NCJ Number
104425
Journal
Crime and Social Justice Issue: 26 Dated: (1986) Pages: 95-115
Date Published
1986
Length
21 pages
Annotation
In examining incarceration trends in Canada and the United States, this paper considers the relative influences of economy and ideology in fueling changes in social control systems.
Abstract
The paper proposes a model that views control as semiautonomous in relation to deviant behavioral patterns. The limitations of a singularly economistic model of changes in incarceration strategies are highlighted in a comparative analysis of economic and incarceration trends in Canada and the United States. The study builds on Chan and Ericson's (1981) evaluation of the applicability of Scull's (1977) decarceration thesis to penal reform in Canada. Chan and Ericson's work addressed the relationship among state welfare expenditures, government surpluses and deficits, and incarceration rates for various periods through the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's up to 1978. The present study extends the research by examining 1921-1983 in the United States and Canada and by considering mental health trends in relation to state expenditures. The analysis shows the difficulty of applying the fiscal crisis thesis in either country, given the tenuous relationship between fiscal and incarceration patterns. A comparison of United States and Canadian state budgets shows no unitary political economy of control in either country. The study concludes that a theory of control systems must not rest solely on the state's political economy, as it posits a 'transcarceral' model that places the 'defective,' the 'deranged,' the 'dependent,' and the 'dangerous' into a deviant category managed by a variety of control mechanisms. 26 notes, 36 references, 1 table, and 4 figures.