Punishment as moral communication: the experiences of long-term prisoners

Schinkel, M. (2014) Punishment as moral communication: the experiences of long-term prisoners. Punishment and Society, 16(5), pp. 578-597. (doi: 10.1177/1462474514548789)

Abstract

This article examines for the first time to what extent the lived experience of long-term prisoners matches the normative theory of criminal punishment as moral communication. The findings are based on 27 narrative interviews with men at different stages of a long-term prison sentence. The analysis suggests that Antony Duff’s normative vision of punishment as moral communication may be difficult to realise in practice because of the inevitable pressures on defendants in the courtroom and on prisoners during their incarceration. In the court, the men’s attention was focused on the length of the sentence imposed; they were often overwhelmed by emotion and did not interact with the court as a moral arena. Within prison the men tended to accept their sentence in order to make bearing their incarceration easier. Comparing these men’s lived experiences of punishment with Duff’s normative theory highlights problems with the theory’s potential implementation but also reveals normative problems with current practices of sentencing and sanctioning

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Schinkel, Dr Marguerite
• Authors: Schinkel, M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
• Journal Name: Punishment and Society
• Publisher: Sage
• ISSN: 1462-4745
• ISSN (Online): 1741-3095
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2014 The Author
• First Published: First published in Punishment and Society 16(5):578-597
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
61960	1	Lives sentenced: the punishment careers of persistent offenders	Marguerite Lucil Schinkel	Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC)	ES/K009389/1	SPS - SOCIOLOGY