The Electronic Monitoring of Offenders in Context: From Policy to Political Logics
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The Electronic Monitoring of Offenders in Context: From Policy to Political Logics Emma Laurie1 · Giuseppe Maglione1
© The Author(s) 2019
Abstract The electronic monitoring (EM) of offenders is a subject that has been researched widely within criminology. Theoretical engagement with this instrument has been limited, however. The criminological literature, in fact, has focused primarily on empirical assessments of EM’s financial and technical aspects, as well as on the legal implications of EM and its impact on reoffending. Against this backdrop, this article provides a critical examination of EM, focussing on how policy construes this penal measure, using Scotland as an example. In addition, drawing on Foucault’s notion of governmentality, this article explores and problematizes the political logics (neoliberal, nationalist and techno-communitarian) which inform EM policy in the context of Scotland. The final section shifts the focus from exposing the political milieu within which EM policy emerges to contesting its possible effects, thereby extending the political critique of EM policy. The overarching aim is to contribute toward a nuanced political assessment of EM, while presenting directions for future engagement with this subject.
Introduction Most of the criminological literature on the electronic monitoring (EM) of offenders centers on its financial and technical implications, its historical roots and its impact on reoffending, as well as on its place within criminal justice systems across the world (Bartels and Martinovic 2017). There remains, however, a lack of critical criminological scrutiny of EM policy and practice. In fact, when policy is considered, it is usually as an introductory section of empirical analyses (Graham and McIvor 2015, 2017; Hucklesby et al. 2016; McIvor and Graham 2016), and it rarely includes fine-grained examinations of the politics informing such policy frameworks (Jones 2014; Nellis 2006; Payne and Gainey 2000). This article rests on the broader premise that penal policy is a political device in that it seeks to “act upon the possibilities of action of other people” (Foucault 1982: 341) and that neglecting this political dimension equates with committing the “original sin of criminological positivism” (Matza 1969: 143). From this viewpoint, this article offers a theoretically informed * Giuseppe Maglione [email protected] 1
School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Sighthill Campus, Edinburgh EH114BN, UK
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E. Laurie, G. Maglione
analysis of EM policy, using Scotland as a case study, in order to illustrate the political logics that underpin such policy in specific contexts (cf. Maglione 2018a). After an overview of the context and research literature on EM and a methodological introduction, this article unpacks EM policy, looking at how such policy construes distinctive “problems,” “subjects,” “objects” and “places” and uncovering the tacit assumptions behind such constructions (Bacchi 2009, 2012). The second part of the arti
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