The criminalisation of poverty: social and penitentiary policy intertwined
The criminalisation of poverty: social and penitentiary policy intertwined

Summary/Abstract: The primary aim of this work consists of a critical analysis of the mechanisms through which conditional and employment-oriented social policy (workfare) and the expansion of the repressive functions of penal institutions (prisonfare) have laid the groundwork for phenomena that harm structurally marginalised communities and entrench existing inequalities--namely, mass incarceration and the criminalisation of poverty. Using the United States as a case study, where these phenomena have reached unprecedented levels, I analyse how economic deregulation, the abandonment of the welfare state model, and the expansion of market logic have consolidated structural mechanisms that penalise poverty. This article reflects an attempt at a sociologically engaged critique of a cycle of systemic violence, the victims of which predominantly constitute the poor, especially communities of colour.

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