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Critically assesses Max Horkheimer's & Theodor Adorno's book, Dialectic of Enlightenment, which first appeared in 1947 but wasn't discovered until the time of the Vietnam War when it led to conflicts with radical students who felt Horkheimer & Adorno had betrayed their earlier commitments. The book takes a strong stand against the "barbarity" of Nazi Germany but attempts to explain the regime's physical atrocities in wider philosophical terms. Attention is given to Horkheimer's & Adorno's claim that enlightenment can be a form of myth; their criticism of abusive aspects of American capitalism; & their identification of dangers implicit in enlightenment, especially in relation to the "culture industry" & anti-Semitism. Other issues discussed include the book's underlying theme of alienation; the sacredness of the "here & now" which Horkheimer & Adorno consider the opposite of alienation; their analysis of the market economy; & resistance to the notion of "reflection." Although Dialectic of Enlightenment is said to be a powerful manifesto against modernist barbarity, the authors still saw merit & moral stability in state-monopolized ideological establishments. J. Lindroth

Paying for the past : the recidivist sentencing premium -- Reductivist sentencing perspectives and the role of previous convictions -- Retributive approaches to previous convictions -- The enhanced culpability model -- Role of previous convictions : representative sentencing frameworks -- The view from the dock : perceptions of sentenced offenders -- Sentenced individuals' reactions to the recidivist sentencing premium -- The intuitive sentencer : public opinion and prior convictions -- Explaining public attitudes : the intuitive sentencer and the intuitive psychologist -- Reconceptualizing the recidivist sentencing premium

"Unable to keep up with increased numbers of convicted offenders, governments and criminal justice systems have been seeking new ways to control and punish offenders. One sanction adopted in Canada and some parts of Europe and the USA is community custody, which attempts to recreate the punitive nature of prison but without incarceration. This book analyses the effectiveness of this approach and explores its implications for offenders and society as a whole."--Jacket