There is a tradition in the sociological study of punishment that emphasises the relationship between conditions in the economy, in particular the level of unemployment, and the numbers sent to prison. This paper examines this relationship in the Irish context using data from the period 1951 to 1988. It finds that the relationship only holds in the period from the late 1970s onwards. It suggests that an examination of why this relationship exists needs to look at the ‘vocabulary of motives’ used by key decision-makers in the criminal justice system, and in particular by the judiciary.
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