CCJ 4344- Exam 1 Cecelia Chouhy

From Duff and Garland's perspective, why is punishment problematic?

it exercises the power from the state (depends on the state)

is morally problematic:

- involves the use of violence and coercion

- same actions would not be acceptable in a different situation

Two things need to be justified:

- punishment pursues some good

- the state has the right to pursue good through punishment

From Duff and Garland's perspective, why does it merit a justification?

Harm

- Damage to society

Injustice

- Unfair advantage

Name and describe the philosophical foundations of punishments

-Consequentialism

-Retributivism

-Educational and communicational

Reform the punished, create relationship between the state and the punished (communitarian view of society), reintegration of the individual to the moral community

Educational and communicational

2 multiple choice options

Punishment should fit the crime, anchored in the past, harm should be deserved

Retributivism

2 multiple choice options

Seeks to maximize social benefits, good if more benefits are produced over harm, depends on empirical evidence, contingent and instrumental

Consequentialism

2 multiple choice options

identify the type of punishment philosophy that has been used to justify certain punishments

Retributivism

2 multiple choice options

Have an idea of the emphasis that has been given to each justification of punishment since the last century (rehabilitation and educational/communicational)

retribution: emphasis on rehabilitation

Educational/Communicational: deterrence/incapacitation

Limitations of Philosophies of Punishment

-Problems with the concept of "crime" and the need for State sanctions

-Assumes that the State is the agent naturally in charge of regulating and punishing deviation

-Rely on particular assumptions regarding the characteristics of the perpetrator from Duff and Garland (1997)

Penology

Practically-oriented, Concerned with monitoring penal practices, Evaluation of effects, How to achieve institutional goals, Takes institutions for granted

2 multiple choice options

Sociology of Punishment

Asks How the society organizes punishment, Why certain societies adopt certain types of punishment, Relationship between theories of punishment and contexts of emergence

2 multiple choice options

Philosophies of Punishment

takes into account penological and sociological studies

2 multiple choice options

Identify different ways in which penology and sociology of punishment challenge the retribution philosophy of punishment

Can penalties be administered in an equitable and effective manner?

- discrimination, inequality

Assumes punishment removes unfair advantages

- Do unfair advantages exist?

Respect of moral autonomy

- Do prisons really reflect this?

Communicates censure

- Do individuals deserve to be censured?

Suffering is not guaranteed and depends on social conditions

- general standard of living, monetary sanctions

Identify different ways in which penology and sociology of punishment challenge the consequentialism philosophy of punishment

Based on assumptions about the effects of institutions.

Are the goals intended to be achieved through punishment actually attainable?

What means that certain policies "work"?

The empirical evidence about the effects of penal policies is more nuanced.

Rehabilitation, deterrence, or incapacitation are hard to measure

What are the two justice orientations?

Retribution and Justice Model "Just Desserts Model"

Retribution

Recognition of human agency:

- individuals have the right and freedom to break the law

- the law and the punishments are established

- punishing lawbreakers implies recognizing their humanity

Society has the right to punish:

- society needs punishment

- social punishment is the way to restore moral limits

-Punishment represents justice and the lack of punishment represents injustice

Justice Model

Rehabilitation was to blame for the CJS failures:

- did not believe in the benevolence of state officials

- systemic injustices and disparities in treatment

- prisons were coercive environments

Wanted to limit the reach of the CJS:

- prisoners should be protected from the state

Proposed policy changes:

- limit judicial options

- replace indeterminate sentences with determinate sentences

- eliminate parole boards

- make rehabilitation programs optional (removing coercion)

- improve prison conditions

- shorten sentences

- only use prison sentences for the most serious crimes

Problems with Retribution

Prison:

- assumes prison is the only way to punish

- prison conditions vary

- Prisons should be held accountable too

Criminology:

- human agency is not unlimited

- Unchosen traits and circumstances also explain crime

Inequality:

- Punishing people who were treated unfairly by society does not bring justice

- the limits of limiting discretion:

- discretion moved from judges to prosecutors and lawmakers

- prosecutorial approaches vary by jurisdiction

- Social construction of punishment

- assume their is a consensus about the law

- powerful groups influence what is labeled a crime and how justice is imparted

Utitlity:

- lack of concern about crime control

Problems with Justice Model

The solution to an imperfect model was also imperfect

The solution backfired and led to the punitive turn:

- won battle against rehabilitation but lost war against injustice and states coercive control

- social context changed: conservative turn after liberal Civil Rights era

- agenda became more centered in getting tough than in increasing fairness

Displacement of discretion to lawmakers

Lack of concern for crime reduction:

- did not propose a crime control model

- get tough policies proposed a rationale to reducing crime

How did Cullen and Jonson explain the rise of retributivist philosophies and how did they displace the predominant orientations in corrections?

- both liberals and conservatives embraced retribuivist philosophies but for different reasons

-retribution was important for justifying punitive policies that led to mass incarceration

Which justice orientation did liberals subscribe to?

Just deserts, rights of the punished, mistrust in the state's power and ineffectiveness of rehabilitation

1 multiple choice option

Which justice orientation did conservatives subscribe to?

retribution, individual responsibility, punishment is the correct response to crime

1 multiple choice option

Retribution Vs Just deserts

- both embrace proportionality

-differ in the amount

-different goals for correctional reform

what are the basic characteristics of the punitive turn that took place in the last part of the 20th Century

-led to mass incarceration

-increase in punitive claims from public

-crime and insecurity became central

-different explanations of the punitive turn by diff scholars

What did Garland believe was the reason behind the punitive turn?

Cultural

2 multiple choice options

What did Alexander believe was the reason behind the punitive turn?

Racial

2 multiple choice options

What did Pfaff believe was the reason behind the punitive turn?

Institutional

2 multiple choice options

Garland: cultural and social changes that shaped the culture of control

Cultural conditions explain the emergence and consolidation of new crime control strategies

- daily experience of crime and insecurity

- Insecurity was amplified by the media

Social conditions

- Rapid social changes (gender roles, sexuality, questioning of traditional roles of authority) and more flexibility in the labor market generated uncertainty

what is Garland's new culture of crime control?

No sharp institutional change, but strong shift in emphasis:

- greater and more intensive use of custody

- shift from reactive to proactive and community policing

- return of the victim to the CJ process

- correctional apparatus of penal welfarism still in place, change in discretion

Emergence of "third sector"

- new apparatus of prevention and security

- developed alongside the CJS

- civil society, local actors, public private partnerships, community policing, multiple agencies

- focus on community safety and crime prevention

- extends social control beyond the government

Declining autonomy of CJS

- populist current diminished the autonomy of CJS

- responsive to public and other "client's" needs

- change of mechanisms of political actions within the field, micromanaging of penal decision-making (mandatory minimums, sentencing guidelines, performance indicators)

garland policy predicaments?

adaptation:

- professionalism and rationalization of justice

- commercialization of justice

-concentration on consequences

- fear of crime

- victims,

- criminology of everyday life

- relocating responsibilities

- community solutions

- responsibilization strategy

non adaptive responses:

- denial

- rejection of realism

- criminology of the other

- acting out

- reactivation of myth of sovereign punishment

- expressive punishment

- populist policies

Garland: main changes in social order in late modernity?

- capitalist production and market exchange

- restructuring of the family and household

- changes in the social ecology of cities and suburbs

- rise of electronic mass media

- democratization of social and cultural life

Garland: changes in the forms of control?

Historical:

- decline of rehabilitation that was dominant in the 20th century

- processes became rationalized and "civilized"

Penological:

- changes in professional practices and training

- volatility of policy developments

Sociological:

- formal and informal controls

- different institutions and systems interrelated (legal system, labor market, welfare state)

understand the role that race and racialized social controls play in Alexander's explanation of the surge of mass incarceration

mass incarceration is not simply about crime control but functions as a modern system of racialized social control.

-Alexander argues that mass incarceration creates a racial caste system

-Those branded as "criminals" lose access to housing, employment, voting rights, and public benefits.

-It is sustained by race-neutral rhetoric but enforced in ways that disproportionately target and marginalize people of color, thereby maintaining racial hierarchy under a "colorblind" guise

parallels between mass incarceration and jim crow? according to alexander

-Jim Crow: Laws openly permitted racial discrimination in housing, education, employment, and voting.

Mass Incarceration: Once labeled a criminal, a person can be legally denied employment, housing, access to public benefits, and even the right to vote.

-ijm Crow: Black people were stigmatized as inferior, dangerous, and unworthy of equal treatment.

Mass Incarceration: Those branded as "criminals" are stigmatized in similar ways — dangerous, undeserving, and untrustworthy

differences between mass incarceration and jim crow? according to alexander

-jim Crow: Explicitly racial. Laws openly separated Black and white people (segregated schools, buses, housing, voting).

-Mass Incarceration: Officially colorblind. Drug laws, sentencing guidelines, and "tough on crime" rhetoric don't mention race

-Jim Crow: Applied to all African Americans in the South, regardless of class or criminal status.

-Mass Incarceration: Targets mainly poor, urban Black men through criminal justice labeling. Not all African Americans are directly affected

be able to describe the generalities of what Pfaff refers to as "the standard story"of prison growth

- drug offenses (low level possession) is the primary cause of mass incarceration

-harsh sentencing alws (three strikes)

-belief that national policies are mostly responsible, unlike state and local

Why does Pfaff challenge the main points of the "standard story"?

What is Pfaff's argument about the role of prosecutors as main drivers of mass incarceration?

Pfaff: describe the main characteristics of prosecutorial work and the main changes in prosecutorial practices that led to mass incarceration