Prison Research Research Articles

Female Imprisonment: An Ethnography of Everyday Life in ConfinementC.Frois. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan (2017) 231pp. £109.99hb ISBN 978‐3‐319‐63684‐9

Female Imprisonment: An Ethnography of Everyday Life in ConfinementC.Frois. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan (2017) 231pp. £109.99hb ISBN 978‐3‐319‐63684‐9

Commentary: Assessing the Global Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Prison Populations

ABSTRACT The author directs the World Prison Research Programme at the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research, based at Birkbeck (University of London). The programme’s research team monitors trends in world prison populations and examines the causes and the consequences of rising levels of imprisonment. A core component of the programme involves compiling and hosting the World Prison Brief, an online database providing free access to information about prison systems throughout the world. This Commentary revisits key findings from the Programme’s ongoing work on prison population growth and its links to prison overcrowding and poor standards of prison healthcare. Within this context, some of the main impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on prison systems worldwide will be discussed, with a focus on measures taken to reduce prison population sizes and restrictions put in place in prison regimes (including suspending social and other visits to prisons, home or work leave for prisoners, and related restrictions) to help control spread of the virus. Compensatory measures introduced to lessen the adverse effects of greater isolation and reduced contact with the outside world are discussed. It is argued that the pandemic has revealed an unprecedented need for a more health-informed approach to penal reform.

Evaluating Impact in the Forgotten Field of Prison Librarianship

ABSTRACT For decades, a number of prison librarians and researchers have decried the near-total lack of data in their field regarding the impact of prison libraries on incarcerated individuals. In spite of their critiques, the majority of prison library literature remains descriptive in nature and relies more on speculation than empirical claims when describing impact. This paper attempts to identify the main reasons why it is so difficult to adequately evaluate the impact of prison library services. Following an exploration of these issues, suggestions for strengthening impact evaluation in prison libraries are proposed.

Egy reintegrációval foglalkozó kutatás megalapozása a külföldi publikációk tükrében

Ebben a tanulmányban bemutatásra kerül néhány, a magyarországi börtönökben jelenleg folyó, az elítéltek jövőképével foglalkozó kutatás megalapozása során felmerülő kérdés, és a megválaszolásukban fontos szerepet játszó nemzetközi publikáció és kutatási végeredmény.

Penitentiary pleasures: Queer understandings of prison paradoxes

Historically, prison researchers have remained disengaged with explorations of pleasure in punishment because of the risk of romanticizing imprisonment. This risk is inherent in any discussion of pleasure experienced by prisoners. In this article, I advocate for the application of queer theory as a means of deconstructing the binary formation through which pain and pleasure in prison is understood. To do that, I explore how ex-prisoners’ narratives might reveal (queer) moments of pleasure and complement existing criminological scholarship that has neglected such an issue. This exploration is framed by Foucault’s theory of pleasure as a productive force that renders it akin to power: it produces an effect. In this article, I draw on Edelman’s concept of “futurity” and Halberstam’s “failure” to bring criminology and queer theory into a productive dialogue for the purpose of analyzing the production of narratives of pleasure by ex-prisoners. In my analysis, I use Jackson and Mazzei’s “plugging in method” centered around the categories of (a) pleasure and pain, (b) pleasure and resistance, and (c) sexuality and pleasure. Drawing upon the findings, I argue that pleasure becomes a nexus of relations that exists and correlates with sexuality, power/resistance, and the feeling of pain. I conclude that a queer understanding of what is unpleasant is possible if we reconsider pleasure and pain in a spectrum as opposed to a binary formation.

The language of incarceration

This brief think piece considers the uses of “people first” language in the context of incarceration, both from a historical and contemporary perspective, and offers some thoughts about the use of this language by prison researchers. It focuses on the uses of such language in the context of disability studies and rights, and the focus on language by activists working to challenge systemic racism and abuse in prison systems in the 1960s and 1970s. It makes an argument for prison researchers to work intentionally with their use of language in keeping with broader disciplinary concerns around meaning making in prisons.

Sexual deviance in prison: Queering identity and intimacy in prison research

Recent years have seen increased attention in both research and policy towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender prisoners as a group with distinct needs. This has been driven by wider political recognition of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and research suggesting that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender prisoners are particularly ‘vulnerable’ to bullying and abuse within prison settings. Much of this research, and the policy solutions associated with it, we argue, ignores or side-steps queer perspectives, relying instead on liberal conceptions of identity, vulnerability and, ultimately, assimilation. Just as contemporary campaigns around marriage rights see lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities and individuals as fundamentally the same as the majority, rather than posing a challenge to the heteronormativity of marriage as an institution, much contemporary research and policy on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender prisoners sees this group as marked only by potential discrimination. We argue here instead that experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender prisoners can be read ‘queerly’ so as to potentially challenge the rigid gender and heteronormative foundations that underlie systems of incarceration. We draw on a small-scale empirical research project around the experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender prisoners to revisit contemporary paradoxes of prisons and sexuality and to problematise understandings of identity, intimacy and deviance in the prison context.

Only One Way To Swim? The Offence And The Life Course In Accounts Of Adaptation To Life Imprisonment

Abstract Recent studies of long-term imprisonment describe a largely invariant pattern of prisoner adaptation. Using data from a qualitative study of men serving life sentences in England, I argue that adaptation may in fact vary more than these studies imply both because of the prisoner’s age when sentenced and because of the circumstances of particular offences. Participants’ engagement with the prison’s rehabilitative ‘offer’ depended on how the sentence affected their life course and what they understood to be the moral ramifications of the offence. These findings refine understanding of adaptation and suggest that a renewed focus on moral reflexivity may bear fruit in future prison research.

Emotions and agency in prison research

The emotionality of prison research has received much justified attention in recent years. However, this aspect of undertaking qualitative research is often not considered by early career researchers until they are confronted with the impact of both researching emotionally laden subjects and employing their emotional agency as the researcher. Emerging from this, the authors argue for the development of a methodology that conceives researchers as emotional agents. This methodology incorporates harnessing emotional experiences as a tool for data collection. In this way, researchers are encouraged and trained to shift from passive to active emotional agents. Thus, far from inhibiting the research, the inherent emotionality of conducting research enhances its rigour, integrity and validity. Emotionality is intrinsic to conducting research in the prison milieu. As such, it warrants constructive employment and integration into existing research methodologies. This article draws on the authors’ respective experiences conducting mixed methods research in prison settings. The authors’ research methodologies incorporated emotional reflexivity as a core constituent throughout their data collection, analysis and the writing of their doctoral studies. The argument will be illustrated by detailing experiences of emotional charge during the fieldwork. To reflect this, the authors advocate for the emergence of an integrative methodology. The development of such a methodology would be of value to prison researchers but particularly to novice and/or doctoral researchers. Furthermore, it would be similarly applicable to researchers throughout the field of criminal justice and beyond.

Prison conditions and standards of health care for women and their children incarcerated in Zimbabwean prisons.

The Sub-Saharan African (SSA) region remains at the epicentre of the HIV epidemic and disproportionately affecting women, girls and prisoners. Women in prison are a minority group and their special health needs relating to gender sensitivity, reproductive health, their children and HIV/AIDs are frequently neglected. Our study responded to this need, and aimed to investigate the issue. A qualitative study using focus group discussions and key informant interviews explored the perspectives of women in prison, correctional officers, correctional health professionals and non-governmental organisations around prison conditions and standards of health care while incarcerated in a large female prison in Zimbabwe. Narratives were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. The three key themes that emerged are as follows: "Sanitation and hygiene in the prison", "Nutrition for women and children" and "Prison-based health services and health care". Divergence or agreement across perspectives around adequate standards of sanitation, hygiene, quality and adequacy of food, special diets for those with health conditions, access to health care in prison and the continuum of care across incarceration and community are presented. Understanding prison environmental cultures which shape correctional staff's understanding and responsiveness to women in prison, environmental health conditions and access to health care are vital to improve conditions and continuum of care in Zimbabwe. Policy and technical guidance continues to emphasise the need for research in SSA prisons to garner insight into the experiences of women and their children, with a particular emphasis on the prison environment for them, their health outcomes and health-care continuum. This unique study responded to this need.

Legal Research Methodology and Copyright Law

As contributors of legal fraternity judges, lawyers, academicians, researchers and college students constantly have interaction in prison studies and writing, the prison researchers and writers play a double function of their educational exercising as each creators and customers of copyrighted materials. It means, they've rights and obligations in regards to copyright regulation. The gift article analyzes the copyright troubles worried in studies and examines the methods via way of means of which the educational authors have to protect themselves from the expenses of copyright infringement and plagiarism. Doctrinal legal studies methodology, additionally called black methodology, makes a speciality of the letter of the regulation instead of the regulation in action. Using this method, a researcher composes a descriptive and distinctive evaluation of prison regulations determined in number one sources (cases, statutes, or regulations)

Freedom in the Face of Nicaragua's Hybrid Carceral System

Drawing on extensive prisons research and sustained contact with (former) prisoners in Nicaragua, this article explores three former prisoners’ post-release trajectories. In the face of a hybrid state that manifests as both a legal penal state and an extralegal system of powers, colloquially referred to as el Sistema (the System), and to the backdrop of a (d)evolving political context, I argue for an understanding of the ‘tightness’ of post-release life by conceptualizing the Sistema’s transcarceral grip. Former prisoners deal with this grip in different ways, ranging from self-censorship to the taking of ‘delinquent freedoms’. A detailed understanding of this grip can help pinpoint how carceral logics are mobilized outside prison in Nicaragua and how its carceral state expands through not only legal but also extralegal means.

Ethnography of young people in confinement: on subjectivity, positionality and situated ethics in closed space

This article explores the strengths and limitations of doing ethnographic research with young people in confinement. The article draws on two studies from Scotland and Denmark, and reflects on critical issues such as getting access, obtaining informed and voluntary consent, emotional challenges, safety, positionality and situated ethics. While a substantial body of literature addresses the methodological challenges of doing ethnographic research in prisons, the literature on doing qualitative research with young people confined in locked residential institutions and youth remand centres is very limited. The article demonstrates the continued importance of doing ethnographic research in penal institutions, by showing how sensory data and lived experience of penal practice and materiality, contributes to our understanding of how young people experience confinement. By drawing on fieldnotes and interviews, this article aims to inspire and lay the grounds for new researchers in the field.

Correctional officers as participants: Action research in prisons

Action research methodology is well-suited to engaging with marginalised groups to inform policy and guide practice. Prisons are complex institutions with hierarchies of power; social systems that demand a research approach suited to social structure. The pilot project to be evaluated is designed to promote positive pregnancy and birth experiences for pregnant female prisoners and provide extraordinary learning opportunities for midwifery students. The project team includes staff from a regional university, the local health service and the state run prison service. Very early in the project it became evident that in addition to management patronage, the project needed the practical support of the Custodial Correctional Officers. Thus, officers as project ‘champions’ were recruited. Custodial Correctional Officers play an integral role in these social systems and although they are perceived to have power over prisoners, they too are subject to controls and in some instances have minimal power. The study will be conducted in two stages, the first of which will involve the Custodial Correctional Officers as participants, focus on the outcomes to date and how this may inform policy and practice. This article justifies the use of action research methodology for this purpose.

Adapting to the Lack of Agency: Research in Prisons

How can a researcher adapt to the lack of agency in secure environments?HM Inspectorate of Prisons in the UK published in 2012 a thematic report about the use of the “person escort record” (PER) with detainees at risk of self‐harm, highlighting the high number of deaths in custody. The PER was used during the transport of people under custody, and informed about their security and safety issues.As a result of this report, my team had the mandate to improve how security and safety risks were communicated. I needed to identify the needs and pain points of the people working on prison and court services, and I did so throughout multiple contextual research sessions.Due to the lack of agency in secured environments, I had the constant need to adapt and identify opportunities to bring to the team the information they needed.

Prison Officer Self-Legitimacy and Support for Rehabilitation in Ghana

Legitimacy remains a principal issue for prison researchers and managers. However, prison legitimacy literature tends to focus on views held by individuals in custody. Research on prison officer Self-Legitimacy—that is, the prison officers’ belief that the authority vested in them is morally right—remains scanty. Drawing on data from a survey of 1,062 prison officers in Ghana, this study examined both the correlates of prison officer Self-Legitimacy and the links between Self-Legitimacy and Support for Rehabilitation of individuals in custody. The results of multivariate analyses showed that having good Relations with Colleagues and being treated fairly by supervisors enhanced prison officers’ Self-Legitimacy. In turn, Self-Legitimacy was found to increase officers’ Support for Rehabilitation. Finally, perceived Fair Treatment by Supervisors and positive Relations with Individuals in Custody were associated with increased Support for Rehabilitation. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Charting the hidden City: Collecting prison social network data

Penologists have long emphasized the importance of studying social relationships among prisoners to understand how people adapt to confinement. While several penological traditions clearly implicate social networks as an explanatory mechanism, network methods have rarely been applied in prison research. We suspect that prison scholars have been slow to incorporate social networks into their research because of the challenges—both real and perceived—of collecting social network data in the prison setting. In this article, we argue that successfully collecting network data from prisoners can be achieved by carefully adapting methods to the peculiarities and constraints of the prison setting. We draw upon experiences from the Prison Inmate Networks Study (PINS) and its associated projects in five Pennsylvania prisons to construct a framework for understanding and overcoming the obstacles to network data collection in prisons.

Unresolvable Tensions and Ethical Dilemmas: Reflections on the Experience of Doing “Prison Research” in China—A Research Note

In this article, I reflect on the ethical implications of my research visit to China’s prisons. I argue that satisfying instituted ethical protocols in this type of research is the beginning of the ethical process, not the end. “Ethical research” involves constant reflection on how the researcher’s self is constituted in relation to others, not only the primary research group but also fellow researchers, gatekeepers, facilitators, prison officials, and the representatives of the many organizations involved in such a program. Interpretive or critical inquiries are not solely about deciding “whose side we are on,” but more about what kind of relations between the self and various stakeholders existed before, during, and after fieldwork.

Reimagining Prison Research from the Inside-Out

Reimagining Prison Research from the Inside-Out

Examining Developmental Patterns of Prison Misconduct: An Integrated Model Approach.

Recent prison scholarship has employed an integrated model of the developmental/life-course perspectives and importation model to examine prison misconduct. Using longitudinal data from a large sample of inmates incarcerated in a U.S. prison system, this study attempts to validate and expand recent prison research by systematically examining the relationship among inmate characteristics and misconduct trajectories, particularly for the higher/chronic pattern of misconduct relative to other identified clusters. The results show that smaller groups of inmates have persistent criminal careers and continually engaged in high level of misconduct. In addition, several inmate characteristics associated with prison misconduct can also be useful to distinguishing high-risk inmates/persistent offenders from groups that offend at low rates over time. These findings could provide vital information to prison officials in developing and designing alternative prison services, assistance, and rehabilitation programs based on the misconduct trajectories.