Critical Prison Studies

Between outside and inside? Prison visiting rooms as liminal carceral spaces

by Dominique Moran

in early view in GeoJournal

This paper suggests that although carceral space seems to be sharply demarcated from the outside world, the prison... more This paper suggests that although carceral space seems to be sharply demarcated from the outside world, the prison wall is in fact more porous than might be assumed. The paper critiques Goffman’s theory of the ‘total institution’ by deploying a geographical engagement with liminality to theorise prison visiting rooms as spaces in which prisoners come face-to-face with persons and objects which come from and represent their lives on the ‘outside’. Drawing on a specific empirical example from recent research into imprisonment in the contemporary Russian prison system, it uses the example of visiting suites designed for long term ‘residential’ visits to explore the ways in which visiting spaces act as a space of betweenness where a metaphorical threshold-crossing takes place between outside and inside. The paper specifically explores the expression of that betweenness in the materiality of visiting, and in the destabilisation of rules and identities in visiting space. It contests the sense of linear transformation with which liminal spaces have previously been associated, suggesting that rather than spaces of linear transition from one state to another, liminal spaces can constitute a frustratingly repetitive, static or equilibriating form of transformation which is cumulative rather than immediate, and relates this suggestion to the wider study of prison visitation.

Carceral Geography and the Spatialities of Prison Visiting: Visitation, Recidivism and Hyperincarceration

by Dominique Moran

Forthcoming in Environment and Planning D: Society and Space

Geography, as a disciplinary lens, brings a valuable perspective to the study of the carceral, and carceral... more Geography, as a disciplinary lens, brings a valuable perspective to the study of the carceral, and carceral geography’s concern for the spatial could provide a new explanatory perspective to the consideration of some accepted tenets within criminology, whilst at the same time offering a productive and useful ‘grounding’ of contemporary geographies of emotion and affect. In the context of hyperincarceration and the carceral continuum of recidivism and repeated re-imprisonment, this paper considers the long-observed relationship between prison visitation and reduced recidivism, posits prison visiting rooms as under-researched carceral spaces, and develops theoretical and methodological innovations which nuance the understanding of prison visiting.

Queering Prison Abolition, Now?

by Eric Stanley

co-authored with Dean Spade, Andrea J. Ritchie, Joey L. Mogul, and Kay Whitlock

We occasionally publish “Currents” in American Quarterly, which are intended as timely forms of writing that... more We occasionally publish “Currents” in American Quarterly, which are intended as timely forms of writing that contribute and intervene in contemporary issues of importance to scholars in American studies. It is our hope that “Currents” will provide a forum for debates over the directions of the field and how the interdisciplinary field of American studies defines itself and is defined by others. The following is a conversation among the intellectuals and activists Eric A. Stanley, Dean Spade, Andrea J. Ritchie, Joey L. Mogul, and Kay Whitlock, about queer abolitionist politics. The scholars and organizers involved wanted to mark this particular moment as a coalescence of years of organizing, struggling, and building a radically queer abolitionist politics. The piece is written jointly, to highlight how this analysis, and abolition in general, is a collective endeavor. The following conversation was conducted by e-mail in November 2011.

Mahpus Bir Hapishane Yazını’nın Özgürlüğüne Doğru

by Alparslan Nas

Published at Mahsus Mahal Journal of Prison and Literature, Spring 2012, v.18, pp. 8-11.

Bugün Türkiye’de hapishane olgusunun belirli ölçülerde popüler olduğu bir süreci yaşıyoruz. Geçtiğimiz dönemde... more Bugün Türkiye’de hapishane olgusunun belirli ölçülerde popüler olduğu bir süreci yaşıyoruz. Geçtiğimiz dönemde gerçekleşen ve bugün de devam eden Ergenekon ve KCK soruşturmaları dahilinde yaşanan çeşitli tutuklamalar, ana akım medyanın hapishanelere karşı ilgisini oluşturdu. 2011 Temmuz ayında futbolda şike operasyonu kapsamında pek çok futbol insanının tutuklanmasıyla hapishane olgusu iyiden iyiye konuşulmaya başlandı. Bütün bu gelişmeler, hapishanelerde mahpuslar tarafından üretilen çeşitli anlatıların da gün ışığına çıkmasını ve tartışmaya tabi tutulmasını beraberinde getirdi.

Hapishaneler Ne İçin Var?

by Alparslan Nas

Bugün Türkiye'de ve dünya genelinde hapishaneler, yalnızca birer ceza infaz kurumu olmaktan öte, kendi içinde... more Bugün Türkiye'de ve dünya genelinde hapishaneler, yalnızca birer ceza infaz kurumu olmaktan öte, kendi içinde gerçekleşen hak ihlalleri ve suç teşkil eden uygulama alanları olarak da sivriliyor. Hapishanelerde yaşananlar ceza infaz sistemleri kadar, toplumun geri kalanı için pek çok yönden açıklayıcı bir yana sahip.

PIC Flier Final

by Nicholas Locke

by Nicholas Locke

Politicized Black Manhood/Slavery--in Prison

by Nandi Crosby

Politicization is a process of developing an identity and consciousness rooted in understanding how power is... more Politicization is a process of developing an identity and consciousness rooted in understanding how power is negotiated and in the resistance of marginalized groups. This essay examines the dynamic of Black men who become politicized during their incarceration.

Contesting the Mark of Criminality: Race, Place, and the Prerogative of Violence in N.W.A.'s *Straight Outta Compton*"

by Bryan McCann

Published in Critical Studies in Media Communication, Forthcoming.

This essay reads rap group N.W.A.’s 1988 album Straight Outta Compton as a parodic enactment of the racialized... more This essay reads rap group N.W.A.’s 1988 album Straight Outta Compton as a parodic enactment of the racialized discourses of law and order during the late 1980s, or what I am calling the mark of criminality. Its release constituted a watershed moment in black popular culture that coincided with the devastating consequences of surveillance, containment, and spectacular scapegoating associated with Reagan-era crime control policies and rhetoric. I argue that the album and its reception by the law enforcement community of the late 1980s functioned as a confrontation over the meanings of race, place, and crime in the twentieth century. In addition to revealing the contingent meanings of criminality in popular and political culture, the legacy of Straight Outta Compton provides insights into the role of criminality in processes of social transformation.

Actrices sociales en el escenario carcelario

by Estibaliz De Miguel Calvo

V Congreso Internacional de la Asociación de Estudios de Mujeres (AUDEM) 2008

RESÚMEN
El artículo presenta diferentes perfiles y problemáticas de las mujeres encarceladas desde una... more RESÚMEN
El artículo presenta diferentes perfiles y problemáticas de las mujeres encarceladas desde una perspectiva de género. Lo común a todas ellas es que se encuentran en espacios precarios, alejados de sus lugares de origen y que cuentan con menores actividades formativas. Sometidas a un tratamiento paternalista y estereotipado de género, sus principales preocupaciones derivan de su papel de madres y de sus carencias en las relaciones familiares. La inmensa mayoría provienen de estratos sociales bajos, producto de la selección social, penal y penitenciaria. El eje presencia/ausencia de una pareja masculina en sus vidas parece tener relevancia en sus trayectorias. Al mismo tiempo, muchas mujeres no encarceladas tienen que padecer las consecuencias de la prisión de una u otra manera. Ellas son las parejas, esposas y otras familiares de quienes se encuentran encarcelados y encarceladas.

ABSTRACT
The article presents several profiles and issues of women incarcerated from a gender perspective. They are situated in precarious spaces, far from their places of origin and they have minor formative activities. Having been submitted to a paternalistic and stereotyped treatment of gender, their main concerns are those of motherhood and their gaps in family relationships. Most of them come from the lowest social status, a product of the social, penal and penitentiary selection. The key presence/absence of a male companion in their lives, seems to be relevant for their development. At the same time, many women, not incarcerated, have somehow to suffer the consequences of the prison system. They are the companions, wives, and other relatives of those incarcerated.

De la excepción al paradigma. Análisis de los fenómenos lingüísticos presentes en la jerga de los delincuentes españoles. en Torrione, M. (ed.) Lenguas libertad vigilada. Ibéricas Cahiers du Cric. 1:155-195.

by Luisa Martín Rojo

Es en la primera edición de los cuadernos del CRIC (a cargo de Margarita Torrione, de la Universidad de... more Es en la primera edición de los cuadernos del CRIC (a cargo de Margarita Torrione, de la Universidad de Toulouse-le-Mirail) títulados Lengua, libertad vigilada. Seis estudios sobre norma, fluctuación, marginalismo, que encontramos el estudio que nos va a interesar : “De la excepción al paradigma. Análisis de los fenómenos lingüísticos presentes en la jerga de los delincuentes españoles”. Luisa Martín Rojo, la autora, es profesora en Lingüística en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Partiendo del constato que “Todo grupo humano, social, profesional, étnico o cultural, genera una forma particular de habla”, intenta en este artículo abordar el habla de los delincuentes españoles. Esta ficha de lectura se compone de tres partes diferentes. Corresponden cada una a “tres tendencias lingüísticas” que son “el principio de variación”, la “gestión de la información” y “la construcción de una realidad propria” a la jerga de los delincuentes.

[...] También ha notado que algunas “áreas del vocabulario destacan por la menor frecuencia de sinónimos” (“especialmente dentro del léxico profesional”) mientras que otras áreas léxicas no tienen limitación en sus sinónimos (como las áreas léxicas que se refieren al entorno, a las instituciones represivas, a los acontecimientos de la vida delincuente, a los personajes La gestión de la información En esta parte se han agrupado “todos aquellos fenómenos lingüísticos que facilitan la comunicación interior y obstaculizan la comprensión desde el exterior”. [...]

[...] hecho de que la jerga de los delincuentes españoles tiene a la vez que ver con la lengua misma, pero también con aspectos extra-lingüísticos. Veamos pues los fenómenos proprios a la jerga que analiza Luisa Martín Rojo. La relexificación, c

"La volonté de soigner : d’un singulier désir de soin dans les politiques pénales""

by Claude-Olivier Doron

Published in in Lefève, C., Worms., F. (dir.), La philosophie du soin, PUF, Paris, 2010

Cet article envisage la manière dont le soin psychiatrique se trouve mêlé de plus en plus profondément aux pratiques... more Cet article envisage la manière dont le soin psychiatrique se trouve mêlé de plus en plus profondément aux pratiques pénales, depuis la prison jusqu’en post-carcéral, transformant ainsi le sens même du "soin" et celui de la "peine" et bousculant les frontières de l'un comme de l'autre. On y montre les diverses fonctions que le soin vient occuper au cœur des politiques pénales : instance de redoublement des mécanismes légaux, visant à intervenir à un niveau où ni la loi, ni les normes disciplinaires n’ont de prises ; instance de repérage et de sanction de ces écarts infra-légaux, en les recodant comme facteurs pronostiques de dangerosité ; instance de suivi indéterminé.

Factors associated with the symptoms of depression and anxiety among male Turkish prisoners: a life crisis and personal growth model perspective

by Mithat Durak

Key Words: prisoners, anxiety, depression, locus of control, prison-life stress, situational factors

The factors associated with depression and anxiety disorders in the prison populations have been empirically tested in... more The factors associated with depression and anxiety disorders in the prison populations have been empirically tested in various studies. The aim of the present study was to examine the factors associated with the symptoms of depression and anxiety in a sample of 179 Turkish male prisoners. For this purpose, a model conceptualized by Schaefer and Moos (1998) was used as the theoretical framework for this study. The role of locus of control (as a personality trait); prison type, crime type, time spent in prison (as situational and crime-related variables); and the effect of prison-life stress on the prisoners' level of depression and anxiety symptoms were tested by using two separate structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses. Results revealed that by playing a mediator role, prison-life stress affected locus of control and situational and crime-related variables and hence, indirectly influenced depression and anxiety symptoms. Examining the role of the situational and personality factors on prisoners will provide a new departure for further studies conducted within prison settings.

Thinking (and Moving) Beyond Walls and Cages: Bridging Immigrant Justice and Anti-Prison Organizing in the United States

by Jenna Loyd

co-authored with Andrew Burridge and Matt Mitchelson. Social Justice, 2009-2010. 36(2).

Walls and cages—the shorthand we use for US migration policy and penal (AKA “criminal justice”) policy—facilitate... more Walls and cages—the shorthand we use for US migration policy and penal (AKA “criminal justice”) policy—facilitate contemporary processes of racialized dispossession and capitalist restructuring (AKA “globalization”). This makes understanding how these differentiations work so consequential for people’s lives and organizing possibilities. From the Left Forum to the US Social Forum, Critical Resistance 10, and more informal settings across the United States, people are engaging in inter-ethnic and inter-national conversations about the convergence between walls and cages. These conversations link different groups of folks who aim to break the ideological divisions that isolate struggles against prisons (and all forms of state violence) from struggles for immigrant and economic justice. We view our individual and collective work as part of this important dialogue and political project of bridging prison abolition and immigrant justice movements.

Disabling Incarceration: Connecting Disability to Divergent Confinements in the USA

by Liat Ben-Moshe

Critical Sociology 37 (7), January 2012

This article suggests the merits of conceptualizing incarceration as including institutionalization in a wide variety... more This article suggests the merits of conceptualizing incarceration as including institutionalization in a wide variety of enclosed settings, including prisons, jails, institutions for the intellectually disabled, treatment centers, and psychiatric hospitals. Such formulations conceptualize incarceration as a continuum and a multi-faceted phenomenon. This article will highlight the importance of moving beyond analogies between criminalization, institutionalization and psychiatrization to discuss the intersection of these phenomena, by highlighting several social science perspectives that have integrated these spheres already; taking up an analysis of the political economy of incarceration; and re-examining the reality of prisoners with disabilities in the growing prison machine. Lastly, I propose a re-examination of the forces of trans-incarceration, the move from one carceral edifice such as a psychiatric hospital to another such as a jail. I will demonstrate the ways in which engaging in such intersectional analysis changes the lens from which disability and incarceration are conceptualized and analyzed.

Development of work stress scale for correctional officers

by Mithat Durak

Key Words: Correctional officers, work-stress, psychometric properties

This study aimed at examining the psychometric properties of Work Stress Scale for Correctional Officers (WSSCO).... more This study aimed at examining the psychometric properties of Work Stress Scale for Correctional Officers (WSSCO). Methods: One hundred nineteen correctional officers (109 males and 10 females) employed in Turkey participated in this study. In addition to WSSCO, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were administered to the participants. Results: The internal consistencies and the item-total correlations were acceptable both for the whole scale and for its subscales; namely, “work overload,” “role conflict and role ambiguity,” “inadequacies in physical conditions of prison,” “threat perception,” and “general problems.” Test–retest reliability coefficient was 0.77 for total scale, and test-retest reliability coefficients ranged between 0.68 and 0.78 for the subscales. The total scale and most of the subscales were positively correlated with depression, anxiety, and hopelessness, and negatively correlated with perceived social support. Furthermore, all subscales significantly differentiated high depressive symptomatology group from the low depressive symptomatology group. Conclusions: The present results revealed that the psychometric properties of WSSCO were quite adequate. The scale can provide a potentially useful tool for research on job stress in correctional officers.

Cultural Prison: Discourse, Prisoners, and Punishment

by John Sloop

Rethinking Diyarbakir Prison: Musealization as a Resistant Activism

by Alparslan Nas

In Turkey recently there has been an ongoing debate on the musealization of the Diyarbakir Prison, which was, in April... more In Turkey recently there has been an ongoing debate on the musealization of the Diyarbakir Prison, which was, in April 2008, included in the report of The Times magazine entitled “The Ten Most Notorious Jails In The World”. The report introduces the history of the prison briefly by reminding the reader that the Diyarbakir prison was “known throughout the Ottoman Empire as the home of harsh and feared sentences given to political prisoners or members of the enslaved Balkan region who dared to speak out against their rulers.” And what’s more, in contemporary Turkey, the prison has been known for the hunger strikes carried out by the prisoners due to the routinized brutal torture handled by the officials. Lastly, the report refers to the events happened in mid-90’s in the prison, about which a UN study was published describing that “300 prisoners being dragged along the prison corridors where they were beaten with truncheons, iron bars, chains and clubs” (2008). The Diyarbakir prison was the center of human rights violation and brutal torture, which were directed against the political prisoners most of whom were Kurdish/leftist revolutionaries especially active between 60’s and 2000’s in Turkey. Despite the recent improvements in prison conditions due to EU regulations in Turkey, Diyarbakir prison is still subject to much debate, and is frequently cited as the place where no regulation counts, in Agamben’s terms, exists in a “state of exception” (2005).
...

Creatures in Captivity and Ethics

by Poppy Valentine

Prisons. Factory States. Low-Wage Workers. Child Sex Trade. Animal Abuse for: Clothing, Entertainment and Food. I... more Prisons. Factory States. Low-Wage Workers. Child Sex Trade. Animal Abuse for: Clothing, Entertainment and Food. I really could go on with other outlets of injust captivity, but this covers some major ones.

The Curious Life of a Political Object

by Elspeth Van Veeren

Working draft of an article on the 'political life' of the orange prison jumpsuit, from its origin in the US prison system to its use at Guantanamo to its central role as part of the campaign to close the site.

Tracing the 'political life' of objects can be immensely instructive. Taking the orange prison jumpsuit made (more)... more Tracing the 'political life' of objects can be immensely instructive. Taking the orange prison jumpsuit made (more) notorious through its use at Guantanamo as an object, this article argues that the orange jumpsuit played a central role in the constitution of subjectivities within the competing discourses of the Global War on Terror. From its origin in the US prison system to its use at Guantanamo to its central role as part of the campaign to close the site, how the suit was used, disappeared and reappeared offers fresh insight into the ways in which material culture and materialities shape meaning, discourse and security.