The Rich Get Richer and the
Poor get Prison: Ideology,
Class, and Criminal Justice
Chapter One: Crime Control - Nothing Succeeds like
Failure
Travis Hansen
11/30/2011
Instructor: Dr. Josh Gold
In chapter one of The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class, and
Criminal Justice; Jeffrey Reiman clearly states his opinions about the criminal system in the
United States. This book was originally written in 1979 and has recently released its latest
edition, (9th edition). Reiman originally wrote this book after teaching for seven years at the
School of Justice, which is a multidisciplinary, criminal justice education program at the
University of Washington. He wanted to show the American population the truth about the elites
behind the criminal system. Reiman’s thesis is that the goal of the American Criminal Justice
System is not to eliminate crime or even to achieve justice but to project to the American public
a credible image of the threat of crime as a threat from the poor. In this chapter, America’s high
crime rate, excuses for the crime rate, sources of crime, and the pyrrhic theory are discussed.
Reiman presents strong points with lots of credible evidence and he brings into perspective how
elites control and tweak the criminal system to fit what is in their best interests. I completely
agree with his populist views on how the poor are blamed for committing most of the crimes.
Although in past years crime has declined, the United States still has one of the highest
crime rates than those in other Western industrial democratic countries. America also has the
highest rate of lethal violence compared to any other European country. As you can guess from
the two statements, the United States also has one of the highest percentages of rate of
incarceration. Roughly 756 per 100,000 people are incarcerated at some point in their life in the
United States. Compare that to the 151 in the U.K., 88 in Germany, 95 in Belgium and 110 in
Canada. Nobody can deny that we definitely have problems with crime in America. So in light
of us having the some of the highest crime rates, President Bill Clinton decided to enact new
policies to try to bring down the high crime rates. These new policies included putting more
police on the streets and more prisons. Along with these, the government felt that longer jail
time would also discourage people from committing crimes. Decline in all types of crimes were
happening in these cities in which the policies were factored, however there were decreases of
the same rate in other cities where the policies were not evident. Canada also had declines in
crime rates without using similar policies, this evidence would suggest that the decline has
nothing to do with more police, prison, and longer sentences. Reimer believes that crime rates
are affected by the economy, demographics (the number of young people), and changing drug
markets. Before the major crash in 2008, the economy was very healthy and so that provides
legitimate job opportunities for many people. With these jobs, people tend to stay out of trouble
and avoid illegal activities to maintain their jobs. In the late ‘90’s the drug “crack cocaine” was
introduced to many drug markets. It was in such high demand that drug dealers wanted to
control it and therefore control the market. The dealers start to kill each other in order to gain
control of the drug and when they kill each other the market stabilizes and thus violence
decreases.
Looking at the evidence, it is compelling that although the government tries to get
involved they end up making no difference. This corresponds with what we read about
government and capitalism. The invisible hand of the market needs to guide where the market
will go and if government implements the wrong policies they could end up hurting the economy
even though they could have been trying to help. With all of the policies (as stated above) the
government spent about $24 billion annually paying for the police and prisons/prisoners. This
ended up hurting our government because they were aimlessly spending and could have used that
money for something much more worthwhile. With Reiman’s extensive research, it goes
without saying that the policies had only a slight difference, if any, in some cities. With his
research we can better predict when crime rates will rise and when they can possibly go down.
We can also use this to better the policies to combat crime rates. Since the economic collapse of
2008, crime rates have steadily gone higher because there are not enough jobs or money so
people feel the need to commit crimes. After a decade of the lowest crime rates in years, the
United Kingdom has seen a lot more vandalism, theft, car crime, and firearm and drug offences.
This goes to show that the economy is a major factor that determines crime rates. Reiman is a
fantastic social scientist because he explains everything about America’s crime rates. His
writing is very easy to follow and understand.
Reiman reviews the excuses that the government has for the high crime rate. He explains
each excuse but argues against the legitimacy of each one. The first excuse is that We Are Too
Soft. This is pretty hard to believe knowing that the U.S. has one of the highest incarceration
rates in the world. The past 30 years have shown that the criminal system has increased the use
of mandatory sentencing and increasingly harsher sentences. The second excuse is A Cost of
Modern Life. This states that “crime is a companion of any complex, populous, industrialized
society.” (Reimer, pg. 23). Japan is highly industrialized, incredibly populous, and complex;
they have about 28 offenses for every 100,000 inhabitants (remember that we are 500+). This
excuse also fails to explain the differences in crime rates inside the U.S. Homicides ranged from
1.1 per 100,000 in New Hampshire to 14.2 in Louisiana. The third excuse Blames It on the
Kids! Young people, roughly around the ages of 15-24 are most likely to commit violent crimes.
This is a well-known phenomenon in criminology called the maturation effect. Reiman states
that there is no doubt that young people show up excessively in crime statistics. Those arrested
for street crimes, 75% are under the age of 25 and 40% are under the age of 18. However crime
rates have grown faster than the number of young people or their percentage of the population.
Violent crime rates and Property crime rates have been steadily falling since 1995 and oddly
enough the percentage of the population aged 14-24 has been growing. Although younger
people have an important impact on crime rates, they do not completely determine whether or
not they are the main source of the blame. Known sources for crimes are as follows; poverty and
inequality, prison, guns, and drugs are some of the main ones.
Reiman’s arguments are completely applicable to the material world. This shows that the
government pumps out excuses to cover up the intentions that is has. Just like the Bush
administration with the nuclear weapons in Iraq and Iran, the crime is not because of the people
but because the government is not doing much about it. They intervened, but with the wrong
policies that made absolutely no difference. With the false sense of security that it provides by
showing that rates are falling but the evidence shows that it is not the government who is
helping, I am angry at the false advertising. When they “found” nuclear weapons in the Middle
East, I believed President Bush but now I see that what the government wants, the government
gets through control of the people by false broadcasting.
Before I start to summarize this section, let’s begin with a definition of Pyrrhic victory.
According to the Investopedia, Pyrrhic victory is a victory that comes at the expense of great
losses or costs. In just the opposite, Reiman purposed the Pyrrhic Defeat Theory. This theory
argues that the failure of the Criminal Justice System yields such benefits to those in positions of
power that it amounts to success. A failure to reduce crime sends a message that legitimates the
rich and powerful because of their wealth and buying power. This turns the public discontent
away from the rich and onto the poor because that is who can take the blame because they have
no power. Also the justice system must fail in the sight of serious crime to divert attention to the
“real danger” in our society which is the work of the poor. This leads to the wealthy Americans
being able to keep perpetrating a variety of problems on people without being caught and
blaming the poor. By being wealthy and powerful, the elites in America have a “get out of jail
free” card, but theirs come with an added bonus of blame it on somebody else. They choose to
blame their problems on the lowly populists and that creates an image that most Americans don’t
want to become.
Reiman uses the philosophies of famous theorists such as Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim,
Kai Erikson, and Richard Kinney to form his Pyrrhic Defeat Theory. With such great research,
this legitimizes his claims. In the 2008 economic meltdown, top executives ran their investment
banks into the ground and they were getting massive salaries while doing it. These executives
represent the elites and they blamed the people for not being able to pay their housing bills even
though they knew that they couldn’t anyways. Elites always prey upon the populists and show
their dominance through deception and power. This is sickening because if you have money
then you can buy your way out of anything and this proves that most people are quite corrupt.
The working class are unable to do any of this and therefore have no way of standing up for
themselves if they are blamed for the elite’s problems.
The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class, and Criminal Justice by
Jeffrey Reiman was a book that really altered my perception. Reiman is a genius because of his
creation of the Pyrrhic Defeat Theory and how he brought the truth to the fact of the struggling
Criminal Justice System. Through the American Justice System’s high crime rates, excuses for
crime rates, and the sources of the crime rates; we see that the Criminal Justice System creates an
image of the threat from crime stemming from the poor. Reiman is a stunning theorist and
proves to the world what is really happening in our justice system.