The Failure of Punishment as Social Control

Extract

I must begin with several disclaimers, which express not the obligatory protestations of false modesty but the real limitations of this article. First, I am not a criminologist, penologist or philosopher of law but a lawyer and sociologist of law. Second, I inevitably reflect the unique social environment within the United States, which may be very different from that of the other countries represented at this conference. Third, my remarks are impressionistic and synthetic, not the conclusions of a careful empirical study.

My argument is simple. In the contemporary United States, stateimposed sanctions are seen as a central mechanism of social control. (Of course, they also are seen as incapacitation, retribution, and rehabilitation; but most people would view these as secondary justifications.) Indeed, I believe most Americans would view state punishment as the most important mechanism of social control. By state-imposed sanctions I mean both criminal penalties (execution, imprisonment, fine, probation, and community service) and civil damages (compensatory and punitive).