A Critical Review of the Sociology of Punishment Based on the Work of Tom Daems

This paper discusses some conceptual, epistemological, and methodological difficulties that persist in the sociology of punishment and which emerge from a critical review of the important work by Tom Daems, Making Sense of Penal Change (2008). The author makes specific reference to: (i) the concept of punishment and the utilization of a causes/effects schema; (ii) the absence of a clear distinction between explanation and prediction; (iii) the issue of long/short-term observations; and (iv) the utilization of the distinction between one-dimensional and multidimensional explanations. In conclusion, this paper asks whether or not a “pluralist theoretical position” is epistemologically possible.