More homicides and more incarcerations

America leads the western world in the number of homicides

and the number of people incarcerated. This article is not

only a review of a new book that investigates why American

has such a high rate of homicide but looks back at our history.

Included is the statement by Beccaria that laws should be

agreements between members of a society but usually

arise from public anger over a specific event.

"Long ago, Beccaria pointed out the meaningfulness of the

correspondence, over time, between crime and punishment,

between one kind of violence and another. If the history of

murder contains a lesson, Beccaria believed, it was this: 'The

countries and times most notorious for severity of

punishment have always been those in which the

bloodiest and most inhumane of deeds were committed.'”

While it is possible to speculate on what aspects of American

society cause or appear to cause us to be a more violent

society than Western European nations, a definitive answer

does not appear likely.

The message that resonates involves the question of whether

incarceration for long periods of time accomplishes more

than getting a specific individual removed from society.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2009/11/09/091109crat_atlarge_lepore#ixzz0WfmKQSTI