PUNISHMENT AND THE LESSONS FROM HISTORY

This article examines the range of social forces which constitute the collection of legal sanctions which make up modem punishment systems. While not disputing the importance of the social control capacities which have been influential in the process, it argues that we also have to take into account changing cultural sensitivities and the still prevailing remnants of 19th Century political economy if we are to effectively understand the nature of punishment today. It draws primarily, although not exclusively, on historical research undertaken in New Zealand.