The question of who has the right to pronounce and dispense punishment to a criminal, what constitutes a crime, and what role does the family and community have in both preventing and allowing crime to flourish has been the foundation of the criminal justice system throughout time. Dave Garland followed the history of the criminal justice system from its inception to modern times in order to answer these questions in his book Punishment and Modern Society, A Study in Modern Theory (Studies in Crime and Justice). David Garland has won several awards including the Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Sociological Association’s Crime, Law, and Deviance Section as well as the Outstanding Scholarship Award of the Crime and Delinquency Division of Society for the Study of Social Problems.

David Garland’s work covers an immense historical range. It begins with a focus on the sociology of punishment with an emphasis on current practices and then provides an in-depth analysis of several sub-sections of criminology and their historical roots. The work includes sections on such topics as social solidarity, construction of authority, class control, and the rationalization of punishment (Garland 1990: 1). By providing sections on these topics Garland is able to utilize the published work of historians including Emile Durkheim and Weberian Themes to assist him as he combines these subsections that create the framework for current punishment practices.

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In most cases of criminology theories are complementary concepts instead of being used as stand-alone theories. This is done because one theory might not have explored an area fully and the use of an additional theory can be used to bridge the gap that has been occurred. It is also possible that more than one theory can be applied to a particular crime because crime and punishment are not straightforward occurrences. There are many different reasons and situations in which crime is committed just as there are different types of punishments that can be applied to the crime. This can be seen in Garland’s work as he combines at least three criminology theories that are explored in this work.

The first theory is the social disorganization theory. In this theory, crime is committed because of the disorganization in the social community. If a society lacks the social controls that are necessary to maintain order then the society will face an increase in crime and disorder in the society. The theorists that have focused on this theory are Shaw and McKay, Sampson and Bursik, and Grasmick.

The second theory is the differential association social learning theory. In this theory crime is a learned association through criminal definitions. These definitions focus on the neutralization that justifies crime including the interaction with antisocial elements. In this case, the criminal behavior will be repeated with the increased danger of becoming a chronic problem. The theorists that have focused on this theory are Sutherland and Cressey, Skyes and Matza, Akers, Wolfgang and Ferracuti, and Anderson.

The third theory is rational choice. In this theory, it is assumed that individuals have the ability to determine the behavioral choices that they make and that the choices are made by using rational consideration about the potential rewards and consequences of an action. The theorists that have focused on this theory are Stafford and War, Patternoster, Cornish and Clarke, and Matsueda.

David Garland’s work opposes the anomie institutional-anomie theories in which the gap between the goal of achieving the American dream and the financial realities of the American dream creates stress and the weakening of the behavioral norms (Garland 1990: 3). When social norms are weakened by the increase in stress and the combination of poor social institutions and an increase in crime will be observed.