Penal Abolitionism Flashcards

Flashcards about Penal Abolitionism

Penal Abolitionism

Theoretical approach that seeks to disarticulate crime from punishment, viewing criminal justice and penal systems as social problems.

Praxis

Applied theory, the practical application of abolitionist ideas.

W.E.B. Du Bois

Early abolitionist who connected slavery, lynching, segregation to the prison system in the USA.

Angela Davis

Activist and academic who argued for prison abolition, viewing the prison as a racist institution and part of the prison-industrial complex.

Nils Christie

A key figure in the development of penal abolitionism theory.

Methodological Foundation of Abolitionism

Critique criminal and penal policy, including dichotomies and (ir)rationality.

Concept of Crime (Abolitionist perspective)

Views crime as criminalised conflicts and a product of the criminal justice system itself.

Penal Abolitionist Goals

Aims to abolish the criminal justice system, penal system, penal institutions, and ultimately prisons.

Reoffending Rate (UK, July-September 2021)

25.2%, a 1.7 percentage point increase from the same quarter in 2020, fluctuating between 23.1% and 31.8% over time.

Deaths in Prison Custody (England and Wales, to September 2024)

317 deaths, a 4% increase from the previous 12 months, with 88 self-inflicted.

Self-Harm Rate (England and Wales, to June 2024)

876 incidents per 1,000 prisoners, a 13% increase from the previous 12 months, reaching a new peak in male prisons.

Assault Rate (England and Wales, to June 2024)

335 assaults per 1,000 prisoners, an 18% increase from the previous 12 months.

Mathiesen, T. (on prison failure)

Prison never meets declared goals.

Garland, D. (on why prison persists)

Argues prison persists due to sociological and symbolic functions, despite moral and penological failures.

Ideological Functions of Prison

Expurgatory, Power-Draining, Diversionary, Boundary Marking, and Signifying Action.

Mathiesen (Denial of prison's failure)

Happens in widest sphere (media), Narrower sphere (CJ practitioners), Further narrower sphere (joint moral community)

Prison Justifications

Natural response to crime, deters offenders, rehabilitate criminals, protect the public, Reflects our need to punish.

Abolitionist strategies

Focus on primary and secondary criminalisation Decriminalising, Depenalising, Tearing down the walls (progressive/gradual).

Foucault (on prison reform)

Prison reform is contemporary to prison creation and reinforces the system.

Alternatives to prison (Abolitionist perspective)

Sees 'alternatives to prison' as often resulting in net widening and carceral archipelago.

Negative Reform

Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Moratorium, Civilisation /redress.

Positive Reform

More staff, more prisons, better prisons.

Negative Reform Examples

Restorative Justice, Conflict resolution Justice reinvestment, Police defunding.

Beyond Criminal Justice

Social justice, Safe harbors, Alternative livelihoods, Universal design, Urban redevelopment.