Multiple Cultures of Control: Bringing the Law and Legal Actors into Explanations of Punishment

• In Event: Cross-National Analyses of Crime and Punishment

Abstract

The second half of the 20th century can be characterized as an era of mass social control. This refers to the rather peculiar punitive shift starting in the mid-1970s in which several countries – but, most dramatically the U.S. and other common law countries - became more reliant upon criminal justice mechanisms to respond to social marginality. Garland’s “culture of control” thesis has framed explanations of comparative punishment for some time. But, more recently scholars have questioned whether there is a “culture of control” or if it is more appropriate to investigate “multiple cultures of control.” Previous research has uncovered interesting linkages between political parties, voting behaviors, and macroeconomics with the nature of punishment. And, I extend Sutton’s political-economy of punishment thesis by including a composite measure of legal and criminal justice practices that are hypothesized to be related to incarceration rates. Specifically, I test whether the nature of prosecutorial discretion, judicial power, courtroom rules, and the nature of lay participation influence incarceration rates in 15 countries from 1960-2010. This criminal justice regime variable is found significantly related to punishment, net of the effects of 22 structural and crime variables in pooled regression analyses.

Author

• Matthew DeMichele, RTI International