The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class, and Criminal Justice (Allyn & Bacon Criminal Justice) [Paperback]

Jeffrey Reiman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1995 | ISBN-10: 0023992522 | ISBN-13: 978-0023992520 | Edition: 4th

This best-selling text examines the premise that the criminal justice system is biased against the poor from start to finish-from the definition of what constitutes a crime through the process of arrest, trial, and sentencing-and shows that the bias is conjoined with a general refusal to remedy the causes of crime-poverty, lack of education, and discrimination. One reviewer describes this text as "one of the most outstanding critiques of the criminal justice process...a book that needed to be written and needs to be publishing again and again...a text as relevant today as when first published in 1979." The author argues that actions of well-off people, such as refusal to make workplaces safe; refusal to curtail deadly pollution, promotion of unnecessary surgery, and prescriptions for unnecessary drugs, cause occupational and environmental hazards to innocent members of the public and produce just as much death, destruction, and financial loss as so-called crimes of the poor. However, these acts of the well-off are rarely treated as crimes, and when they are, they are never treated as severely as crimes of the poor.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

What if our criminal justice system is biased against the poor from start to finish - from the definition of what constitutes a crime through the process of arrest, trial, and sentencing?

In this best-selling text, the author argues that actions of well-off people, such as the refusal to make workplaces safe, refusal to curtail deadly pollution, promotion of unnecessary surgery, and prescriptions for unnecessary drugs, cause occupational and environmental hazards to innocent members of the public and produce as much death, destruction, and financial loss as so-called crimes of the poor. However, these crimes of the well-off are rarely treated as severely as those of the poor. Reiman documents the extent of anti-poor bias in arrest, conviction, and sentencing practices and shows that the bias is conjoined with a general refusal to remedy the causes of crime-poverty, lack of education, and discrimination. As a result, the criminal justice system fails to reduce crime. The author uses numerous studies and examples to illustrate his points, and difficult concepts are explained in a non-technical manner. The book provokes thought and discussion, even among people who disagree with its content.

One reviewer describes the text as “one of the most outstanding critiques of the criminal justice process…a book that needed to be written and needs to be published again and again… a text as relevant today as when first published in 1979.”

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon; 4th edition (January 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0023992522
• ISBN-13: 978-0023992520
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,945,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Complex than Poverty = Crime, December 19, 2002

By 

Jay Varner (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class, and Criminal Justice (6th Edition) (Paperback)

Professor Reiman's book goes beyond what is perceived as the usual worn out academic argument of blaming crime on poverty. The book is very clear that the problem of crime is much more complex than a simple correlation of "poverty causes crime." The main point of the book is that capitalism causes crime. Capitalism also causes poverty, but further, capitalism causes greed and power. Reiman makes an important move (though not the first one to do so) by looking into white-collar crime and how the rich are getting richer by breaking serious laws that have a huge impact on our economy and our society's general quality of life; while the poor are getting prison for committing crimes with far less macro ramifications for society. White-collar crime is linked to poverty only in the since that without poverty, white-collar crime would not be possible. This takes us back to the position that capitalism causes crime. However, Reiman is careful not to be a believer in utopian ideals. There is no suggestion in his book that crime would disappear if our society were to move toward, or become, a just society. The point is that crime would be less necessary if poverty and greed were not social norms.

Professor Reiman constructs a well researched argument to show why our prisons are overflowing with people who were under-represented (if at all) in court because their economic status caused them to have an incompetent or over-worked court appointed attorney; while people like Kenneth Lay are still free and endangering our society. This book is an important tool for understanding current social relations and what we have to do before we can be safe and free.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "But 6 rings and I rise, wipe the sleep out from my eyes", February 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class, and Criminal Justice (6th Edition) (Paperback)

This is a wake-up call. Jeffrey Reiman presents us an impeccably researched, very forceful argument against the criminal justice system as it is. He makes some claims that initially seem incredibly shocking and wild, but by the time you finish you'll at least understand if not fully agree.

Basically, Reiman lays out how the criminal justice system has, over time and unintentionally, become the center of a class struggle. He argues that those in power receive the benefits, and the poorest suffer for their gain. He focuses on the ignorance of the fact that the upper classes are causing the most harm much of the time, yet still receive much lighter sentences than the relatively minor crimes of the poor. He touches on the idiocy of the wildly unsuccessful War on Drugs; the need for effective gun control; and the solutions lying within the alleviation of the harsh realities of poor, inner-city life.

His politics are far left; in fact, a little left of far left. This book is not for the faint of heart (he proposes the legalization of heroin at one point) or Republicans (probably most Democrats will find themselves a bit uncomfortable, too.) It's a fascinating, tight argument though that will at the very least create realization of some strong feelings regarding the criminal justice process.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true look at the inside of Criminal Justice, December 5, 2000

By 

"mattydiah" (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class, and Criminal Justice (6th Edition) (Paperback)

I was assigned to read this book for a criminology class. This book presents and deals with some very pressing points and downfalls of our Criminal Justice system. It deals with the racial imbalance in arrest and conviction, and actually addresses white collar crime, something that is rarely ever discussed. Overall, I would reccommend this book to anyone involved in Sociology or Criminal Justice, or anyone who is just interested in finding out how our CJ system really works, beyond what most anyone is willing to admit.