Increasing Detection and Incarceration Rates: Punitive Governments or Technological Advancements?

• NCJ Number: 217055
• Journal: Acta Criminologica Volume: 19 Issue: 1 Dated: 2006 Pages: 57-76
• Author(s): C. Bezuidenhout
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 20 pages
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: South Africa
• Note: To access the full text PDF: 1) select the provided link; 2) from the Acta Criminologica Web site, select "Table of Contents"; 3) select the corresponding Volume and Issue (see the NCJRS abstract record for the exact Volume and Issue); 4) scroll the Table of Contents to the exact article; and 5) click on the "full text" icon. Downloaded on January 23, 2007.

Annotation

This article examines the potential impact of technology advancements on the rates of apprehension and incarceration, or the criminal justice system through a review of Garland’s theory of “culture of control.”

Abstract

This article has argued that technology has had a great impact on society and the criminal justice system (CJS). In essence, crime has been altered by technology. In summation, increasing crime rates and the rise in incarceration rates could be linked, to a large extent, to the technology explosion after 1970 and not necessarily to punitive governments. In the past few years, government has realized the potential of technology and restorative justice. After realizing that technology could address the sieve effect or attrition rate of crimes in the system and with crime rates stabilizing during the 1990s, governments are increasingly addressing the attrition rates by budgeting sufficiently for technological advances in the future. In David Garland’s book, “The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society” (2001), Garland’s view on the “culture and control” explains how popular culture adjusted to the crime crisis and how governments have become more punitive towards offenders. His belief is that the adoption of a more punitive strategy has caused incarceration rates to grow unstoppable since the 1970s. This paper reviews Garland’s view on culture and control and argues that he has failed to recognize the impact of technology on the effectiveness of the criminal justice system. It considers the extent to which technology has contributed to more offenders being apprehended and processed through the CJS. References