Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2022 -

The US admits more than 10 million people into jails each year. In Indefinite, Walker (Univ. of Minnesota, Twin Cities) details what happens to inmates, predominantly men, once they enter American jails. He is particularly skilled at navigating the controversial space that exists within studies of jails and criminology. Eight chapters outline how inmates are objectified, regardless of whether they are newbies or repeat offenders. The first chapter ("Objectification") provides a foundation for readers to better understand how the carceral system in the US has yielded overcrowded and poorly funded jails that ultimately demonstrate the inequities of social class. Readers are able to see how Walker's data reinforces his claims as he explains how the courts and legal actors have added to this unfair treatment. Indefinite is a powerful study that should be read by anyone interested in criminology, US history, law, and sociology, particularly those seeking to learn more about the structure that results in the US's culture of punishment. There simply is not another book quite like this, making Walker's work groundbreaking.Summing Up: Essential. General readers through faculty; professionals.

Countless studies have documented how the deeply problematic distinction between the "deserving" and the "undeserving" poor undermines and distorts programs to relieve poverty and deprivation. This important book builds on and extends these findings by examining how welfare agencies are organized to identify and prevent fraudulent claims to social assistance. Ostensibly, it would seem essential to ascertain whether an individual requesting social assistance meets the criteria for receiving such services, an obviously rational requirement of achieving the goal of the social program, not unlike the requirement to demonstrate that one can drive safely in order to get a driver's license. By examining the self-understandings of those who work in fraud investigation units and their relationships to others charged with administering welfare programs and law enforcement, Headworth (Purdue Univ.) shows how the policing of welfare creates a culture of "punitive adversarialism" that exacerbates the social conditions that create deprivation and undermines the equal status of citizens. This is a work of real significance. The writing is clear and accessible, and draws effectively on the extensive literature in this area.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

Women, Intimate Partner Violence, and the Law is a must-read for anyone interested in gender-based violence and the criminal justice system. The book reflects systematic research and more than 20 years of legal practice. In it, Douglas (Univ. of Melbourne, Australia) explores the ways that every aspect of the legal system handles intimate partner violence, including through police contact, protection orders, child custody, and court. Over and over, victims report that the system that claims to protect and support them often revictimizes them. At the same time, the author's interviews with individual women occasionally reveal some successes. Douglas collates these successes into a set of recommendations for reforming every aspect of the system to support victims of intimate partner violence and ultimately focus on family safety.Summing Up: Essential. General readers through faculty; professionals.