NCJ Number
181538
Journal
Punishment & Society Volume: 2 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2000 Pages: 23-39
Date Published
January 2000
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article considers whether modern practices of punishment are undergoing a transformation by examining the effect that the development of citizenship within Great Britain has had upon modern punishment.
Abstract
Citizenship requires that people expand their horizons of recognition and treat as equals people they had previously disregarded. This requirement is one of the primary cultural influences upon punishment and explains why modern punishment has always partly been an inclusionary project. The effect of citizenship is ambivalent, because punishment is designed not only to incorporate offenders, but also to underline their conditional status as citizens. This ambivalence explains the persistence of brutal treatment. The analysis traces the influence of citizenship, through the emergence of civil, political, and social rights, upon punishment from the late 18th century to the present. The analysis argues that the inclusionary aspect of punishment is waning as the conditions of citizenship are becoming increasingly stringent. Notes and 49 references (Author abstract modified)