Female Imprisonment: An Ethnography of Everyday Life in Confinement (Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology)

This book is a reflection on the nature of confinement, experienced by prison inmates as everyday life. It explores the meanings, purposes, and consequences involved with spending every day inside prison. __Female Imprisonment__ results from an ethnographic study carried out in a small prison facility located in the south of Portugal, and Frois uses the data to analyze how incarcerated women talk about their lives, crimes, and expectations. Crucially, this work examines how these women consider prison: rather than primarily being a place of confinement designed to inflict punishment, it can equally be a place of transformation that enables them to regain a sense of selfhood. From in-depth ethnographic research involving close interaction with the prison population, in which inmates present their life histories marked by poverty, violence, and abuse (whether as victims, as agents, or both), Frois observes that the traditional idea of “doing time”, in the sense of a strenuous, repressive, or restrictive experience, is paradoxically transformed into “having time” – an experience of expanded self-awareness, identity reconstruction, or even of deliverance. Ultimately, this engaging and compassionate study questions and defies customary accounts of the impact of prisons on those subjected to incarceration, and as such it will be of great interest for scholars and students of penology and the criminal justice system. Acknowledgements 8 Contents 10 List of Figures 12 1: Introduction—“A Doll’s House” 13 Women’s Prison, Women in Prison, and Women Imprisoned 19 An Ethnography of Everyday Life in Confinement 23 Book Contents 32 References 35 2: Portugal, a “Mild-Mannered” Country: Penal and Penitentiary Overview 39 The Portuguese Penitentiary System: Concepts and Practices 43 Legal Changes and Prison Population in Portugal after 1974 47 Prison Studies in Portugal: An Overview 50 The Gap Between Theory and Practice 56 References 59 3: Entering Odemira Prison Facility 63 “Working” with Women 70 Entering Odemira: The First Days 75 References 81 4: “Will You Be Back Again Tomorrow?” Everyday Rhythms of Imprisonment 84 Gypsies, Drug Dealers and “Recidists” 94 Order, Security, Well-Being 101 References 106 5: The Effects of Imprisonment 110 “Feeling the Prison”: Shared Solitude 116 The “Benefits” of Imprisonment 128 References 133 6: Tension, Authority, Rights 134 Inmates’ Rights 144 Exercising Authority 147 References 155 7: The Rule, the Letter, the Spirit of the Law 156 Assigning Identity: Guilt and Responsibility in Court Rulings 164 Woman, Wife, Mother 167 References 176 8: Institutionalizing Exclusion 177 Crime as a “Last Resource” 187 The Everyday Experience of Violence: Victims–Criminals 191 Reference 197 9: ”Getting in is Fast, Getting Out is Harder!” 200 The Uncertainties of Sentencing 205 The Value of Time, or the Purpose of Prison 209 References 214 10: Conclusion: Prison as a “Mirror” of Society 215 Methodological Dilemmas, Ethical Commitments, Political Implications 218 References 224 Index 236 This book is a reflection on the nature of confinement, experienced by some people as everyday life. It explores the meanings, purposes, and consequences involved with spending every day inside prison. Female Imprisonment results from an ethnographic study carried out in a small prison facility located in the south of Portugal, and Frois uses the data to analyze how incarcerated women talk about their lives, crimes, and expectations. Crucially, this work examines how these women consider prison: rather than being primarily a place of confinement designed to inflict punishment, but as a place of transformation, self-reconstruction, and even somewhere they can gain an awareness of the significance of their gender as part of their identity. From interviews held in this institution, where inmates present their life histories marked by poverty, violence and abuse (whether as victims, as agents, or both), Frois observes that the traditional idea of "doing time", in the sense of a strenuous, repressive, or restrictive experience, is paradoxically transformed into "having time"--An experience of expanded self-awareness, identity reconstruction, or even of deliverance. Ultimately, this engaging and compassionate study questions and defies customary accounts of the impact of prisons on those subjected to incarceration, and as such will be of great interest for scholars and students of penology and the criminal justice system.-- Provided by publisher This book is a reflection on the nature of confinement, experienced by some people as everyday life. It explores the meanings, purposes, and consequences involved with spending every day inside prison. Female Imprisonment results from an ethnographic study carried out in a small prison facility located in the south of Portugal, and Frois uses the data to analyze how incarcerated women talk about their lives, crimes, and expectations. Crucially, this work examines how these women consider prison: rather than being primarily a place of confinement designed to inflict punishment, but as a place of transformation, self-reconstruction, and even somewhere they can gain an awareness of the significance of their gender as part of their identity. From interviews held in this institution, where inmates present their life histories marked by poverty, violence and abuse (whether as victims, as agents, or both), Frois observes that the traditional idea of "doing time", in the sense of a strenuous, repressive, or restrictive experience, is paradoxically transformed into "having time" - an experience of expanded self-awareness, identity reconstruction, or even of deliverance. Ultimately, this engaging and compassionate study questions and defies customary accounts of the impact of prisons on those subjected to incarceration, and as such will be of great interest for scholars and students of penology and the criminal justice system Front Matter ....Pages i-xi Introduction—“A Doll’s House” (Catarina Frois)....Pages 1-26 Portugal, a “Mild-Mannered” Country: Penal and Penitentiary Overview (Catarina Frois)....Pages 27-50 Entering Odemira Prison Facility (Catarina Frois)....Pages 51-69 “Will You Be Back Again Tomorrow?” Everyday Rhythms of Imprisonment (Catarina Frois)....Pages 71-96 The Effects of Imprisonment (Catarina Frois)....Pages 97-122 Tension, Authority, Rights (Catarina Frois)....Pages 123-144 The Rule, the Letter, the Spirit of the Law (Catarina Frois)....Pages 145-165 Institutionalizing Exclusion (Catarina Frois)....Pages 167-187 ”Getting in is Fast, Getting Out is Harder!” (Catarina Frois)....Pages 189-205 Conclusion: Prison as a “Mirror” of Society (Catarina Frois)....Pages 207-215 Back Matter ....Pages 217-231