Punishment, Policing, and Mass Incarceration — Quiz

1.

According to Durkheim, what is the principal audience for punishment?

2.

What does Foucault identify as the key structural feature distinguishing disciplinary power from sovereign power?

3.

Which of the following best describes the relationship between the US incarceration boom and crime rates, according to the NAS consensus study?

4.

What was the approximate Black-white disparity in state prison incarceration rates in 2019, according to Sentencing Project data?

5.

What does Skolnick's concept of the police officer's 'working personality' emphasize?

6.

What was the central finding of Fagan and Davies (2000) regarding New York City stop-and-frisk practices?

7.

According to Nagin's (2013) review of deterrence research, which factor has the stronger deterrent effect on crime?

8.

What does the comparative incarceration data show about the relationship between crime rates and incarceration rates across advanced democracies?

9.

Explain what Garland means by the 'expressive register' of punishment and why it matters for understanding the US incarceration boom.

10.

What is the 'selection problem' in research on racial disparities in police use of force, and why does it matter for interpreting Fryer's (2019) findings?

11.

What does Clear's *Imprisoning Communities* argue about the relationship between concentrated incarceration and neighbourhood social structure?

12.

Drawing on at least three theoretical perspectives covered in this topic (Durkheim, Foucault, and at least one political-economic or structural account), analyse why the United States developed mass incarceration on a scale unmatched among advanced democracies. Your answer should address both the theoretical frameworks and the empirical evidence, and should consider what the comparative record reveals about the contingency of the American case.