Electronic monitoring has increased in scale, scope and application in several Western countries in recent decades. It is a highly versatile technology because it can be used at all stages of involvement with the criminal justice system, namely as a pre-trial detention measure, as a condition for the suspension or enforcement of a prison sentence, and as a pre-release measure for prisoners. Electronic monitoring can also be used for victim protection.

The (alleged) benefits of electronic monitoring are widely promoted by political and media discourses, which emphasise the potential reduction of prison overcrowding and associated costs, the maintenance of social ties and the reduction of reoffending.

In E-MONITORING we critically examine the expanding uses of this technology, looking at both its projected futures and lived experiences.

Projected Futures

Most research on electronic monitoring tends to focus on how this penal instrument uses either radio-frequency, which monitors the presence of an individual in a particular location, or GPS, which tracks the mobility of offenders (and victims). However, there are currently other possibilities offered by electronic monitoring that could eventually determine its future directions, such as the use in tandem with smartphones, facial recognition systems and artificial intelligence.

In E-MONITORING we therefore aim to explore the “projected futures” of electronic monitoring at an international level by focusing on the technological developments that are being tested, developed and implemented in different jurisdictions across Europe, and their associated societal, cultural, regulatory and political implications.

Lived Experiences

The use of electronic monitoring in Portugal has been expanding significantly over the past years. However, more than 20 years after its adoption, there is an absence of studies devoted to exploring the implications of electronic monitoring and the lived experiences of those subjected to it. Aiming to fill this gap, E-MONITORING Portugal as a case study to analyse how individuals under EM measures attribute meanings to their experience, manage their lives, and (re)construct subjectivities and identities.

Funding and Host Institution

E-MONITORING, Electronic monitoring in the criminal justice system: Projected futures and lived experiences, is a research project funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the Restart Programme (2023.00030.RESTART).

The project is based at the Communication and Society Research Centre (CECS), Institute of Social Sciences (ICS) at the University of Minho (UMinho), Portugal.