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Transcarceration and Social Control Policy: The 1980s and Beyond

NCJ Number
161380
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 42 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1996) Pages: 114-126
Author(s)
W W Johnson
Date Published
1996
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Since the 1980's when punishment and control became increasingly complex, several noncriminal justice system controls, including welfare assistance, psychiatric intervention, and education, have come to be recognized.
Abstract
The interaction between various forms of control is characterized as transcarceration, and the analysis incorporates 1987 data from the 50 States to assess this interaction, holding constant the influence of social and economic conditions. Findings of multivariate analysis show transcarceral effects exist. Policy implications of transcarceration are discussed in light of the public's demand for more effective social control and fiscal constraint. The author contends that exclusive reliance on imprisonment and psychiatric hospitalization rates to assess levels of control reflects only a single dynamic of the correctional system and fails to provide a clear, comprehensive understanding of how formal social control processes interact. 34 references, 5 notes, and 2 tables