TY - JOUR
T1 - Fracturing the penal state
T2 - State actors and the role of conflict in penal change
AU - Rubin, Ashley
AU - Phelps, Michelle S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017.
PY - 2017/11/1
Y1 - 2017/11/1
N2 - The concept of a penal or carceral state has quickly become a staple in punishment and criminal justice literatures. However, the concept, which suffers from a proliferation of meanings and is frequently undefined, gives readers the impression that there is a single, unified, and actor-less state responsible for punishment. This contradicts the thrust of recent punishment literature, which emphasizes fragmentation, variegation, and constant conflict across the actors and institutions that shape penal policy and practice. Using a case study of late-century Michigan, this article develops an analytical approach that fractures the penal state. We demonstrate that the penal state represents a messy, often conflicted amalgamation of the various branches and actors in charge of punishment, who resist the aims and policies sought by their fellow state actors. Ultimately, we argue that fracture is itself a variable that scholars must measure empirically and incorporate into their accounts of penal change.
AB - The concept of a penal or carceral state has quickly become a staple in punishment and criminal justice literatures. However, the concept, which suffers from a proliferation of meanings and is frequently undefined, gives readers the impression that there is a single, unified, and actor-less state responsible for punishment. This contradicts the thrust of recent punishment literature, which emphasizes fragmentation, variegation, and constant conflict across the actors and institutions that shape penal policy and practice. Using a case study of late-century Michigan, this article develops an analytical approach that fractures the penal state. We demonstrate that the penal state represents a messy, often conflicted amalgamation of the various branches and actors in charge of punishment, who resist the aims and policies sought by their fellow state actors. Ultimately, we argue that fracture is itself a variable that scholars must measure empirically and incorporate into their accounts of penal change.
KW - Criminal justice
KW - penal policy
KW - politics
KW - punishment
KW - punishment and society
KW - state
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85032378643&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85032378643&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1362480617724829
DO - 10.1177/1362480617724829
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85032378643
SN - 1362-4806
VL - 21
SP - 422
EP - 440
JO - Theoretical Criminology
JF - Theoretical Criminology
IS - 4
ER -