‘Our voices challenge the prison…and ourselves’: Explorations in epistemological research, institutional hegemony, and participatory governance in prison

• In Event: Prisons Research beyond the Conventional

Abstract

Scholars have argued that dialogue should be viewed not only as a means of communication, but also as an instrument of power through which individuals pursue their interests and display their competence. Bourdieu (1991:82) writes, ‘The sense of the value of one’s own linguistic products is a fundamental dimension of the sense of knowing the place which one occupies in the social space’. Although the literature on giving ‘voice to the voiceless’, self-articulation, participation, and political inclusion by silenced populations is substantial, most studies fail to explore the importance of the researcher’s epistemology, and the ways in which this interacts with, shapes, and advances the ‘voice’ of those studied. In this paper, the authors describe how their roles in a prison-based participatory governance council - as an evaluating ethnographic researcher/participant and as an ex-offender/facilitator - breach and challenge the boundaries of conventional prisons research. The council, which in itself challenges penal hegemony by facilitating solution-focused dialogue and debate between prisoners and staff, allows for the emergence of multifarious voices, positions, and representations. This practice generates its own knowledge base through a continuous and evolving information exchange process. The authors’ roles as participant-evaluators become methodological resources, advancing and informing social policy.

Authors

• Jason Warr, Cambridge University

• Bethany Schmidt, Cambridge University