Male prisoners’ orientations towards female officers in an English prison

Abstract

Drawing on material collected as part of a semi-ethnographic study of an English training prison for men, this article describes the orientations of male prisoners towards female prison officers. A number of attitudes and orientations are outlined, some of which privilege the significance of femaleness over professional identity and practices (for example through discourses of sexualization and chivalry), while others focus primarily on the officer role and professional practices and treatment. The article suggests that prisoner life experiences and the nature of imprisonment are significant influences on the relationships between male prisoners and female officers, and that the high emotional charge that characterizes many of these relationships reflects a complex set of issues around incarceration, masculine self-identity, power and desire.