Exploring the ‘Socio’ or Socio‐Legal Studies. By Dermot Feenan. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. 307pp. $105 Cloth.

• Published date: 01 December 2015
• Date: 01 December 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/lasr.12176

Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion certainly promotes dignity, Jus-

tice Scalia’s opinion uses dehumanizing language, referring to peo-

ple in prison as “fine physical specimens” (p. 166). Perhaps Aviram

is correct to be skeptical, as the language of dignity was noticeably

absent from the Supreme Court’s punishment and corrections cases

during the 2014–2015 term. Instead she argues that the language

of cost, particularly if it is framed in inclusive terms, has the poten-

tial to effect “real, lasting change” (p. 170). Although many will

question the optimistic note on which it ends, Cheap on Crime makes

a valuable contribution to the literature on mass incarceration and

is a must-read for those seeking explanations for the significant

changes that have occurred in American corrections over the last 5

years.

References

Brown v.Plata, 131 S. Ct. 1910 (2011).

Beckett, Katherine (1997) Making Crime Pay: Law and Order in Contemporary American Poli-

tics. New York:Oxford University Press.

Chettiar, Inimai, & Michael Waldman, eds. (2015) Solutions: American Leaders Speak Out

on Criminal Justice. New York:Brennan Center for Justice.

Keller,Bill (2015) “Profiles: Prison Revolt,” The New Yorker, June 29, 2015.

Simon, Jonathan (2007) Governing Through Crime: How the War on Crime Transformed

American Democracy and Created a Culture of Fear. New York: Oxford University

Press.

——— (2014) Mass Incarceration on Trial: A Remarkable Court Decision and the Future of

Prisons in America. New York:The New Press.

***

Exploring the ‘Socio’ or Socio-Legal Studies. By Dermot Feenan. New

York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. 307pp. $105 Cloth.

Reviewed by Aaron R.S. Lorenz, Dean, School of Social Science and

Human Services, Ramapo College

In this book, legal scholar and research fellow in law, Dermot Feenan,

corrals some of the leading scholars in the field of law and society,

legalstudies,aswellasthefocusof the book, sociolegal studies. In

writing this review, I found myself initially wanting to simply write

that sociolegal studies is a method scholars use to simplify their expla-

nation of what they research. However, each scholar, beginning with

Feenan, clearly introduces and explains that the “socio” plays a

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