Inclusionary control? Theorizing the effects of penal voluntary organizations’ work

Abstract

Recent penal policy developments in many jurisdictions suggest an increasing role for voluntary organizations. Voluntary organizations have long worked alongside penal institutions, but the multifaceted ways their programmes affect (ex-)offenders remain insufficiently understood. This article addresses the implications of voluntary organizations' work with (ex-)offenders, using original empirical data. It adds nuance to netwidening theory, reframing the effects of voluntary organizations' work as inclusionary and exclusionary. Exclusionary effects sometimes have inclusionary aspects, and inclusionary effects are constrained by a controlling carceral net. We propose the novel concept of inclusionary control. This is not an alibi for punishment but enables rich analysis of the effects of voluntary organizations' work, and raises possibilities for change in penal practice.

Inside or Outside the Criminal Justice System? The Example of Community Chaplaincy

“…Tomczak and Thompson () draw on empirical evidence to develop the concept of inclusionary control. They describe the way in which the work of the penal voluntary sector has complex effects, both contributing to control and exclusion in the community, but also leading to outcomes of inclusion and integration.…”

“…) of prison and probation in England and Wales. In particular it considers the faith‐based voluntary sector, explores the nature of relationships built between staff and service users, and examines the concept of inclusionary control (Tomczak and Thompson ). It raises questions about legitimacy and the work of the penal voluntary sector (Beetham ; McNeill and Robinson ).…”

“…Issues of power, control and values in the sector are increasingly the subject of academic debate. Tomczak and Thompson () propose the concept of inclusionary control to explain the way in which voluntary organisations can simultaneously form part of the carceral net while providing help that improves (and sometimes sustains) the lives of service users. The voluntary organisations that work alongside penal institutions inevitably have a relationship with the correctional world, but also with the worlds of social welfare, treatment, and community.…”

Exploring Autonomy in the Finnish and New Zealand Penal Voluntary Sectors: The Relevance of Marketisation and Criminal Justice Policy Environments in Two Penal Voluntary Sector Organisations

“…One explanation for this may be that previous research has been dominated by Anglophone scholars, mainly from the UK and North America (for example, Corcoran , ; Corcoran et al . ; Kaufman ; Maguire ; Maurutto and Hannah‐Moffat ; Mills, Meek and Gojkovic ; Tomczak , ; Tomczak and Thompson ), who have examined the sector in a particular sociopolitical context, potentially hindering a more thorough examination of the structural factors such as funding arrangements, political context and economic histories that can influence its form and function. This article therefore aims to provide a broader understanding of how different political, economic, and ideological factors in the voluntary and criminal justice sectors can affect the position of VCOs in the penal voluntary sector, by contrasting the accounts of two organisations which work with offenders in Finland and in New Zealand – KRITS and NZPARS – through qualitative thematic documentary analysis of their annual reports.…”

The Criminal Justice Voluntary Sector: Concepts and an Agenda for an Emerging Field

“…By mapping these forms, this article offers a springboard for essential future scholarship. It is misleading for the Prison Reform Trust to state that every CJVVO is unproblematically turning lives around and making communities safer and evolving debates consider CJVVOs' multifaceted effects (Tomczak and Buck ; Tomczak and Thompson ). Yet, given the sheer scale of CJVVOs, they (could) represent key criminal justice actors with unrecognised potential to shore up social exclusion and/or reshape democracy and social justice.…”