Death Work

A very frank insiders look at the use of the death penalty in modern America. Johnson has done a great deal of reasearch on the process and use of the death penalty, including the witnessing of an electrocution. Exploring both the emotional and empirical controversy surrounding the use of the death penalty, he promotes the idea that death row and the death penalty process are tools leading to the dehumanization of the criminal - a dehumanization which has no place in the United States justice system. His masterful argument against the death penalty is developed on both moral and effectiveness grounds. This book should be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate courses in criminology, sociology, law and American politics.