The Defendant's Subjectivity

The criminal defendant is an undertheorized social actor in the era of mass criminalization. This article introduces two complementary frameworks to stimulate theory-building on defendants’ subjectivity. The first framework develops the metaphor of the judicial. Where much scholarship considers the carceral (i.e., prisonlike) techniques of state power, the judicial metaphor encourages scholars to consider whether, how, and when techniques of state power operate in courtlike ways and with what consequences. The second framework develops the concept of the defendant career. Where growing research considers defendants’ subjectivity at discrete legal moments, this concept encourages scholars to consider the cumulative sequence of judicial events and relationships that condition the onset, experience, and conclusion of a person's status as a defendant. With these frameworks in hand, the article reviews research on the understandings and trajectories that emerge across three common judicial events/relationships in the defendant career: ( a ) legal representation, ( b ) pretrial detention and supervision, and ( c ) the guilty plea. The article proposes directions for future research that could sharpen theorization of the defendant and of defendant-like statuses in broader society.