“Race” Relations and Discrimination in Prison

Abstract

This article focuses on race relations and discrimination in prison, and is based on data gathered from a large comparative project on populations of Muslim background in French and British prisons. For a meaningful comparison of discrimination in France and Britain, it is important to take stock of the discrepancy between societal and political contexts in the two countries. The first part of the article reviews the history of responses to legislation regarding race relations in the Prison Service of England and Wales, paying special attention to incidents that elicited public concern and to the effects of this history on the position of minority faith groups in prisons. The views of Prison Officers and of Muslim prisoners about the state of race relations in the prisons of England and Wales form the second part of the article. Finally, the article considers reports from Muslim prisoners in French prisons about their experiences of racist discrimination. This article concentrates on empirical results, which make part of a larger project.