Post on 16-Dec-2015
Session content
● My interest● ‘McJustice’
o Policy Value for money Payment by results
o Practice Implications for offending Implications for
relationships● Faith as an alternative
discourse
Session ethos
This is a politically driven topic analysed using sociological and theological tools:● Be critical● What do you agree with?● What makes sense?● What conflicts with your
perspective?● What should be disregarded
and what pursued?
Introduction
Bauman and the riots:● “These are riots of
defective and disqualified consumers”
● Anomie theory● “All consumers now,
consumers first and foremost”
Exercise 1
What are your initial thoughts on consumerism and commodification as concepts within the criminal justice system relevant to community chaplaincy?
Defining terms - McJustice
McDonaldisation offers:● Efficiency● Predictability● Calculability● Control
Weber’s rationalisation of Western society:● Irrationality of rationality● Humanity denied
Exercise 2
Discussion point:● Have you observed any of
these trends within your role?
● How reasonable an analytical tool is the concept?
PolicySwift and Sure Justice
● Magna Carta● Swift - prompt and
efficient● Sure - reliable and
commanding public confidence
● Public perception
Swift - prompt and efficient
● Early guilty pleas● Longer opening● More public● Better value and use of
technology
London riots an example but ...
Sure - reliable andcommanding confidence
“firm grip on offenders”● Prisons place of work● More and tougher
community sentences● Focus on communities
rather than targets
Achieved through a mixed economy of provision
McJustice in Swift and Sure
● Is prompt justice good justice?● Rational systems becoming
unreasonable● Increasingly public,
increasingly confident?● Increased reliability, decreased
individuality● Community engagement or
controlled bureaucracy?● Replacement by technology
Policy - Swift and SureMy Conclusions
Common sense?● Value for money● Payment by resultsFaith sense?● Value - Imagio Dei● Results - Common
good
Exercise 3
● How reasonable is the analysis?
● What would this mean for the expectations of services which might be provided by community chaplaincy?
● What would a faith informed response look like?
Considering the impact ofthe consumer society
We are, “all consumers now, consumers first and foremost.”
Bauman (1998)
Consumerism and theoffender
Offending:
● Consumerist anomie● Exclusion from success
criteria for a consumer lifestyle
● McDonaldised interventions & desistance
Exercise 4
● How does this fit in with a faith perspective of understanding criminal behaviour?
● What does this mean in informing our responses to crime?
Consumerism and theoffender
Relationship to criminal justice staff:● Consumer as king● Consumer as victim● Consumer as criminal● Consumer as anti-
consumer● Consumer as voyeur
Consumerism and thepractitioner
Area’s at risk from commodification:
● Respect● Compassion● Equality● Security versus justice● Security versus
branding
Exercise 5
● How have ‘value for money’ pressures impacted on your practice in community chaplaincy?
● How can any of these concerns be addressed?
How do you solve aproblem like cJustice?
Developing an alternative discourses:● Do we want an efficient
business model of criminal justice?
● How can we design an alternative?
● How can we communicate the value of an alternative?