Social Defence Ils 212 by Marc Ancel

Author:Marc Ancel [Ancel, Marc]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, General
ISBN: 9781136268281
Google: ZbaAAAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-08-21T05:49:27+00:00

Chapter Six

The Doctrine of New Social Defence in its Positive and Constructive Aspect

IN THE PRECEDING CHAPTER we tried to give an account of what may be described as the critical aspect of the new social defence doctrine, and we were thus led to examine the theories, conceptions, and tendencies to which the movement is opposed. At the same time, we tried to distinguish between certain extreme interpretations and the body of common thinking that brings together the various supporters of a doctrine whose unity does not lie in any kind of dogmatic uniformity. So we were able to perceive what social defence is not. But the picture would be neither complete nor accurate if we did not now endeavour to explain what the doctrine is, and try, in the present chapter, to bring out its positive elements. This we will now attempt, without in any way intending to expound in detail what may be called the technique of social defence, or to present a synthesis of 'principles of social defence', in the way in which this expression was understood by, for instance, Gramatica.

It has already been explained that the new social defence doctrine does not seek to abolish the whole system of criminal law as such, but tries, on the contrary, to reorganize the existing system along the lines of a rational penal policy. The doctrine therefore includes not only various suggestions for reform, but likewise a kind of reappraisal of basic values concerning criminal law and criminal procedure. In this chapter we shall not attempt to draw up a complete inventory of what the rational penal policy of social defence ought to comprise, for this would involve a survey of nearly all the heads of criminal law and procedure. Our present task is simply to place social defence in perspective as a dynamic movement, so as to understand the changes it is actively seeking to promote.

The positive contribution of the new social defence movement appears to depend on three essential factors. First of all, social defence involves a certain process of 'de-legalization', that is to say, emptying certain conceptions of their purely legal content, yet without doing away with the legal order in the proper sense of the term. Secondly, the new social defence doctrine finds active expression in a new attitude towards the criminal, which provides the basis for realistic social action against the phenomenon of crime. Lastly, new social defence draws ideological inspiration from a certain moral attitude and aims ultimately at a humanist conception of penal policy. These three points must be dealt with in turn, before defining more completely the place of the new social defence movement with regard to the essential problem of responsibility.

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