Zoom, 14th, 21th and 28th June, 2021
William Bülow (Stockholm University)
Zachary Hoskins (University of Nottingham)
It is well known that legal punishment often carries with it numerous hardships in addition to the ones that we usually think of as comprising the formal sentence itself. Punishment often has both formal and informal collateral consequences, in terms of how it affects individuals’ opportunities for housing, education and employment. Punishment – most notably imprisonment – also has consequences for the families and children of those being punished. The experience of family separation can constitute a trauma, and recent studies also suggest that parental imprisonment negatively affects children of prisoners’ education as well as their success in securing future employment. Research also highlights how children of prisoners might be at risk of delinquent behaviour themselves. These consequences are most prevalent in the case where the children come from socially disadvantaged families – a group which is already vulnerable to the hardships of imprisonment.
Although these effects of the criminal justice system are well known to social scientists, serious attempts to examine them systematically from a philosophical perspective have only recently begun. Instead, philosophers working on penal philosophy have largely focused on the supposed moral justification of legal punishment. In short, the focus has been on whether intentional imposition of harsh treatment, such as imprisonment, can be morally justified as a response to criminal wrongdoing. Without denying the importance of philosophical theorizing of this sort, it has too often been silent on the collateral consequences of punishment.
This pre-read workshop, organised by Dr. Zachary Hoskins (Nottingham) and Dr. William Bülow (Stockholm) will gather scholars working on the collateral consequences of punishment, broadly conceived, to engage critically with the philosophical questions that these consequences raise, including these: Should prospective employers have the right to have access to criminal records? Is it ever morally justified to deny those with criminal records access to certain educational programs? What are the obligations owed to children of prisoners? How does the recognition of informal collateral consequences bear on common moral justifications of punishment, such as deterrence or deserved censure? By bringing in the perspectives from philosophy, legal studies, and criminology, this workshop aims to lay the foundation for future scholarship on this topic.
Schedule
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided to host this event as an online work-in-progress series, divided into three parts. Do note that this is a pre-read workshop. Paper will be circulated in advance and participants are all expected to have read the papers discussed. Each meeting will take place via Zoom at 14.00-16.30 UK time on the following Mondays:
14 June
Zachary Hoskins (Nottingham)
Punishment and the Harms Suffered by Innocent People
Discussant: Andrew Cornford (Edinburgh)
Rachel Condry (Oxford) & Shona Minson (Oxford)
Exploring the Consequences of Punishment for Families; Symbiotic Harms and Breaches of Fundamental Rights
Discussant: Nicola Carr (Nottingham)
21 June
Helen Brown Coverdale (UCL)
Penal Collateral Consequences, Risk and the Moral Permissibility of Punishment
Discussant: Andrei Poama (Leiden)
Richard Lippke (Indiana)
Collateral Consequences and Rational Assurance
Discussant: Ambrose Lee (Surrey)
28 June
William Bülow (Stockholm) & Lars Lindblom (Linköping)
Parental Imprisonment and the Right against Child-Parent Separation
Discussant: Milena Tripkovic (Edinburgh)
Antony Duff (Stirling) & Sandra Marshall (Stirling)
Disqualification as a Collateral Consequence: From What Can We Be Disqualified?
Discussant: Jeff Howard (UCL)
Registration
Registration for this event is free. If you want to attend, please send an email with your name and affiliation to william.bulow@philosophy.su.se.
The workshop is generously supported by conference grants from The Society for Applied Philosophy, The Analysis Trust and The Aristotelian Society.
William Bülow (Stockholm University)
Zachary Hoskins (University of Nottingham)
It is well known that legal punishment often carries with it numerous hardships in addition to the ones that we usually think of as comprising the formal sentence itself. Punishment often has both formal and informal collateral consequences, in terms of how it affects individuals’ opportunities for housing, education and employment. Punishment – most notably imprisonment – also has consequences for the families and children of those being punished. The experience of family separation can constitute a trauma, and recent studies also suggest that parental imprisonment negatively affects children of prisoners’ education as well as their success in securing future employment. Research also highlights how children of prisoners might be at risk of delinquent behaviour themselves. These consequences are most prevalent in the case where the children come from socially disadvantaged families – a group which is already vulnerable to the hardships of imprisonment.
Although these effects of the criminal justice system are well known to social scientists, serious attempts to examine them systematically from a philosophical perspective have only recently begun. Instead, philosophers working on penal philosophy have largely focused on the supposed moral justification of legal punishment. In short, the focus has been on whether intentional imposition of harsh treatment, such as imprisonment, can be morally justified as a response to criminal wrongdoing. Without denying the importance of philosophical theorizing of this sort, it has too often been silent on the collateral consequences of punishment.
This pre-read workshop, organised by Dr. Zachary Hoskins (Nottingham) and Dr. William Bülow (Stockholm) will gather scholars working on the collateral consequences of punishment, broadly conceived, to engage critically with the philosophical questions that these consequences raise, including these: Should prospective employers have the right to have access to criminal records? Is it ever morally justified to deny those with criminal records access to certain educational programs? What are the obligations owed to children of prisoners? How does the recognition of informal collateral consequences bear on common moral justifications of punishment, such as deterrence or deserved censure? By bringing in the perspectives from philosophy, legal studies, and criminology, this workshop aims to lay the foundation for future scholarship on this topic.
Schedule
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided to host this event as an online work-in-progress series, divided into three parts. Do note that this is a pre-read workshop. Paper will be circulated in advance and participants are all expected to have read the papers discussed. Each meeting will take place via Zoom at 14.00-16.30 UK time on the following Mondays:
14 June
Zachary Hoskins (Nottingham)
Punishment and the Harms Suffered by Innocent People
Discussant: Andrew Cornford (Edinburgh)
Rachel Condry (Oxford) & Shona Minson (Oxford)
Exploring the Consequences of Punishment for Families; Symbiotic Harms and Breaches of Fundamental Rights
Discussant: Nicola Carr (Nottingham)
21 June
Helen Brown Coverdale (UCL)
Penal Collateral Consequences, Risk and the Moral Permissibility of Punishment
Discussant: Andrei Poama (Leiden)
Richard Lippke (Indiana)
Collateral Consequences and Rational Assurance
Discussant: Ambrose Lee (Surrey)
28 June
William Bülow (Stockholm) & Lars Lindblom (Linköping)
Parental Imprisonment and the Right against Child-Parent Separation
Discussant: Milena Tripkovic (Edinburgh)
Antony Duff (Stirling) & Sandra Marshall (Stirling)
Disqualification as a Collateral Consequence: From What Can We Be Disqualified?
Discussant: Jeff Howard (UCL)
Registration
Registration for this event is free. If you want to attend, please send an email with your name and affiliation to william.bulow@philosophy.su.se.
The workshop is generously supported by conference grants from The Society for Applied Philosophy, The Analysis Trust and The Aristotelian Society.
