NCJ Number
128701
Date Published
1991
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This essay reviews topics that have been the focus of penology research as well as the multidisciplinary character of such research.
Abstract
Penology -- the study of the disposition of criminal offenders -- includes sentencing and the policies and practices of managing offenders under sentence. Social scientists have sought to determine whether criminal sanctions serve particular purposes. This includes assessments of whether some sanctions are more likely to have general deterrent effects compared to others. Research on specific deterrence has proliferated under the concept that particular penal sanctions, properly administered, can have rehabilitative effects and prevent recidivism. Penologists have also analyzed the maintenance of order in penal settings, especially the prison. The ascendancy of legalism with its assertions about the importance of the rule of law, equality, and just proportion, has resulted in a renewed concern for the control of judicial discretion. Given this influence, penologists are often asked to research the use of judicial discretion in sentencing. Penology has been broadened and enhanced in the past two decades through a heightened interest in the subject by historians and sociologists. Historians have analyzed penal reform processes, and sociologists have examined why particular penal reforms arise, their unintended consequences, and how they fuel a perpetual reform effort. 74-item reading list