Citation

O'Malley P. Criminol. Crim. Justice 2002; 2(2): 205-222.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/17488958020020020501

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In the criminal justice arena, the convergence of analyses of `actuarial justice' and the `risk society' thesis, has led many to assume that we will experience a global shift towards risk-based models of justice that are statistical, repressive and incapacitating. It is argued in this article that even where we focus on national jurisdictions sharing risk frameworks of justice and the adoption of neo-liberal politics, there is little evidence that actuarial justice has been successfully exported from the USA. By examining recent developments in Australia, it is shown that local political formations and social conditions have meant that models of justice that are both neo-liberal and risk-based in character diverge so much from US models—in form and function—that we cannot make useful global generalizations about the political character or correctional value of such regimes, or about their simple `transportability' across jurisdictional boundaries.