Correctional Theory

"The text is an incredible composite of the literature that has shaped correctional practice. The authors have a great capacity for making research interesting and accessible.  Cullen and Jonson have accomplished their goal of motivating readers to become sophisticated consumers of correctional knowledge."

—Betsy Matthews, Eastern Kentucky University

 

The Second Edition of Correctional Theory: Context and Consequences continues to identify and evaluate the major competing theories used to guide the goals, policies, and practices of the correctional system. Authors Francis T. Cullen and Cheryl Lero Jonson demonstrate that changes in theories can legitimize new ways of treating and punishing offenders, and they help readers understand how transformations in the social and political context of U.S. society impact correctional theory and policy. Designed to motivate readers to become sophisticated consumers of correctional information, the book emphasizes the importance of using evidence-based information to guide decisions, rather than relying on nonscientific commonsense or ideology-based beliefs.

Francis T. Cullen is Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Associate in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati, where he also holds a joint appointment in sociology. He received a Ph.D. (1979) in sociology and education from Columbia University. Professor Cullen has published more than 500 works in the areas of criminological theory, corrections, white-collar crime, public opinion, sexual victimization, and the criminology of Donald Trump. He is author of Rethinking Crime and Deviance Theory: The Emergence of a Structuring Tradition and is coauthor of Reaffirming Rehabilitation, Correctional Theory: Context and Consequences, Environmental Corrections: A New Paradigm for Supervising Offenders in the Community, Criminology, Communities and Crime: An Enduring American Challenge, Corporate Crime Under Attack: The Ford Pinto Case and Beyond, Combating Corporate Crime: Local Prosecutors at Work, Unsafe in the Ivory Tower: The Sexual Victimization of College Women, and Confronting School Violence: A Synthesis of Six Decades of Research. He also is coeditor of Criminological Theory: Past to Present—Essential Readings, Taking Stock: The Status of Criminological Theory, The Origins of American Criminology, Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory, The Oxford Handbook of Criminological Theory, Challenging Criminological Theory: The Legacy of Ruth Rosner Kornhauser, Sisters in Crime Revisited: Bringing Gender Into Criminology, Delinquency and Drift Revisited: The Criminology of David Matza and Beyond, Deterrence, Choice, and Crime: Contemporary Perspectives, The Oxford Handbook of White-Collar Crime, The American Prison: Imagining a Different Future, and Crime and Victimization in the Trump Era. Professor Cullen is a Past President of the American Society of Criminology and of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. In 2010, he received the ASC Edwin H. Sutherland Award. In 2013, he was honored by his alma mater, Bridgewater State University, with a Doctorate in Public Service. He was selected as the Winner of the 2022 Stockholm Prize in Criminology. Cheryl Lero Jonson is Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Xavier University. She received a Ph.D. (2010) in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati. She is coeditor of The Origins of American Criminology, Sisters in Crime Revisited: Bringing Gender into Criminology, The American Prison: Imagining a Different Future, and Deterrence, Choice, and Crime: Contemporary Perspectives. Her published work has appeared in Criminology and Public Policy, Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, and Victims and Offenders. Her current research interests include correctional policy, the impact of incarceration on recidivism, the use of incentives to downsize American prisons, inmate adjustment to conditions of confinement, strategies to prevent school shootings, and work reactions among criminal justice employees. From 2012 to 2015, she served as an Executive Counselor of the Corrections Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.