Franklin E. Zimring
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195181166
- eISBN:
- 9780199943302
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195181166.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
This volume discusses criminology and policy analysis of adolescence. The focus is on the principles and policy of a separate and distinct system of juvenile justice. The book opens with an ...
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This volume discusses criminology and policy analysis of adolescence. The focus is on the principles and policy of a separate and distinct system of juvenile justice. The book opens with an introduction of the creation of adolescence, presenting a justification for the category of the juvenile or a period of partial responsibility before full adulthood. Subsequent sections include empirical investigations of the nature of youth criminality and legal policy towards youth crime. At the heart of the book is an argument for a penal policy that recognizes diminished responsibility and a youth policy that emphasizes the benefits of letting the maturing process continue with minimal interruption. The book concludes with applications of the core concerns to five specific problem areas in current juvenile justice: teen pregnancy, transfer to criminal court, minority overrepresentation, juvenile gun use, and youth homicide.Less
This volume discusses criminology and policy analysis of adolescence. The focus is on the principles and policy of a separate and distinct system of juvenile justice. The book opens with an introduction of the creation of adolescence, presenting a justification for the category of the juvenile or a period of partial responsibility before full adulthood. Subsequent sections include empirical investigations of the nature of youth criminality and legal policy towards youth crime. At the heart of the book is an argument for a penal policy that recognizes diminished responsibility and a youth policy that emphasizes the benefits of letting the maturing process continue with minimal interruption. The book concludes with applications of the core concerns to five specific problem areas in current juvenile justice: teen pregnancy, transfer to criminal court, minority overrepresentation, juvenile gun use, and youth homicide.
Gemma Birkett
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781447319306
- eISBN:
- 9781447319320
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447319306.003.0013
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
While there exists a broad political consensus about the unnecessary overuse of short custodial sentences for non-violent women a number of obstacles to the successful realisation of this strategy ...
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While there exists a broad political consensus about the unnecessary overuse of short custodial sentences for non-violent women a number of obstacles to the successful realisation of this strategy persist. Based on empirical data gathered from interviews with Directors of national penal reform organisations, former Justice Ministers and senior civil servants, social commentators and journalists from across the spectrum, this chapter will critically explore the role of the national print news media in the reform of women’s penal policy. Highlighting the peripheral status of women’s penal reform on the policy agenda, it will shine a spotlight on the relations between penal reform campaigners, policymakers and journalists, before considering some practical tips for those working in this area.Less
While there exists a broad political consensus about the unnecessary overuse of short custodial sentences for non-violent women a number of obstacles to the successful realisation of this strategy persist. Based on empirical data gathered from interviews with Directors of national penal reform organisations, former Justice Ministers and senior civil servants, social commentators and journalists from across the spectrum, this chapter will critically explore the role of the national print news media in the reform of women’s penal policy. Highlighting the peripheral status of women’s penal reform on the policy agenda, it will shine a spotlight on the relations between penal reform campaigners, policymakers and journalists, before considering some practical tips for those working in this area.
H.L.A. Hart
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199534777
- eISBN:
- 9780191720703
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199534777.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This classic collection of essays, first published in 1968, has had an enduring impact on academic and public debates about criminal responsibility and criminal punishment. Forty years on, its ...
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This classic collection of essays, first published in 1968, has had an enduring impact on academic and public debates about criminal responsibility and criminal punishment. Forty years on, its arguments are as powerful as ever. H. L. A. Hart offers an alternative to retributive thinking about criminal punishment that nevertheless preserves the central distinction between guilt and innocence. He also provides an account of criminal responsibility that links the distinction between guilt and innocence closely to the ideal of the rule of law, and thereby attempts to by-pass unnerving debates about free will and determinism. Always engaged with live issues of law and public policy, Hart makes difficult philosophical puzzles accessible and immediate to a wide range of readers. For this new edition, otherwise a reproduction of the original, John Gardner adds an introduction, which provides a critical engagement with the book's main arguments, and explains the continuing importance of Hart's ideas in spite of the intervening revival of retributive thinking in both academic and policy circles. Unavailable for ten years, the new edition of Punishment and Responsibility makes available again the central text in the field for a new generation of academics, students and professionals engaged in criminal justice and penal policy.Less
This classic collection of essays, first published in 1968, has had an enduring impact on academic and public debates about criminal responsibility and criminal punishment. Forty years on, its arguments are as powerful as ever. H. L. A. Hart offers an alternative to retributive thinking about criminal punishment that nevertheless preserves the central distinction between guilt and innocence. He also provides an account of criminal responsibility that links the distinction between guilt and innocence closely to the ideal of the rule of law, and thereby attempts to by-pass unnerving debates about free will and determinism. Always engaged with live issues of law and public policy, Hart makes difficult philosophical puzzles accessible and immediate to a wide range of readers. For this new edition, otherwise a reproduction of the original, John Gardner adds an introduction, which provides a critical engagement with the book's main arguments, and explains the continuing importance of Hart's ideas in spite of the intervening revival of retributive thinking in both academic and policy circles. Unavailable for ten years, the new edition of Punishment and Responsibility makes available again the central text in the field for a new generation of academics, students and professionals engaged in criminal justice and penal policy.
Hyland Richard
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195343366
- eISBN:
- 9780199867776
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343366.003.0004
- Subject:
- Law, Comparative Law
This chapter discusses the capacity needed to give and receive gifts. It considers the restrictions imposed by legal systems on gift giving by minors, adult incompetents, those suffering civil death, ...
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This chapter discusses the capacity needed to give and receive gifts. It considers the restrictions imposed by legal systems on gift giving by minors, adult incompetents, those suffering civil death, married women, government entities, and business associations. The chapter then examines the limits imposed by legal systems on the ability to receive gifts. In civilian systems, the limitations raise some of complex questions. There are three principal concerns. First, capacity to receive is denied to individuals or entities that do not exist, or are not determinable, at the moment the gift is made. Second, capacity is denied to implement protective or penal policies. Finally, gifts are prohibited within specified relationships.Less
This chapter discusses the capacity needed to give and receive gifts. It considers the restrictions imposed by legal systems on gift giving by minors, adult incompetents, those suffering civil death, married women, government entities, and business associations. The chapter then examines the limits imposed by legal systems on the ability to receive gifts. In civilian systems, the limitations raise some of complex questions. There are three principal concerns. First, capacity to receive is denied to individuals or entities that do not exist, or are not determinable, at the moment the gift is made. Second, capacity is denied to implement protective or penal policies. Finally, gifts are prohibited within specified relationships.
David A Green
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199230969
- eISBN:
- 9780191696497
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199230969.003.0005
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This chapter employs discourse analysis to study changing cultural penal sensibilities and penal culture. It draws upon the political science literature on knowledge utilization to show how the range ...
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This chapter employs discourse analysis to study changing cultural penal sensibilities and penal culture. It draws upon the political science literature on knowledge utilization to show how the range of existing knowledge relevant to penal policy debates is constrained both by the language used to describe it, and the political and organizational demands in a given time and place. This chapter thus provides the theoretical groundwork upon which the textual analysis of the press coverage of the Bulger and Redergård cases is built.Less
This chapter employs discourse analysis to study changing cultural penal sensibilities and penal culture. It draws upon the political science literature on knowledge utilization to show how the range of existing knowledge relevant to penal policy debates is constrained both by the language used to describe it, and the political and organizational demands in a given time and place. This chapter thus provides the theoretical groundwork upon which the textual analysis of the press coverage of the Bulger and Redergård cases is built.
Matt Matravers
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199798278
- eISBN:
- 9780199919376
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199798278.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This chapter offers a brief introduction to how one might think about penal policies in an abstract context. Having rejected the desert thesis, it argues that “an entitlement to proportionality in ...
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This chapter offers a brief introduction to how one might think about penal policies in an abstract context. Having rejected the desert thesis, it argues that “an entitlement to proportionality in sentencing” is not an independent principle, but is—as with all “entitlements”—determined by the wider theory of justice. For this reason, policy proposals have to be thought through; they cannot simply be rejected as incompatible with desert or proportionality. Twenty-first century punishment will be post-desert, but that is not a recent change. The best theories of punishment (and much else) are post-desert, and have been since long before the retributive revival at the end of the twentieth century. That revival was not about desert, but was about sweeping away many practices that resulted in actual injustices. It has left us with a principle of proportionality that is important, but insufficient.Less
This chapter offers a brief introduction to how one might think about penal policies in an abstract context. Having rejected the desert thesis, it argues that “an entitlement to proportionality in sentencing” is not an independent principle, but is—as with all “entitlements”—determined by the wider theory of justice. For this reason, policy proposals have to be thought through; they cannot simply be rejected as incompatible with desert or proportionality. Twenty-first century punishment will be post-desert, but that is not a recent change. The best theories of punishment (and much else) are post-desert, and have been since long before the retributive revival at the end of the twentieth century. That revival was not about desert, but was about sweeping away many practices that resulted in actual injustices. It has left us with a principle of proportionality that is important, but insufficient.
Tim Newburn and Paul Rock (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199565955
- eISBN:
- 9780191701948
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199565955.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This book brings together ten leading British criminologists to explore the contemporary politics of crime and its control. The volume is produced in honour of Britain's most important criminological ...
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This book brings together ten leading British criminologists to explore the contemporary politics of crime and its control. The volume is produced in honour of Britain's most important criminological scholar — David Downes of the London School of Economics. The chapters are grouped around the three major themes that run through David Downes' work — sociological theory, crime and deviance; comparative penal policy; and the politics of crime. The third theme also provides the overarching unifying thread for the volume. The contributions are broad ranging and cover such subjects as criminological theory and the new East End of London, the practice of comparative criminology including an analysis of variations in penal cultures within the United States, restorative justice in Colombia, New Labour's politics and policy in relation to dangerous personality-disordered offenders, the legal construction of torture, and the future for a social democratic criminology.Less
This book brings together ten leading British criminologists to explore the contemporary politics of crime and its control. The volume is produced in honour of Britain's most important criminological scholar — David Downes of the London School of Economics. The chapters are grouped around the three major themes that run through David Downes' work — sociological theory, crime and deviance; comparative penal policy; and the politics of crime. The third theme also provides the overarching unifying thread for the volume. The contributions are broad ranging and cover such subjects as criminological theory and the new East End of London, the practice of comparative criminology including an analysis of variations in penal cultures within the United States, restorative justice in Colombia, New Labour's politics and policy in relation to dangerous personality-disordered offenders, the legal construction of torture, and the future for a social democratic criminology.
Franklin E. Zimring, Gordon Hawkins, and Sam Kamin
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195171174
- eISBN:
- 9780199849765
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195171174.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
“Getting tough on crime” has been one of the favorite rallying cries of American politicians in the last two decades, and “getting tough” on repeat offenders has been particularly popular. “Three ...
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“Getting tough on crime” has been one of the favorite rallying cries of American politicians in the last two decades, and “getting tough” on repeat offenders has been particularly popular. “Three strikes and you're out” laws, which effectively impose a twenty-five-years-to-life sentence at the moment of a third felony conviction, have been passed in twenty-six states. California's version of the “three strikes” law, enacted in 1994, was broader and more severe than measures considered or passed in any other state. This book provides an examination of the actual impact this law has had. This book looks at the origins of the law in California, compares it to other crackdown laws, and analyzes the data collected on crime rates in Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco in the year before and the two years after the law went into effect. Chapters show that the “three strikes” law was a significant development in criminal justice policy making, not only at the state level, but also at the national level. It concludes with an examination of the trend toward populist initiatives driving penal policy.Less
“Getting tough on crime” has been one of the favorite rallying cries of American politicians in the last two decades, and “getting tough” on repeat offenders has been particularly popular. “Three strikes and you're out” laws, which effectively impose a twenty-five-years-to-life sentence at the moment of a third felony conviction, have been passed in twenty-six states. California's version of the “three strikes” law, enacted in 1994, was broader and more severe than measures considered or passed in any other state. This book provides an examination of the actual impact this law has had. This book looks at the origins of the law in California, compares it to other crackdown laws, and analyzes the data collected on crime rates in Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco in the year before and the two years after the law went into effect. Chapters show that the “three strikes” law was a significant development in criminal justice policy making, not only at the state level, but also at the national level. It concludes with an examination of the trend toward populist initiatives driving penal policy.
Ian Cummins
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781447334804
- eISBN:
- 9781447334859
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447334804.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
This chapter examines the broader impact of neoliberalism on welfare and penal policy, arguing that there has been an ideological and culture shift, which can be summarised as follows: the War on ...
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This chapter examines the broader impact of neoliberalism on welfare and penal policy, arguing that there has been an ideological and culture shift, which can be summarised as follows: the War on Poverty to a War on the Poor. It first considers three types of welfare states — liberal welfare states, conservative/corporatist welfare states, and social democratic welfare states — and the neoliberal argument against welfare systems before discussing the government's policy of welfare retrenchment known as austerity. It also analyses the rise of the penal state, the trend called ‘governing through crime’, some of the inherent contradictions within the penal state, issues surrounding penal policy, and prison conditions as a key area of concern for social work as a profession.Less
This chapter examines the broader impact of neoliberalism on welfare and penal policy, arguing that there has been an ideological and culture shift, which can be summarised as follows: the War on Poverty to a War on the Poor. It first considers three types of welfare states — liberal welfare states, conservative/corporatist welfare states, and social democratic welfare states — and the neoliberal argument against welfare systems before discussing the government's policy of welfare retrenchment known as austerity. It also analyses the rise of the penal state, the trend called ‘governing through crime’, some of the inherent contradictions within the penal state, issues surrounding penal policy, and prison conditions as a key area of concern for social work as a profession.
R. A. Duff
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199798278
- eISBN:
- 9780199919376
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199798278.003.0004
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
Retributivism, the idea that what justifies criminal punishment is that it is deserved for past criminal wrongdoing, famously (or notoriously) underwent a revival in the 1970s—a revival whose ...
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Retributivism, the idea that what justifies criminal punishment is that it is deserved for past criminal wrongdoing, famously (or notoriously) underwent a revival in the 1970s—a revival whose influence is still evident both in penal philosophy and in penal policy. With the benefit of hindsight, we can now more clearly identify a number of problems with that revival: what we must then ask is whether those problems are fatal. Can a robust version of retributivism be rendered plausible in our contemporary penal and philosophical climate, or is it time to move on beyond retributivism to some quite different kind of penal philosophy? This chapter argues that penal philosophy and policy should retain a central place for a suitably understood idea of retribution. This argument involves paying closer attention than penal theorists often pay to the criminal process that precedes punishment and to the conception of responsible citizenship that should structure such a process. It also involves showing how a practice of appropriately retributive punishments can meet some of the main concerns of advocates of “restorative justice” by providing a better account than they often provide of what needs to be restored in the aftermath of crime, and how it can be restored. The chapter begins with a brief discussion of the problems that impaired the retributivist revival.Less
Retributivism, the idea that what justifies criminal punishment is that it is deserved for past criminal wrongdoing, famously (or notoriously) underwent a revival in the 1970s—a revival whose influence is still evident both in penal philosophy and in penal policy. With the benefit of hindsight, we can now more clearly identify a number of problems with that revival: what we must then ask is whether those problems are fatal. Can a robust version of retributivism be rendered plausible in our contemporary penal and philosophical climate, or is it time to move on beyond retributivism to some quite different kind of penal philosophy? This chapter argues that penal philosophy and policy should retain a central place for a suitably understood idea of retribution. This argument involves paying closer attention than penal theorists often pay to the criminal process that precedes punishment and to the conception of responsible citizenship that should structure such a process. It also involves showing how a practice of appropriately retributive punishments can meet some of the main concerns of advocates of “restorative justice” by providing a better account than they often provide of what needs to be restored in the aftermath of crime, and how it can be restored. The chapter begins with a brief discussion of the problems that impaired the retributivist revival.
Heather Schoenfeld
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226520964
- eISBN:
- 9780226521152
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226521152.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This chapter introduces the core claims, concepts, and contributions of the book. It argues that mass incarceration was not inevitable. Policymakers had to choose to build state capacity to arrest, ...
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This chapter introduces the core claims, concepts, and contributions of the book. It argues that mass incarceration was not inevitable. Policymakers had to choose to build state capacity to arrest, process, and punish people deemed criminal. Examining decisions to build carceral capacity provides a new way to understand the development of the carceral state, or the network of people and institutions responsible for the United States’ system of criminal punishment. A political developmental perspective draws attention to the interaction of national and subnational policy and politics in creating the carceral state. It also contributes to current debates about the role of crime, media, and public opinion in fostering politicians’ support for punitive policies. Finally, this perspective incorporates the role of race in the development of the carceral state through the device of racial projects, or collective actors’ response to historical racial hierarchies, which inform policymakers’ penal policy decisions.Less
This chapter introduces the core claims, concepts, and contributions of the book. It argues that mass incarceration was not inevitable. Policymakers had to choose to build state capacity to arrest, process, and punish people deemed criminal. Examining decisions to build carceral capacity provides a new way to understand the development of the carceral state, or the network of people and institutions responsible for the United States’ system of criminal punishment. A political developmental perspective draws attention to the interaction of national and subnational policy and politics in creating the carceral state. It also contributes to current debates about the role of crime, media, and public opinion in fostering politicians’ support for punitive policies. Finally, this perspective incorporates the role of race in the development of the carceral state through the device of racial projects, or collective actors’ response to historical racial hierarchies, which inform policymakers’ penal policy decisions.
Cormac Behan
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780719088384
- eISBN:
- 9781781707425
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719088384.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
Prisoner enfranchisement remains one of the few contested electoral issues in twenty first century democracies. It is at the intersection of punishment and representative government. This book is the ...
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Prisoner enfranchisement remains one of the few contested electoral issues in twenty first century democracies. It is at the intersection of punishment and representative government. This book is the first comprehensive study of prisoners and the franchise in any jurisdiction. In a democratic polity, the deliberate denial of the right to vote to any section of the population has very serious implications, both symbolic, in terms of devaluing citizenship, and practical, in terms of affecting electoral outcomes. Conversely, the extension of the franchise is similarly emblematic of a political system’s priorities and emphases. The debate about prisoner enfranchisement is significant because it gives us some insights into the objectives of imprisonment, society’s conflicted attitude towards prisoners, the nature of democracy and the concept of citizenship. This book begins by considering the case for and against prisoner enfranchisement and then goes on to examine the jurisprudence in various jurisdictions where it has been a matter of legal and political controversy. Using the Republic of Ireland as a case study, this book analyses the experience of prisoner enfranchisement and locates it in an international context. It argues that the legal position concerning the voting rights of the imprisoned reveals wider historical, political and social influences in the treatment of those confined in penal institutions.Less
Prisoner enfranchisement remains one of the few contested electoral issues in twenty first century democracies. It is at the intersection of punishment and representative government. This book is the first comprehensive study of prisoners and the franchise in any jurisdiction. In a democratic polity, the deliberate denial of the right to vote to any section of the population has very serious implications, both symbolic, in terms of devaluing citizenship, and practical, in terms of affecting electoral outcomes. Conversely, the extension of the franchise is similarly emblematic of a political system’s priorities and emphases. The debate about prisoner enfranchisement is significant because it gives us some insights into the objectives of imprisonment, society’s conflicted attitude towards prisoners, the nature of democracy and the concept of citizenship. This book begins by considering the case for and against prisoner enfranchisement and then goes on to examine the jurisprudence in various jurisdictions where it has been a matter of legal and political controversy. Using the Republic of Ireland as a case study, this book analyses the experience of prisoner enfranchisement and locates it in an international context. It argues that the legal position concerning the voting rights of the imprisoned reveals wider historical, political and social influences in the treatment of those confined in penal institutions.
Janet Semple
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198273875
- eISBN:
- 9780191684074
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198273875.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
At the end of the 18th century, Jeremy Bentham devised a scheme for a prison that he called the panopticon. It soon became an obsession. For twenty years he tried to build it; in the end he failed, ...
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At the end of the 18th century, Jeremy Bentham devised a scheme for a prison that he called the panopticon. It soon became an obsession. For twenty years he tried to build it; in the end he failed, but the story of his attempt offers fascinating insights into both Bentham's complex character and the ideas of the period. This book chronicles Bentham's dealings with the politicians as he tried to put his plans into practice, basing the analysis on hitherto unexamined manuscripts. The book assesses the panopticon in the context of penal philosophy and 18th-century punishment, and discusses it as an instrument of the modern technology of subjection as revealed and analysed by Foucault. The book illuminates a subject of immense historical importance which is particularly relevant to modern controversies about penal policy.Less
At the end of the 18th century, Jeremy Bentham devised a scheme for a prison that he called the panopticon. It soon became an obsession. For twenty years he tried to build it; in the end he failed, but the story of his attempt offers fascinating insights into both Bentham's complex character and the ideas of the period. This book chronicles Bentham's dealings with the politicians as he tried to put his plans into practice, basing the analysis on hitherto unexamined manuscripts. The book assesses the panopticon in the context of penal philosophy and 18th-century punishment, and discusses it as an instrument of the modern technology of subjection as revealed and analysed by Foucault. The book illuminates a subject of immense historical importance which is particularly relevant to modern controversies about penal policy.
Thomas Mathiesen and Ole Kristian Hjemdal
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199571826
- eISBN:
- 9780191728839
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199571826.003.0016
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology, Philosophy of Law
This chapter focuses on the concept of abolitionism. Abolition as a stance and academic abolitionism are two forms of theoretical abolitionism present in a time where the actual abolition of prisons ...
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This chapter focuses on the concept of abolitionism. Abolition as a stance and academic abolitionism are two forms of theoretical abolitionism present in a time where the actual abolition of prisons lies in the future, out of our reach. Both are viable and important. But there is also another possibility, a third form of abolitionism, which is as viable and important as the others. It brings in a third dimension, where a retreat to the safe haven of the academy or a mere dimension of a staunch no is combined with ‘expeditions’ and actions favouring basic change in the outside world, notably at key points in prison and penal policies and culture. This third form of abolitionism crosses boundaries with stamina and resolve, brings in deep and prolonged interaction with those who are subject to the so-called criminal justice system — the prisoners — and is, up to a point, practical. The chapter also proposes a different way of looking at the relationship between victim and offender.Less
This chapter focuses on the concept of abolitionism. Abolition as a stance and academic abolitionism are two forms of theoretical abolitionism present in a time where the actual abolition of prisons lies in the future, out of our reach. Both are viable and important. But there is also another possibility, a third form of abolitionism, which is as viable and important as the others. It brings in a third dimension, where a retreat to the safe haven of the academy or a mere dimension of a staunch no is combined with ‘expeditions’ and actions favouring basic change in the outside world, notably at key points in prison and penal policies and culture. This third form of abolitionism crosses boundaries with stamina and resolve, brings in deep and prolonged interaction with those who are subject to the so-called criminal justice system — the prisoners — and is, up to a point, practical. The chapter also proposes a different way of looking at the relationship between victim and offender.
Emma Kaufman
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199669394
- eISBN:
- 9780191748752
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199669394.003.0010
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology, Human Rights and Immigration
In 2006, the UK government initiated a wide-scale restructuring of both its migration control apparatus and its prison system, culminating in a broad new policy on foreign national prisoners, which ...
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In 2006, the UK government initiated a wide-scale restructuring of both its migration control apparatus and its prison system, culminating in a broad new policy on foreign national prisoners, which establishes special prisons for ‘non-citizens’ and deputizes prison staff to act as quasi-immigration agents. Dubbed ‘hubs and spokes’, the new policy also ‘embeds’ immigration officials in penal institutions and obliges prisons to hold prisoners beyond the length of their criminal sentences. This chapter examines how such an expansive penal policy came to pass and what it can tell scholars about the meaning of imprisonment. It argues that the prison is a key — and too often overlooked — site for migration control.Less
In 2006, the UK government initiated a wide-scale restructuring of both its migration control apparatus and its prison system, culminating in a broad new policy on foreign national prisoners, which establishes special prisons for ‘non-citizens’ and deputizes prison staff to act as quasi-immigration agents. Dubbed ‘hubs and spokes’, the new policy also ‘embeds’ immigration officials in penal institutions and obliges prisons to hold prisoners beyond the length of their criminal sentences. This chapter examines how such an expansive penal policy came to pass and what it can tell scholars about the meaning of imprisonment. It argues that the prison is a key — and too often overlooked — site for migration control.
Rob Allen
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847421104
- eISBN:
- 9781447303657
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847421104.003.0009
- Subject:
- Social Work, Crime and Justice
Since the King's College seminar, several proposals on sentencing and imprisonment have emerged. Some of these emerged during the height of the political and media concern about violent crimes. The ...
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Since the King's College seminar, several proposals on sentencing and imprisonment have emerged. Some of these emerged during the height of the political and media concern about violent crimes. The most significant of the proposals was discussed in Chapter 4, wherein it is proposed that sentencing commissions should be established. This endnote summarises and assesses the impact of the results of the consultation launched by the Sentencing Advisory Panel on the future development of penal policy. This consultation centred on key questions such as: what custodial sentences should be imposed, what impact previous convictions should have on sentences, what weight should be given to all different factors of an offence, and whether the vulnerabilities of women offenders should affect sentencing. The result of the consultation is believed to have had a great impact on prison numbers and the prison crisis. In addition to assessing the impact of the consultation on penal policy, the endnote also discusses: the growing criticism of government policy on imprisonment and the Carter Report; the four policy areas of the government that focused on the aspects of community sentences, women offenders, juvenile offenders, and mentally disordered offenders; and the political and social climate during 2008, wherein there was an upward pressure on imprisonment owing to the emergence of violent crimes involving young people.Less
Since the King's College seminar, several proposals on sentencing and imprisonment have emerged. Some of these emerged during the height of the political and media concern about violent crimes. The most significant of the proposals was discussed in Chapter 4, wherein it is proposed that sentencing commissions should be established. This endnote summarises and assesses the impact of the results of the consultation launched by the Sentencing Advisory Panel on the future development of penal policy. This consultation centred on key questions such as: what custodial sentences should be imposed, what impact previous convictions should have on sentences, what weight should be given to all different factors of an offence, and whether the vulnerabilities of women offenders should affect sentencing. The result of the consultation is believed to have had a great impact on prison numbers and the prison crisis. In addition to assessing the impact of the consultation on penal policy, the endnote also discusses: the growing criticism of government policy on imprisonment and the Carter Report; the four policy areas of the government that focused on the aspects of community sentences, women offenders, juvenile offenders, and mentally disordered offenders; and the political and social climate during 2008, wherein there was an upward pressure on imprisonment owing to the emergence of violent crimes involving young people.
Cormac Behan
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780719088384
- eISBN:
- 9781781707425
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719088384.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
This chapter examines prisoner enfranchisement in the Republic of Ireland. As with many other jurisdictions, the issue was historically, socially and politically charged, with the debates and outcome ...
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This chapter examines prisoner enfranchisement in the Republic of Ireland. As with many other jurisdictions, the issue was historically, socially and politically charged, with the debates and outcome reflecting local characteristics. The chapter begins with an outline of prisoners’ involvement in politics pre-independence, and later in that part of Ireland that achieved independence. Although prisoners were not allowed to vote for much of Irish history, this did not prevent them from engaging with, and at times, challenging the political system, especially during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Yet, despite using their prison experience for political advancement, on release, few political leaders became vocal advocates of penal reform in general, or prisoner enfranchisement in particular. This chapter considers why there was relatively little change in the prison system with almost no penal reform and no desire for enfranchisement from many of those who had experience of imprisonment. The final section examines the low-key introduction of legislation to allow prisoners to vote.Less
This chapter examines prisoner enfranchisement in the Republic of Ireland. As with many other jurisdictions, the issue was historically, socially and politically charged, with the debates and outcome reflecting local characteristics. The chapter begins with an outline of prisoners’ involvement in politics pre-independence, and later in that part of Ireland that achieved independence. Although prisoners were not allowed to vote for much of Irish history, this did not prevent them from engaging with, and at times, challenging the political system, especially during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Yet, despite using their prison experience for political advancement, on release, few political leaders became vocal advocates of penal reform in general, or prisoner enfranchisement in particular. This chapter considers why there was relatively little change in the prison system with almost no penal reform and no desire for enfranchisement from many of those who had experience of imprisonment. The final section examines the low-key introduction of legislation to allow prisoners to vote.
Philip Whitehead
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781447327653
- eISBN:
- 9781447327677
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447327653.003.0005
- Subject:
- Social Work, Crime and Justice
This chapter puts bodies of social theory assembled in chapter 2, and a history of moral sensibilities in chapter 3, to work within the interrelated fields of probation, criminal justice, and penal ...
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This chapter puts bodies of social theory assembled in chapter 2, and a history of moral sensibilities in chapter 3, to work within the interrelated fields of probation, criminal justice, and penal policy. The argument advanced is that disparate bodies of social theory, in addition to a remaining vestige of religion, personalism, and ethico-humanitarian impulses, combine to excavate to provide an explanatory account of the political dynamics of modernisation and transformation. This is the central academic task of this chapter that puts to work a nuanced and multi-textured theoretical grid.Less
This chapter puts bodies of social theory assembled in chapter 2, and a history of moral sensibilities in chapter 3, to work within the interrelated fields of probation, criminal justice, and penal policy. The argument advanced is that disparate bodies of social theory, in addition to a remaining vestige of religion, personalism, and ethico-humanitarian impulses, combine to excavate to provide an explanatory account of the political dynamics of modernisation and transformation. This is the central academic task of this chapter that puts to work a nuanced and multi-textured theoretical grid.
Thérèse Murphy and Noel Whitty
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199204939
- eISBN:
- 9780191695599
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199204939.003.0025
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter looks towards the conflict between the issues of risk and human rights in penal policy and prison law in Great Britain. It provides a summary of literatures on risk and discusses the ...
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This chapter looks towards the conflict between the issues of risk and human rights in penal policy and prison law in Great Britain. It provides a summary of literatures on risk and discusses the widespread lack of engagement by human rights lawyers in Britain with theorizing the concept of risk or studying its uses in the fields of risk assessment and management. It also attempts to answer the question of why the criminological focus on risk in prison governance has not generated investigations into the relationship between risk and prisoners' human rights.Less
This chapter looks towards the conflict between the issues of risk and human rights in penal policy and prison law in Great Britain. It provides a summary of literatures on risk and discusses the widespread lack of engagement by human rights lawyers in Britain with theorizing the concept of risk or studying its uses in the fields of risk assessment and management. It also attempts to answer the question of why the criminological focus on risk in prison governance has not generated investigations into the relationship between risk and prisoners' human rights.
Tom R. Tyler and Lindsay E. Rankin
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195384642
- eISBN:
- 9780199914609
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195384642.003.0036
- Subject:
- Psychology, Forensic Psychology
This chapter discusses how public attitudes help shape penal policy. It argues that law enforcement and the public have ambivalently embraced an instrumental approach, that is, the threat of or ...
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This chapter discusses how public attitudes help shape penal policy. It argues that law enforcement and the public have ambivalently embraced an instrumental approach, that is, the threat of or actual punishment as a mechanism through which to shape the behavior of both wrongdoers and people in general. This is not to say that other approaches do not exist, or that people do not disagree; however, the dominant model clearly follows instrumental approaches. Not only does empirical research show that this approach is not particularly effective in determining behavior, but it also is very costly in terms of both resources and negative side effects. Hence, there is a widespread disconnection between policy and empiricism. This has led to a dramatic growth in the American prison population and has soured the relationship between the law, legal authorities, and members of society. It has had a particularly negative impact on the minority community.Less
This chapter discusses how public attitudes help shape penal policy. It argues that law enforcement and the public have ambivalently embraced an instrumental approach, that is, the threat of or actual punishment as a mechanism through which to shape the behavior of both wrongdoers and people in general. This is not to say that other approaches do not exist, or that people do not disagree; however, the dominant model clearly follows instrumental approaches. Not only does empirical research show that this approach is not particularly effective in determining behavior, but it also is very costly in terms of both resources and negative side effects. Hence, there is a widespread disconnection between policy and empiricism. This has led to a dramatic growth in the American prison population and has soured the relationship between the law, legal authorities, and members of society. It has had a particularly negative impact on the minority community.
