Selected Articles

"Penal Policy and Politics across the States," by Heather Schoenfeld, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (February 2016).
In this article, I argue that new research on reform aimed at reducing prison populations should be animated by a sociopolitical perspective on punishment that developed out of social science research explaining the rise of mass incarceration.
In this article, I argue that new research on reform aimed at reducing prison populations should be animated by a sociopolitical perspective on punishment that developed out of social science research explaining the rise of mass incarceration.

"The delayed emergence of penal modernism in Florida," by Heather Schoenfeld, Punishment & Society (July 2014).
Using the social history of punishment in Florida, I argue that penal modernism failed to take hold in Florida for three reasons: the effect of political arrangements on the ability of political and bureaucratic actors to reform penal institutions; the timing of modern penal initiatives with the capacity of state bureaucracies; and the precedent that linked punishment policy and practices to cultural assumptions about ‘black labor’.
Using the social history of punishment in Florida, I argue that penal modernism failed to take hold in Florida for three reasons: the effect of political arrangements on the ability of political and bureaucratic actors to reform penal institutions; the timing of modern penal initiatives with the capacity of state bureaucracies; and the precedent that linked punishment policy and practices to cultural assumptions about ‘black labor’.

"The Transformation of America’s Penal Order: A Historicized Political Sociology of Punishment," by Michael C. Campbell and Heather Schoenfeld, American Journal of Sociology (March 2013).
Comparative historical methods are used to explain the transformation of the U.S. penal order in the second half of the 20th century.
Comparative historical methods are used to explain the transformation of the U.S. penal order in the second half of the 20th century.

"Putting politics in penal policy reform," by Heather Schoenfeld, Criminology & Public Policy (July 2011).

"Crime or insecurity: Who is ‘the state’? And what is it ‘responding’ to?," by Heather Schoenfeld, by Heather Schoenfeld, Punishment & Society (October 2011).
A review essay inspired by Loïc Wacquant's Prisons of Poverty.
A review essay inspired by Loïc Wacquant's Prisons of Poverty.

"Mass Incarceration and the Paradox of Prison Conditions Litigation," Law & Society Review, by Heather Schoenfeld (October 2010).
In this article I examine how prison conditions litigation in the 1970s, as an outgrowth of the civil rights movement, inadvertently contributed to the rise of mass incarceration in the United States.
In this article I examine how prison conditions litigation in the 1970s, as an outgrowth of the civil rights movement, inadvertently contributed to the rise of mass incarceration in the United States.

"Médiation et droit pénal international," by Ron Levi & Heather Schoenfeld, Actes de la researche en sciences sociales (April 2008).

"Crises extrêmes et institutionnalisation du droit pénal international," by Heather Schoenfeld, Ron Levi & John Hagan, Critique Internationale (March 2007).

"The Science of Human Rights, War Crimes, and Humanitarian Emergencies," by John Hagan, Heather Schoenfeld & Alberto Palloni, Annual Review of Sociology (August 2006).
We consider how, in increasingly challenging circumstances such as the Darfur region of Sudan, population health and legal and criminological surveys can be joined to provide more comprehensive estimates of deaths resulting from violent attacks as well as from disease and starvation.
We consider how, in increasingly challenging circumstances such as the Darfur region of Sudan, population health and legal and criminological surveys can be joined to provide more comprehensive estimates of deaths resulting from violent attacks as well as from disease and starvation.

"Violated Trust: Conceptualizing Prosecutorial Misconduct," by Heather Schoenfeld, Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice (August 2005).
This article proposes a theoretical explanation of prosecutorial misconduct. The theory builds from the characterization of prosecutors as agents of trust and prosecutorial misconduct as a violation of the norms of trust.
This article proposes a theoretical explanation of prosecutorial misconduct. The theory builds from the characterization of prosecutors as agents of trust and prosecutorial misconduct as a violation of the norms of trust.