Prison

About: Prison is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 25120 publications have been published within this topic receiving 470474 citations. The topic is also known as: jail & gaol.

‘I’m very careful about that’: narrative and agency of men in prison

Abstract: My research is based on lifestory interviews I conducted with men in prison for violent crimes. Having been deemed fitting objects of punishment, they were enjoined to speak of themselves as responsible, self-possessed agents who could have acted differently. Yet narrating their lived-through experiences, many struggled to convey their own victimization, suffering and powerlessness. Strewn throughout their narratives I found fragments, gaps, inconsistencies, false starts, pauses, switches between discourses, self-interruptions and frame breaks. This ‘narrative debris’ is evidence of the way the prison experience, and the language associated with it, make it difficult for these men to talk in direct ways about their situation. Not being able to talk directly about this means they are less likely to be able to think about it, which in turn means that they are less likely to see it as their responsibility. What is paradoxical, of course, is that it is the official discourse of the prison - which explicitly d...

Prisoner society in the era of hard drugs

Abstract: A telling indication of the decline of ethnographic prison sociology is the paucity of research on drugs and their influence on the prisoner social world. Based on long-term fieldwork in a medium-s...

The rise of the penal state in Latin America

Abstract: The recent work of Loic Wacquant identified the emergence of the penal state as a core feature of the global expansion of neoliberalism and the neoliberal government urban marginality. Drawing on Wacquant’s theoretical and conceptual reflections, this article analyses the emergence of a Latin American form of penal statecraft. By taking an in-depth look at the increasing criminalization of urban marginality in contemporary Latin America as well as the related developments in the local prison system, the single most important institutional expression of the Latin American penal state, important commonalities and differences between the penal statecraft experiments throughout Latin America and the countries of the ‘developed world’ are highlighted.

Understanding and Improving the Health of People Who Experience Incarceration: An Overview and Synthesis.

Abstract: The world prison population is growing at a rate that exceeds the rate of population growth. This issue of Epidemiologic Reviews comprises articles in which researchers summarize what is known about some of the key health issues facing people in prison, particularly in relation to human immunodeficiency virus and other blood-borne viral infections. A key recurring theme is that addressing the health needs of people in prison is important to reducing health inequalities at the population level-that prisoner health is public health. The reviews also highlight some critical evidence gaps, notably the lack of evidence from low- and middle-income countries, and the limited number of longitudinal studies in which health behaviors, health outcomes, or health service experiences after release from prison are documented. Despite growing evidence of the poor health of detained adolescents, none of the included reviews considered this population. Further research on the health of young people who cycle through juvenile detention should be a priority. Despite a rapidly growing literature on the health of people who experience incarceration, some critical health issues remain poorly understood, and there has been insufficient attention devoted to co-occurring health conditions and the consequent need for coordinated care. Key populations in custodial settings remain understudied, limiting capacity to develop targeted, evidence-based responses to their health needs. The quality of many studies is suboptimal, and although rigorous, independent research in correctional settings can be challenging, it is not impossible and is critical to laying the groundwork for evidence-based reform.

A Framework for Management of Hepatitis C in Prisons

Abstract: The prevalence of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in prisons ranges from 12% to 31%. There are generally accepted--albeit still evolving--guidelines for identification and treatment of hepatitis C in the community. However, there is less agreement among health professionals caring for prisoners about best practices for identification, medical management, and treatment of hepatitis C. Inmates often lack health care before incarceration. In prisons, infected persons could be identified and the management of infection initiated; however, the high prevalence of HCV infection among prisoners would impose a disproportionate cost for hepatitis C care on the correctional system. The optimal solution is for prison and public health systems in the United States to jointly provide targeted HCV testing and standard-of-care hepatitis C medical management, treatment, and prevention programs to prison inmate populations. The authors report on a January 2003 meeting of experts in prison health, public health, hepatology, and infectious diseases and explore the clinical care, prevention, and collaboration needed to provide hepatitis C management in prisoners.