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When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment

4.8 out of 5 stars 17 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0691142081
ISBN-10: 0691142084
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Princeton University Press (September 6, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0691142084
  • ISBN-13: 978-0691142081
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #313,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

By Matthew R. Sleeter on September 30, 2009
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Professor Kleiman employs psychology, economics, game theory, and real-world examples to explain why harsher punishments are often less effective at controlling the behavior of criminals than targeted, swift and certain punishments. He persuasively argues that we can significantly reduce crime and punishment (particularly punishment of the prison incarceration variety) by focusing enforcement resources to make the threat of getting caught and going to jail a real threat thereby reducing the costs on society of crime, punishment, and the steps taken by law-abiding citizens to protect themselves from crime. A thoroughly enlightening read, When Brute Force Fails forced me to think about the costs to society crime causes in a way I had never considered before (the price you pay for gas at the pump would likely be less if you didn't have to drive to your job from your home in the suburbs every day. A home you likely own because it is too dangerous to live in the city and the crumbling infrastructure is no place you want to raise your children.) A must read for policy makers and concerned citizens alike.
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Format: Hardcover
Kleiman is a brilliant analyst, with seemingly no pre-conceived notions. Both liberals and conservatives will find lots to agree with and lots to challenge their current thinking. Much of the book is very interesting, but the one problem is that many of the policy discussions are just too detailed for the general reader.

More incarceration has helped bring the crime rate down, but at a great cost to society as well as the prisoners and their families. Sentencing must attempt to identify those offenders with the most potential for future crime, and give them longer sentences. To this end, even juvenile criminal history should be considered in sentencing, whereas currently it is not. If parole were more effective, more prisoners could be released without driving up the crime rate too much (or maybe not at all). While simply increasing parole supervision has had poor results, the H.O.P.E. pilot implementation in Hawaii shows smarter parole management can work: consequences for parole violations need not necessarily be severe, and should not be severe for minor violations, but they must be certain, and immediate; e.g. Honolulu tested for drug violations on the spot (rather than sending out the sample). Ankle bracelets providing location, and restrictions on movement, could be applied when there is some parole violation. Drug programs tend not to be cost effective, and should therefore be voluntary, which would increase the benefits per dollar spent. Many addicts cure themselves of clinical dependency (does this include participation in free programs like N.A. and A.A., Kleiman does not make this clear).

The effectiveness of incarceration as a deterrent depends less on the severity than it does on the certainty, and immediacy.
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Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Mark discusses how to improve our crime control policies by shifting from raw punishment to more intelligent methods and the obstacles that make it difficult. The basic idea is to concentrate efforts on high risk individuals. The most original ones are investing in parenting education and making post-release well being of prisoners a performance criteria of prison wardens.
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Format: Hardcover
"When Brute Force Fails" is interesting, relevant, and informative on many levels. Mark Kleiman has a unique gift to explain the complex historical, economic and sociological aspects of crime research in a straightforward and concise manner. He first makes a strong case that crime is an extremely important and costly problem in America today. Drawing on decades of academic and policy experience he then manages to summarize the history and current state of the field in a fluent and succinct style. He concludes by constructing a convincing argument for his idea of concentrating law enforcement mechanisms in high crime areas as the most efficient means for decreasing the huge burden of crime on American society. This argument is intertwined throughout with relevant data, case studies, and an eye to the practical aspects of crime control that are of interest to the academic, policy analyst, and lay person alike.
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Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
This book provides a rare service to anyone interested in our country developing effective and fair criminal justice and drug policies. Mark Kleiman brings together not only his own lifetime's work in research in a highly accessible fashion, but also pulls together the best ideas from other leading thinkers. At all times this book points towards what can and must be done. He gently pushes aside ideological arguments and lays out a realistic path to reducing crime, drug use, and costly incarceration at the same time. His comments on how to better manage the 5 million Americans in probation or parole to help them reduce their drug use and their criminal activity is along worth getting the book. The information on what Hawaii has done through the HOPE probation program, by instituting certain but brief punishments (say a weekend in jail for one dirty drug test) is truly amazing, since many of these offenders were former heavy methamphetamine users. But in Hawaii the right mix of smart policies, properly administered, quickly transformed the behavior of most of the probationers. "When Brute Force Fails" is an instant classic and a must read.
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