Engineering of Social Control: The Search for the Silver Bullet (From Crime and Inequality, P 225-246, 1995, John Hagan and Ruth D. Peterson, eds. - See NCJ-157570)

• NCJ Number: 157580
• Author(s): G T Marx
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 22 pages
• Sale Source: Stanford University Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter explores the notion of the engineered society and the continuing professionalization and specialization of social control.

Abstract

The goals of the engineered society are to eliminate or limit violations by controlling the physical environment and to eliminate or reduce the role of human agents. Deterrence is achieved by devaluing and insulating potential targets and increasing the certainty that violations and violators will be discovered. Six social engineering strategies -- target removal, target devaluation, target insulation, offender incapacitation, offender exclusion, and identification of offender, offense, and target -- are described and considered in terms of implications for theory and policy. 1 figure