The McDonaldisation of Punishment in the UK/USA
The origins of modern bureaucracy are set in the work of the sociologist Max Weber. Weber’s process of bureaucracy is based on his wider theory of rationalisation. He described how the modern western societies were dominated by an increased rationality, based on efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control (non-human technologies) (Weber, 197 8). The rationalisation model for Weber was the bureaucracy, whereas for Ritzer (2004) was the paradigm of the fast-food restaurant, McDonalds. Thus, McDonaldisation is a reconceptualization of Weber’s theory of rationalisation. The process of McDonaldisation has proved to be inexorable, expanding through impervious organisations and institutions, such as the Educational system, Health and Care System and the Criminal Justice System.
Weber claimed that the Western societies developed a distinctive kind of rationality, respectively formal rationality. Formal rationality is defined by the premise that the search of optimum means to a given end, is based on social structures, regulations, and rules (Weber, 1978). He suggested that people are using institutionalised regulations, that will dictate what they are ought to do. Hence, ‘formal rationality allows individuals little choice to means to and end’’ (Kaesler, 2017). For Weber, bureaucracy was the most efficient way of handling numerous tasks in large numbers. The…
