“The parent I never had”: The contemporary construction of alternatives to incarceration

Abstract

This essay is developed along two lines. First, I investigate contemporary arguments and public discussions from which the concept of “alternative punishments” is being constructed and speculate about the influence of these constructions on how prisoners, laws, and morality are viewed publicly. I suggest that the current construction of alternatives to incarceration encourage all members of our culture to accept and encourage dominant definitions of “proper” behavior. Second, I use the essay as a representation of the utility of recent moves to incorporate poststructuralist themes into communication studies, most notably those emerging from the recent discussion of a “critical rhetoric.”