From rehabilitation to penal communication: The role of furlough and visitation within a retributivist framework

William Bülow,Netanel Dagan

doi:10.1177/1462474520953676

Abstract

Retributivism is one of the most prevalent theories in contemporary penal theory. However, despite its popularity it is frequently argued that too little attention has been paid to the implications of retributivism for prison management and prison life, including prison visits and furlough. More so, it has been questioned both whether the various forms of retributivism found in the philosophical literature on criminal punishment have anything to say about what prison life ought to be like and whether they are able to criticize deeply contested rules and practices, such as those that deny inmates contact with family-members for the sake of prison discipline. In this paper, we argue that prison visits and furlough have a crucial role in a prison system based on retributivist principles. In particular, we argue that the communicative theory of punishment has important theoretical resources for proving a strong and compelling rationale for both furlough and visitation on retributivist grounds. Besides exploring this rationale, we also discuss the practical implications of this view for the penal policy.

Highlights

There is a voluminous scholarship on retributivism and its implications for legal decision-making and criminal sentencing
Empirical studies suggest that visitation programs might decrease the risk of recidivism as well as the prevalence of prison misconduct (Cochran and Mears, 2013; Duwe and Clark, 2013; Mitchell et al, 2016) and have found that furlough has a positive impact on offender reintegration (Cheliotis, 2008)
We argue that the communicative version of retributivism provides a compelling case for both liberal visitation programs and prison furloughs, in part because this is the type of prison regime that is most likely to serve the ends of secular penance, and because of how visitation and furlough serve as important reminders of how the prisoner has not lost his or her status as a member of the political community

Summary

Introduction

There is a voluminous scholarship on retributivism and its implications for legal decision-making and criminal sentencing. We argue that the communicative theory of punishment, with its emphasis on criminal punishment as a penal dialogue, can give us a plausible moral justification for liberal prison furlough and visitations programs within a framework that at the same time justifies punishment as deserved censure.

Results

Conclusion