Theory and Society ( IF 3.226 ) Pub Date : 2021-01-26 , DOI: 10.1007/s11186-021-09432-6 Joshua Wakeham
The work of the juvenile justice system is marked by profound moral ambiguity and practical uncertainty, yet that work is also thoroughly bureaucratized. Rules and routines circumscribe the work’s ambiguity and uncertainty. So what does it mean to do justice under such conditions? Drawing on field notes from the observation of 33 different sentencing meetings in one state’s juvenile justice system, this article presents a grounded view of this problem, focusing on seemingly contradictory routine and creativity observed in the sentencing meetings. To explain this apparent contradiction, this article offers an original theoretical contribution, tying together a pragmatist theory of action, research from the practice theory tradition in organizational studies, as well as research on ritual, to develop an account of the ways in which structured actions allow people to navigate ambiguity and uncertainty. The article then examines one particularly difficult case that causes the organizational routine to break down. This breakdown forces the juvenile justice professionals to get creative with their bureaucratically available options. While they deviate from the typical organizational routine, they return to established ritual of the sentencing process. The article concludes with an initial attempt to develop a broader pragmatist account of ritual, focusing on the ways in which ritualized action make concrete our abstract and often contradictory ideals.
中文翻译:
少年量刑中的务实正义:同意做什么,但不为什么
少年司法制度的工作以深刻的道德模糊性和实际的不确定性为特征,但这项工作也被彻底官僚化了。规则和例行程序限制了作品的含糊和不确定性。那这意味着什么在这样的条件下正义?本文通过对一个州的少年司法系统中33次不同的量刑会议的观察得出的实地记录,提出了对该问题的扎根观点,重点是在量刑会议中观察到的看似矛盾的惯例和创造力。为了解释这种明显的矛盾,本文提供了原始的理论贡献,将实用主义的行动理论联系在一起,从组织研究中的实践理论传统中进行了研究,以及对仪式的研究,以阐明结构化行动的方式使人们能够处理歧义和不确定性。然后,本文研究了一种导致组织常规崩溃的特别困难的案例。这种崩溃迫使少年司法专业人员在官僚可用的选择上发挥创造力。当他们偏离典型的组织惯例时,他们返回到量刑过程的既定仪式。文章最后以初步尝试发展一种更为广泛的实用主义对礼节的论述为重点,重点讨论了礼节化的行为使我们的抽象理想和常常矛盾的理想具体化的方式。