Discourses of Mass Probation: From Managing Risk to Ending Human Warehousing in Michigan

Area of Science:

• Criminology
• Sociology of Punishment
• Penal Policy

Background:

• Western nations are shifting towards rehabilitation and penal moderation.
• Risk logics, previously driving mass incarceration in the U.S., are now being reframed for decarceration.
• The historical development of risk in punishment, particularly its role in the transition to post-modern penal practices, is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the evolution of risk discourses and practices in penal policy.
• To analyze the role of risk management in probation, a key alternative to incarceration.
• To examine how risk logics have been adapted over time in response to governmental challenges.

Main Methods:

• Historical analysis of discourses and practices related to risk in the U.S. criminal justice system.
• Focus on probation services in one specific U.S. state (Michigan) from the 1970s to 2014.
• Examination of how risk management strategies have been implemented and adapted across different decades.

Main Results:

• Risk discourses and practices in Michigan probation originated in the 1970s as a form of resistance against the prison boom.
• These risk-based approaches were subsequently adapted in each following decade.
• The adaptations were driven by the need to address various state governing crises and challenges.

Conclusions:

• Risk management in corrections has a complex history, evolving from a tool of mass incarceration to one potentially supporting decarceration.
• Probation has served as a key site for the development and adaptation of risk logics in response to shifting penal philosophies and state needs.
• Understanding the historical trajectory of risk in punishment is crucial for contemporary debates on penal reform and decarceration efforts.