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Progressive penality as performance

Buchan, Jamie; McNeill, Fergus

Authors

Fergus McNeill



Abstract

Scotland’s prison population remains stubbornly high despite reforms to sentencing and community penalties (most recently in 2016). Seeking to advance the debate on punishment in Scotland, we use empirical data to support a novel theoretical synthesis of the ‘agonistic framework’ and ‘performative regulation’. We argue that these reforms appear oriented towards decarceration, without substantively engaging with the drivers of imprisonment, and hence exemplify the ‘performative’ nature of much Scottish penal policy. The ‘performance’ is shaped by countervailing political constraints on the Scottish Nationalist government, amid continued debate over independence – but truly progressive penal policy requires radical and substantive responses to the problems that punishment seeks to address.

Citation

Buchan, J., & McNeill, F. (in press). Progressive penality as performance. Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, https://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12516

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 10, 2022
Online Publication Date Feb 9, 2023
Deposit Date Aug 11, 2022
Publicly Available Date Feb 9, 2023
Print ISSN 0265-5527
Electronic ISSN 2059-1101
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12516
Keywords agonistic framework, community justice, community penalties, penal field, penal policy, performative regulation, probation, Scotland
Public URL http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2895921