DECARCERATION - COMMUNITY TREATMENT AND THE DEVIANT - A RADICAL VIEW

• NCJ Number: 39214
• Author(s): A T SCULL
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 191 pages
• Corporate Author: Prentice Hall
• Sale Source: Prentice Hall
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THIS TEXT OFFERS A MACROSOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE CRIMINAL AND THE INSANE, AND PROPOSES THAT THE TREND TO DECARCERATE WAS BROUGHT ABOUT BY ECONOMIC, RATHER THAN REFORM PRESSURES.

Abstract

THE TREND OF DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION WHICH HAS TAKEN PLACE IN THE LAST TWENTY YEARS HAS BEEN HERALDED BY MANY AS A RADICAL REFORM, UNDERTAKEN TO MAKE SOCIETY'S TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL AND THE INSANE MORE EFFECTIVE AND HUMANE. IN DECARCERATION, THE AUTHOR TAKES ISSUE WITH THIS VIEW, ARGUING THAT THE TREND TO DECARCERATION IS NOT MOTIVATED BY REFORM PRESSURES, BUT BY THE STATE'S URGENT NEEDS TO CUT THE COSTS OF SOCIAL CONTROL AND BY THE STATE'S GROWING ABILITY TO CUT THESE COSTS AS WELFARE BECOMES A SUBSTITUTE FOR INSTITUTIONALIZATION. TO SUPPORT THIS THESIS, THE AUTHOR DEVELOPS AN HISTORICAL, MACROSOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DEVIANCE, CONTROL STRUCTURES, AND THE NATURE OF THE WIDER SOCIAL SYSTEMS OF WHICH THEY ARE BOTH A PART AND AN ESSENTIAL SUPPORT. AS HE EXAMINES THE CONTEMPORARY EFFORT TO DECARCERATE MANY DEVIANT POPULATIONS, THE AUTHOR SEEKS TO DEMONSTRATE THE SUPERIORITY OF EXPLANATIONS WHICH FOCUS DIRECTLY ON THE COMPLEX DIALECTICAL INTERPLAY BETWEEN TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE SOCIAL CONTROL APPARATUS (AND THUS THE SHAPES AND FORMS OF DEVIANCE) AND CHANGES IN THE WIDER SOCIAL SYSTEM. TO SUPPORT THIS ARGUMENT, THE AUTHOR FIRST EXAMINES THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL CONTROL AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION IN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES. THE CURRENT TRENDS OF REVERSING THIS PROCESS THROUGH DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION IS THEN EXPLORED. THE USUAL REASONS GIVEN FOR THIS PROCESS ARE THEN EXAMINED AND REFUTED BY THE AUTHOR. RETURNING TO HIS HYPOTHESIS CONCERNING THE RELATIONSHIP OF DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION TO CHANGES IN THE SOCIAL SYSTEM, THE AUTHOR DEMONSTRATES THAT THE STATE'S RECEPTIVITY TO THE POLICY OF DECARCERATION CAN BE TRACED BACK TO FUNDAMENTAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF ADVANCED CAPITALISM. THE PERVASIVENESS, INTENSITY, AND MUTUALLY REINFORCING CHARACTER OF THE PRESSURES TO ADOPT A POLICY OF DECARCERATION ARE SHOWN TO BE INTIMATELY CONNECTED TO THE RISE OF WELFARE CAPITALISM. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED) (SNI ABSTRACT)...DMC