The purpose of American Penology is to provide a storyof punishment?s past, present, and likely future. The storybegins in the 1600s, in the setting of colonial America, andends in the present. As the story evolves through varioushistorical and contemporary settings, America?s efforts tounderstand and control crime unfold. The context, ideas,practices, and consequences of various reforms in theways crime is punished are described and examined.Though the book?s broader scope and purpose can bedistinguished from prior efforts, it necessarily incorporatesmany contributions from this rich literature. Whilethis enlarged second edition incorporates select descriptionsand contingencies in relation to particular eras andpunishment ideas and practices, it does not limit itselfto individual "histories" of these eras. Instead, it useshistory to frame and help explain particular punishmentideas and practices in relation to the period and contextfrom which they evolved. The authors focus upon selecteddemographic, economic, political, religious, and intellectualcontingencies that are associated with historicaland contemporary eras to show how these contingenciesshaped America?s punishment ideals and practices.In offering a new understanding of received notionsof crime control in this edition, Blomberg and Luckennot only provide insights into the future of punishment,but also show how the larger culture of control extendsbeyond the field of criminology to have an impact ondeclining levels of democracy, freedom, and privacy.