Jeffrey Reiman published his book, The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class and Criminal Justice, in 2003. Jeffrey Reiman has written this book as if it is a text book for students studying Criminology, citing numerous sources and taking a teaching approach. From the very first chapter, it becomes obvious that Reiman has written this book to educate. It seems as though Reiman gained a deeper insight into the American culture, at the roots, and this prompted him to share the information with the public. In the first chapter of the book, Reiman emphasizes on four complex issues; high crime rate in the United States, explanations of this high crime rate, and the origins of these high crime rates.
In the book’s text, Reiman gives examples in references to others experiences in order make point that excellently depicts what goes on in the eyes of those who have actually been a part of the ‘hidden world’. Reiman puts forth arguments that tend to have a naturally populist appearance, which may lead readers more in favor with him. Reiman draws the main point of his argument from the notion that getting by is more difficult when you are poor. Without money, there are barely any opportunities, and there are hurdles in place that make it difficult for those without money to get past. The high crime rates in the U.S. is the first main topic that Reiman delves into, and he states the common perception of people believing that policy and regulation leads to a decrease in crime.
This chapter contains numerous graphs that represent data that explicitly shows that a particular policy or regulation may make those rates hit a plateau or stagnate but policy makers tend to exaggerate, in order to show that their administration is functioning quite well. In this part of the book, Reiman talks about guns as well as gun control policy and the stringent enforcement of that policy. He shows that at this time, there was a drop, or at least stagnation in the crime rates, as a result of which a plateau effect was created on the graphs. At this point, Reiman shows the readers how the age demographic for crimes being committed considerably shifted.
In another topic, Reiman explains some excuses that have been presented throughout the years and how he does not agree with them. One of the excuses that are given is that America has become too lenient and soft as a nation, as a result of which less harsh and shorter sentences are imposed, but Reiman clarifies that this is certainly not the case. Another excuse is that many jobs have opened up in the country with industrialization as a result of which crime rates have slowed down or opportunities to commit crime have been taken away. Another excuse given is that the youth is a major contributor to the fact that the rates of crime are so high. One final excuse given is that the American criminal justice system only makes efforts to contain and clean up crime, but does nothing to prevent it.
Reiman proceeds to suggest that the American criminal justice system was designed to fail. For instance, the system imprisons drug offenders, but the number of drug offenders in society is being constantly replaced and the system does nothing to reduce it. As clarified by Reiman, law enforcement efforts have nothing to do with the decline in violent crime, rather it can be attributed to demographic changes. Mostly, it is forces that are not within the control of the criminal justice system that are leading to this decline in the rates of crime. In the process of arguing against the mentioned arguments, Reiman writes about how he feels that crime could be reduced if Americans wanted to do so, and that these excuses are not a solution to the problem but just an explanation for the failure of the system. The causes of crime, drugs, poverty, and prison are known, but nothing is done to change the operation of these things.
Next Reiman considers how some actions can be identified using language, and he argues that we should also consider work-related deaths that are preventable as crimes. Reiman writes about how the criminal justice system in the U.S. has labeled the black, poor, young, male of the country as the face of crime. Reiman believes that reality has been purposely created by the criminal justice system so that a certain image of crime is projected, while they true picture of social injustice and also white-collar crime is kept hidden. Crime is identified by the system as a direct, personal assault but many other damages that result from greed and negligence of different avenues are ignored. Threats from the health care system, poverty, and the workplace have been mentioned in the book in detail, and Reiman mentions how none of which are actually regarded as crimes. Reiman feels that the image of the real threats to society is contorted and twisted by the American criminal justice system.
Next Reiman highlights something that has most likely been noted by others as well, that usually it is people from the lowest economic and social groups in the country are currently imprisoned for offenses. When the poor commit a certain crime, they are more likely arrested, but people who are affluent merely receive a warning. Reiman provides evidence of why blacks are treated so discriminatingly for five different reasons that he mentions. First, the number of blacks who are poor is out of proportion. Second, factors that usually prevent offenders from going to prison are not applicable to poor blacks. Third, the socio economic status of the blacks in prison is the same as the whites. Fourth, race worsens the effects of economic condition. Finally, those who are in charge of the country’s economic power could put an end to racial bias in the criminal justice system if they wanted to.
Reiman believes that allowing crime to flourish is seen as an economic advantage by these economic powers. He states his discovery that judges, the police, and prosecutors all make sure that it is the poor who are more likely to be imprisoned rather than those who are wealthy. This should not be the case, considering the fact that white-collar crime is costlier, rarely punished, and therefore, is widespread. White-collar criminals never do the same amount of time that the poor do, even when arrested and convicted, and often go to different prisons too. Another thing that Reiman considers is the reason behind the failure of the criminal justice system, which according to him is not accidental; rather it is the powerful and rich who intended for it to fail to prevent the system from changing.
Reiman clarifies that perhaps the poor are as likely as the rich to become victims, but they do not have the money or power to bring a change in the system in any way. On the other hand, those who actually have the authority to change the system are, in fact, least concerned about bring about such a change. The criminal justice system is extremely visible in popular culture and American society, and there is an implied ideology of criminal justice that focuses on individual criminals, but does not emphasize on social institutions and their actions. As a result of this, the nature and reality of problem the American society is facing is distorted. The bias against the poor is a result of the popular belief that crime and poverty are associated.
Reiman concludes his book by considering the “Crime of Justice,” a term he uses to refer to the crime being committed against the poor and powerless by the society. This crime prevents the structure of the criminal justice system from changing, and as a result, more crime occurs rather than being reduced. Under the current system, the goals of the protection of society and promotion of justice are not properly served. Overall, a solid argument is put forth by Reiman that the system is not serving the public as it constitutionally should, and the growth or drop in crime rates is not the only proof. He urges that a broader concept of social justice needs to be incorporated into the system. He writes that it possible to take certain action, such as the regulation of guns in circulation, or the decriminalization of drugs, but apparently there are many people waiting to oppose these ideas.
The concept of social justice that Reiman presents in his book emphasizes on preserving sociological theories that point to systemic reasons for crime. Prevalent individual actor theories that have made their way deep into the system are not the same. Reiman does not seem very convincing with his description of how the American criminal justice system is intentionally biased because it sounds as if he is stating something that is an organized conspiracy. However, that is not the case with the whole book. There are many good ideas in the book and it is quite provocative, especially in the fact that the current criminal justice system has been thoroughly analyzed and how the ‘all’ Americans can be protected, represented and served if the current system is changed.
References
Reiman, J. (2006). Rich get richer and the poor get prison: Ideology, class, and criminal justice 8th edition. (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
