Lancaster R. Sex Panic and the Punitive State

Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011. — 317 p. — ISBN10: 0520262069; ISBN13: 978-0520262065.One evening, while watching the news, Roger N. Lancaster was startled by a report that a friend, a gay male school teacher, had been arrested for a sexually based crime. The resulting hysteria threatened to ruin the life of an innocent man. In this passionate and provocative book, Lancaster blends astute analysis, robust polemic, ethnography, and personal narrative to delve into the complicated relationship between sexuality and punishment in our society. Drawing on classical social science, critical legal studies, and queer theory, he tracks the rise of a modern suburban culture of fear and develops new insights into the punitive logic that has put down deep roots in everyday American life.Introduction: Fear Eats the SoulSex PanicPanic: A Guide to the Uses of Fear
Innocents at Home: How Sex Panics Reshaped American Culture
To Catch a Predator: New Monsters, Imagined Risks, and the Erosion of Legal Norms
The Magical Power of the Accusation: How I Became a Sex Criminal and Other True StoriesThe Punitive StateZero Tolerance: Crime and Punishment in the Punitive State
Innocents Abroad: Taboo and Terror in the Global War
Constructing Victimization: How Americans Learned to Love Trauma
The Victimology Trap: Capitalism, Liberalism, and GrievanceConclusion: Whither the Punitive State?Race, Incarceration, and Notification
Notes on Method