NCJ Number
237143
Journal
Criminology & Criminal Justice Volume: 11 Issue: 4 Dated: September 2011 Pages: 367-382
Date Published
September 2011
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study examined how inmates described as dangerous influences prison staff in maximum-security prisons.
Abstract
Drawing on data from maximum-security prisons in England, this article explores the way the representation of criminals as 'dangerous others' manifests in prison discourse and practice. Following Bourdieu, it is argued that within the 'habitus of maximum-security', prison staff become somewhat predisposed to seeing prisoners as essentialized, 'dangerous others' who are not 'like us', a perspective that is also reinforced in popular and tabloid print media outside the prison walls. The strength of these representations coupled with the habitus of maximum-security thus constrains possibilities for alternative representations of prisoners labeled as 'dangerous others' or for alternative ways of structuring the ethos and conditions of maximum-security prisons. (Published Abstract)