Visions of Social Control

Visions of Social Control is a wide ranging analysis of recent shifts in ideas and practices for dealing with crime and delinquency. In Great Britain, North America and Western Europe, the 1960's saw new theories and styles of social control which seemed to undermine the whole basis of the established system. Such slogans as 'decarceration' and 'division' radically changed the dominance of the prison, the power of professionals and the crime-control system itself. Stanley Cohen traces the historical roots of these apparent changes and reforms, demonstrates in detail their often paradoxical results and speculates on the whole future of social control in Western societies. He has produced an entirely original synthesis of the original literature as well as an introductory guide to the major theoreticians of social control, such as David Rothman and Michael Foucault. This is not just a book for the specialist in criminology, social problems and the sociology of deviance but raises a whole range of issues of much wider interest to the social sciences. A concluding chapter on the practical and policy implications of the analysis is of special relevance to social workers and other practitioners. This is an indispensable book for anyone who wants to make sense of the bewildering recent shifts in ideology and policy towards crime - and to understand the broader sociological implications of the study of social control.

Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 Something like a Definition 2 The Sociological Connection 4 What Follows 9 1 The Master Patterns 13 The Original Transformation 14 The Alleged Current Move: Destructing 30 First Doubts, Second Thought 36 2 Inside the System 40 Size and Density 43 Visibility, Ownership and Identity 56 Penetration and Absorption 76 Conclusion: The Emerging Patterns 83 3 Deposits of Power 87 Progress 90 Organizational Convenience 92 Ideological Contradiction 100 Professional Interest 101 Political Economy 102 Conclusion 112 4 Stories of Change 115 The Quest for Community 116 The Ideal of the Minimum State 127 The Return to Behaviorism 139 Conclusion: Telling Stories 155 5 The Professionals 161 Part of a ‘New Class’? 162 The Logic and Language of Control 167 Cognitive Passion 175 Towards the Classified Society 191 6 Visions of Order 197 The Dystopian Assumption 197 The City as Metaphor 205 Planning for Order 211 Maps and Territories 218 Conclusion: Domains of Control 230 7 What Is To Be Done? 236 The Intellectual as Adversary 239 Doing Good and Doing Justice 245 Inside the System – Again 254 Means and Ends 261 Exclusion and Inclusion – Again 266 Appendix: In Constructing a Glossary of Controltalk 273 Euphemism 276 Medicalism and Psychologism 278 Acronyms 279 Technobabble 280 Notes and References 282 Index 318