Advancing Social Inclusion: The Implications for Criminal Law and Policy

Abstract

The author uses the premises and inquiries advanced by the literature on social inclusion to consider its potential for the re-visioning of criminal law and policy. She notes that criminal law and social inclusion are fundamentally at odds, but argues that governments and policy makers committed to inclusion in social and economic policy cannot fulfil that mandate without turning their attention to criminal law. She identifies the process of criminal law reform, the definition of crime, the enforcement of the law, and the outcomes of criminal law as areas for which social inclusion offers insights and directions.

Understanding social inclusion, social cohesion, and social capital

“…In terms of developing inclusive organizations, this research has implications for the manner in which the employee ownership is structured (Wills, 1998) and the establishment of cooperatives (Wells, 1981). Sheehy (2004) explores the process by which the legal environment of a society can serve to include or exclude different classes of individuals. In such an environment, inclusion depends largely on the manner in which people perceive their interests as tended to by society (more specifically, the courts system).…”

Social Inclusion and Exclusion in the Life Stories of Deported Asylum Seekers from Finland to Iraqi Kurdistan

“…Lister 2000). Studies into inclusion, in turn, generally focus on those at risk of poverty and exclusion and look for socially inclusive practices and policies (European Commission 2004: 10;Luxton 2002;Sheehy 2004).…”

Intensifying the Incarceration of the Vulnerable Legal Subject: Correctional Treatment of Ashley Smith as a Source of Legal Norms

“…As Elizabeth Sheehy explains, using social inclusion to promote state accountability requires "the participation of the excluded. " 127 To a limited extent, the coroner's jury recommendations perhaps contemplate something of an enlarged legal subject connected to vulnerability by specifically citing the prisoner herself should be engaged in decision-making about how the system should respond to her needs. 128 Correctional policies surrounding segregation, transfer, self-harm, and the "'wait and see'" 129 procedure all implicate boundary-focused, security-driven practices, displacing other (legally and morally obligatory) discourses about humanity and Smith's material, emotional, and mental health needs.…”