%0 Journal Article
%T The prehistory of innovation: A longer view of penal change
%A Ashley T Rubin
%J Punishment & Society
%@ 1741-3095
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/1462474517690522
%X New penal technologies, however innovative, rarely emerge fully formed, but we currently lack a theoretical appreciation of the lengthy, messy process by which penal innovations develop. Indeed, most studies of penal change focus on the conditions surrounding the emergence of a particularly successful innovation, a model of punishment whose widespread diffusion is indicative of significant change. This paper extends our analytical focus by examining the legacy of an innovation¡¯s prehistory, the ideational period in which an idea is created at the margins of criminal justice before manifesting on a wider scale. This paper traces the history, and influence, of American uses of penal incarceration before Pennsylvania¡¯s famous Walnut Street Prison, often referred to as the country¡¯s first prison. This prehistory complicates the notion of innovation by identifying significant precursors. Ultimately, recognizing penal innovations¡¯ prehistory challenges macro-level theories of penal change, which largely overlook those causes that significantly predate the ¡°moment¡± of innovation
%K history
%K incarceration
%K innovation
%K penal change
%K prison
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1462474517690522