NCJ Number
227275
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 49 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2009 Pages: 343-362
Date Published
May 2009
Length
20 pages
Annotation
By applying the framework of 'precautionary logic' to the problem of protecting the public from dangerous sexual and violent offenders, this paper seeks both to illustrate its significance as a key process in neo-liberal societies and to refine the theoretical contribution of theorists Ewald and Ericson.
Abstract
The nature of the 'precautionary logic' turn emerged in the work of theorist Francois Ewald (2002) and was adapted by Richard Ericson (2007). In their respective writings, both make the argument that, in contemporary neo-liberal societies, the problem of 'order' and 'risk' is now subsumed by the problem of 'uncertainty'. Governmental responses to incalculable, but high-consequence, threats to life and security are framed by what has been described as 'precautionary logic'. However, neither theorist sought to analyze and develop the argument with regard to the problem of protecting the public from 'dangerous' sexual and violent offenders. This paper analyzes and seeks to refine the contours of 'precautionary logic' within the context of recent developments in dealing with dangerous offenders, including serious sexual and violent offenders. The intent is to show how context contingently molds and shapes the general techno-scientific features of 'precautionary logic'. To accomplish this, the paper focuses on how the logic of precaution infuses attempts at reducing the riskiness of law itself in this security domain, articulating with other infrastructures of the management of risk; how knowledge becomes both an object and instrument of suspicion, and how decisionmaking under precautionary logic is constituted by psychological and cultural factors, including mass-medicated communications. References