“New Punitiveness”

Rehabilitation remained the dominant philosophy of punishment until the 1970s. Skyrocketing crime rates coupled with the belief that treatment did not work led policy makers to reject a rehabilitative approach to dealing with crime and instead to adopt a “get tough” perspective under the premise that increased penalties would lead to reductions in offending. Strict sanctions such as mandatory minimum sentences, three strikes laws, and truth-in-sentencing legislation became commonplace in criminal justice practice. In addition, the nature of confinement and community supervision evolved ...