MPC Member Publications

This database contains a listing of population studies publications written by MPC Members. Anyone can add a publication by an MPC student, faculty, or staff member to this database; new citations will be reviewed and approved by MPC administrators.

Full Citation

Title: Fracturing the penal state: State actors and the role of conflict in penal change

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2017

ISSN: 1362-4806

DOI: 10.1177/1362480617724829

Abstract: The concept of a penal or carceral state has quickly become a staple in punishment and criminal justice literatures. However, the concept, which suffers from a proliferation of meanings and is frequently undefined, gives readers the impression that there is a single, unified, and actor-less state responsible for punishment. This contradicts the thrust of recent punishment literature, which emphasizes fragmentation, variegation, and constant conflict across the actors and institutions that shape penal policy and practice. Using a case study of late-century Michigan, this article develops an analytical approach that fractures the penal state. We demonstrate that the penal state represents a messy, often conflicted amalgamation of the various branches and actors in charge of punishment, who resist the aims and policies sought by their fellow state actors. Ultimately, we argue that fracture is itself a variable that scholars must measure empirically and incorporate into their accounts of penal change.

Url: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1362480617724829

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Rubin, Ashley; Phelps, Michelle S

Periodical (Full): Theoretical Criminology

Issue: 4

Volume: 21

Pages: 422-440

Countries:

IPUMS NHGIS NAPP IHIS ATUS Terrapop