Towards a concept of the penal state.

• In Event: The Concept of the Penal State

Abstract

Criminologists and “punishment and society” scholars regularly refer to something called “the penal state” but the meaning and referents of that term are often vague, and the concept remains under-developed. This paper takes up a theoretical task that Merton described as “conceptual articulation,” aiming to advance from a rudimentary, particularized, and largely unexplicated proto-concept to a more precisely defined theoretical idea that can guide inquiry. Drawing on sociological theories of the state, and using America’s penal state(s) as the primary referent, the paper discusses the penal state’s boundaries and jurisdiction; its powers and capacities; its internal differentiation, conflicts and tensions; its relationship to other state sectors; its characteristic functions; and its relation to social structure, political process, and public opinion.

Author

• David Garland, New York University