Book review: Lévy R, Dumoulin L, Kensey A and Licoppe C (eds), Le bracelet électronique: action publique, pénalité et connectivité

Abstract

In 2019, RMS Éditions/Médicine & Hygiène published the book entitled Le bracelet électronique: action publique, pénalité et connectivité [The electronic bracelet: public action, penality and connectivity] as part of the book series of Déviance et Société, one of the leading French-language journals in criminology. This book offers a kaleidoscopic overview of themes around electronic monitoring (EM) that were researched and/or published in other languages (e.g. English, Dutch) during the recent decades. After an extensive chapter explaining the purpose of the book and the choice of selected themes, 11 different contributions are provided by a select international group of authors, from the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, and Germany. These contributions are divided into three main parts, namely, (1) Le bracelet électronique comme solution d’action publique et comme marché [The electronic bracelet as a solution for public action and as a market]; (2) Le bracelet électronique comme peine et instrument de surveillance [The electronic bracelet as punishment and monitoring instrument]; and (3) La surveillance électronique comme dispositif sociotechnique de surveillance [Electronic surveillance as a sociotechnical surveillance device]. In the first part of the book, Lilly & Thomas analyze the emergence and evolution of the Electronic Monitoring (EM) market in the United States (1. Prendre la mesure du marché de la surveillance électronique aux États-Unis [Taking on the issues of the electronic monitoring market in the United States]). They see great similarities with the “prison-industrial complex” (or “penal-commercial complex”) and the characteristic interdependence between the public sector and the private market. In the United States, EM experienced a strong advance (in frequency of use) in the mid-1980s. Whereas it was applied in 21 states in 1987, it became used in 44 states 2 years later. It is however difficult to estimate the size and value of the EM-market. Moreover, the figures for this market, and by extension the whole correctional market, are very different (due, among other things, to a lack of clarity regarding the field of application (State and/or federal level), different definitions of correctional costs, etc.). Nevertheless, it appears that EM represents only a fraction of the overall “correctional cake.” Indeed less than 1% of the total number of persons under judicial supervision are monitored electronically. The globalization of the economy and the development of (international) networks, as well as the 977226 EJP0010.1177/2066220320977226European Journal of ProbationBook review 2020