Legal ST 276: Corrections

Six Theories of Corrections

Outlined in Mackenzie’s ch 20, the six theories of corrections outline different beliefs around how corrections should operate. They are as follows: Rehabilitation, Deterrence, Retribution, Early Intervention, Restorative Justice and Incapacitation.

Retribution

One of Mackenzie’s (CH 20) Theories of corrections. It highlights that the goal of correctional facilities is to punish offenders for the crimes they have committed. This theory focuses on the crime with liberals arguing that the punishment should only be as bad as the crime (classical school of thought), and conservatives arguing that the punishment should be to the fullest extent of the law. This is largely based on values and not empirical evidence as harsh punishments do not actually deter criminals. In the context of the death penalty, CH 21 argues that retribution is hard to dissuade people from due to it being based in morals and not empirical evidence

Deterrence

As outlined in Mackenzie’s Theories of Corrections, deterrence is the belief that harsher punishments will disuade people from committing crimes because it is not worth the consequences. However, this idea is not supported by empirical evidence and many external social and environmental factors cause crime, not particularly whether or not the punishment will be harsh. Many people are not aware of the exact punishments for crimes anyway.

Rehabilitation

This is the belief that the goal of corrections is to correct the factors that caused somone to commit a crime such as alcoholism or durg dependence. The goal is not punishment, but rather treatment. However, this is only beneficial for offenders who want to change, and may be ineffective for those who do not comply.

Early Intervention

As outlined in Mackenzie’s theories of corrections, Early intervention works to help children in positions that are more susceptible to future violence. However, this form of preventative policing creates issues with privacy and civil right as well as choosing who ‘might be a criminal’ in the future. This expands the surveillance state which Foucald would warn about.

Incapacitation

The goal of corrections is to stop offenders from committing future crimes. However, Mackenzie criticizes the fact that this method does not stop others from committing the same crimes, furthermore, it does not fix the causes of crimes, so when offenders are released, and put back into the same environment, it is more likely that they return to the carceral system.

Collective Incapacitation

Incarcerate anyone who has committed a crime and anyone who has committed a similar crime. Mass incarceration

Selective incapacitation

Only imprison the ‘worst of the worst’

Restorative Justice

This posits that the goal of corrections should be to restore the relationships between the victim and the offender. Does not focus on punishment but on making amends. It allows the victim to feel more a part of the process and focuses on what they want to get out of the CJS instead of framing the case as the offender vs the state and excluding the victim. It also forces the offender to take accountability which is helpful if they actually committed the crime, but if not, the same coercive issues may appear here as they do with plea bargaining.

General deterrence

As a subset of Mackenzie’s deterrence theory of corrections- states that people will not committ crimes because they see what happens to other people who commit crimes

Specific deterrence

A subset of mackenzie;s theory of deterrence, when people know what the specific consequences are for specific cases and so they do not commit crime. Proponents of this method believe that discretion and parole should not be allotted to incarcerated individuals as not to infringe on the validity of the criminal process all people need to be charged the same so that deterrence works and criminals do not think they have a chance at ‘getting away’ with it

Correctional Quackery

Interventions on crime that are not
shaped by research on crime or criminals, but ignorance or personal experiences.Theories to improve or maintain the correctional institution that are based in morals and ideologies instead of empirical evidence. Research into policies is essential to highlight which policies work and which don’t so that correctional quackery is limited. For example, thinking that longer harsher punishments will deter criminals is not backed by data. It often persists due to moral panics about crime and the political climate.

Furman v Georgia

Furman is committing a burglary when we trips accidentally setting his gun off and killing someone. He is convicted of murder and sentenced to death; the court questions whether the death penalty in cruel and unusual violating the 14th and 8th amendments and decides that yes it is- though they cannot agree on why. The death penalty is inherently cruel and arbitrary bc some people who commit murder get it but others dont.

Instrumental Policies

As highlighted in CH 22, these policies are meant to change individual behavior in response to a social problem. However as it pertains to sex offender policies, the majority of the public doesn’t change their behavior because they do not look at databases, and they have no effect on the behavior on offenders either

Symbolic Policies

CH 22 highlights how sybolic policies have little to no effect on the issues that they claim to remedy and are there to make it seem as though the gov’t is addressing an issue. They are often feuled by moral panics and have research or evidence put into how they operate.

Sex offender

A person convicted of a sex crime. As defined under the Adam Walsh Law, the definition for who ‘qualifies’ is broad ranging from misdemeanors such as indecent exposure to a tier 3 which is sexual misconduct involving a minor. Who qualifies as a sex offender and what is sexual misconduct changes with public morals- such as ideas about which age gaps are ‘acceptable.’

Sex offender registries and notification

Registries- the list that law enforcement has for crime control purposes

Notification- the portion of the registry that is available to the public and is there for teh purpose of informing the public.

These devices are largely symbolic as they do not limit reoffense and only 1/3 of the public actually checks them. CH 22 highlights that these are ineffective against stopping sex crimes. These lists often stem from correctional quackery such as the idea that sex offenders can’t change and hold them to their mistakes with the goal of punishment rather than rehabilitation. Banished also highlights the issues that arise from having this data public, such as difficulty finding acceptable housing and keeping up with the regulations.

Megan’s Law

Forces all convicted sex offenders to register as a sex offender and mandates that every state has a registry with at least some portion of it available to to public. However, carceral tactics such as these are largely symbolic because not many people access these registries and they promote vigilante justice, putting the burden of protection on individuals and having them search for offenders themselves.

Adam Walsh Child Protection Act

Creates a national sex offender registry and broadens who must register as a sex offender. The law was split into three tiers: 1- crimes punishable with less then a year in prison need to register for 15 years and show up to court once a year, offenses punishable by a year or more need to register for 25 yrs and show up every 6 months, offenses against minors need to register for life and show up every three months. Though these categories are very broad and overpolice what is acceptable and unacceptable sex.

Prison Industrial Complex (PIC)

The idea that the carceral system is ingrained into political and economic institutions and the economic structure of the US benefits from prisons. Free prison labour, privatizing correctional facilities, adding a carceral element to social institutions are all example of the PIC as they intertwine the carceral system with the larger economic system.

Neoliberalism

An ideology that stresses free market capitalism, the rise of the individual and the fall of the welfare state. For example, neoliberalism promotes individual responsibility for both your economic status and the crimes that you commit questioning who is ‘deserving’ of welfare. It also privatizes public welfare facilities. These political and economic system cause the PIC

Carceral State

NOT THE PIC SEE THE DIFFERENCE

This describes the way that public industries are becoming more carceral and the expansion of the surveillance state because logics and technologies that are used in prisons, are being replicated into non carceral settings. For example, panics about gun violence caused metal detectors and clear backpacks to become standard in many high schools, instead of addressing the root social issue of gun access in the state the penalize children.

“Governing Through Crime”

A social aspect of neoliberalism that promotes dismantling the welfare state and building a stronger carceral state in which prison technologies and systems are replicated into non-carceral institutions. This is seen through the war on crime and the war on poverty in which social issues were seen as crimes rather than economic or health issues. Criminalization of homelessness etc.

Intelligence led policing

After 9/11, policing became a means to catch terrorists before they strike and managing risks to maintain security. This means that intelligence and surveillance operatives expanded leading to partnerships between public and private entities and concerns over data privacy and due process as well as how far civil rights can be ignored in teh face of ‘security’

preventative law enforcement

Similar to mccarthyism, this is the process of accusing people of crimes before they commit them in order to promote security. In the wake of 9/11 the public was concerned about what the government was doing to prevent another tragedy, and in response the government expands programs to surveil and gather informeation on its citizens. This method often infringed on due process and personal liberties to promote ‘security.’

preventative justice measures

Substantive and procedural expansion of the CJS to ‘stop crime before it happens.’ As cole outlines, substantive expansion is prosecuting an indivdual for what they might do rather than what they have done- these assumptions can be made based on race, community or ideals or by subversion of speech. Procedural justice is when governments circumvent due process methods and prosecuting people through other avenues- such as limiting immigration from certain countries.

McCarthyism

Usually used in the context of the red scare, McCarthyism describes the processes of questioning someone’s loyalty to the state or being accused of treason without evidence. These accusations are made because someone may not aligning with preconceived ideals be associated with other people who do not or even for breaking societal norms or being a minority. McCarthyism can be seen through loyalty review commission such as HUAC or today through the criminalization of student protestors.

War on terror

due to moral panics post 9/11, the government moved to instill mass surveillance policies and preventative policing that racially profiled middle eastern people and anyone who looked Brown. Cole- the war on terror was very similar to the net widening and infringement on rights that occurred during McCarthyism and expanded procedural and substantive measures for combating terror.

DNA mining

Tracy and Morgan talk about collecting DNA from crime scenes and comparing it to existing DNA in data bases. This would assume that the bigger the database the better it would be at crime control. However Tracy and Morgan argue that there is not enough regulation on DNA databases, and that they infringe on individual privacy. Also, processing DNA is an expensive and time consuming process so having a large database doesn’t guarantee that the kit will be reviewed.

the CSI effect

The effect that the media, and specifrically crime shows such as CSI have on the public understanding of the capabilities and accessibility of forensics. These shows often promote junk science and over estimate the frequency in which forensic evidence can be found on a crime scene.

Junk Science

Fake science that masquerades as forensics but isnt actually reliable or supported by any scientific evidence. For example, the polygraph or blood splatters are forms of junk science that cannot be proven with any statistical significance to prove anything. Junk science is propagated because they have set a precedent in preceding criminal cases and have become intertwined within the system making it difficult to remove. Blassigame argues that jurors have unrealistic expectations for forensics because of this

Forensic Science

Substantiated science for the purpose of courtroom evidence or law investigation. These would be DNA evidence such as fingerprints, to prove that someone was present at the crime scene. However due to teh CSI effect, many people have unrealistic expectations for what forensics can achieve. Furthermore, most criminal cases are property cases which dont allow for DNA and most prosecutors dont even use forensics to win thier cases.

Restorative Justice

A decarceral strategy that emphasizes repairing the relationships between the victim and the offender. This method is victim centered and prioritizes what the victim wants to achieve through the CJS; it also pulls the focus away from the crime committed which is focused on through a offender v state model. However, since defendants must plead guilty to access this method, problems similar to that of a plea bargain may emerge, in which defendants feel pressure to plead guilty.

Decarcerating Strategies

As highlighted by Jacobs, he lists 5: decriminalization, diversion, alternative sentencing, limiting police enforcement, and shorter sentencing. However, he argues that these strategies would be difficult to put into practice because different political groups have different agendas such as the police union protecting against limiting or defunding the police. Also, different people argue for different methods and some may be more beneficial than otehr for certain crimes.

prison/police abolition

As Ruth Gilmore argues in the podcast, prison abolition in the idea that the carceral system including the institutions and the police are ineffective, bias and unjust and so must be reduced or eliminated by using alternative punishment methods. Gilmore says that to truly reach prison abolition, people must invest in social programs that change the environments that promote crime.