Background
Johnson, Elmer Hubert was born on April 10, 1917 in Racine, Wisconsin, United States. Son of Elmer Dumguaard and Lucinda (Hinderholtz) Johnson.
( In his analysis of the current Japanese corrections sys...)
In his analysis of the current Japanese corrections system, internationally respected criminologist Elmer H. Johnson focuses on three basic questions: What are the characteristics of the major programmatic elements? How do various personnel carry out their programmatic responsibilities? Why are the various duties and activities carried out in a particular way? Johnson points out that compared with the United States, where prison populations are huge and often violent, Japan incarcerates relatively few criminals. In 1989, for example, Japan locked up only 34 out of every 100,000 citizens while the United States imprisoned people at a rate of 271 per 100,000. Examining the cultural differences leading to this disparity, Johnson notes that in Japan prosecutors are reluctant to refer defendants for trial and the courts often suspend sentences for convicted felons. In Japan, two bureausthe Correction Bureau and the Rehabilitation Bureauadminister all Japanese correctional activities. Placing these bureaus in the organizational scheme of the Ministry of Justice, Johnson traces the history, describes the organizational ideologies, and outlines the special features of each. A central feature of the Japanese penal system is the industrial prison, a concept that met such fierce opposition in the United States that it lost almost all access to the free market by the 1940s. Johnson traces the history of the industrial prison, noting particularly that the industrial operations in adult institutions explain in part why there is almost no violence and why few try to escape. Juvenile institutions enjoy similar success; even though they produce no industrial products, the juvenile training schools emphasize education, vocational training, and counseling. Japanese correctional officers rely heavily on the community and on unsalaried volunteer probation officers for supervision of probationers and parolees. Although Japanese courts regard probationary supervision as too punitive for most convicted defendants and return many to the community without supervision, the probation caseload is weighty. Johnson describes the responsibilities and operations of the Regional Parole Boards. He also discusses the aid hostels (halfway houses) that are primarily operated by private organizations and that serve released or paroled prisoners. Johnson sums up by noting that both the Correction Bureau and the Rehabilitation Bureau depend on the overall operations of police, prosecutors, and judges. More broadly, he asserts, both bureaus are creatures of Japanese society and culture. The assets and disadvantages of the bureaus reflect society’s reluctance to sentence defendants to prison and, to a lesser extent, the reluctance to place them on probationary supervision.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0809317362/?tag=2022091-20
( In his second book to deal with Japanese corrections, E...)
In his second book to deal with Japanese corrections, Elmer H. Johnson explores the cultural heritage and structure of the criminal justice administration that underlies Japan’s reluctance to use imprisonment, which he first examined in Japanese Corrections: Managing Convicted Offenders in an Orderly Society. Here Johnson introduces the concept of criminalization, its implications, and its two versions that differentiate four of the six cohorts who have entered prison in increasing numbers in recent decades: yakuza (Japanese mafia), adult traffic offenders, women drug offenders, and juvenile drug and traffic offenders. Foreigners and elderly inmates, the other two cohorts, elude criminalization as groups but also have become prisoners in greater numbers for other reasons.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0809321122/?tag=2022091-20
sociologist researcher in criminology
Johnson, Elmer Hubert was born on April 10, 1917 in Racine, Wisconsin, United States. Son of Elmer Dumguaard and Lucinda (Hinderholtz) Johnson.
Bachelor, University of Wisconsin, 1946; Master of Arts, University of Wisconsin, 1948; Doctor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, 1950.
Reporter, Racine Journal Times, 1935-1940; from assistant professor to professor, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, 1949-1966; assistant director, North Carolina State Prison Department, Raleigh, 1958-1960; professor, Southern Illinois U., Carbondale, 1966-1987; Distinguished professor, Southern Illinois U., Carbondale, 1984; emeritus, Southern Illinois U., Carbondale, since 1987. Board directors Joint Commision on Corrections, Washington, 1965-1970. Visiting fellow Max Planck Institute, Freiburg, Germany, 1978, National Institute Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, Washington, 1979, United Nations Asia and Far East Institute, Tokyo, 1985, others.
( In his analysis of the current Japanese corrections sys...)
( In his second book to deal with Japanese corrections, E...)
(8vo, Red & grey boards, gilt letters. 729 pages.)
Served to captain United States Army Air Corps, 1941-1946, with United States Air Force Reserve. Member International Society Criminology, International Sociological Association, American Society Criminology (board directors 1975-1980), Academy Criminal Justice Sciences, American Sociological Association.
Married Carol Catherine Holmes, June 19, 1943. Children: Joy Marjorie Boyden, Jill Catherine Lewis.