Getting Tough: Welfare and Imprisonment in 1970s America

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The politics and policies that led to America's expansion of the penal system and reduction of welfare programs In 1970s America, politicians began "getting tough" on drugs, crime, and welfare. These campaigns helped expand the nation's penal system, discredit welfare programs, and cast blame for the era's social upheaval on racialized deviants

Reviews

"One of CHOICEs Outstanding Academic Titles for 2017"
"Honorable Mention for the 2018 Frederick Jackson Turner Award, Organization of American Historians"
"A vital reminder that reactionary ideas gestate at the local level before they get nationalized. And, with enough organizing, so too might emancipatory ones."---Dan Berger, Truthout
"This extraordinary book analyzes changing state-level policies toward drugs, welfare, and incarceration in the 1970s in the US, revealing connections between welfare and imprisonment as institutions of social regulation. . . . Drawing on statements and letters from officials, activists, prisoners, welfare recipients, and concerned citizens, Kohler-Hausmann illuminates the often contradictory and always contingent dialogues through which 'tough' policies were legitimized and enacted. . . . The inclusion of so many voices leads to a lively and engaging read." * Choice *

Author Bio

Julilly Kohler-Hausmann is associate professor of history at Cornell University.