Criminal Artefacts

Attitudes toward crime, criminals, and rehabilitation have shiftedconsiderably, yet the idea that there is a causal link between drugaddiction and crime prevails. As law reformers call for addictiontreatment as a remedy to the failing war on drugs, it is also time toconsider the serious implications of joining legal and therapeuticpractices in an assumedly benevolent bid to cure the offender.

Drawing on theoretical tools inspired by Foucault, Latour, andGoffman, Criminal Artefacts casts doubt on the assumption thatdrugs lie at the heart of crime. Case studies from drug treatmentcourts and addiction treatment programs illustrate the tensions betweenlaw and psychology, treatment and punishment, and conflicting theoriesof addiction. By looking curiously on the criminal addict as anartefact of criminal justice, this book asks us to question why thecriminalized drug user has become such a focus of contemporary criminaljustice practices.

This interdisciplinary book will appeal to students, academics, andpractitioners in law, social theory, criminology, criminal justice,addictions, cultural studies, sociology, and science studies.