NCJ Number
190046
Journal
Deviance et societe Volume: 25 Issue: 1 Dated: 2001 Pages: 33-51
Date Published
2001
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This article analyzes trends in penal policy in the United States and Europe.
Abstract
Under the title of "the new penology," changes in sentencing in the United States are commonly analyzed as indicators of the transition from punishment or treatment of individual offenders to a penology that focuses on the supervision and control of groups regarded as posing a risk to others. This transition apparently anticipates the emergence of a new model of justice, "actuarial justice." Similar trends are emerging in Europe, but their novelty should be reconsidered against the background of technological progress and the dying out of the social purposes of punishment. These changes are, however, part and parcel of another transition toward the welfare state, where security becomes an end in itself and sentencing becomes an instrument of regulation for a policy of risk-reduction that mainly targets the socially and economically unproductive. 35 notes and 83 references