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Limits to Pain
01 Nov 1981-
About: The article was published on 1981-11-01 and is currently open access. It has received 228 citations till now.
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01 May 2013
TL;DR: In his Willem Bonger memorial lecture in 1990 Stanley Cohen laid down the definitive challenge for penal abolitionism as mentioned in this paper, arguing that penal abolitionists must adhere to three potentially contradictory demands: (1) deliver honest, rigorous and relevant intellectual enquiries into key issues and problems confronting the scope and application of modern criminal processes; (2) present feasible, realistic and viable alternatives to existing dehumanising practices that provide immediate and effective aid for individual sufferers; and (3) construct a systematic, coherent and radical normative framework that can provide a road map for progressive social change rooted
Abstract: In his Willem Bonger memorial lecture in 1990 Stanley Cohen laid down the definitive challenge for penal abolitionism. Cohen (1990) argued that penal abolitionists must adhere to three potentially contradictory demands: (1) deliver honest, rigorous and relevant intellectual enquiries into key issues and problems confronting the scope and application of modern criminal processes; (2) present feasible, realistic and viable alternatives to existing dehumanising practices that provide immediate and effective aid for individual sufferers; and (3) construct a systematic, coherent and radical normative framework that can provide a road map for progressive social change rooted in the principles of social justice and human rights. For Cohen (1990) penal abolitionists must be prepared to honestly answer the question, what can we do right now to mitigate the humanitarian crises confronting contemporary penal practices without abandoning the broader obligation to promote radically alternative responses to troublesome human conduct? To appease Cohen’s three ‘voracious gods’, penal abolitionists must combine the ethical imperative to promote immediate help with a political desire for radical transformations of social and penal systems. This necessitates recognition and engagement with the problems and possibilities of our historical moment alongside a disruption of the ideological limitations placed upon what is considered appropriate and feasible.
19 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide an interpretation of the underlying images of the community within policy documents and legal statutes on restorative justice produced in England and Wales since 1985, and sketch out an "ideal" model of community in Restorative Justice, whose cultural background is also outlined.
Abstract: Within the scholarly literature on restorative justice, the ‘community’, as a distinctive crime stakeholder, has been the target of extensive research. This work provides an original interpretation of the underlying images of the community within policy documents and legal statutes on RJ produced in England and Wales since 1985. The paper begins with an outline of the most recurrent representations of the community in relevant laws and policy, unearthing their theoretical underpinnings. The next step aims to infer from the general representations a range of more specific features, and to sketch out an ‘ideal’ model of community in restorative justice, whose cultural background is also outlined. As a final step, some critical reflections on the implications of the ‘ideal community’ are offered. By identifying what is taken for granted in laws and policies on restorative justice and its cultural context, this study aims to foster a critical “reality check” on this specific development of western penal policy, relevant for the restorative justice movement, at the international level.
18 citations
Cites background from "Limits to Pain"
...The premise of this view is that crimes and crime responses are conceived in terms of social conflict (Christie 1977, 1982) taking place in (and against) the wider community (RJ Action Plan 2012: 3; RJ Strategy 2003: 1.2)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use a rather narrow set of measurements in the evaluation of community corrections, which are based on what constitutes "just" and "humane" punishment, to evaluate the success or failure of a community corrections policy.
Abstract: In view of its rather short history, it is perhaps too early to tell whether the movement towards community-based options has succeeded or failed in Australia. But what do we mean by \"success\" and \"failure\"? How are these to be measured? What are the criteria for evaluation? These are some of the questions which must be addressed before considering the question of evaluation any further. As we mentioned in Section 1, three dominant justifications have been advanced for the introduction of alternatives to incarceration: the cost of imprisonment, the ineffectiveness of prisons as a sanction, and the inhumanity of prison conditions. In addition, a basic requirement of criminal punishment is that it be fair or just. These are criteria which could be used to evaluate the \"success\" of decarceration (see Casper and Brereton, 1984, and later discussion for the problems of evaluation). However, one must consider the degree to which humanitarianism and justice, both basic philosophical principles, can be achieved along with cost-effectiveness, an essentially administrative/bureaucratic concern. In the reform literature there is rarely any discussion about the relative priority or ordering of these criteria: for example, whether the search for more humane forms of punishment should over-ride all other administrative considerations, or whether justice and desert are more important than cost-effectiveness. Indeed, what happens if one has to choose between \"doing good\" and \"doing justice\" (Cohen, 1985)? Reform has consistently accepted that these sometimes incompatible objectives have to be somehow \"balanced\". Given the absence of philosophical debate, not surprisingly we find that administrative \"convenience7' has often taken over moral \"conscience7' (Rothman, 1980) in reform movements. Concepts such as \"justice\" and \"humanity\" are, of course, difficult to define simply. In the absence of any widely accepted and carefully articulated criteria of what constitutes \"just\" and \"humane\" punishment, we use a rather more narrow set of measurements in the evaluation of community corrections. Decarceration is said to be a more humane policy because it purports to provide an alternative, less brutalizing form of punishment for offenders who would otherwise have gone to prison. The success of this policy is then dependent on (a) whether offenders are actually kept out of prisons, and (b) whether the alternative punishment is indeed less harsh than imprisonment. Decarceration would be considered an \"unjust\" policy if it systematically violated certain due process rights of the offenders, or subjected offenders to an unwarranted mode or quantum of punishment. We acknowledge that our definitions of justice and humanity need refinement, but the important point being made here is that these criteria should be taken more seriously and addressed more frequently in evaluation studies.
18 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the range of social forces which constitute the collection of legal sanctions which make up modem punishment systems, while not disputing the importance of social control.
Abstract: This article examines the range of social forces which constitute the collection of legal sanctions which make up modem punishment systems. While not disputing the importance of the social control ...
18 citations
Abstract: This paper aims to analyse the subject of prisoners, prisons and punishment in small societies. An attempt is made to compare the prison system in a small society (Iceland) with those of other larger societies, in particular those of other Nordic countries. Small institutions function better in many respects than larger ones. The problems that emerge, and there are problems in all prisons, are more visible and can therefore more easily be discussed and solved.
17 citations
Cites background from "Limits to Pain"
...The closer one is to a person, the more dif®cult it is to cause him or her pain (Christie 1981, Balvig 1998)....
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References
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1,628 citations
1,057 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a court procedure that restores the participants' rights to their own conflicts is outlined, where the participants have lost their rights to participate in conflict resolution in the past.
Abstract: CONFLICTS are seen as important elements in society. Highly industrialised societies do not have too much internal conflict, they have too little. We have to organise social systems so that conflicts are both nurtured and made visible and also see to it that professionals do not monopolise the handling of them. Victims of crime have in particular lost their rights to participate. A court procedure that restores the participants' rights to their own conflicts is outlined.
1,046 citations
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TL;DR: The authors of as discussed by the authors suggest that a wide range of services which were once produced in the money economy are increasingly provided informally on a self-service basis. But they do not consider the role of the state in the provision of these services.
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