prison abolitionism

Prison Abolitionism by Thomas Newman

Introduction

Prison Abolitionism (PA) is as multifaceted as any other position, be it moral, theoretical, or aesthetic. It is bound up in a historical web of intellectual and political movements, particular figures, and contexts that make it hard to pin down. What follows is an attempt to capture as many of the details as possible without obscuring the big picture. This piece is divided into in four parts: the first deals with what PA is; the second describes the problems from the Abolitionist perspective; the third covers what their proposed solutions are; and the fourth explores thoughts and criticisms of PA from the author's perspective.

I What is Prison Abolitionism?

A. A Theoretical Perspective

1. School of thought

PA takes its theoretical perspective from Critical Criminology (CC). CC is –

“an international discourse, reproduced by a community of scholars sharing certain assumptions concerning society, crime, and punishment. These assumptions are that the present social order is an unjust one; that, consequently, the definition of 'crime' is questionable; and that the legitimacy of the state to punish law-breakers is not only problematic, but false.” 1

Since the two are so interwoven, they may be at times referred to interchangeably.

2. Techniques

PA, as a part of CC , employs methods of deconstruction, problematisation , and demystification of 2 3 4

concepts and processes used in the Criminal Justice System (CJS). Through this work PA has developed a language to perform this work and has constructed concepts of their own. 5

3. Concepts

Willem De Haan “Fuzzy Morals and Flakey Politics: The Coming Out of Critical Criminology” (1987) 14 Journal of 1

Law and Society at 322.

Which is itself an application of Critical Theory to Criminology.2

Louk H.C. Hulsman “Critical criminology and the concept of crime” (1986) 10 Contemporary Crises at 67.3

At 78.4

At 79.5

'Crime', 'criminality', and 'criminal events' are considered to be in reality nothing more than events which the CJS is 'authorised' to take action against ; crime has no ontological reality ; 'Criminalisation' is taken to be 6 7

the act of labelling some act or activity a 'crime' by those with institutional power or a way of narrowly constructing the reality of an incident, categorising those involved as offenders or victims, allocating blame to the offender, and isolating them from their social context ; 'Criminal justice' or the CJS is said to be "a 8

specific form of cooperation between a certain number of agencies such as the police, the courts" and so on 9

whose focus is the allocation of such blame ; 'Crime Policy' is "policy with respect to criminal justice 10

systems" ; and 'society' is merely an "aggregation of people over which a state claims jurisdiction" but who 11

lack a similarly structured sense of what life is about . 12

The result of the operation of these ideas, processes, and institutions together result in 'injustice. This appears to be thought of as a reaction to events which denies or ignores the 'reality' of things, or is a form of unfairness, for example the unequal application of laws . 'Justice' on he other hand is seen as contextual, 13

taking into account 'reality', can come in restorative or transformative forms, and may be be procedural 14

rather than substantive . Abolitionists prefer, instead of talking about 'crime', to talk about "problematic 15

situations" , "social conflict" , or "trouble" – terms that take into account the context in which 'crime' 16 17 18

occurs. Finally, 'decriminalisation' or 'decarceration' are concepts marking the transition from prevailing methods of dealing with trouble to alternatives and removing the labels placed on those currently within the CJS . 19

B. A Political Movement

PA is perhaps primarily the application or attempted application of the theoretical perspective in radical political action. Since resistance is alway met when engaging in radical revolutionary projects, Thomas Mathiesen has personally advocated an 'unfinished' policy or attitude where –

Louk Hulsman “Alternatives to Punishment – The Abolitionist Case.” (1991) 25 IsLR at 682; “Critical criminology 6

and the concept of crime” at 65 to 66.

“Alternatives to Punishment – The Abolitionist Case.” at 682; “Critical criminology and the concept of crime” at 65 to 7

67.

“Alternatives to Punishment – The Abolitionist Case.” at 683.8

Ibid.9

At 685.10

At 688.11

“Critical criminology and the concept of crime” at 69.12


Auckland Libraries "Abolitionist Demands - Book Launch and Interview" soundcloud <https://soundcloud.com/14

auckland-libraries/abolitionist-demands-book-launch-and-interview>.

“Alternatives to Punishment – The Abolitionist Case.” at 709; Tony Ward “Restorative Justice and Practices in New 15

Zealand: Towards a Restorative Society” (2008) 37 New Zealand Journal of Psychology at 62.

See generally Christie, De Haan, Hulsman, and Mathiesen.16


Ibid.18

See generally Christie, Davis, Hulsman, and Jackson. 19

https://soundcloud.com/auckland-libraries/abolitionist-demands-book-launch-and-interview


"the only true alternative [to prisons] would in fact be contained in a state of permanent, unfinished revolution, or at least in a matrix of social relationships which were constantly evolving." 20

In the paper Fuzzy Morals and Flakey Politics: The Coming Out of Critical Criminology , Willem De Haan 21

chronicles the cuts & thrusts of political manoeuvring and struggles that CC in particular has had in establishing mainstream acceptance of its perspectives, let alone ideological hegemony. Evidently, much thought goes on behind the scenes, not least of all in academia, on how to approach displacing ideas of the dominant culture.

Indeed, Hulsman sets four tasks for CC : firstly, as noted above, to describe, explain, and demystify the 22

activities of the CJS and its adverse social effects; secondly, illustrate how problematic situations could be addressed without having recourse to criminal justice; thirdly, study strategies to abolish the CJS; and fourthly, to develop a language to facilitate this. All of these tasks are (were) intended to translate into practical action bringing about social change.

One suggested strategy was to establish an "Öffentlichkeit" or "alternative 'public sphere'" in which to develop a new media to combat mainstream ideas and discourse by freely discussing critical ideas . 23

C. What are the Motivations?

The thing which motivates CC in general is dissatisfaction with the status quo . More interestingly, what 24

motivates PA in particular it seems are the experiences of horror generated during the 20th century. Nils Christie has spoken about his experience of trying to understand the social causes of concentration camps in Norway during the NAZI occupation , and has elsewhere spoken about the experience of frustration at the 25

senselessness of such large scale, organised, and systematic violence in relation to a visit to Birkenau . His 26

book Crime Control As Industry: Towards Gulags, Western Style is a formal expression of the fear that the 27

prisons in the west are rapidly becoming the horror houses of the NAZI and Soviet regimes:

"The major dangers of crime in modern societies are not the crimes, but that the fight against them may lead societies towards totalitarian developments." . 28


Willem De Haan “Fuzzy Morals and Flakey Politics: The Coming Out of Critical Criminology” (1987) 14 Journal of 21

Law and Society 321.

“Critical criminology and the concept of crime” at 78 to 79.22

Thomas Mathiesen “The politics of abolition” (1986) 10 Contemporary Crises at 84 to 85.23


Institutt for Kriminologi og rettssosiologi "Nils Christie Part 1" (4 March 2009) Youtube < https://youtu.be/25

bolTDjwd9Lc>.

Nils Christie “Images of man in modern penal law” (1986) 10 Contemporary Crises at 105.26

Nils Christie, Crime Control As Industry: Towards Gulags, Western Style (4th ed, Routledge, USA and Canada, 27

1994).

At 16.28

https://youtu.be/bolTDjwd9Lc


Louk Hulsman, apparently, was involved in a resistance movement in the Netherlands during WWII and was himself imprisoned in Amersfoort concentration camp . Angela Davis, a US scholar and activist, was 29

associated with the Black Panthers and the Communist Party USA and as a result faced significant personal and political battles . Davis often uses the term "prison-industrial complex" to refer to the US prison system 30

and attributes its existence and horrifying character to racism and capitalism . 31

The motivations of local groups track similar lines. Noprideinprison in particular seems to be motivated by a resentment of almost all features of mainstream culture, particularly heteronormativity and capitalism, and a bitterness over colonial history . Justspeak seems to have more generalised concerns over the efficacy of 32

prisons , fairness , and the welfare of youth . Moana Jackson, Maori legal scholar, seems to emphasise 33 34 35

efficacy concerns . 36

II What are the Problems from the Abolitionist Perspective?

The concerns of Abolitionists are legion and are directed towards multiple aspects of the CJS, not just prisons. An attempt has been made here to distil them into a small number of discrete objections, which has meant leaving some of the minor concerns out. These objections tend to work interdependently; the objections are directed toward the Criminal Justice System.

A. Industrial Society

The 'root problem' is the changing (or changed) shape of society. It seems that all of the singular problems articulated below can be in some way linked back (at least from the perspective of Abolitionists) to our

"Louk Hulsman" Wikipedia < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louk_Hulsman?wprov=sfsi1>.29

See generally: "Angela Davis" Wikipedia < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Davis?wprov=sfsi1>.30

See generally: FloridaInternational “Slavery and the Prison Industrial Complex - Angela Davis” (11 June 2011) 31

Youtube <https://youtu.be/yQ2cC7LHMxA>.

Racial Equity Aotearoa "Calls for end to solitary confinement" (24 November 2016) scoop < http://www.scoop.co.nz/32

stories/PO1611/S00339/calls-for-end-to-solitary-confinement.htm>.

Di White “Let’s stop pouring money into prisons. They don’t work. And there is an alternative” (30 November 2016) 33

thespinoff <http://thespinoff.co.nz/society/30-11-2016/lets-stop-pouring-money-into-prisons-they-dont-work-and-there-is-an-alternative/>; Erica Meiners “In the US, our incarceration mania is a catastrophe – why on earth would New Zealand try to copy it?” (25 October 2016) justspeak <http://thespinoff.co.nz/society/25-10-2016/in-the-us-our-inc...atastrophe-why-on-earth-would-new-zealand-try-to-copy-it/>; Grace Angelia “What do to when your country is addicted to prison” justspeak <http://www.justspeak.org.nz/what_to_do_when_your_country_is_addicted_to_prison>; Kim Workman “Imagine my disappointment - Kim’s (sic) Workman’s open letter” (29 July 2016) Scoop <http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1607/S00337/imagine-my-disappointment-kims-workmans-open-letter.htm>.

Julia Whaipooti “Is ‘justice’ a cherry-picked privilege?” justspeak <http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/is-justice-a-34

cherry-picked-privilege>.

Emily Tombs “Extending the Youth Court Jurisdiction” (24 March 2014) justspeak <http://justspeak.org.nz/35

extending-the-youth-court-jurisdiction/>: Grace Gordon “They’re our future, not our future prisoners” justspeak <http://justspeak.org.nz/theyre-future-not-future-prisoners/; “Include all children in our youth justice system: An open letter to PM John Key and Cabinet Ministers” justspeak <http://justspeak.org.nz/3246-2/>; “Petition shows public support to take young people out of adult of adult justice system” justspeak <http://justspeak.org.nz/petition-shows-public-support-take-young-people-adult-justice-system/>.

Eruera Rerekura “‘Current prison system does not work’ - lawyer Moana Jackson” (23 November 2016) tvnz <http://36

tvnz.co.nz/te-karere-news/current-prison-system-does-not-work-lawyer-moana-jackson-6504999>; "Time to abolish prisons – Moana Jackson" maoritelevision < http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/latest-news/time-abolish-prisons-moana-jackson>.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Davis?wprov=sfsi1

http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/latest-news/time-abolish-prisons-moana-jackson


http://justspeak.org.nz/theyre-future-not-future-prisoners/


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louk_Hulsman?wprov=sfsi1

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1611/S00339/calls-for-end-to-solitary-confinement.htm


development into an industrialised society, which is characterised particularly by capitalism, professionalisation, specialisation, and an extreme division of labour . These features in the CJS "[make] it 37

very difficult for the functionaries to gear their activities to the problems as experienced by those directly involved" . 38

Industrial societies are segmented by space and caste , which has three identifiable negative consequences . 39 40

Firstly, the depersonalisation of social life; we are less exposed to each other and therefore "get limited possibilities for understanding [eachother] and [predicting each other's] behaviour". In cases of conflict we are less able to cope. Secondly, people mean less to each other, evidenced by a decrease in actions in libel or defamation. Thirdly, certain kinds of conflict are made invisible like wife beating or child battering and even "crimes done by large economic organisations against individuals too weak and ignorant to be able even to realise they have been victimised."

But the most insidious aspect of industrial society is its expansionist tendencies:

"Above all, it has been argued that crime control has grown into an industry, controlled by multi-national interests, which is more committed to developing, not reducing, its core business" . 41

B. 'Prison Doesn't Work'

"We know today pretty well that treatment of offenders does not work, at least not if the goal is to decrease recidivism. A large amount of research proves that none of the conventional types of punishments or treatments - maybe with the exception of castration - has any beneficial effects whatsoever on the probability of the offender's return to a new life without new crimes." 42

It is also suggested that sending individuals to prison makes them more likely to reoffend. Additionally, 43

"[t]he number of convicted people per 100,000 in a population shows a strong cyclic movement" . In short, 44

the same people are getting convicted and imprisoned by being pushed further into criminal behaviour.

C. Alienation

1. Images of man

"The dichotomised character of penal law - the binary classification system applied - has consequences both for evaluation of acts and for evaluation of persons. Acts become right or wrong -

See generally: Nils Christie “Conflicts as Property” (1977) 17 Brit. J. Criminology 1.37


"Conflicts as Property" at 5.39

"Conflicts as Property" at 6 to 7.40

J Muncie and D Wilson, Student Handbook of Criminal Justice and Criminology (London ; Portland, Or ; Cavendish, 41

2004) at 16.

"Images of man in modern penal law" at 98.42

See generally: “Let’s stop pouring money into prisons. They don’t work. And there is an alternative”.43


non-crimes or crimes - and persons criminals or non-criminals. A first characterisation of penal law is, therefore, that it is a type of law that leads into a simplistic picture of man and his acts." 45

The problem as Christie saw, at least at the time of writing, was that criminal law tended to ignore as irrelevant things that the parties involved themselves might consider as highly relevant to the offending . 46

The criminal law focuses on acts, rather than interactions; personality systems, rather than social systems . 47

This was seen as leading to the creation of a simplistic image of criminalised individuals as psychopaths and monsters – as essentially criminal and dangerous – which has the effect of alienating such individuals from 48

society.

While these observations may no longer adequately represent the official operation of the CJS, at least in New Zealand, there is still a strong narrative which perpetuates these notions and feeds into a culture of fear that isolates groups affected by it . 49

2. Effects of CJS in an unjust society

"As long as a substantial segment of the population is denied adequate opportunities for a livelihood, any system of punishment will be morally flawed." 50

Insofar as crime is a function of poverty and is a means of survival, the idea is that it is unjust to imprison people who offend because they have been denied legitimate opportunities to make their way in the world. From within this worldview, criminalisation of survival behaviour pushes people further away.

3. Infliction of suffering, stigmatisation, and commodification

The "typical products" of the CJS are the infliction of suffering and stigmatisation . This is said to be 51

problematic even if it 'worked', for if it worked perhaps more pain and stigmatisation would be better . But 52

since 'prison doesn't work' the justification for the infliction of pain shifts from helping the individual offender to providing a general deterrent to everyone else:

"People are punished as pedagogical examples. Pain is used to the benefit of others. By having committed a crime, one is being used as a thing, in the social process." 53

The combined effects of all of these features is, again, to further alienate offenders and entrench the criminal behaviours, which feeds into a never ending cycle.


"Conflicts as Property" at 4. 46


Ibid.48


“Fuzzy Morals and Flakey Politics: The Coming Out of Critical Criminology” at 328.50




D. Conflicts are Stolen

Nils Christie in his paper Conflicts as Property explains how the CJS steals conflicts from those involved, depriving them and the community of the potential positive effects of conflict. These conflicts are then defined by the CJS in terms of the criminal law and organisational requirements, not by the parties themselves . 54

1. Victims

In the CJS, instead of guiding the activities, a complainant becomes a witness—a tool to bring legal proceedings to a successful end : 55

"The victim is so totally out of the case that he has no chance, ever, to come to know the offender. We leave him outside, angry, maybe humiliated through a cross-examination in court, without any human contact with the offender." 56

These experiences force victims to rely on classical stereotypes of 'the criminal' to explain what happened by leaving the need for understanding acutely unsatisfied . 57

2. Offenders

On the other side, the 'wrong-doer' –

"has lost the opportunity to explain himself to a person whose evaluation might have mattered. He has thereby also lost one of he most important possibilities for being forgiven."

3. Lawyers

Lawyers, who are instrumental in stealing conflicts, because of their training in conflicts and rules of legal relevance, are the ones who benefit . 58

4. Society

Christie however argues that the biggest loser is us, society, to the extent that society is us:

"This loss is first and foremost a loss in opportunities for norm-clarification. It is a loss of pedagogical possibilities. It is a loss of opportunities for a continuous discussion of what represents the law of the land. How wrong was the thief, how right was the victim?" 59


“Alternatives to Punishment – The Abolitionist Case.” at 685 to 686.55


Ibid. 57

"Conflicts as Property" at 4 to 5.58


E. Inequity

"People who are involved in 'criminal' events do not appear in themselves to form a special category of people. Those who are officially recorded as 'criminal' constitute only a small part of those involved in events that legally are considered to require criminalisation. Among them young men from the most disadvantaged sections of the population are heavily over-represented." 60

Selective enforcement is a common complaint of CC and is part of a core theme that criminalisation and prison are tools used by the powerful (the state) to wage class conflicts in Western societies . Where 61

populations are racially diverse, for example the US, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, racial minorities are also over-represented in rates of incarceration . 62

There is a large "dark figure" – the proportion of criminalisable events that are not acted on or even recorded – of around 99 percent or more . This figure complements arguments from inequity, making objections 63

about selective enforcement more weighty.

It is also objected that the mentally ill are often imprisoned, rather than receiving medical attention . 64

F. Economics

Abolitionists will sometimes make economic arguments. The number of inmates per 100,000, the costs of keeping them imprisoned, and / or the proposed or projected future costs will be pointed out, all of which appear, at least in isolation, to be very high . It is often impliedly, but sometimes explicitly stated that there 65

is a significant opportunity cost in committing to continue with the current methods of dealing with crime and that there are better alternatives . 66

III What do Abolitionists Propose as a Solution?

"When we discuss problematic situations we should keep one thing in mind. It is wrong to think about problematic situations as situations which could be eradicated in social life. They are part of life. People need problematic situations in the same way as food and air. More important then (sic) to prevent problematic situations is to try to influence societal structures in such a way that people can cope and deal with problems in a way which permits growth and learning and avoids alienation." 67


“The politics of abolition” at 84.61

Crime Control As Industry: Towards Gulags, Western Style at 119 to 124; "Time to abolish prisons – Moana 62

Jackson".


"Abolitionist Demand 50: Abolish Prisons in Aotearoa" noprideinprisons <http://noprideinprisons.org.nz/post/64

151270189613/abolitionist-demand-50-abolish-prisons-in>.

“‘Current prison system does not work’ - lawyer Moana Jackson”; “Let’s stop pouring money into prisons. They don’t 65

work. And there is an alternative”; "The politics of abolition" at 83.

“Let’s stop pouring money into prisons. They don’t work. And there is an alternative”.66


http://noprideinprisons.org.nz/post/151270189613/abolitionist-demand-50-abolish-prisons-in


Aside from the obvious solutions advocated by Abolitionists, reform and restructuring seem to be the more common solutions proposed and actually implemented. Abolitionists like Hulsman and Christie take a positive view of conflict, viewing it as an opportunity to strengthen communities if managed well . 68

A. Staged Opportunities to Meet

As with most things, the solution can be found in the problem. If we suffer from living in a segmented and disintegrated society where no one knows or understands each other, then the solution is to adopt measures which break down barriers, reintegrate, and promote familiarity and understanding.

To this end, Nils Christie proposed removing problematic situations from the courts and staging opportunities for victims and offenders to meet and talk through the issues. Such forums would be primarily victim and lay oriented, but would seek also to restore the offender and address their needs too . If 69

punishment was to be exacted, expressive forms would be preferred . This process has been referred to as an 70

abolitionistic idea, decarceration, decriminalisation , and now more commonly as restorative justice . 71 72

It has been stressed that alternative solutions such as restorative justice are already the norm, given the large dark figure mentioned above . 73

B. Reform

While the complete abolition of prisons appears to be slow in coming, reforms of the CJS are called for in the meantime aimed at improving conditions , sentencing rules, and parole practices . Additionally other 74 75

short term "negative reforms" like extended leaves, visits, and abolishing practices such as solitary 76

confinement , which negate the basic structure of prison and provide a platform for the long term goal of 77

total abolition, are pursued. Such reforms seek to gradually chip away at the role of the prison in the CJS, in part by reducing the prison population.


"Images of man in modern penal law" at 104; "Conflicts as Property" at 10 to 11.69

“Fuzzy Morals and Flakey Politics: The Coming Out of Critical Criminology” at 329; See "Conflicts as Property" 70

generally.


Eruera Rerekura “‘Current prison system does not work’ - lawyer Moana Jackson” (23 November 2016) tvnz <http://72

tvnz.co.nz/te-karere-news/current-prison-system-does-not-work-lawyer-moana-jackson-6504999>; "Images of man in modern penal law" at 104; "Time to abolish prisons – Moana Jackson".



At 88.75

At 82.76

Emma Walker "Solitary Confinement is torture!" (22 November 2016) iso < https://iso.org.nz/2016/11/22/solitary-77

confinement-is-torture/>.

https://iso.org.nz/2016/11/22/solitary-confinement-is-torture/


A more general "Social Investment Approach" has been promoted toward similar ends . "Technoprevention" 78

or situational crime prevention has been suggested in places too . 79

C. Abolition as an Ongoing Revolutionary Project

Some worry that alternatives –

"[o]nce structured and systematized, and especially once planned and designed ahead of time... would in fact only become extensions of the prison structure." 80

As such they adopt the 'unfinished attitude' discussed above and promote pure Abolitionism.

IV Thoughts on Prison Abolitionism and Conclusions

A. Moral Foundations

The outright denial of any ontological reality behind 'crime' is bold. While many would accept that the official label of crime might not be consistently principally applied in practise, the common sense notion that people genuinely hold – their "gut feeling" – is that the label is, or at least should be, attached to acts which 81

actually are wrong. Equating crime with a mere label goes (or went) too far into a moral nihilism that no one can practically accept.

Nor can CC seriously adopt nihilism, otherwise it has no foundation for its criticisms. Despite all the critical analysis of 'blame allocation' CC seems to be very much the the business of 'blame allocation': the fault is with society, the bourgeoisie, and capitalism, after all.

It is therefore encouraging to find a piece like Willem De Haan's which explicitly encourages CC, the political left, and by extension Abolitionists to take crime seriously, even if it is insisted that we talk about 'trouble' instead . 82

The trouble for these groups is to ground their perspective in such a way as to not 'betray' the same floundering for power and domination evidenced by the history of shifting justifications of the 'dominant class'.

B. Problems of Vision

Another problem for PA is the clarity of their vision. Perhaps all movements suffer from this to a greater or lesser extent, but it is worth noting. Abolitionists seem to have a clear picture of what they want to move away from: concentration camps, Gulags, and slavery and its analogs. But they do not seem to have a clear vision of what they want to move towards. Goals of reform seem quite vague and arguably do not even count as 'abolitionistic'. When the vision is clear – total abolition of prisons – it sounds ridiculous. However,

“Imagine my disappointment - Kim’s (sic) Workman’s open letter”.78


“The politics of abolition” at 81 to 82.80

“Fuzzy Morals and Flakey Politics: The Coming Out of Critical Criminology” at 322.81

“Fuzzy Morals and Flakey Politics: The Coming Out of Critical Criminology” at 326 and 330.82

Noprideinprisons recently released a book listing their demands . It is possible that the vision is more clear 83

and reasonable that it currently appears.

The negative motivations have obvious appeal. No one wants to return to Soviet Russia, NAZI Germany, or slavery and Jim Crow. Perhaps more work needs to be done explaining the links between historical atrocities and current institutions in order to get a wider audience to 'see' what the Abolitionists see. But perhaps conditions are so different now and improving so much that such comparisons grow increasingly laughable.

C. Shared Ground Mathiesen squarely addresses the point about the need for a vision of an ideal society, one which seeks to nurture the anti-authoritarian features of human relationships . As a (small "l") libertarian, there is appeal in 84

the Abolitionist project. Extrapolating from experiences in school of authoritarian teachers to what it must be like at times dealing with the CJS, this becomes much stronger. I can only speculate that PA might be more successful, and would be more acceptable in my eyes, if it dumped the socialist ideology and sought more diverse allies in different political groups.

D. The Importance of Personal Responsibility

Leftist ideology and CC externalise the causes of poor behaviour and undesirable patterns of life. The risk in pursuing such ideas is that the notion of personal responsibility becomes corroded. It arguably takes this notion too literally: as a statement of fact. No respectable metaphysics of causation can ignore the causal role of the external world in individual behaviour, but it may be that personal responsibility is better understood as a moral concept, an ideal in itself to be pursued, and one which improves behaviour in its active pursuit. To the extent that there is a trade off, whatever it is, to be made between policies or even worldviews that look either to context for why people did something or that look to how people could do things differently, my preference is firmly for the latter.

Bibliography

Books

• Nils Christie, Crime Control As Industry: Towards Gulags, Western Style (4th ed, Routledge, USA and Canada, 1994)

• J Muncie and D Wilson, Student Handbook of Criminal Justice and Criminology (London ; Portland, Or ; Cavendish, 2004)

Jounral Articles

• David Garret “Prison does work: notwithstanding a recent spate of murders, violent crime in New Zealand is falling, for the first time in more than a generation. This has prompted renewed calls from the left to reduce our supposedly high rate of imprisonment – it actually isn't that high, but more of that later” (2013) [Oct-Nov] Investigate HIS 10

• Louk H.C. Hulsman “Critical criminology and the concept of crime” (1986) 10 Contemporary Crises 63 • Louk Hulsman “Alternatives to Punishment – The Abolitionist Case.” (1991) 25 IsLR 681

"Abolitionist Demands - Book Launch and Interview".83

"The politics of abolition" at 86 to 87.84

• Nils Christie “Against Just Desert” (1992) 5 Can. J. L. & Jurisprudence 5 • Nils Christie “Conflicts as Property” (1977) 17 Brit. J. Criminology 1 • Nils Christie “Images of man in modern penal law” (1986) 10 Contemporary Crises 95 • Thomas Mathiesen “The politics of abolition” (1986) 10 Contemporary Crises 81 • Tony Ward “Restorative Justice and Practices in New Zealand: Towards a Restorative Society” (2008) 37

New Zealand Journal of Psychology 62 • Tony Ward “The Politics of Redress: Crime, Punishment, and Penal Abolition by Willem de Haan” (1990)

17 Journal of Law and Society 391 • Willem De Haan “Fuzzy Morals and Flakey Politics: The Coming Out of Critical Criminology” (1987) 14

Journal of Law and Society 321 • Zygmunt Bauman “Crime Control as Industry: Towards Gulag Western Style? by Nils Christie” (1993) 27

Sociology

Internet Resources

• Auckland Libraries "Abolitionist Demands - Book Launch and Interview" soundcloud <https://soundcloud.com/auckland-libraries/abolitionist-demands-book-launch-and-interview>

• "Angela Davis" Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Davis?wprov=sfsi1> • "Abolitionist Demand 50: Abolish Prisons in Aotearoa" noprideinprisons <http://noprideinprisons.org.nz/

post/151270189613/abolitionist-demand-50-abolish-prisons-in> • Racial Equity Aotearoa "Calls for end to solitary confinement" (24 November 2016) scoop <http://

www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1611/S00339/calls-for-end-to-solitary-confinement.htm> • Di White “Let’s stop pouring money into prisons. They don’t work. And there is an alternative” (30

November 2016) thespinoff <http://thespinoff.co.nz/society/30-11-2016/lets-stop-pouring-money-into-prisons-they-dont-work-and-there-is-an-alternative/>

• Doran Larson “Why Scandinavian Prisons Are Superior” (24 September 2013) theatlantic <http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/09/why-scandinavian-prisons-are-superior/279949/>

• Emily Tombs “Extending the Youth Court Jurisdiction” (24 March 2014) justspeak <http://justspeak.org.nz/extending-the-youth-court-jurisdiction/>

• Emma Walker "Solitary Confinement is torture!" (22 November 2016) iso <https://iso.org.nz/2016/11/22/solitary-confinement-is-torture/>

• Erica Meiners “In the US, our incarceration mania is a catastrophe – why on earth would New Zealand try to copy it?” (25 October 2016) justspeak <http://thespinoff.co.nz/society/25-10-2016/in-the-us-our-inc...atastrophe-why-on-earth-would-new-zealand-try-to-copy-it/>

• Eruera Rerekura “‘Current prison system does not work’ - lawyer Moana Jackson” (23 November 2016) tvnz <http://tvnz.co.nz/te-karere-news/current-prison-system-does-not-work-lawyer-moana-jackson-6504999>

• Erwin James “‘Prison is not for punishment in Sweden. We get people into better shape’” (26 November 2014) theguardian <https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/26/prison-sweden-not-punishment-nils-oberg>

• Grace Angelia “What do to when your country is addicted to prison” justspeak <http://www.justspeak.org.nz/what_to_do_when_your_country_is_addicted_to_prison>

• Grace Gordon “They’re our future, not our future prisoners” justspeak <http://justspeak.org.nz/theyre-future-not-future-prisoners/

• “Include all children in our youth justice system: An open letter to PM John Key and Cabinet Ministers” justspeak <http://justspeak.org.nz/3246-2/>

• Julia Whaipooti “Is ‘justice’ a cherry-picked privilege?” justspeak <http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/is-justice-a-cherry-picked-privilege>



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Davis?wprov=sfsi1









• Kim Workman “Imagine my disappointment - Kim’s (sic) Workman’s open letter” (29 July 2016) Scoop <http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1607/S00337/imagine-my-disappointment-kims-workmans-open-letter.htm>

• "Louk Hulsman" Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louk_Hulsman?wprov=sfsi1> • "Time to abolish prisons – Moana Jackson" maoritelevision <http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/latest-

news/time-abolish-prisons-moana-jackson> • “Minister Collins committed to building more crime” justspeak <http://justspeak.org.nz/minister-collins-

committed-building-crime/> • “Petition shows public support to take young people out of adult of adult justice system” justspeak <http://

justspeak.org.nz/petition-shows-public-support-take-young-people-adult-justice-system/> • “Prison Abolition & Alternatives” prisonjustice <http://www.prisonjustice.ca/politics/

abolition_alternatives.html> • “Special treatment in our justice system – the real issue” justspeak <http://justspeak.org.nz/3246-2/> • Victoria Law “These Women Are Demanding a Voice in the Criminal Justice Conversation” (26 September

2016) thenation <https://www.thenation.com/article/these-women-spent-years-behind-bars-now-theyre-demanding-a-voice-in-the-criminal-justice-conversation/>

• Willem De Haan “Abolition and Crime Control - Willem De Haan” (23 December 2010) nomoreprison <http://nomoreprison.blogspot.co.nz/2010/12/abolition-and-crime-control-willem-de.html>

Youtube

• CBC “George Tonight: Angela Davis on abolishing prisons | George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight | CBC” (16 February 2011) Youtube <https://youtu.be/T0Pm44zcn8o>

• Democracy Now “Angela Davis on Prison Abolition, the War on Drugs and Why Social Movement Shouldn’t Wait on Obama” (16 March 2014) Youtube <https://youtu.be/aB-LsYyMFWI>

• Democracy Now “Angela Davis on Not Endorsing Any Presidential Candidate:’I Think We Need a New Party’” (28 March 2016) Youtube <https://youtu.be/s6ZP7U1Wnbo>

• FloridaInternational “Slavery and the Prison Industrial Complex - Angela Davis” (11 June 2011) Youtube <https://youtu.be/yQ2cC7LHMxA>

• Institutt for Kriminologi og rettssosiologi "Nils Christie Part 1" (4 March 2009) Youtube < https://youtu.be/bolTDjwd9Lc>

• TEDx Talks “Beyond Refrom: Abolishing Prisons | Maya Schenwar | TEDxBaltimore” (2 February 2016) Youtube <https://youtu.be/JFTRn_sIGiQ>

• TEDx Talks “Re-humanizing inmates | Anthony Wyatt | TEDxGraterfordStatePrison” (3 July 2014) Youtube <https://youtu.be/2cRc7nxRD0o>

• TEDx Talks “Turning prison into schools: John L. at TEDxMonroeCorrectionalComplex” (8 April 2014) Youtube <https://youtu.be/aPjvEaE6VXs>

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louk_Hulsman?wprov=sfsi1





prison abolitionism

Documents