Offers depth on the topic not available yet based on its inclusion of empirical research related to current inmates and is therefore an important contribution to a growing but limited area of research.
The topic is of increasing interest to penology, criminology, criminal justice and law modules.
It is timely, as with more states abolishing the death penalty, research on common alternative penalties is valuable, and as a result the issue of LWOP is gaining more attention
Both qualitative and quantitative studies will inspire and enhance scholarly and policy debates on this issue.
Ross Kleinstuber is an Associate Professor of Justice Administration & Criminology at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. His research focuses on the intersection of law and society, capital punishment, life without parole, mass incarceration, racial inequality in the justice system, and human rights abuses.
Jeremiah Coldsmith holds a PhD in sociology. His individual research focuses on the intersection of identity and stratification, and as a methodologist and statistician, he has an active research, in collaboration with Dr. Kleinstuber, that focuses on quantifying LWOP's effects on violent crime rates.
Margaret E. Leigey is a Professor and Chair of Criminology at The College of New Jersey. Her research explores the experiences of those serving life without parole, in particular aging individuals, those who were sentenced as juveniles, and women.
Sandra Joy a Professor of Sociology at Rowan University, licensed clinical social worker, mental health clinician, and activist in the movement to abolish capital punishment and LWOP. Her research explores the grief and loss issues confronting the families of those on death row, life without parole, and coalition politics in the anti-death penalty movement.
Title: Life Without Parole: Worse Than Death? (Routledge Frontiers of Criminal Justice)
Author: Joy, Sandra,Leigey, Margaret E.,Coldsmith, Jeremiah,Kleinstuber, Ross
ISBN: 9780367752699
Binding:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Publication Date: 2022-04-15
Number of Pages: 256
Weight: 0.3601 kg
The authors meticulously examine each justification used in America's unyielding reliance on sentences of life without the possibility of parole. Readers will come away from this book convinced that such extreme sentences are both inhumane and unnecessary on public safety grounds. - Ashley Nellis, Senior Research Analyst, The Sentencing Project
Life Without Parole offers readers a comprehensive account of the role and impact of LWOP in the US. The book relies on various sources and methods, including the powerful voices of individuals who are serving life without the possibility of parole to illustrate the human and societal costs of this form of punishment. I recommend this book to those who study criminal justice sanctions, as well as those seeking to reduce inequality in the justice system. - Professor Nancy Rodriguez, Department of Criminology, Law and Society, University of California, Irvine
Life Without Parole by Ross Kleinstuber, Jeremiah Coldsmith, Margaret Leigey and Sandra Joy makes a clear and compelling case that LWOP-life without parole-is a death penalty in its own right that should be abolished. This sanction, we learn from compelling interviews with affected inmates, is no more humane than capital punishment and may indeed create more suffering and injustice than the traditional death penalty. Real reform requires sentences that offer hope of release from prison, however tenuous that hope might be in individual cases. - Professor Rob Johnson, Justice, Law, & Criminology, American University
