Narrative and Expectation in the Experience of Electronic Home Monitoring

• In Event: 3245 - Pathways to Social Justice

Abstract

Electronic home monitoring (EHM), also known as house arrest, is often described by policy makers as a less punitive, more humane method of punishment than incarceration. In practice, studies of EHM find it is often not an alternative to incarceration, but rather it increases the level of supervision for individuals along the continuum of the criminal justice system. This fact calls into question whether direct comparisons to incarceration are appropriate in evaluating the sanction. Although previous studies of the experience of EHM have concluded that individuals do not find the sanction overly burdensome, this paper articulates the importance of considering how respondents frame their experience in comparison to incarceration. These frames lead respondents to minimize the negative collateral consequences of EHM. This paper utilizes 30 interviews with individuals who have been on EHM in Chicago, Illinois. Although many respondents conclude that EHM is not overly onerous, they nonetheless recount significant disruptions to employment, housing, and family relationships. I argue that the carceral state distorts expectations about fair punishment and causes respondents to minimize the hardships they detail.

Author

• Gabriela Kirk, Northwestern University