Rather than seek individual rehabilitation they are oriented toward the more realistic task of monitoring and managing intractable groups. The fact that the underclass is permanent leaves little hope that its members, many of whom are in the correctional population, can be helped.
Penology then stresses the low-cost management of a permanent offender population.
Control is coercive and repressive. Even the media plays a role, shapes our perspective. Social control is unified and coherent. Clients themselves more often see these institutions as a shield to protect them rather than a net to catch them. Yet they are defined as criminal and The public actually demands more and tighter control.