Normalizing Extreme Imprisonment

Reviews / Votes

Normalizing Imprisonment is exceptionally thorough, based on extensive research. Vannier has set a new bar for how we trace the life of a penal policy, from the lobbying, to the legislation, the institutionalisation, sentencing, and onto the pains of imprisonment itself. The book also makes a methodological contribution to pains of imprisonment literature by showing the value of letters to reach corners of the carceral system that can otherwise be out of reach. While this is a neat volume, the book feels like a definitive account that will be indispensable to those wishing to make sense of this peculiar penal institution. * Marion Vannier, Theoretical Criminology * The work offers a pioneer and thorough appraisal of the history of "death by incarceration" -- to borrow the words of one of the author's convicted interlocutors. It also presents a robust analysis of how criminologists, campaigners, lawyers, and policymakers with different agendas and political leanings have contributed to its normalization. * Felipe Neis Araujo, Critical Criminology * a particularly important read for criminal justice reform advocates * Janani Umamaheswar, Criminology & Criminal Justice * it has a gravity that documentary sources and elite interviews alone could not * Christopher Seeds, Punishment & Society * "As scholars of life imprisonment ourselves, it is a great pleasure to commend Marion Vannier's book as a fine contribution to the burgeoning field of life imprisonment studies. It should be widely read, not only by students and specialists in the field, but also by anyone who cares about the type of ultimate penalties we impose on the most serious offenders. Significantly, this book should serve as a warning to death penalty abolitionists who can no longer ignore the ultimate implications of the most severe type of life imprisonment." * Dirk van Zyl Smit and Catherine Appleton, University of Nottingham, from the Foreword to Normalizing Extreme Imprisonment * Normalizing Extreme Imprisonment presents a penetrating analysis through clear language and should be read widely not only by researchers and policymakers, but also by the wider public who is interested in reflecting on how we deal with human life, crime, and punishment. * F. Neis Araujo, Critical Criminology *