Although Americans decry the violence on inner city streets, few have considered how the War on Crime and historically high rates of incarceration have themselves created this violence. Indeed not only has intensive policing and mass 
incarceration created the conditions that lead to greater street violence in this nation’s already most fragile communities, but it has also led to new levels of police violence in those same communities. Prof. Thompson will discuss the troubling ways in which 
violence and mass incarceration are linked and suggest the need for a serious policy shift.

Dr. Heather A. Thompson is Professor of History, U of M’s Department of Afro-
American and African Studies. She has a B.A. in History from the University of 
Michigan and a Ph.D. in American History from Princeton University. She is the 
author of several books, book chapters and numerous articles. She has been a guest speaker at universities throughout the world and was named “Distinguished Lecturer” by the Organization of American Historians.

This is the second in a six-lecture series. The subject is "Violence: Its Roots and Reasons." The next lecture will be January 21 entitled "The Violence of Mass Incarceration: Reform and a "New Normal?"?

http://www.olli-umich.org/programs_activities/lectures/3rd_Lecture_Series.pdf