The Politics of Penality: An Overview of the Development of Penal Policy in Scotland

Abstract

A dominant theme of much contemporary penological literature is that western penal systems are undergoing a profound transformation. As evidence for change, commentators point to: the growth of managerialism within the penal process; the development of new policy objectives such as crime prevention and support for victims; and the trend towards bifurcated penal strategies. M. Feeley and J. Simon argue that there is a paradigm shift taking place in the penal process from old to new penology. They define old penology as an amalgam of the disparate practices which dominated European and North American penal systems until about the mid 1970s. While Garland would accept that the penal system is increasingly being used as a mechanism for managing social tensions, he links recent changes in penalty more explicitly to the growing recognition on the part of governments that they have a limited capacity to provide law and order within their territorial boundaries.

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