Unusually Cruel

Prisons, Punishment, and the Real American Exceptionalism

Marc Morjé Howard

Conducts a comparative study of major Western prison systems to highlight distinctions between the US and other advanced, industrial democracies
Engaging and dynamic assessment of American incarceration that not only critiques the current structure but also provides possible solutions
Uses a new methodology to assess the overall efficacy of carceral punishment
Employs both qualitative and quantitative data in order to provide a comprehensive analysis

Unusually Cruel

Prisons, Punishment, and the Real American Exceptionalism

Marc Morjé Howard

Description

The United States arrests, punishes, and locks up far more people-both juveniles and adults-than any other democratic country in the world. Indeed, despite the fact that the U.S holds 5 percent of the world's population, it contains 25 percent of its prisoners. These individuals not only constitute a disproportionately large group, but also suffer decreased employment opportunities and housing discrimination after their release, making a return to prison all the more likely. Headlines of articles in US media allude to "Prison Without Punishment" in Germany and "Radical Humaneness" in Norway, but why are prison conditions in those countries so notably less bleak than those here? And when recidivism rates are lower in countries with these kinder, gentler prisons than in America, why do prisons here remain so harsh?

In Unusually Cruel, Mark Morjé Howard argues that the United States' prison system is exceptional—in a truly shameful way. Due to its exceptional nature, most scholars have focused on the internal dynamics that have produced the US' unusually large and severe prison system. Howard conducts a comparative analysis as a corrective to this myopia, demonstrating just how far the US lies outside of the norm of established democracies in this regard. He uses a new methodology in order to put American incarceration rates in perspective. The book compares data from 21 countries-all advanced industrialized societies, liberal democracies, and OECD members-ultimately showing that the US holds more than three times the number of incarcerated people of its closest competitor, New Zealand. This method reveals interesting findings, including that, although the female incarceration rate is only a fraction of the male incarceration in America, the US imprisons more than five times as many women as any other comparable country. And strikingly, while crime rates are roughly equal among countries in the western world, the US incarceration rate is seven times the average rate of European countries.

Howard shows that in every measure of punitiveness-including policing, sentencing, prison conditions, and rehabilitation-US policies are harsher, producing worse individual outcomes and lower public safety, than those of any comparable country. The book does not merely paint a grim picture, however. Unusually Cruel also identifies solutions that are less punishing and more productive, arguing that, by learning from models that have worked elsewhere, the US can get out of its criminal justice quagmire.

Unusually Cruel

Prisons, Punishment, and the Real American Exceptionalism

Marc Morjé Howard

Unusually Cruel

Prisons, Punishment, and the Real American Exceptionalism

Marc Morjé Howard

Author Information

Marc Morjé Howard, Professor of Government and Law, Georgetown University

Marc Morjé Howard is Professor of Government and Law and Director of the Prison Reform Initiative at Georgetown University. He is also the author of The Politics of Citizenship in Europe.

Unusually Cruel

Prisons, Punishment, and the Real American Exceptionalism

Marc Morjé Howard

Reviews and Awards

"an ambitious and important study that provides detailed comparative evidence of the extent and characteristics of that 'American exceptionalism.' ... Unusually Cruel meticulously brings together existing research to document comprehensively precisely how the US diverges from these ostensibly comparable countries." - Robert Heynen, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books

"Outstanding and timely. Howard presents a breathtaking account of American 'exceptionalism' in the most revealing and negative connotation of that term." - Mary Fainsod Katzenstein, Stephen and Evalyn Professor of American Studies, Emerita, Cornell University

"In the recent flurry of writing about the United States' extraordinary level of incarceration, this book stands out: it brings together the expertise of a lawyer, the analytic skills of a political scientist, and the passion of a person with a new calling and vocation' all combined in one author. The result is simultaneously salutary, depressing, and encouraging." - Jennifer Hochschild, Henry LaBarre Jayne Professor of Government, Harvard University

"Howard makes a convincing case that we have much to learn from other nations about our criminal justice system, and he provides a practical approach for recalibrating it to one that is both effective and fair." - Marc Mauer, Executive Director of The Sentencing Project