Robert Costello

Book Review: Up Against a Wall: Rape Reform and the Failure of Success

that is hardly the case. A number of important sociological works, directly bearing on the topics at hand, were completely ignored (e.g., Quadagno 2004, 2005, 2011a, 2011b), two of which were award-winning pieces on health policy. Another important writer’s work was marginally cited (Jacobs and Skocpol 2010), while equally germane, but more penetrating, analyses by the author were similarly ignored (e.g., Skocpol 1997). Another source of irritation, doubtlessly unintended, is the seeming obliviousness to the severity of the problem in Foreign Remedies. The sense of crisis is barely apparent. While the reader is provided with a limited showing of differences between the United States and other systems, with an emphasis on excessive per capita spending here, no sense of just how much less we get for the so much more we spend is provided. Missing is any sense of the estimated high rates of yearly deaths, of families destroyed, of bankruptcies, of routine medical care foregone, and so forth. The authors even seem content in favoring, if not endorsing, incremental change to “big-bang” (system transformative) change (another lesson in political science jargon) in the reform process because of the latter’s alleged “riskiness.” Just as irritating is their acceptance of such notions as American “exceptionalism” and “culturally” based resistance as formidable obstacles to the borrowing of “reforms,” especially since the notions have been undermined directly (Quadagno 2011b) or indirectly (Potter 2010) in related literature. If there is a single, fatal flaw in the book, it is the implicit idea of the necessity to look abroad for the “next steps” in reforming health. This is all the harder to accept when no case is made on its behalf in Foreign Remedies. No doubt, whether acknowledged or not, such borrowing likely recurs in many societal spheres, including that of health care. Nevertheless, the significance of the cross-border nature of desirable ideas to their acceptance is questionable. Whatever the impact of origins, the view here is that the further unfolding of reform will rest far less on the sovereign identities of its sources than on the political muscle of its adherents, relative to that of its opponents. Teaching medical sociology to undergraduates may well benefit from inclusion of Foreign Remedies in a number of ways. In a class segment on comparative approaches across disciplines (rather than across nations), for example, the book would well represent political science. Depending on the array of additional material in use in such a class, Foreign Remedies might serve as a representative of a more “conservative” or “moderate” approach to the health crisis, given its leaning toward incremental reform. Finally, the manuscript can give readers a “teaching moment” lesson on (over-) use of academic or discipline-specific (here political science) vernacular.

The city that became safe: New York's lessons for urban crime and its control

demonstrated how attitudes towards women at the time had an impact on reporting rates of violence and sexual offenses towards women. For example, a grey area existed between legality and illegality with respect to domestic violence. Police were reluctant to intervene in these incidents, perhaps due to the Victorian status of women at the time. But in 1853, the Aggravated Assaults on Women and Children Act passed which lead to an increase in arrests for aggravated assaults against females. Archer convincingly establishes that the crimes in Liverpool became a source of sensitisation for newspapers that added to the criminal notoriety of the city. Once Liverpool began collecting crime reports, it’s notoriety increased due to a seemingly high amount of female offenders. While reading, I found Chapters 8 and 9 particularly interesting because the gender and social roles that women held at the time in Victorian England clashed with reported violent crimes committed by women. I am hoping Archer considers expanding on this aspect of his research in the future: for example, by comparing the violence employed by Victorian women with women living today. Archer had to rely on data sources that were potentially distorted by the media and stigmatisation of certain crimes in newspapers as a basis for his research. This has hampered his ability to evaluate whether Victorian Liverpool deserved its criminal reputation. Regardless, Archer extensively describes the history of criminal violence in Liverpool and the social interactions of policing and the media in this groundbreaking work. In fact, I believe Archer should be commended for this difficult but amazingly detailed research. Should anyone wish to understand the social dynamics of politics, policing and media relations of Victorian Liverpool, this book would be excellent reading.

Book Review: The School-To-Prison Pipeline: Structuring Legal Reform:

Here, Wilson clearly gives the reader an idea of why certain crimes, not just serial murders, are sensationalized and others are not. Another notable factor of the book is the author’s sufficient usage of past literature. Wilson gives references that are related to the areas of criminology and journalism and gives the reader a more detailed explanation of why some crimes are highly publicized. An example would be Wilson’s notation of Yvonne Jewke’s ‘‘newsworthiness’’ criteria. These criteria included factors such as ‘‘celebrity or high-status persons,’’ ‘‘proximity,’’ and ‘‘children.’’ He also mentioned the works of criminological theorists such as Emile Durkheim in relation to suicide of certain killers. Psychological and social learning theories are also mentioned in Chapter Eight: Explaining ‘‘Ordinary’’ Murder and Murder Investigations. Wilson’s current book sufficiently fits within these previous references. One minor weakness that was found in the book was the title. Wilson did not refer back to the first case of Laura Stainforth enough. He partially makes up for it by mentioning her in the Postscript, where he sums up the purpose of the book and asks why we forget cases such as Laura’s. A more general title that encompasses all of the topics he covered in the book would have been more sufficient. Although there was the small weakness of the title, this book has many strengths. His writing style caters to an academic audience as well as an audience that is outside of the world of criminology and journalism. Within the Postscript, he goes back to the case of Laura Stainforth and asks the question of ‘‘why?’’ Why are cases such as these forgotten or ignored and passed on like the latest fad? Wilson gives an adequate explanation as to why this is and brings the world of criminology into a new direction that has not been examined by many researchers.

Sisters outside: radical activists working for women prisoners

California’s vast correctional system consists of 33 state prisons, 40 camps, 12 community facilities, and 5 prisoner-mother facilities. The town of Chowcilla has the world’s largest prison for women and across the street from it is the world’s second largest prison, forming an inmate population of 7500. California has 30 million residents and incarcerates 11,250 women, while Germany with 80 million residents imprisons 800 women. Lawston begins by outlining the story of California inmate Pamela Coffey who died in front of her fellow inmates in December 2000 after complaining to officials for weeks about a knot in her stomach that swelled making her appear as if she was in her third trimester of pregnancy. Coffey’s death was just one of nine that occurred in a six-week period. The news reports and investigative pieces about the substandard healthcare along with guard abuse, overcrowding, and torturous punishment in female prisons spurred the creation of a grassroots organization that serves as the subject of this book. Lawston conducted an in-depth case study of the group she called Network for Prisoners (NP) from 2002 to early 2005. The book specifically examines the internal dilemmas of NP and the various strategies used by the group to resolve them. The three main issues are: (1) How do NP members personally make sense of their work and feelings of illegitimacy that stem from being white, privileged women who seek to be a voice for confined women of color? 2) How can NP members connect and bond with inmates who have vastly different backgrounds and experiences? 3) How do NP members advocate on behalf of female prisoners to a general public that does not seem to care about their plight. Before addressing each dilemma, respectively, in Chapters 3–5, Lawston places this group in the broader historical context of prison movements. Lawston connects NP to earlier movements including:

Fetal Endangerment: A Challenge For Criminal Law

¶3 The choice of criminalizing prenatal drug use will also be discussed from a public policy perspective. Some points addressed include the effectiveness of criminalization and whether there are more effective alternatives, as well as the negative effects of these laws, such as purposefully avoiding prenatal care to escape prosecution. The potential “slippery slope” ramifications will be analyzed as well. For example, using the rationale in the South Carolina case, not only illegal activities but also legal ones such as smoking, alcohol consumption and inadequate diet may be prosecuted. Finally, a potpourri of topics ranging from the Equal Protection Clause, race, socioeconomic status, and political climates will be considered. In concluding, predictions will be made regarding the impact of the South Carolina case upon future cases.