DePauw Stories

Sociology professor David Newman has a new book out. “A Culture of Second Chances: The Promise, Practice, and Price of Starting Over in Everyday Life,” published by Lexington Books, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. Newman said that, although the publisher is an academic press, he wrote the book for a general audience. 

The book examines the iconic presence of second chances in everyday life – in popular culture, commercial marketplaces, religion, intimate relationships, education, criminal justice and human bodies. Newman analyzes how the concept of second chances has become part of our individual sense of self and our collective national identity. While the rhetoric of redemption is familiar and ubiquitous, Newman uncovers the costs and constraints of second chances, paying particular attention to the factors that affect judgments of deservedness.