Narrative Dynamics and Social Structure: The Case of Prisoner Reentry Narratives

• In Event: 161 - Regular Session. Sociology of Culture 2: The Micro-Dynamics of Creating and Using Meanings

Abstract

Sociologists and other social scientists have increasingly used the concept of narrative as a theoretical tool to understand how individuals make sense of the links between their past, present, and future, how individuals construct social identities from cultural building blocks, and how culture can shape social action and individual behavior. Despite the richness of the literature on narratives, we contend that narrative analysis has yet to grapple with narrative dynamics, whether, how and why individuals change the narratives that they employ. In this study we draw on prospective longitudinal data on the reentry narratives and narrative identities of former prisoners both before and after release to understand how narratives do and not change when confronted with contradictory experiences and structural constraints. We identify and describe the processes generating narrative change and stability among our respondents. These findings inform a framework for studying narratives dynamics based on four factors: the content of the narrative itself, the structural circumstances experienced by the individual, the institutional contexts in which the individual is embedded, and the social networks in which the individual is embedded. We conclude with a discussion of implications for narratives as a theoretical concept and for the potential for narratives to influence social action and individual behavior.

Authors

• David J. Harding, University of California-Berkeley

• Cheyney Cooper Dobson, University of Michigan

• Jessica JB Wyse, University of Michigan

• Jeffrey Morenoff, University of Michigan