“That candy bar ain’t free”: Managing performances of masculinity in prison
Gendered Perspectives on Conflict and Violence: Part B
ISBN: 978-1-78350-893-8
Publication date: 18 June 2014
Abstract
Purpose
The study explores the ways hypermasculine aggression is both communicated and resisted in prisons.
Design/methodology/approach
It is based on ethnographic observation conducted at two correctional facilities: a mixed-security prison for young men where the author has facilitated conflict transformation workshops since 2006 and a maximum-security prison for men where she has taught a weekly writing class since 2007.
Findings
It found that performances of masculinity among both prisoners and prison guards are frequently structured around symbolic expressions of violence, but that both groups also engage in supportive behaviors that communicate the possibility of nonviolent caring male identity.
Research limitations
The study was limited to two correctional institutions in one state in the United States. Conditions at other correctional facilities may lead to different types of gendered performance. Also, in the tense atmosphere of a prison, neither inmates nor corrections officers express themselves fully in the presence of an outside observer.
Social implications
The violent masculinities valued and practiced in prisons replicate in communities and institutions beyond the prison walls. Attention to the alternative masculinities practiced in correctional institutions can help scholars challenge the destructive ideologies of hegemonic masculinity and reduce its prevalence; it can influence policy makers to establish more humane conditions and procedures of benefit to individuals, families, and communities.
Originality/value
The study is of value to scholars of gender, culture, and social justice; to policy makers interested in criminal justice reform; and to activists and people of conscience seeking to reduce violence on both sides of the bars.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank her beloved partner in life and in service, Chad Dell, for his commitment to nonviolence and for his scholarly review of multiple drafts of this manuscript. She would like to express her gratitude for the habits of critical inquiry and compassion instilled in her by her mentor in research at the University of Pennsylvania, Oscar H. Gandy Jr. She offers love and respect to Sharon Brown and Charley Flint, fellow facilitators in the Alternatives to Violence Project, for their commitment to nonviolence and their support for healthy communities of color. And she is thankful to the many imprisoned men and women who have shared their experiences with her and offered her their friendship and trust.
Citation
Novek, E.M. (2014), "“That candy bar ain’t free”: Managing performances of masculinity in prison", Gendered Perspectives on Conflict and Violence: Part B (Advances in Gender Research, Vol. 18B), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 195-223. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-21262014000018B012
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014 Emerald Group Publishing Limited