An Exercise in ReflexivityParis of My Exiles. Produced, directed, filmed, and edited by Rina Sherman. Music by Rina Sherman. 2011.

Abstract

analysis of the problems involved in centering attention on “cognitive distortions” to the exclusion of many other aspects of inmates’ experience. As Waldram notes in a compelling short chapter on the “Empathy” module, prisoners’ own histories are in fact regarded as “blocks” to empathy rather than opportunities for insight. Waldram concludes the book by placing his critique of CBT in the context of a larger project he calls the anthropology of therapeutic intervention. Many therapeutic settings involve some form of coercion and require, he suggests, an anthropological approach acutely sensitive to power relations and willing to question the subjectification produced even—or especially—when intervention is deemed “successful.” Seen from this perspective, the therapy offered by the Hound Pound is a well-intentioned but inadequate, even naive, attempt to force inmates’ thoughts into socially acceptable (but shallow) channels, bypassing the sources of their suffering and the suffering they have caused others. Hound Pound Narrative is an engaging and exceedingly well-designed ethnography that succeeds in the difficult goal Waldram sets for himself. We are skillfully drawn into the awkward, painful, and occasionally funny interactions that constitute the treatment program, coming away, as Waldram hopes, with an appreciation of the situation and feelings of sexual offenders. Because Waldram gained remarkable access and was able to follow several cohorts of inmates throughout their treatment, the book also offers a rare glimpse of what really happens when prisons do attempt rehabilitation. At the same time, Hound Pound Narrative is revealing of some of the limitations of contemporary prison ethnography. We learn almost nothing of the staff; Waldram was not allowed to interview them and maintains a studied distance from their perspective. We also get little sense of the context in which the facility operates or the relationship between the inmates and the larger prison system, although their low status in relation to other prisoners does emerge as a minor theme. And because of confidentiality rules and sex offenders’ vulnerability to vigilante violence upon release, Waldram tells relatively little about inmates’ lives—for example, mentioning, but not elaborating on, the extent to which they have themselves experienced abuse. Waldram does not examine connections between CBT, earlier behaviorist models, and the emphasis on “accountability” that pervades contemporary incarceration. The issue of gender does not come up, either as it may have influenced Waldram’s ability to conduct his research or as an element in the relationship between inmates and staff. Hound Pound Narrative thus presents a relatively bounded, tightly focused, and present-oriented picture of a specific program, but one that reveals much about the ineptitude and flawed assumptions driving contemporary penality. An Exercise in Reflexivity