The Punishment Response

Punishment occupies a central place in our lives and attitudes. We suffer a profound ambivalence about its moral consequences. Persons who have been punished or are liable to be punished have long objected to the legitimacy of punishment. We are all objects of punishment, yet we are also its users. Our ambivalence is so profound that not only do we punish others, but we punish ourselves as well. We view those who submit too willingly to punishment as "obedient" verging on the groveling coward, and we view those who resist punishment as "disobedient" rebels. In The Punishment Response Graeme Newman describes the uses of punishment and how these uses change over time.

Graeme Newman is Distinguished Teaching Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the State University of New York-Albany