Pumping iron for strength and power: prisoners’ perceptions of a stable body

Abstract

ABSTRACT Prior studies emphasise that prisons are violent places and strong social hierarchies exist between inmates. Against the background that a large number of inmates engage in strength training, this paper explores the significance of self-organised weight training and muscle building by reconstructing the meanings and relevance of these activities particularly with regard to power relations and social hierarchy formation. Using an ethnographic approach, the study is based on 80 field visits over 27 months in a German prison and 19 problem-centred interviews with male prisoners. The material shows that social hierarchies among inmates are largely based on physical strength and often manifest in acts of violence. In addition, inmates frequently face minor provocations, verbally or physically, that establish relations of dominance and submission. Interviewees interpret a stable, muscular body in combination with a self-confident, sometimes deliberately grim appearance as a signal that one is determined to defend oneself and does not serve as an easy victim. Accordingly, inmates see it as a necessity to build up muscle strength, which is why all forms of strength training are extremely popular within the prison. However, since the prison studied here actually forbids weight training with barbells, prisoners have to find informal ways and sometimes trick guards when carrying out muscle building exercises. It is concluded that weight training can best be understood as a functional adaptation to the prison context with its widespread aggression and (fear of) violence.