Michelle S. Phelps

The long struggle: An agonistic perspective on penal development

Bringing together insights from macro-level theory about “mass imprisonment” and micro-level case studies of contemporary punishment, this article presents a mid-level agonistic perspective on penal change in the USA. Using the case of the “rise and fall” of the rehabilitative ideal in California, we spotlight struggle as a central mechanism that intensifies the variegated (and sometimes contradictory) nature of punishment and drives penal development. The agonistic perspective posits that penal development is fueled by ongoing, low-level struggle among actors with varying amounts and types of resources. Like plate tectonics, friction among those with a stake in punishment periodically escalates to seismic events and long-term shifts in penal orientations, pushing one perspective or another to the fore over time. These conflicts do not occur in a vacuum; rather, large-scale trends in the economy, politics, social sentiments, inter-group relations, demographics, and crime affect—but do not fully determine—struggles over punishment and penal outcomes.

Inequality and Punishment A Turning Point for Mass Incarceration

After decades of steady expansion, state prison populations declined in recent years for the first time since 1972. Though the size of the decrease was small, it masks substantial state heterogeneity. This article investigates variation in state-level incarceration rates from 1980 through 2013, examining the factors associated with the rise and decline in prison populations. We find evidence for four key stories in explaining the prison decline: crime, budgets, politics, and inequality. Many of these relationships are consistent across decades, including the role of racial composition, violent crime, and Republican political dominance. In contrast, states’ fiscal capacity and economic inequality became more important after 2000. This research emphasizes the importance of examining changes over time in the correlates of incarceration growth and decline and represents the first effort to systematically understand the recent reversal in the trajectory of incarceration practices in the United States.

Fracturing the penal state: State actors and the role of conflict in penal change

The concept of a penal or carceral state has quickly become a staple in punishment and criminal justice literatures. However, the concept, which suffers from a proliferation of meanings and is frequently undefined, gives readers the impression that there is a single, unified, and actor-less state responsible for punishment. This contradicts the thrust of recent punishment literature, which emphasizes fragmentation, variegation, and constant conflict across the actors and institutions that shape penal policy and practice. Using a case study of late-century Michigan, this article develops an analytical approach that fractures the penal state. We demonstrate that the penal state represents a messy, often conflicted amalgamation of the various branches and actors in charge of punishment, who resist the aims and policies sought by their fellow state actors. Ultimately, we argue that fracture is itself a variable that scholars must measure empirically and incorporate into their accounts of penal change.

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

Over the past decade, some Western countries have begun to re-embrace the language of rehabilitation and calls for penal moderation. Risk logics-which undergirded the rise of mass incarceration in the U.S.-are now being repurposed to call for decarceration. Yet while risk played a key role in the transformation from modern to post-modern punishment, its development remains poorly understood. This article explores the discourses and practices of risk from the 1970s through to 2014 in one U.S. state (Michigan). The analyses focus on probation, the primary alternative to prison. The results show that risk discourses and practices emerged in the 1970s as a mode of resistance to the prison boom and have been adapted in each subsequent decade to address state governing crises.