DNA testing and banking has become institutionalized in the Canadian criminal justice system. As accepted and widespread though the practice is, there has been little critique or debate of this practice in a broad public forum on the potential infringement of individual rights or civil liberties. Neil Gerlach's The Genetic Imaginary takes up this challenge, critically examining the social, legal, and criminal justice origins and effects of DNA testing and banking. Drawing on risk analysis, Gerlach explains why Canadians have accepted DNA technology with barely a ripple of public outcry.
Despite promises of better crime control and protections for existing privacy rights, Gerlach's examination of police practices, courtroom decisions, and the changing role of scientific expertise in legal decision-making reveals that DNA testing and banking have indeed led to a measurable erosion of individual rights. Biogovernance and the biotechnology of surveillance almost inevitably lead to the empowerment of state agent control and away from due process and legal protection. The Genetic Imaginary demonstrates that the overall effect of these changes to the criminal justice system has been to emphasize the importance of community security at the expense of individual rights. The privatization and politicization of biogovernance will certainly have profound future implications for all Canadians.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 345.71/064
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 22
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- ISBN
- 9781442681354 0802087841
- LCCN
- RA1057.55
- LCCN Item number
- G47 2004eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOONL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (253 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)thg00600977 (OCoLC)431555138 (CaOOCEL)418586
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- Contents 6
- Acknowledgments 8
- 1 Introduction: Risk, Biogovernance, and the Genetic Imaginary 12
- 2 Creating the Conditions of Possibility: Scientific, Social, and Legal Contexts 43
- 3 Framing DNA: Negotiating the DNA Warrant and Data Bank System in the Public Sphere 76
- 4 Corrective Justice: Media Events and Public Knowledge of DNA in the Criminal Justice System 107
- 5 Opening and Closing the Black Box: DNA Typing as a Regime of Practice 142
- 6 From Crime Control to Crime Management: DNA and Shifting Notions of Justice 167
- 7 Conclusion: Toward Genetic Justice 203
- Notes 230
- Bibliography 240
- Index 256
- A 256
- B 256
- C 256
- D 257
- E 258
- F 258
- G 258
- H 258
- I 258
- J 259
- K 259
- L 259
- M 259
- N 259
- O 260
- P 260
- R 260
- S 261
- T 262
- U 262
- V 262
- W 262
- X 262
- Y 262
- Z 262
