NCJ Number
139705
Journal
Criminology Volume: 30 Issue: 4 Dated: (November 1992) Pages: 449-474
Date Published
1992
Length
26 pages
Annotation
The new penology, which emerged during the 1970's and 1980's, has involved shifts in three distinct areas: the emergence of new discourses, the formation of new objectives, and the deployment of new techniques.
Abstract
The overall defining characteristic of the current movement is the massive increases in the level of incarceration undertaken during a decade in which reported crime increased only modestly and victimization rates declined. The discourse of the new penology is marked by the replacement of a moral description of the individual offender with an actuarial language of probabilistic calculation and statistical distributions applied to particular populations. The objectives of the movement have shifted away from punishment and rehabilitation to management and systemic coordination. For example, recidivism is now seen as a means of controlling one segment of the inmate population; the new penology has lower expectations of the system's ability to reintegrate offenders into the community. These lower expectations are seen in the development of cost-effective forms of custody and control: no-service custodial centers, electronic monitoring systems, and new statistical techniques for predicting risk. The authors examine three major features of the penal system -- penal sanctions, drug testing, and innovation -- in the context of the new penology. They conclude that these new forms will survive the pressures of demographic, economic, and political factors. 36 notes and 60 references