‘Kidulthood’: Ethnography, juvenile prison violence and the transition from ‘boys’ to ‘men’

Kate Gooch

doi:10.1177/1748895817741519

Abstract

The article explores how teenage boys (aged 15–18 years old) in an English young offender institution (YOI) engage in and construct prison violence. Focusing on the relationship between violence and the performance of adolescent prison masculinities, it presents three key findings. First, there are key differences between juvenile and adult prison violence (behaviour that is framed in terms of being a ‘real man’ or a ‘little boy’). Second, the performance of masculinity is complicated by the striking vulnerability of child prisoners and masks the real problems that all young people experience ‘ handling jail’. Third, the performance of ‘manhood’ is an unfinished, negotiated and incomplete work where young people exist in a state of liminality and ‘kidulthood’, catapulted into premature adulthood but retaining aspects of their childhood sensibilities and needs. Thus, gendered performances are mediated and constructed in accordance to youth and adulthood.

Highlights

In July 2016, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke (2016: 8), declared that the ‘simple and unpalatable truth about many prisons’ in England and Wales is that they have become ‘unacceptably violent and dangerous places’
The available British research is dated, but has tended to focus on specific aspects of victimization, such as bullying or sexual victimization (McGurk et al, 2000), without exploring the problem of juvenile prison violence more generally. This has led some scholars to explain the incidence of juvenile prison violence by stressing the relatively immature, impulsive reactions of young people (Bottoms, 1999)
While a certain amount of physical violence was seen as an acceptable way to resolve conflict, unlike adult prisoners, very serious events were not ‘explained’ acts but appeared to ‘shock’ young people, disrupting their sense of equilibrium

Summary

Introduction

In July 2016, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke (2016: 8), declared that the ‘simple and unpalatable truth about many prisons’ in England and Wales is that they have become ‘unacceptably violent and dangerous places’. This has led some scholars to explain the incidence of juvenile prison violence by stressing the relatively immature, impulsive reactions of young people (Bottoms, 1999). It analyses how young people constructed the relationship between prison violence and masculinity.

Results

Conclusion