Who is the Addict-Offender? A Historical Ontology

Abstract

The relationship between addiction and crime, and the political preoccupation with the addict-offender, has been the source of some academic commentary. However, most of this research assumes that the concept of ‘addiction’ – however determined – is a relatively stable and uniform one, focusing for example on the links between an addict's capacity and their liability for offending prior to sentencing. In this article, a novel approach, rooted in the turn to ontology in social theory, is brought to bear on addiction as a criminal concern. It involves a historical study of reported sentencing decisions in which judges attempt to stabilise the notion of the addict-offender. The findings point to both continuity and change in criminal framings of addiction over time, exposing differences in approaches to alcohol compared with other drugs. They also suggest that the dominance of questions about capacity when it comes to apportioning responsibility to the addict-offender neglects the importance of concerns about character and risk to decision-making practices.