the first place.
One of the founding principles of the United States is that the
law is meant to act as an
equalizing force. The sayings such as “all people are created
equally” and “justice is
blind” reflect the ideal that the country’s system of laws is
created with an emphasis on
fundamental notions of fairness. Today, Greenwald argues,

there is a two-tiered system
of justice with the politically and financially powerful largely
exempt from the system
that imprisons the poor and powerless at a higher rate than any
other country in the
world. As the powerful gain protection, the powerless become
subject to increasingly
punitive punishments.
What Greenwald calls “elite immunity” is clearly illustrated by
the financial meltdown
of 2008. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke testified in
front of Congress that the
United States’ economy was days away from a meltdown. Years
of banks issuing high-
risk mortgages and selling bank products, derivatives, without
the assets to back them
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Section 10.2 Myths and Misconceptions About Crime
CHAPTER 10
eventually had a significant impact on the health of the
American and world economies.
The United States’ largest banks needed money to be able to
pay their debts. In October
2009, Congress gave $700 billion in taxpayer money to avoid
the banks going bankrupt
and the ripple effects the bankruptcies would have on the
American economy. However,
damage had largely already been done to Wall Street. The stock
market responded nega-
tively and dramatically to the fears and instability of the

economy.
Government officials regulate banks and Wall Street
transactions. However, many experts
contend that the treasury secretary has a symbiotic and cozy
relationship with the top
officials of the banks and Wall Street tycoons he
is supposed to be regulating. Greenwald suggests
that there is no steadfast federal oversight of the
financially powerful people who created the eco-
nomic downturn. Neither they nor the govern-
ment regulators who allowed the crisis to happen
have ever been held criminally responsible for
their actions.
Greenwald presents powerful examples from
modern history, from Watergate to President
Bush’s controversial actions surrounding the war
in Iraq, to demonstrate how America’s elite often
go unscathed by law. He explains how the media,
the government, and the criminal justice system
have each played a role in creating the two-tiered
system of laws we have today.
The work of David Garland, Jonathan Simon, Loic
Wacquant, and Glenn Greenwald describes the
current state of the criminal justice system. Their
work contains several common themes. Laws
are differentially enforced. People’s criminal jus-
tice system vulnerability often depends on their
social location and who they are—their race, gen-
der, and socioeconomic status. Moreover, these
cornerstone works suggest that society is driven
by an irrational fear of crime and violence. This irrational fear
often centers on violent,
interpersonal street crime committed by strangers and often

ignores the harms and crimes
of corporate America. In examining the present criminal justice
system, these scholars are
debunking the myths commonly believed by the members of
society.
10.2 Myths and Misconceptions About Crime
The authors’ works described in the previous section examine
the current state of crime and criminal justice in the United
States. The authors point out how social changes have affected
the way society thinks about and reacts to crime. Bohm and
Walker (2006) refer to crime myths as misconceptions that lead
to misguided criminal
justice policies. The public, the media, politicians, and the
politically and economically
powerful sustain these myths.
Eric Risberg/Associated Press
Failure to hold top bank officials criminally
responsible for the 2008 financial crisis is an
example of “elite immunity” according to
Glenn Greenwald.
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CHAPTER 10
The Myth That Crime and Criminality Can Be Accurately
Measured
It is a myth that crime statistics accurately show what crimes

are being committed and
what crimes are most harmful (see Chapter 1). Most crime and
violence is unreported.
Researchers refer to this as the dark figure of crime. When law
enforcement is unable to
accurately count crime, society has an inaccurate picture of
offenders.
Increases in the number of arrests do not necessarily correspond
to an actual increase in
the number of offenses being committed. For example,
sometimes the police will adopt a
policy of proactive policing—that is, taking the initiative to
address public order offenses
such as clearing streets of people who are loitering and may be
homeless, rather than
Case Study: Officer Bricknell
Peter Moskos, is an associate professor of law and political
science at the John Jay College of Criminal
Justice. Moskos earned a PhD in sociology from Harvard
University in 2004 and also served as a police
officer in the high-crime Eastern District of inner-city
Baltimore from 1999 to 2001. He combined his
lived experience as a patrol officer with his scholarly insight
into criminal justice issues in an award-
winning book titled Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing
Baltimore’s Eastern District (Moskos, 2008).
This book provides tremendous insight into a series of criminal
justice issues. Moskos presents a
scathing evaluation of the police academy. He advocates for
individual police officer discretion, espe-
cially for low-level crime. He criticizes the war on drugs and
articulates the challenge of enforcing the
war on drugs in neighborhoods where robust open-air drug

markets flourish. Moreover, he provides
insight into issues of police culture, socialization, and
corruption.
A major theme of Cop in the Hood, is the controversial role of
arrests in modern policing. As noted,
police arrests are a major contributor to the UCR, America’s
“official” repository of data about crime.
Moskos emphasizes that the number of arrests made do not
necessarily always reflect the preva-
lence of crime in a given area. He argues that the decision to
make an arrest for a low-level crime
is often somewhat arbitrary and guided more by officer
preference, the time required, and other
factors that are arbitrary to the crime itself. Moskos argued that
arrests are appropriate in some
situations, but often a patrol officer can be more effective
preventing crime or resolving conten-
tious situations without making arrests. While Moskos was
never subject to an official arrest quota,
officers in his unit were regularly encouraged by high-level
administrators to increase the number of
arrests that they made in a given month.
Moskos demonstrates the controversies surrounding the arrest-
based initiative through the case
of Officer Bricknell. This case also illustrates how official data
on crime can be shaped by factors
other than the prevalence of crime itself. In response to law
enforcement administrators encouraging
patrol officers to make more arrests, Officer Bricknell set out to
make more arrests than any other
officer in the history of the department in any one-month
period. In February, Officer Bricknell made
a total of 26 arrests and in fact set the monthly arrest record.
Every single one of his arrests that

month was for violations of bicycle regulations, like not
wearing a helmet (Moskos, 2008). The narra-
tive of Officer Bricknell reinforces that law enforcement
discretion and resource allocation decisions
play a significant role in official crime data.
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 316 7/5/13 4:23 PM
CHAPTER 10
responding to calls from the public in response to crimes after
they have been committed.
Police activity will be increased, but it is in part due to their
proactive policies not because
crime rates have actually increased.
While still imperfect, the best measures of crime include all
major available data-
collections methods to unearth common themes and trends.
While crime cannot be accu-
rately measured, the best criminal justice policies will be
grounded in data trends that
are supported by the Uniform Crime Report (UCR), the National
Incident-Based Report-
ing System (NIBRS), the National Crime Victimization Survey
(NCVS), and self-report
studies. Relying exclusively on “official” measures of crime
presents an inaccurate pic-
ture of crime and criminality in America.
The Myth That White-Collar Crime Is Only About Financial
Loss

It is a myth that white-collar crimes do not cause significant
and tangible harm to indi-
viduals and society. In The Rich Get Richer, The Poor Get
Prison, Jeffrey Reiman (2007)
points out that white-collar crime, perpetrated through business
and industry, in medi-
cal malpractice, and by the government, does more harm to
society than street crime.
Greater damage is done to society by the number of people who
are injured and killed
in industrial accidents, medical procedures gone wrong, and lost
retirement and invest-
ments funds, for example, than is done by street crime each
year. While people are
socialized to fear the stranger lurking around the corner waiting
to attack, the decisions
made by executives may have more negative effects on more
people than do the actions
of street offenders.
Hazardous work conditions and consumer products cause
significant harm to our
society. For example, workers exposed to substances such as
asbestos and lead have
long-term health problems. The workers who cleared the piles
of debris from the destruc-
tion of the attacks on the Twin Towers on 9/11 continue their
legal battles with the gov-
ernment, which denies that any of their health problems are
related to their work. The
mining industry is one of the most dangerous with mine
collapses causing fatalities on
a regular basis.
Food products are another source of danger to the general
public. During the summer of

2008, there was an outbreak of salmonella due to contaminated
tomatoes. Pharmaceuticals
are another industry that has disbursed dangerous products that
have had to be recalled.
The Ford Pinto that exploded when it was rear-ended by another
car, and Firestone tires
that were unsafe are more examples of industries releasing
dangerous products that put
the public at risk.
An often-overlooked type of white-collar crime is
environmental crimes such as toxic
waste dumping. Releasing poisonous substances into the water
and ground of communi-
ties can have negative health effects on generations of people to
come. Factories and plants
that generate these toxic substances are most commonly located
in economically disad-
vantaged communities. Thus, many experts contend that
environmental crimes dovetail
with issues of environmental racism.
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 317 7/5/13 4:23 PM
CHAPTER 10
The Myth of Differentiation in the Classification of Dangerous
Offenders
It is a myth that “criminals” are significantly different from
“noncriminals.” While it is
comforting to believe that criminals are somehow inherently
different from the rest of

us, there is no categorical evidence that supports this claim.
According to early Positiv-
ist criminology, offenders were less evolved than nonoffenders.
Today, science suggests
that criminals are not a unique breed of human. While people
differ in terms of mental
development, there is no criminal man (see Chapter 1) as
suggested by Cesare Lombroso
(1876/2006) nor can criminology, psychology, or any other
science distinguish between
“good” and “bad” people. It is not possible to categorize people
according to biological,
physiological, or social characteristics and determine their
criminality.
The ability of science to differentiate between who is likely to
engage in serious crime
and who is not is questionable at best. The error rates of
predictions are high. One of the
Reiman describes these white-collar crimes as “crime by any
other name” (Reiman, 2007,
p. 60). A “crime by any other name” refers to corporate crime
that is often overlooked
by the criminal justice system. But in addition, this concept
refers to corporate-related
behavior that does not violate criminal statutes, thus are not
“crimes” in the strict sense,
but they cause massive harm to society. He argues that if the
criminal justice system was
truly and neutrally concerned about harms to society, law
enforcement and legal system
actors would vigorously examine the harms caused by
corporations. Thus, some experts
contend that the criminal justice system could be reformed with
an increased focus on

white-collar crime and “crime by any other name.”
Web Field Trip: “White Collar Watch”
Peter J. Henning is one of four columnists who discuss
businesses and trades for The New York Time’s
website Deal Book. Henning contributes commentary about
white-collar and corporate crimes in
the column “White Collar Watch.” On December 28, 2011,
Henning posted a 2012 forecast (http://
dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/what-to-expect-in-2012/),
which addressed investigations and
prosecutions for the New Year. In this post, Henning discusses
insider trading and the Ponzi schemes.
He discusses charges against executives at Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac for their roles in the financial
crisis. In the end, he admits that no one can predict the
exposures or developments of white-collar
crimes: “So while we do not know the source of the next major
white-collar crime,” Henning writes,
“we can rest assured that one (or more) will emerge in 2012”
(paragraph 22).
Learn more about “White Collar Watch” here:
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/category/columnists/
white-collar-watch/.
1. Do you agree that white-collar crimes will be a consistent but
unpredictable element of soci-
ety? Why or why not?
2. Why might corporate executives risk the standing of
companies, shareholders, and their own
securities to participate in white-collar crimes?

3. How might defense in court cases for white-collar crimes
differ from defense in court cases for
street crimes?
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 318 7/5/13 4:23 PM
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/what-to-expect-in-
2012/
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/what-to-expect-in-
2012/
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/category/columnists/white-collar-
watch/
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/category/columnists/white-collar-
watch/
Section 10.3 Crime Reduction: According to the Evidence
CHAPTER 10
strongest principles psychologists have is that future behavior is
best predicted by past
behavior. When scientists consider demographic (e.g., age,
gender) and clinical (e.g., sub-
stance abuse, diagnoses of psychopathy) factors, combined with
knowledge about past
behavior, they are best able to make statements about people’s
likelihood of future offend-
ing. However, there is no mathematical formula that can
correctly predict anyone’s future
behavior. The so-called actuarial method, which uses survey
instruments to make predic-
tions about people, has been found to be no more effective than
the clinical method that
uses human judgment to collect information and diagnose
people.

While the media sensationalizes crime and criminals, there is no
evidence that offenders
differ from nonoffenders in a discernible, biological way. There
is no criminal gene. Rather,
a complex series of biological, psychological, and sociological
factors often contribute to
the commission of crime. The future of criminal justice must
realize that criminals do not
exist in a vacuum but are profoundly shaped by social structural
dynamics; thus educa-
tion, the economy, housing, and health care are likely critical in
crime prevention.
The Carnival Mirror Image
Understanding the theoretical and empirical evidence about
crime and criminal behav-
ior is essential to debunking, or challenging, these prevalent
myths about crime. Reiman
(2007) argues that the relatively lenient treatment of white-
collar crime, and the relatively
vigorous treatment of street crime, presents a distorted image of
the crime problem to the
American public. Moreover, since those of the upper class
benefit from a series of struc-
tural advantages in the criminal justice process, crime is also
presented to the American
public overwhelmingly as a problem for the lower classes.
Reiman (2007) describes the
connections between crime myths and the American public
using a concept that he calls
“the carnival mirror image.”
The American criminal justice system is a mirror that shows a
distorted image
of the dangers that threaten us—an image created more by the
shape of the

mirror than by the reality reflected. (Reiman, 2007, p. 62)
Reiman contends that the criminal justice system and the media
present an image of the
“typical criminal” who is “a he . . . young . . . predominately
urban . . . disproportionately
black . . . [and] poor” (Reiman, 2007, p. 63). This image of the
typical criminal discour-
ages a critical examination of the role of social class in the
criminal justice system. It dis-
courages a vigorous study of the harms of white-collar crime.
Debunking these popular
misconceptions about crime and criminal justice is essential to
creating fair and effective
criminal justice policy.
10.3 Crime Reduction: According to the Evidence
One of the reoccurring themes throughout this textbook has
been the social condi-tions that influence criminality. When
society considers how to reduce crime, social structural factors
play a central role. Thus, many criminologists advocate address-
ing larger social structural issues in American society as a
method to reduce crime and
its attendant harms. Society’s response to crime is just that—a
response. An alternative is
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 319 7/5/13 4:23 PM
CHAPTER 10
proactive interventions, those that are put into place to prevent
rather than react to prob-

lems that can lead to criminality. Addressing large-scale,
society-wide social problems is
likely a prudent strategy to reduce crime.
Many promising crime-control and crime-prevention strategies
are grounded in cor-
nerstone criminological theories. As discussed in Chapter 1,
many influential theoreti-
cal schools in criminology link crime with larger social issues
and social problems. For
example, self-control theory identifies quality education and the
socialization that it can
provide as key in controlling criminality. Strain theory suggests
that an accessible econ-
omy and traditional routes to upward social mobility are critical
to avoid pushing indi-
viduals toward crime. Social disorganization theory clearly and
explicitly links crime with
community-level social problems. And various critical
perspectives highlight inequality
in society as the facilitator of crime and negative labeling.
Many of the policy suggestions
in the following sections are intimately connected with these
fundamental theoretical per-
spectives on crime.
The following sections examine social-structural strategies that
the evidence suggests
may contribute to a significant and sustained decrease in crime.
However, this is not an
exhaustive list. The following approaches represent some of the
most promising strate-
gies, but there are likely viable crime reduction strategies
beyond the scope of this single
chapter. Moreover, these strategies are not mutually exclusive.
That means that using any

one of these approaches alone is not the most prudent choice.
Rather, the most effective
strategies to reduce crime will likely require the simultaneous
use of many, if not all, of
the following approaches.
Stratification, Poverty, and Employment
America is an outlier among Western democratic societies
because of the high level of
inequality and stratification (see Chapter 3). Inequality,
stratification, and poverty all cor-
relate with crime. Moreover, a series of issues like education,
employment, and health care
are fundamentally shaped by stratification and larger economic
dynamics in the country,
and have a significant impact on crime dynamics.
Job training and employment skills can interrupt the cycle of
unemployment and crime.
Bringing jobs to inner cities and rural areas can also reduce
poverty while investing in com-
munities that would otherwise be left to growing levels of
disorganization as the United
States’ economy suffers. Many criminologists would argue that
increasing the rewards of
the legitimate economy might be a very persuasive way to deter
individuals for entering
into the illegitimate, criminal economy.
In Crime and Punishment in America, renowned criminologist
Elliott Currie (1998) explores
the relationship between social-structural problems, like poverty
and employment, and
crime. Currie’s argument fits squarely within Robert Merton’s
classic version of Strain

Theory: that individuals adapt, in sometimes criminal ways, if
they cannot meet the pre-
scribed goals of society via the available means (see Chapter 1).
Currie notes that in the
last part of the 1970s and throughout the 1980s America’s
dramatic increase in incarcera-
tion rates corresponded with an increase in social structural
marginalization:
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 320 7/5/13 4:23 PM
CHAPTER 10
The vast increase in imprisonment . . . coincided with a sharp
deterioration
in the social conditions of the people and communities most at
risk of violent
crime. Thus, while we were busily jamming our prisons to the
rafters with
young, poor men, we were simultaneously generating the fastest
rise in income
inequality in recent history. (Currie, 1998, p. 30)
Currie then argues that American social norms are no longer
focused on long-term pros-
perity and responsible economic management reminiscent of the
Protestant Work Ethic.
Rather, the norms and values of America focus on “a
particularly virulent ethic of con-
sumption and instant gratification” (Currie, 1998, p. 31).
Unrealistic economic goals, com-
bined with increasing inequality and stratification, exemplify
the dynamics of Strain The-

ory; the rewards of the legitimate economy decrease, crime
increases, and prison becomes
a reactive, catch-all response to a combination of social
problems. Thus, many experts con-
tend that reducing stratification in America is central to
reducing crime and its attendant
harms. In his 2012 piece Reaping What We Sow: The Impact of
Economic Justice on Criminal
Justice Currie (2012) reflects on the connections between
criminal justice challenges and
larger issues of economic and social justice:
America’s extraordinary level of violence—including wide and
growing
economic inequality, the advanced industrial world’s deepest
and most con-
centrated poverty, and mass joblessness that is only partly
captured by our
conventional unemployment rate. In a very real sense, our
swollen prison sys-
tem has functioned as a costly and ineffective alternative to
serious efforts to
address those enduring social deficits. (Currie, 2012, p. 46)
Education
High-quality education programs for young people are likely
one of the most effective
anticrime policies available (Currie, 1998; Reiman, 2007;
Bourgois, 1995). Educational
interventions that prepare children, especially those underserved
by public education in
poor communities, can help reduce the high rates of school
dropout. Dropping out of
school is related to delinquency and reduces job opportunities.
By investing in schools

where rates of poverty are high, society may be able to change
the trajectory that often
leads from poor school performance to later criminality.
Tragically, the dramatic increase in prisons in America has
come at the expense of educa-
tion, possibly one of the most effective institutions for
preventing crime. According to Self-
Control theory written by Michael Gottfredson and Travis
Hirschi (1990) (see Chapter 1),
the school system is the critical institution for preventing crime
and delinquency. More
specifically, schools might be best positioned to socialize
students to embrace self-control
and sound decision making. School-based socialization may be
particularly important in
households with full-time working parents.
The relationship between education and punishment is cyclical
and critically important
to criminal justice system reform. As incarceration rates
increase, often funding available
for education decreases. Decreased quality of education then
increases crime and the need
for, and expense of, incarceration. Currie (1998) notes,
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 321 7/5/13 4:23 PM
CHAPTER 10
The money spent on prisons in the 1980s and 1990s, then, was
money taken
from the parts of the public sector that educate, train, socialize,

treat, nurture,
and house the population—particularly the children of the poor.
(Currie, 1998,
p. 35)
The inverse relationship between education spending and prison
spending is
demonstrated empirically by Stephen Bainbridge, a
distinguished professor of law at the
University of California at Los Angeles School of Law. Dr.
Bainbridge
compared prison spending in the state of California to spending
on the state’s
public universities. What he discovered was that as spending on
public universities
went down from 1967 to 2008, spending on the correctional
system went up. His
analysis demonstrates that correctional system expenditures may
come at the direct
expense of one of the best institutions for crime prevention:
education. The
evidence suggests strongly that any systemic approach to
reducing crime would rely
heavily on increasing the availability and quality of public
education in America
(Bainbridge, 2012).
Health Care
From a criminal justice perspective, the evidence is quite clear
that
universally obtainable, quality health care prevents crime.
Health care services, both
physical and mental, during childhood are important given the
cycle of violence
(the connection between physical and sexual abuse

victimization and later
offending). Children who grow up around violence, whether in
their homes or their
neighborhoods can benefit from mental health care to interrupt
the cycle of
violence. Anger management, counseling, and support services
thus should be
a central feature of domestic violence law.
Quality health care can also prevent crime early in the life
course. The evidence suggests
that both prenatal care and nutrition early in life are essential
for brain development.
Healthy cognitive development is essential for decision making
and impulse control in
every stage of life. Thus, interventions that provide prenatal
care and nutrition to
families who otherwise could not obtain them has a twofold
benefit: increases in human
health and decreases in crime and crime victimization (Tibbetts,
2012).
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 322 7/5/13 4:23 PM
CHAPTER 10
Criminological research has long supported that regular home
visits by registered
nurses and other medical professionals are very effective in
preventing crime in “at-
risk” populations (Tibbetts, 2012; Currie, 1998). These medical
professionals can work
with parents on effective and healthy childrearing practices.

Moreover, they can
diagnose and begin treating any serious health issues like head
trauma, hormone
imbalances, and exposure to toxins (exposure to lead most
notably). Pilot home visit
programs have shown promising results in both New York and
Hawaii (Currie, 1998).
Charles Tibbetts a criminal justice professor at California State
University at
San Bernardino and criminology theory expert, enumerates the
importance of health
care services for the prevention of crime. He astutely
summarizes the importance of
health care availability in the context of crime reduction
strategies, grounded in a
biosocial perspective on criminality. “Another obvious policy
implication derived from
biosocial theory is mandatory health insurance for pregnant
mothers and children,
which is quite likely the most efficient way to reduce crime in
the long
term” (Wright, Tibbetts, & Daigle, 2008; cited in Tibbetts,
2012, p. 80).
Guns and Gun Crime
Gun control is a very controversial and politically divisive issue
in contemporary
America. Moreover, gun control is embedded in Constitutional
debates and issues of
civil liberties and responsibility deeply rooted in American
culture. Despite
these complexities, the evidence about the role of guns in
facilitating crime, violent
crime in particular, suggests that critically examining gun

control policy is essential to
a viable crime reduction strategy.
Compared to other industrialized democracies, the United States
has the highest
fire-arm death rate by a significant margin (Reiman, 2007).
Fueled in part by a dramatic
economic downturn, a combustible drug economy, and the rise
of powerful street
gangs, the 1980s and early 1990s saw a dramatic increase in
firearm-related death,
among America’s youth in particular. Reflecting on these
dynamics, Garen Wintemute,
a nationally recognized researcher on gun policy and regular
advisor to government
agencies, noted, “The entire increase in homicide in the United
States through 1993 was
attributable to firearm homicide” (Wintemute, 2005, p. 52; cited
in Reiman, 2007, p. 34).
By 2006, guns were the weapon of choice in almost 12,800
homicides, 28,000 total deaths,
and 500,000 assaults and robberies (Cook, Braga, & Moore,
2011). As demonstrated in
Figure 10.2, guns are the most frequently used weapon in
homicides in America. Clearly,
the evidence suggests investigating measures to reduce the
impact of guns on society
and their role in the commission of crime is essential to
effective criminal justice policy.
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 323 7/5/13 4:23 PM
CHAPTER 10

Reform the War on Drugs
Since its declaration in 1972, the war on drugs has had a
massive cumulative effect on jails
and prisons in the United States. When examining local jails,
state and federal prisons,
nearly 25% of everyone incarcerated in the United States is
incarcerated primarily for a
drug offense (Mohamed & Fritsvold, 2010). In addition, drug
offenders are among the
groups with the highest rates of recidivism (Mohamed &
Fritsvold, 2010), and research
has consistently shown that the vast majority of drug offenders
are nonviolent (Mohamed
& Fritsvold, 2010; King & Mauer, 2002). In fact, some studies
have shown that approxi-
mately 75% of drug offenders incarcerated in state prisons have
no prior convictions for
violent crime (King & Mauer, 2002). Moreover, these
nonviolent offenders are also dispro-
portionately relatively low-level players in the drug-dealing
hierarchy.
Figure 10.1: Murders and weapon types
Based on data from The Guardian. Retrieved from
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/10/gun-
crime-us-state
Firearms are used in a majority of murders in the United States.
Other Personal
weapons
Blunt objects

(clubs, hammers)
Knives or cutting
instruments
Firearms
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
2006 2007 20082005 2009 2010
10
,1
5
8
1
,9
2
0
6
0
8 9
0
5

1
,3
74
10
,2
2
5
1
,8
3
0
6
18 8
4
1 1
,5
7
3
10
,1
2
9
1
,8

17
6
4
7 8
6
9
1
,4
5
4
9
,5
2
8
1
,8
8
8
6
0
3
8
7
5

1
,3
3
0
9
,1
9
9
1
,8
3
6
6
2
3
8
17 1
,2
7
7
8
,7
7
5

1
,7
0
4
5
4
0
74
5 1
,2
3
2
Web Field Trip: Gun Control
Visit the website of CNN, and read the opinion piece by Philip
J. Cook on gun control and the current
political environment on this issue:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/01/12/cook.ludwig.gun
.control/index.html.
1. Do you think that limitations on high-capacity magazines
may help reduce the number of homi-
cides associated with guns?
2. How might criminologists inform the political debate on gun
issues?
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 324 7/5/13 4:23 PM

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/10/gun-
crime-us-state
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/01/12/cook.ludwig.gun.con
trol/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/01/12/cook.ludwig.gun.con
trol/index.html
CHAPTER 10
Despite the kingpin rhetoric that is often included in drug crime
legislation, overwhelm-
ingly the War on Drugs has incarcerated relatively low-level
drug offenders. In 2008, Sec-
retary J. Michael Brown provided the following testimony to the
Kentucky Senate Judi-
ciary Committee. Brown reflected on the War on Drugs and
both its massive impact on
the American correctional system and its propensity for
incarcerating low-level offenders:
We have too many people in jails, too many people in prisons.
Our capacity
to care for them has been strained to the limit. . . . I don’t think
we’re getting
the worst drug lords into the prisons. We’re just getting the
people who went
out and got caught. . . . It’s the low-hanging fruit. (Kentucky
Senate Judiciary
Committee, 2008, p. 1)
From an agricultural perspective, low-hanging fruit are easy to
pick because they are low
on the tree, ripe, and easily harvested. From a law enforcement
perspective, the low-hang-

ing fruit in the drug trade are often user-dealers, who occupy
the most vulnerable posi-
tions in the drug dealing hierarchy, often doing hand-to-hand
drug sales in urban open-
air drug markets. Moreover, these most vulnerable players in
the drug dealing game are
likely to be young and poor and thus not able to rely on private
attorneys, to post bail, or
to benefit from the other resource-based advantages available to
members of the middle
and upper classes; they are the “low-hanging fruit.”
Troy Duster, the Silver Professor of Sociology at New York
University, examined why the
war on drugs incarcerates so many low-level offenders. In
Pattern, Purpose and Race in
the Drug War: The Crisis of Credibility in Criminal Justice
Duster argues that low-level drug
dealers are not only vulnerable but also suffer from additional
structural disadvantages
in the criminal justice process. He presents evidence that
higher-level drug dealers have
a significant advantage in the plea bargaining process. Higher-
level dealers likely can
provide valuable information to law enforcement about the
illegal drug industry and pos-
sibly other major drug dealers. Historically, high-level drug
dealers may provide infor-
mation about members of their own organization but prefer to
provide information to
authorities about the operations of rival organizations when
possible. The accused can
use this information to leverage a more favorable plea bargain.
In contrast, the lower-level
drug dealers likely do not have valuable information to provide
to authorities and thus

have far less leverage if they choose to pursue the plea
bargaining process (Duster, 1997).
Many states are experimenting with alternative, less-punitive
approaches to the war on
drugs. Some experts advocate for a public health approach to
drugs that emphasizes
medicalization. From a correctional perspective, key in this
approach is institutional and
transitional treatment for drug offenders in hopes of reducing
recidivism rates (Gupta,
2012). Illinois has experienced some preliminary success with
its institution drug treat-
ment program at its inmate-run Sheridan Treatment Program
(Olson & Rozhon, 2011).
And the state of Texas saved approximately $2 billion between
2007 and 2012 by divert-
ing low-level drug offenders away from traditional incarceration
facilities and providing
drug treatment for drug offenders in the traditional correctional
system (Gupta, 2012).
The evidence suggests that reforming the War on Drugs may be
an essential component of
systemic criminal justice system reform. Since declaring the
War on Drugs in 1972, illegal
drugs are more available, more potent, and relatively less
expensive (controlling for infla-
tion) in America’s communities (Mohamed & Fritsvold, 2010).
Moreover, because incar-
ceration is so expensive and recidivism rates are so high (see
Chapter 2), treatment-based
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 325 7/5/13 4:23 PM

CHAPTER 10
Reduce the Prison Population
In Reaping What We Sow: The Impact of Economic Justice on
Criminal Justice, Currie (2012)
begins by declaring,
The most important change we could make in our criminal
justice system over
the next 25 years would be to bring our level of incarceration
down to something
diversion programs may be most cost effective and practical.
The recent economic down-
turn has increased the incentives for states and the federal
government to consider viable
alternatives to the punitive prohibition of the war on drugs.
Case Study: Needle Park in Switzerland
A vigorous debate is ongoing among experts about how soci-
ety should manage drug use, as a victimless crime. Some
countries, like the United States, treat drugs as a criminal
justice system issue. Other countries have tried less punitive
approaches, as exemplified by Switzerland’s Needle Park. In
an attempt to control heroin use, Switzerland opened Needle
Park in the early 1990s. Needle Park was created to provide a
place where heroin addicts could use, buy, or sell drugs with-
out legal sanction. The park received 4,000 visitors a day. This
strategy did have some public health benefits, and it contrib-
uted to a 90% reduction in new cases of HIV in the region.
However, complaints from residents caused the closure of the
park in 1992.

Since the closure of Needle Park, Switzerland has devel-
oped other harm-reduction strategies for drug users. Needle
exchange programs were established where addicts could
receive clean needles and “shoot up” in
injection rooms sometimes referred to as safe injection facilities
or SIFs. Injection rooms provided
a clean and safe environment off the streets. Trained medical
personnel were available if medical
assistance was needed. Switzerland also has a unique
government-supported heroin prescription
program in an attempt to reduce the harms of the underground
marketplace for drugs.
Similarly, Australia is experimenting with progressive strategies
to reduce the harms associated with
the intravenous use of illegal drugs. In an effort to control HIV
and hepatitis C, Australia implemented
syringe vending machines. They are open 24 hours a day and
dispense “fitpacks,” which are comprised
of sterile needles and other injection equipment. For more
information about Switzerland’s pro-
gram, read the following article:
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/Ten_years_on_from_Needle_Park
.html?cid=2517882.
1. Many people have criticized both Switzerland and Australia
for being far too lenient with its
drug policies, or potentially even encouraging drug use. What
are your thoughts?
2. Do these public health measures help the drug problem or
make it worse?

Romano Cagnoni/Getty Images
Switzerland’s Needle Park was
created to give heroin addicts a
safe place to buy, sell, and use
drugs. The goal of the program was
to reduce the harmful effects of
the underground drug market.
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 326 7/5/13 4:23 PM
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/Ten_years_on_from_Needle_Park.
html?cid=2517882
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/Ten_years_on_from_Needle_Park.
html?cid=2517882
CHAPTER 10
resembling that of the rest of the advanced industrial world.
Whether we can
do that, however, is an open question. (Currie, 2012, p. 46)
As Currie notes, the criminological research reveals two major
dynamics that have led to
America having 5% of the world’s population, yet 25% of its
incarcerated population (see
Chapter 2). The research demonstrates that the levels of serious
violent crime—murder,
rape, and gun crime—are higher in America than in any other
Westernized democracy
(Lynch & Pridemore, 2011). Moreover, America is much more
likely than its peer nations
to use more punitive sentences, including mandatory minimum
and determinate sen-

tencing structures (see Chapter 2) for first-time offenders, drug
offenders, and nonviolent
offenders (Currie, 1998; Currie, 2012). Rethinking these
punitive and rigid sentencing pol-
icies for low-level offenders may be important features of a
more equitable and effective
criminal justice system.
Reducing America’s relatively high levels of crime, violent
crime in particular, is likely
intimately intertwined with larger issues of social justice and
equality. A legacy of research
in criminology and sociology links many varieties of criminal
behavior with social struc-
tural marginality and economic exclusion. A series of experts
advocate for the federal
government to take an active role to create a national strategy to
reduce poverty, create a
more robust and accessible economy, and reduce social
structural marginalization more
generally (Derber, 2009; Currie, 1998; Currie, 2012). Currie
advocates for . . .
strategies to reduce the deepening poverty, widening inequality,
growing con-
centration of disadvantage and obliteration of opportunities for
a productive
and inclusive life for too many of our citizens. Chief among
those policies must
be a commitment to full employment at living wages—a
commitment that, as
we increasingly understand, is highly unlikely to be fulfilled by
the private
economy alone. That means we will need a publicly funded
employment pro-
gram that centrally includes direct job creation as well as

relevant training.
(Currie, 2012, p. 47)
While the role of the federal government in economic reform
may be controversial, eco-
nomic reforms are likely central to reducing crime and thus
reducing America’s correc-
tional system, which is currently the largest in the world. While
Currie may focus on eco-
nomic factors, a sustained reduction in the size of the
correctional system in America will
likely require embracing a series of social-structural reforms
suggested in this chapter.
A major theme of this book is that crime is complex and deeply
rooted in larger social
issues. Centuries of gathering evidence about crime and
constructing theories about its
origins suggest that there is no single approach to the crime
problem. Rather, the com-
plexities of crime dynamics mandate an equally complex
response involving a host of pre-
vention and evidence-driven strategies. In addition, any
criminal justice system reform is
inherently linked with larger issues of ideology; the future of
American criminal justice
must critically reflect on the “tough on crime” ideology that has
profoundly shaped our
criminal justice system since its inception.
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 327 7/5/13 4:23 PM
Section 10.4 Paradigm Shift: From Retributivism to Restorative
Justice CHAPTER 10

10.4 Paradigm Shift: From Retributivism to Restorative Justice
Society’s reaction to crime tends to be characterized by one of
two approaches: retri-bution (or punishment) or rehabilitation.
There is a third model: restorative justice. According to
restorative justice, crime harms not only the victim but the
larger com-
munity and the offender as well. As a result, all three groups of
stakeholders should come
together and actively participate in the resolution to the crime.
This inclusive method
stands in contrast to the traditional American approach to
criminal justice that includes
the offender with the victim virtually removed from the process
and replaced by the state.
Restorative justice attempts to repair the damage to the victim
and the community, while
also reintegrating the offender.
There is no single definition of restorative justice, and some
researchers argue that the
approach can include any future-looking activities. For
example, giving offenders the
opportunity to make amends and demonstrate their value and
potential while making
positive contributions to the community (Maruna & LeBel,
2003). Restorative activities
hold offenders accountable for their crimes while allowing them
to make restitution by
helping others. Being provided with the opportunity to help and
engage in altruistic activ-
ities (Toch, 2000) can enable the offender to reintegrate back
into society. The restitution
can transform how offenders relate to others.

Many programs allow inmates to engage in activities that
provide them with the
opportunity to provide restitution through their efforts. At
Angola Penitentiary,
men restore bicycles and build toys for underprivileged
children. In Wisconsin,
maximum-security inmates also build birdhouses for
conservatory groups and rock-
ing horses for Head Start programs. In Maine, juveniles
convicted of serious
offenses can participate in the Blanket Program where they
learn to crochet blan-
kets and hats. The blankets are donated to day-care centers,
homeless shelters, and
retirement homes.
When offenders make amends
to those they harmed in society,
it is a way for them to potentially
earn back the trust of the com-
munity. However, this requires
forgiveness on the part of soci-
ety. Society must demonstrate
mercy—not necessarily forgive-
ness of the offenders’ actions—
once the offenders have made
reparations for the harms they
perpetrated. Long-time human
rights activist and the first Black
South African Archbishop of
Cape Town, South Africa Arch-
bishop Desmond Tutu said,
“Forgiveness is not for sissies.”
It is not easy to forgive those
who have done us harm. Like the anger and desire for revenge
that often accompany

Tim Hacker/Associated Press
Repairing children’s bicycles is an example of an activity
inmates
may take part in as part of a restorative program.
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 328 7/5/13 4:23 PM
Section 10.4 Paradigm Shift: From Retributivism to Restorative
Justice CHAPTER 10
A central concept to restorative justice is its forward-looking
nature. Rather than sim-
ply blaming people for their past acts, they are able to learn
how to redeem themselves.
Learning and taking responsibility for their actions promotes
active responsibility. While
passive responsibility leaves people liable for what they have
done in the past, active
responsibility holds people accountable for putting things right
in the future (Braithwaite,
2005). The improvement or transformation within the offender
that can follow may aid
in the desistance from crime, or end of criminal behavior.
Through participation, offend-
ers hopefully recognize their responsibility for their actions
while at the same time they
engage in a self-healing process. Restoration comes from this
acknowledgement and truth
telling. The cycle of harm—punishment as retaliation, and
inescapable stigmatization
and suffering—is interrupted when all parties seek to transform
bad into good. Within

a restorative justice framework, offenders acknowledge that
they have responsibilities to
society, and through their work they attempt to break from their
past and transform them-
selves. Thus, restorative justice has the potential to reshape the
ideology of the American
criminal justice system with potentially positive impacts on
individuals and communities.
retribution, restorative justice, too, has an emotional
component. With restorative justice,
however, there is the opportunity to build a bridge of goodwill
based on trust and a need
to heal. A community’s response to crime impacts how
offenders see themselves, so a
restorative response creates the chance to show offenders
respect for their courage to con-
front what they have done, acknowledge the harm they have
committed, and work to
make reparations. When the community demonstrates
compassion and trust, offenders
can learn that many are not hopelessly evil or bad.
Web Field Trip: A Different Kind of Punishment
While prison systems in the United States tend to focus on
punishment and deprivation, some Nor-
way prisons take a different approach. Indeed, parts of the
Norwegian correctional philosophy focus
on preparing prisoners for reintegration by cultivating skills
needed once released. This system has
seen some good results, with just 20% of Norwegian prisoners
who go through the system reoffend-
ing within 2 years. Although Norway does have many high
security prisons for offenders deemed
unfit for rehabilitation, there are several facilities where
prisoners are free to roam the grounds and

have a great deal of choice in how their days are structured.
The Bastoy prison, for example, does not have armed guards,
and prisoners carry their own keys
to their rooms. Prisoners get a stipend to buy groceries, and
they work from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
on weekdays. Available jobs include farming and cutting
firewood, which requires that convicts are
trusted to use axes. Bastoy cultivates a community vibe instead
of a locked prison facility, and its
model is designed to rehabilitate criminals and transform them
into productive members of society.
Learn more about Bastoy Island and the prison system of
Norway here: http://www.cnn.com/2012/
05/24/world/europe/norway-prison-bastoy-
nicest/index.html?hpt=hp_c1.
1. Do you think it is rewarding to criminals to serve sentences
at Bastoy, or that time served there
still functions as punishment for committing crimes?
2. Why is Bastoy’s method successful in your opinion?
3. Do you think this type of system could work in the United
States?
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 329 7/5/13 4:23 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/24/world/europe/norway-prison-
bastoy-nicest/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/24/world/europe/norway-prison-
bastoy-nicest/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
Section 10.5 Capstone Reflections: Science and the Future of

Criminology CHAPTER 10
10.5 Capstone Reflections: Science and the Future of
Criminology
It is important that these suggestions for how society can
respond to crime are not viewed as individual strategies. A
broad national plan that incorporates all of these fac-tors has
the greatest likelihood of being effective. Crime is not a simple
social problem,
as each of the chapters in this textbook has demonstrated. Only
by including individuals,
families, schools, employment, and communities will society
have a chance at changing
the current trajectory of this country: billions spent on prisons
and criminal justice policy
that are not only ineffective but often create further harm to
society.
Reforming the criminal justice system will require an
interdisciplinary approach and
cooperation between policy makers, scholars, and citizens;
however, science will be cen-
tral. Understanding criminal justice policy issues and
communicating them clearly and
succinctly to policy makers and the American public will
require the next generation of
diligent and skilled social scientists. Thus, criminologists and
sociologists have a very
important role to play in the future of American criminal
justice. Science may be just the
key to creating a more equitable society, to reducing crime, to
reducing crime victimiza-
tion, and to keeping communities safe.
Using the Sociological Lens: The Prison Business

Is privatizing prisons an ethical solution to managing
overcrowding and the high costs of operations?
As states buckle under budget cuts and prisons swell above
capacity, lawmakers have increasingly turned to private, for-
profit prisons to house thousands of inmates. Private prisons
operate like most private companies—they have shareholders,
must generate revenue, and are expected to profit from their
contracts, which in this case involve the custody of people.
The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit prison reform organiza-
tion, reports that private prisons came about during the 1970s
and 1980s as a result of several significant trends in criminal
justice. One was the advent of the War on Drugs, which dra-
matically increased the nation’s prison population. Another
was the introduction of harsher sentencing policies, including
the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences for certain
crimes, which sent even more people to prison.
Unable to handle the influx of charges, some states turned to the
newly formed Corrections Corpora-
tion of America (CCA), which promised to build, operate, and
manage high-quality penitentiaries at
a fraction of the cost.
Forty years later, CCA is charged with the care of 75,000
prisoners in 66 facilities. It is one of two main
private prison companies that together operate nearly half of the
private prisons that operate in 30
of the United States. Together with the GEO Group, these
companies have a combined revenue of
more than $2.9 billion. States have turned to CCA and the GEO
group in an effort to cut costs, create
jobs, and benefit from other advantages sometimes afforded by
privatization. Yet it remains unclear

whether private prisons save or cost money, and whether
facilities that profit from criminality are
inherently inconsistent with the goals of the criminal justice
system.
Bloomberg/Getty Images
The Corrections Corporation of
America (CCA) is one corporation
states use to privatize prison
operations as they face
overcrowding and budget cuts.
(continued)
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 330 7/5/13 4:23 PM
Section 10.5 Capstone Reflections: Science and the Future of
Criminology CHAPTER 10
Using the Sociological Lens: The Prison Business (continued)
Private Prisons Save Money and Create Jobs
In the following perspective, Jon Coupal, president of the
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, and
Leonard Gilroy, Reason Foundation’s director of Government
Reform, argue that private prisons can
solve state budget problems while at the same time creating
jobs. They urge more states to enlist
private prisons to save taxpayers’ money, stimulate local
economies, and more efficiently manage
the incarceration process.

That private prisons can save money and uplift local economies
is the promise of the GEO Group,
the second largest private prison corporation in the United
States. In 2010 GEO provided for 81,000
prisoners and reported $1.2 billion in revenues (National Public
Radio, 2011). One of the many pris-
ons owned by GEO is located in Karnes County, Texas, which
will employ 140 people and generate
$150,000 in tax revenue once it is fully up and running
(National Public Radio, 2011).
In addition to erecting this facility, the company makes other
important contributions to the commu-
nity. For example, the GEO group provides $4,000 each year in
scholarships for county students, and
$6,000 to maintain the city courthouse. It also makes donations
to other local organizations, includ-
ing the Rotary Club, Toys for Tots, Little League, and other
local groups and events. “They have been
tremendous corporate partners with the county and the people
here in Karnes County,” said Alger
Kendall, a former judge in Karnes County, who says the
company’s civic service combined with jobs
it creates will breathe life into the area’s economy. “That
employment translates into other money
being spent in the county,” says Kendall (National Public
Radio, 2011, pp. 9, 12).
Gilroy and Coupal argue that private prisons like the one in
Karnes County should be a model for
California and other struggling states. They present data that
show that Texas’s use of private prisons
has saved the state about 15% on its prison costs since 1989.
They think expanding the use of private
prisons in California could save taxpayers around $2 billion
over a 5-year period, all the while creating

badly needed jobs.
Leonard Gilroy and Jon Coupal, “The Case for Privatizing
California’s Prisons,” Reason, April 14,
2010. http://reason.com/archives/2010/04/14/the-case-for-
privatizing-calif
Private Prisons Waste Money and Are Unethical
In the following perspective, Sasha Abramsky argues that in
addition to not saving states money, pri-
vate prisons are an unethical way to approach incarceration.
Private prisons essentially commodify
inmates, says Abramsky, because facilities are paid by the state
per inmate they house. He argues
there is a grave conflict of interest in tying financial rewards to
the size of the prison population when
the system’s goal should be to reduce crime and incarcerate
fewer people.
In addition to being unethical, Abramsky contends such prisons
may not even be as cost saving as
they claim. The New York Times reported, for example, that
private prisons in Arizona actually cost
about $1,600 more per inmate to operate (Oppel Jr., 2011). This
is a lot, especially considering that
such facilities also handpicked their inmates, saving for
themselves the healthiest, least expensive
prisoners and leaving the sickest, most costly ones for the
state’s care.
That private prisons do not save states money was also the
conclusion of a 2007 study conducted by
the University of Utah, which compared the costs of private
prisons with public ones. “Results sug-
gest privately managed prisons provide no clear benefit,”

concluded the study authors. “Cost savings
from privatizing prisons are not guaranteed and appear
minimal” (Lundahl et al., 2007, p. 2). The
study also reported that publicly housed inmates actually fared
better in some (continued)
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 331 7/5/13 4:23 PM
http://reason.com/archives/2010/04/14/the-case-for-privatizing-
calif
Chapter Summary CHAPTER 10
Chapter Summary
This chapter explored possible strategies to reduce crime and
reform the criminal justice system in America. Evidence was
presented about the financial obstacles to possible reforms
including the crime control industrial complex and large
criminal
organizations that currently profit from crime. Similarly,
cornerstone pieces of research
in modern criminology were presented that focused on the
ideology of criminal justice
policy and how those ideologies may translate into barriers to
potential reforms.
The bulk of this chapter explored evidence-based strategies to
reduce crime. The vast
majority of these strategies involve addressing what many
consider the root causes of
many types of crime: poverty, unemployment,
underemployment, a lack of universal
health care, and a lack of universal access to high-quality
education.

Similarly, possible criminal justice system reforms were
explored. Potentially, the artery of
criminal justice policy most ripe for reform is the War on
Drugs. Drug offenders contrib-
ute significantly to our correctional population, are often low-
level and nonviolent offend-
ers, and have relatively high recidivism rates. Diversion
programs and public health
approaches might be practical alternatives to the current
punitive prohibition approach.
Many experts contend that reducing the overall size of the
American correctional system
would have a series of social and criminal justice benefits.
Using the Sociological Lens: The Prison Business (continued)
areas that could significantly impact recidivism rates, saying
that “publicly managed prisons deliver-
ing slightly better skills training and having slightly fewer
inmate grievances” (Lundahl et al., 2007, p.
2). For these and other reasons, Abramsky argues prisons should
not be privatized.
Sasha Abramsky, “Arizona’s Private Prisons: A Bad Bargain,”
Nation, April 23, 2012. http://www
.thenation.com/article/167216/arizonas-private-prisons-bad-
bargain
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions
1. In your opinion, what groups of people benefit most when the
prison system is capitalized?
What groups of people benefit least?
2. Do you think private prisons help overcome financial
obstacles in the criminal justice system?

Why or why not?
3. What problems come with privatizing traditionally
government services like incarceration, mili-
tary work, or policing? What benefits?
4. Do you think it is possible for a for-profit prison system to
meet the goals of the criminal justice
system, which are generally to reduce crime, rehabilitate
inmates, and experience the lowest
possible levels of recidivism?
5. What do for-profit prisons say about society’s expectations of
incarceration and criminal activ-
ity? What do they say about society’s opinion of inmates?
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 332 7/5/13 4:23 PM
http://www.thenation.com/article/167216/arizonas-private-
prisons-bad-bargain
http://www.thenation.com/article/167216/arizonas-private-
prisons-bad-bargain
It seems that systemic criminal justice system reform will
depend on two things: an
ideological shift in American society and science. Arguably, the
punishment-based man-
tras of retributivism have shaped the crime-control policy in the
United States. Many
experts argue that in the new millennium, policy makers should
consider implement-
ing notions of restorative justice in conjunction with larger
structural changes toward

equality and social justice. Sociologists, criminologists, and
other social scientists have a
critical role of play in these criminal justice system reforms.
Armed with sound research
methodologies and critical thinking skills, interdisciplinary
science is critical to study
these issues and communicate the empirical reality of criminal
justice to policy makers
and the American public.
Key Terms
dark figures of crime The difference
between the prevalence of crime in society
and the rates of crime measured by law
enforcement.
desistance from crime End of criminal
behavior.
prison industrial complex “A set of
bureaucratic, political, and economic inter-
ests that encourage increased spending
on imprisonment, regardless of the actual
need” (Schlosser, 1998).
proactive policing Law enforcement tak-
ing the initiative to address public order
offenses such as clearing streets of people
who are loitering and may be homeless,
rather than responding to calls from the
public in response to crimes after they
have been committed.
Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions

1. In what way can the fear of crime be more significant than
crime itself?
2. What is meant by the terms “crime control industrial
complex” and “prison
industrial complex”? Who benefits from them? Who suffers as a
result?
3. How do modern international crime organizations differ from
those of the past?
4. How do you think society might most effectively reduce
crime’s profitability?
5. What is your opinion of the broken windows theory of crime
prevention?
6. What myths, according to the author, are used to justify “the
penal state”? What
impact does this have on the day-to-day lives of noncriminal
citizens?
7. How do white-collar crimes and “crimes by any other name”
impact average
citizens?
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 333 7/5/13 4:23 PM
In the Field: Experts Weigh in on Social Justice Reform and
Available Crime Response Services
The definition of crime changes as society changes its norms
and values. Such changes also impact
social responses to crimes. Experts comment on the study of
crime, how crime impacts groups they
work with, and different crime response and intervention

methods.
Noah Fritz
Some crimes will cluster and fluctuate but are there patterns
that are consis-
tent over time?
The hotspots. These generally stay hot. Some of this might have
to do with
social disorganization theory. But these areas are consistent
over time. There
are also, for example, types of crimes that might occur around
certain holi-
days. Around Christmas we see an increase in theft from motor
vehicles in
or around shopping areas. There is an increase of this type of
crime because
people are out shopping and may leave purchases and packages
in their cars.
We’re taking information from thousands of crime reports and
analyzing them to come up with
things such as geographic hotspots. But then we can study the
crimes happening in these locations
and determine things such as natures of crime or peak crime
days or times. Now we can develop
specific strategies.
There are two approaches of response. One has to do more with
law enforcement allocation. But
I’m in charge of the crime prevention unit, which deals more
with the long-term solutions. We can
increase the risk of getting caught by installing things such as
cameras or lights. We can increase the
risk of being identified by letting potential victims be aware of
what’s going on so they can be extra

eyes and help each other out. We can also increase the effort
that it takes to commit the crime. We
all have an obligation to police the safety of our communities.
We all have a role in policing. We just
hire certain people to do it full time.
What might be some examples of response efforts when you
notice such patterns?
Nearby in Chula Vista, California, there is some good research
about parking structures—comparing
areas that have a high number of thefts from or thefts of
vehicles to parking structures that don’t.
Something as simple as a gate that comes down, even if there is
no parking fee or is not attended,
is enough of a deterrence to reduce motor vehicle theft or theft
from a motor vehicle in a shopping
area by 10 or 20%.
Strategic crime analysis deals more with developing strategies.
Generally, this is about developing
law enforcement or crime prevention strategies to address
crime. There is something known as
crime-oriented policing, which uses the SARA model: scan,
analyze, respond, and assess. We can
do this with any kind of crime we have—we recognize there is a
problem, analyze it in more detail
to determine how best to change it, implement a method of
change, and then analyze the problem
again to determine if the method is in fact producing positive
results. So we develop a strategy and
then test before and after implementation of the strategy.
There is a whole body of literature around situational crime
prevention and problem-orientated
policing that goes through these four steps to study crime,
develop a police response or a commu-

nity response, and then assess whether or not crime or fear of
crime went down. And, ultimately, we
aim to determine if we can develop better crime prevention and
law enforcement strategies to help
reduce crime, reduce the number of victims, or improve the
quality of life for citizens.
Courtesy of Noah Fritz
(continued)
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 334 7/5/13 4:24 PM
Available Crime Response Services (continued)
Amy Gonyeau
Is community involvement an important part of creating
solutions for neigh-
borhoods dealing with such issues as crime or homelessness?
Community involvement is the most crucial piece of creating
solutions for
neighborhoods. I’ve been involved with so many community
projects with
such political motivation behind them over the years of being in
this field.
The bottom line is education is the key to everything. Even if
you have no
empathy for the homeless or those with checkered pasts, the
facts are the
facts. The streets are better off if we have the options of

housing people. The
visual of homelessness would be eliminated if we could get
people off the streets and offer them the
services they need to become independent. This seems simple:
creating housing, placing people in
it, and assisting them with support. This is called the “housing
first method,” and it’s a best practice
all over the country.
The challenge is getting people to understand the solutions
instead of being concerned with not
wanting homeless services and housing in their communities.
We call this NIMBY (not in my back
yard). It’s amazing to see people advocate creation of more
resources for the homeless population,
but they change their minds when it comes to placing these
systems in their neighborhoods. Notori-
ous NIMBY’s are in the downtown area, which is where the
majority of homelessness is located in
San Diego. Every day there are more than 1,500 unsheltered
homeless individuals on the streets. The
majority of the services are located downtown, and yet the
residents that live there are unwilling and
unsupportive of creating housing as a solution. With the lack of
transportation services, the fact that
the services are located primarily downtown, logically, the
resources must be located in that area.
Education is the key.
For you, is there a memorable person who Alpha Project
helped? What makes this particular example
memorable or significant?
We have a gentleman our outreach team met about 5 years ago.
He had been homeless for 15 years
and lived within the Port of San Diego near the cruise ship

terminals. He was a severe alcoholic,
severely disabled, had diabetes, and needed to have his leg
amputated. When the outreach team
met him, they did what we train them to do, which is build a
relationship slowly with the individual
by offering simple things such as water, blankets, socks, snacks,
etc.—just simple conversation to
build trust. After several months, he finally wanted to take our
help and get clean and sober. He went
through our program two times and finally graduated our 9- to
12-month treatment program.
This program is extremely intense. Oftentimes clients relapse
their first time there, especially when
they’ve been an alcoholic and homeless for 15 years. After
graduating the program, he entered our
winter shelter program where he stayed for the 120-day length
of time and remained clean and
sober with our support. When the shelter ended, we transitioned
him into our permanent support-
ive housing program where he became stable. He volunteered
every day at our programs and even-
tually we hired him on as an employee. His story is very rare,
and we are extremely excited and proud
to have helped him. Now he has permanent housing, a support
system, is getting medical care, ben-
efits, and leads a “normal” life while staying clean and sober.
An amazing success story!
Courtesy of Amy Gonyeau
(continued)
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 335 7/5/13 4:24 PM

Joshua Gryniewicz
How does CeaseFire’s form of intervention differ from other
forms of crime
intervention?
It is important to note that CeaseFire focuses specifically on
violence preven-
tion. CeaseFire is not a catch-all model. It has a very focused,
very strategic
point of intervention. The model has been demonstrated
effective at reduc-
ing shootings and killings. In part, these results and the
workers’ reputations
as credible messengers rely on a harm reduction mentality of
meeting the
client where they are. In other words, our workers are
nonjudgmental. They
do not address crime as a whole, but intervene to reduce
shootings and kill-
ings. Again, we also are interested specifically in those who are
at the highest risk for shooting and
killing. A youth can be high-risk, involved in a certain lifestyle,
but not necessarily at risk for shooting
or killing; and those individuals are more likely to be referred
to another type of program.
Frontline recently aired The Interrupters, a documentary
directed and produced by Steve James. This
documentary presents 1 year in the lives of three violence
interrupters who work for CeaseFire. How

does the release of this documentary impact CeaseFire and the
communities being helped?
There is this amazing story that appeared in the Chicago
Defender (December, 2012) where a young
man, Jason Harrison, was “close to giving someone the
business.” He had no real relationship with
CeaseFire; there were no personal connections to any of our
workers, but he had seen the documen-
tary and it had a profound impact on him. Harrison explained to
the Chicago Defender, moments
before he carried out a plan that could have taken a life and cost
his freedom: “Something just clicked
in my head. I thought about the movie about CeaseFire. I just
couldn’t do it.” It sounds like one of
those too-good-to-be-true stories, but this is exactly what our
public education component—com-
munication with a behavior change bent—is aimed at achieving.
That is what happens when com-
munity norms begin to shift.
In addition to the statistically significant decline in either
homicides or nonfatal shootings or both in
each of the communities, researchers discovered the positive
effects (less shootings and/or killings
or both) diffused into the neighboring communities as well as
people not even involved in the pro-
gram directly! In other words, high-risk people in the
neighborhoods where the CeaseFire model is
being implemented were changing their thinking and attitudes
toward violence even if we weren’t
directly working with them. I think these benefits, the effect of
the film on individuals like Jason Har-
rison, were worth more than any award the film won.
Georgia Lerner

What role do organizations such as WPA have in criminal
justice reforms or
policy reforms?
WPA and comparable organizations can educate and provide
feedback to gov-
ernment and policy makers about the conditions of the facilities
they operate
and impact of their decisions on women and on people who are
indirectly
affected. For example, prisons and jails are not mandated to pay
attention
to child welfare issues, but educating child welfare and
corrections officialsCourtesy of Georgia
Lerner
Courtesy of Joshua
Gryniewicz
(continued)
coL82305_10_c10_307-338.indd 336 7/5/13 4:24 PM
about the shared populations they serve and affect can foster
productive discussion and thinking
about how they can reduce the harms caused by their systems.
WPA receives a wealth of information and perspective from
clients and from staff and colleagues, and
we seek to improve conditions, either through our own efforts

or by working with colleagues. WPA
operates a program for women with criminal justice histories
who want to become advocates; they
select issues and develop and present recommendations for
reform to the policy makers who have
the power to make change. For example, our recommendations
caused the local jail to create a new
law library in the women’s jail and to include materials related
to the child care and custody issues.
Our recommendations often focus on local practices that create
obstacles to women’s success in the
community. For example, when jails release women on
weekends or late at night, it is impossible to
take them directly to drug treatment programs for intake (as
intakes are generally conducted during
typical business hours). WPA met with jail officials who had
expressed a commitment to doing what
they could to reduce readmissions to the jail, and, as a result,
the time and days of discharges was
changed. Now, women are more successful at engaging with the
services they need.
On a broader scale, WPA promotes the use of evidence-based
tools and practices to inform responses
to crime that do not include incarceration. For many years,
WPA operated a residential alternative to
incarceration, and we always try to advocate for our clients to
receive sentences that can address the
underlying issues (usually substance abuse, parental stress,
mental illness, unsafe housing, or pov-
erty) that contributed to their criminal involvement. We
participate in national conferences, are part
of the team that implemented and guides the National Resource
Center for Justice Involved Women,
respond to inquiries from all over the world, and use every

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