Moral Agent or Actuarial Subject:
- 1 February 1999
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Theoretical Criminology
- Vol. 3 (1), 71-94
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480699003001004
Abstract
Few have examined the moral and political aspects of categories of risk, or the differential impact of actuarial risk claims on different populations. This analysis is intended to complement the growing body of literature analysing the implementation of actuarial or risk-based assessments of behaviours and situations in a variety of contexts. It examines wider claims of risk theorists in light of recent developments in Canadian women's imprisonment. Based on an analysis of a proposed model of risk assessment for Canadian women prisoners, I argue: that in practical instances of governing the concept of `risk' is ambiguous, fractured and flexible; that actuarial techniques of assessing women prisoners' risks tend to redefine needs as risk factors; and that subjective disciplinary techniques of governing co-exist and interrelate with actuarial techniques of risk management.Keywords
This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit:
- Social Theory, Social Change and Social WorkPublished by Taylor & Francis Ltd ,2002
- Policing the Risk SocietyPublished by University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) ,1997
- Feminine Fortresses: Woman-Centered Prisons?The Prison Journal, 1995
- In the Place of the Parent: Risk Management and the Government of Campus LifeSocial & Legal Studies, 1994
- Risk, power and crime preventionEconomy and Society, 1992
- Community and the criminal justice systemPolicy Studies, 1991
- The Ideological Effects of Actuarial PracticesLaw & Society Review, 1988
- The Political Economy of Correctional Planning for Women: The Case of the Bankrupt BureaucracyCanadian Journal of Criminology, 1982
- Females, Recidivism, and Salient Factor ScoreCriminal Justice and Behavior, 1982